2/24/08
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

BOSTON (24-Feb) -- Shannon Rowbury and Matt Tegenkamp dominated the 3-K's, while Khadevis Robinson
just held off Nick Symmonds in the men's 800m to highlight two days of action at the AT&T U.S.
Indoor Championships here. The meet served as the U.S. trials for next month's IAAF World Indoor
Championships in Athletics in Valencia, Spain, with the top-2 finishers in each event earning
provisional berths on the U.S. team.

As expected, Tegenkamp defended his title, but now has the distinction of winning the national
3000m crown in the slowest ever time since the event was introduced to these championships in 1987.
In fact, his 8:02.52 clocking is the only winning time north of eight minutes in the history of
the meet.

"Honestly, when I was working out with the guys last week I said I couldn't imagine it would go
any faster than 64's (8:00 pace)," Tegenkamp said after the race. "Pretty close."

Tegenkamp ran patiently in the pack, slowly working his way up in the field in the later laps.
When his training partner Chris Solinsky took the lead with three laps to go, Tegenkamp held back.
Solinsky just couldn't take the slow pace any longer.

"I got a little antsy," Solinsky explained. "My plan was to go between two and three laps to go.
I did all right considering we've only been on the track twice."

Tegankamp was simply too strong on the final lap, and was even able to ease up a bit before
hitting the tape to win easily.

As for Rowbury, off of a pretty honest pace set by Jen Rhines (6:02.90 through 2000m) she surged
from fourth place just before the bell to run away with the race in a personal best 8:55.19. She
managed a 29.4 final lap to seal the victory.

"I knew the field was great so I just wanted to stick with the pack and see what I had at the end
of the race," said the former NCAA star with Duke University. "I felt great at
that point. My coach (John Cook) always says once you go you don't look back."

Rhines held on for second, turning back a surprising final charge by Julie Culley, 8:59.98 to
9:00.14. Culley will get the trip to Valencia because Rowbury feels she needs to put in more training
to secure her 5000m "A" standard for Beijing. Rhines is uncertain of her status, saying that she
needed to discuss it with her husband and coach, Terrence Mahon.

"It was good to see that I stayed sharp enough to qualify for the team, but I'm a little
disappointed in my race," said Rhines. "I wanted to run a much more aggressive race."

On Sunday, another chapter was written in the rivalry betwen 800m men Khadevis Robinson and Nick
Symmonds. Clearly the two favorites in the final, Symmonds came into the meet as the defending
U.S. indoor champion, but Robinson is the reigning national outdoor champion, beating Symmonds
solidly in Indianapolis last June. Karjuan Williams set a solid early pace, but coming down the back
stretch of the final lap Robinson was on the front with Symmonds just off of his right shoulder.
Symmonds made his bid for victory coming out of the final turn, running wide on Robinson, but he
fell achingly short at the tape, losing by just 1/100th of a second.

"As close as it gets, right?" Symmonds told reporters. Then he joked, "I need to start lifting
more; I need bigger pecs."

Robinson was pleased with his victory, but had to dig deep to get it done. "To be quite honest,
coming off of the curve I thought I would have a little more, but the pace was a bit quicker than I
thought it would be," said Robinson who talks as fast as he runs. "So, my legs didn't have as
much as I thought." He added: "I just had to dig deep down inside."

The women's 800m wasn't quite as close, with Nicole Teter taking the lead with one lap to go.
Looking very smooth, she held off Nicole Cook by 2/10ths of a second to win in 2:02.65, her third
U.S. indoor 800m title. She plans to take her place on the U.S. team in Valencia; Cook hadn't yet
made up her mind.

"I love Spanish food," said a beaming Teter. "I've never been to Spain, so I'm really excited to
go."

Also on Sunday, a resurgent Rob Myers won an exciting men's 1500m, taking back the title he first
won back in 2004. Kalpanatit Broderick of Team XO took the lead early, and like a paid pacemaker
stayed there lap after lap. He hit the 800m mark in 1:59.9, and was still on the front with three
laps to go. Meyers surged to the lead with 400m to go, just as Broderick stepped into the
infield.

"The game plan was to get out in front and stay out of trouble," Myers said after the race. "I run
best that way."

Meyers was getting an earnest chase from the former Stanford runner, Russell Brown, but was simply
too strong on the final lap, getting the win in 3:40.89. He was estatic.

"It feels good to get a win under my belt. I've been running some fast time, but very few wins. I
knew I was strong heading into the race."

Yesterday, Christin Wurth-Thomas got her first national title at any distance, winning a strategic
1500m in 4:14.21. Coming off of a disappointing year, the victory was sweet.

"Last year I kind of struggled a little bit," she said. "I had mono. I got beat down alot." She
added: We're having a lot of fun now."

ENDS