What We Learned At Sound Running's Track Fest

Who thrived under the lights at On Track Nights' first event of the year? Josette Andrews won big; Katelyn Tuohy and Connor Burns smashed record + more.

May 08, 2023

The CITIUS MAG team made the trip from New York City to Los Angeles (and then over to Walnut, to be precise) as one of the official media partners of On Track Nights, a five-meet global series that kicked off with Sound Running’s Track Fest at Mt. SAC. The meet was distance-focused with events from 800m through 10,000m, and as a World Athletics silver-label meet, World ranking points were on the line – it was a great opportunity to run fast. We saw many personal bests, a high school and collegiate record, and a world-leading time in the men’s steeplechase.

Major thanks to Christina Henderson for jumping on behind the mic and assisting us with interviews for her CITIUS MAG debut! Jesse Williams, On, Tracklandia and the Sound Running Team went above and beyond to deliver a fun night for the athletes and fans.

Here’s a rundown of what we learned from the top races of the night…

Josette Andrews Dominates The 5000m, Possibly Still Exploring The 1500m For USAs

There was plenty of attention in the lead-up to this meet on Josette Andrews (née Norris), who was running her first fast 5000m race as a member of the On Athletics Club. She joined the team in December 2022 and has taken super well to coach Dathan Ritzenhein’s training in Boulder. Last week at the Penn Relays, she told me that she was hoping to run in the 14:40s with some key assistance from teammate Alicia Monson.

However, Monson scratched from the meet after testing positive for COVID in April for the second year in a row. (She’s doing well now.) There was a bit of a scramble for a pacer but Dani Jones committed to helping out… until she got sick at the meet. Moments before the race, Ritzenhein discussed plans with BYU coach Diljeet Taylor, who had a few athletes competing including Whittni Orton-Morgan who assisted with pushing the pace. The original race plan called for Andrews to kick with 800m to go but Andrews felt strong and closed the final 1600m in 4:34 with a 2:12 for her last 800m. Her 14:43.36 moves her to No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list.

“My legs were trembling the last 50m,” Andrews told CITIUS after the race. “I definitely pushed myself harder than I have in a really long time. It hurt.”

Ritzenhein admitted that he still does not know whether Andrews will run the 1500m or 5000m at the U.S. Championships in July. There’s a chance she may run another fast 5000m while also getting some 1500m speed work done in the coming weeks on the Diamond League circuit.

“I knew she was talented but also to see how much potential she has, that’s what I’m excited about,” Ritzenhein said after the race. (Full RITZ REPORT™️ linked)

“I think she can run under 4:00 right now too,” Ritzenhein added. “We’ll see. We’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”

Venezuelan national record holder Joselyn Brea, Mexican national record holder Laura Galván, Emily Infeld and Elly Henes also got under the World Athletics qualifying standard of 14:57.00 for Budapest.

Katelyn Tuohy Takes Down Jenny Simpson’s NCAA Outdoor Record

NC State sophomore Katelyn Tuohy came in Saturday night just looking to compete against the pros in the field. But as we’ve seen at the Millrose Games and Dr. Sander Invitational during the indoor season, when she does this an NCAA record usually falls. No exception here, as Tuohy ended up running 15:03.12 to finish 7th overall in the race.

With that performance, she knocked Jenny Simpson off the top of the NCAA Outdoor 5000m list. Simpson’s 15:07.64 stood since May 2009.

“We decided that we were just not going to focus on time,” Tuohy said. “We were just going to race and the times would come with that… The pace was ambitious and I felt good for about 10 and a half minutes and then it started to hit me.”

She admitted to being a little disappointed not to hit the World Championships standard but secured her qualifying mark for the U.S. Championships. She’s planning to race at the ACC Championships but hasn’t decided what event. She and coach Henes are debating whether to pursue the 1500m at the NCAA Regional Championships and then the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Yared Nuguse Extends His Winning Streak

During Friday’s pre-race show, George Beamish piped in during our discussion of the men’s 800m and mentioned Yared Nuguse has not lost any of his last eight track races.

July 29 – 3:34.95 for 1500m in Memphis

Aug. 5 – 3:53.34 for the mile at Sir Walter Miler in Raleigh

Aug. 30 – 3:36.34 for 1500m in Luzern

Sept. 3 – 3:33.26 for 1500m in Padova

Jan. 27 – 7:28.23 for the indoor 3000m American record in Boston

Feb. 11 – 3:47.38 for the indoor mile American record at the Millrose Games

Feb. 22 – 3:33.69 for the indoor 1500m in Madrid

Nuguse was way toward the back after running 52.83 for the first lap. But he managed to claw back into contention and mowed down 800m specialists Tonatiu Lopez and Isaiah Harris in the home stretch to win in 1:46.30.

Sage Hurta-Klecker Is Staying In The 800m Through ‘24

On our preseason podcast predictions, Kyle threw out the fact that he thought Sage Hurta-Klecker would commit to the 1500m and make the U.S. team in that event this summer. He may have spoken a bit too soon. We saw a flash of her 1500m future with a 4:06:34 victory over Gabriela DeBues-Stafford (DeBues-Stafford ran 4:06.71 for her first race in nearly a year).

“We’re going all in on the 800,” Ritzenhein said. “She’s still getting better there. Long-term for her it’s the 1500m for sure. She’s really good in the 800m and has a lot of room for improvement still. She’s still just kind of learning how to run those. Her confidence in what she can do is growing. There’s no rush for us to go to the 1500m with her. We originally signed her thinking of her as a 1500m runner but she’s got potential here.”

Krissy Gear, Kenneth Rooks Enter The U.S. Championships Contender Picture

This was a weird weekend for the U.S. women’s steeplechase scene. In Doha, American record holder Emma Coburn and U.S. Olympian Val Constien took a few tumbles and struggled in their first steeple races of the year. Olympic silver medalist Courtney Frerichs ran her first race since undergoing ankle surgery in the off-season and finished 6th overall in 4:18.06 for 1500m at a low-key meet in Oregon. Then we had a bit of a surprise at On Track Nights when 2022 NCAA champion and world championship finalist Courtney Wayment was caught in the final lap of the women’s steeplechase by NAZ Elite’s Krissy Gear, who was steepling for the first time since 2021. Gear lowered her personal best by 15 seconds to 9:23.55 in the process.

Gear, who was the 2021 SEC champion in the event, is compiling some quality momentum in her rookie pro season.

On the men’s side, we thought it would be a preview of the U.S. Championships as the race featured Hillary Bor, Benard Keter and Anthony Rotich. Instead, we got a bit of a stunner. BYU’s Kenneth Rooks shocked the field with an 8:17.62 – which is the second-fastest mark in NCAA history behind Henry Rono’s 8:05.4. (That’s not going down anytime soon!)

George Beamish, who looked like he still had some gas left in the tank, dropped his personal best from 8:42 to 8:20 to take second place. Bor was third in 8:20.67. Rotich was sixth in 8:27.74. Keter was 8th in 8:30.55. We may be in for a treat at USAs – as it stands, five or six guys have a legitimate shot to win the steeple, let alone make the team.

Connor Burns Wants To Make More History

Southern Boone High School (MO) senior Connor Burns wants his name plastered across all of the high school record books. Last year, he broke four minutes for the mile as a junior. This past indoor season, he broke four minutes in February at Boston University and then won the New Balance Nationals Indoor Two-Mile title. On Saturday night, he broke Galen Rupp’s U.S. high school 5000m record of 13:37.91, which had stood since 2004. It took a while to notice what was unfolding since Belgium’s John Heymans took control of the race and held on to win the section in 13:16.88.

Burns closed hard with a 61.22 for the final 400m and just got under before collapsing onto the ground. Even in his conversation with us afterward, he was still winded and that was like, 30 minutes after the race!

Burns wasn’t shy about vocalizing that he wants to go after Alan Webb’s high school mile PR of 3:53.43 in St. Louis at the Festival of Miles on June 1. His personal best is still 3:58.83 from the same meet last summer.

“I’m trying to get two national records to my name,” Burns said.

Matthew Centrowitz Is Focused On Paris More Than Budapest

Here at CITIUS MAG, we’re never writing off Matthew Centrowitz, even after a knee surgery and missing almost a full year of training and racing. A 3:40.63 to finish – second behind Eduardo Herrera in the second section of the men’s 1500m – may not pop to anyone on paper but it feels like a step forward for the 2016 Olympic champion. He decided to play it safe and focus on being competitive in a slightly slower race.

For those hoping that Centrowitz shows up in top form to try and make his sixth World Championship team, it’s a matter of how much fitness he can cram in the next two months. However, that’s not his priority. Paris 2024 and making a fourth U.S. Olympic team remains at the top of his list.

“It’s a different year,” Centrowitz said. “I’m a different individual. At some point, things don’t just click as easily as they used to… Honestly, for me, the main focus remains Paris next year. I really want to make that Olympic team. I would love to go back and win the Trials. Obviously, Nuguse is firing on all cylinders. It’s going to be a tough team to make this year.”