I have moved to mokyingren.com :)

 

by Doug Binder and Ken Goe, The Oregonian

Saturday June 27, 2009, 9:55 PM

Doug Beghtel/The OregonianGerman Fernandez, who led from start to finish in winning the NCAA 1,500 meters, broke the U.S. junior 5,000-meter record Friday at Hayward Field.

EUGENE -- Ever since he broke the long-standing national high school record in the two mile, German Fernandez has carried the tag as the brightest prospect in U.S. distance running.

The Oklahoma State freshman from Riverbank, Calif., ran at Hayward Field for the first time Friday, placing fifth in the men's 5,000 meters at the USA Track & Field Championships and breaking a U.S. junior (under 20) record in the process.

Fernandez, who turns 19 in November, ran 13 minutes, 25.46 seconds to take a record that belonged to Galen Rupp until Stanford's Chris Derrick took it with a time of 13:29.98 this spring. Fernandez also ran 3:55.02 for a collegiate indoor record in the mile.

Rupp, 23, is the 10,000 meters national champion and knows a thing or two about being labeled the next big thing.

"All the attention he's getting is warranted," Rupp said this spring. "He's running unbelievable this year. It's been phenomenal what he's done."

But the high expectations aren't always easy to live up to. Rupp, who broke high school records at 3,000 and 5,000 meters, had his share of ups and downs in his college career.

The two have not raced head-to-head -- or even met -- yet Rupp said he feels as if he understands what Fernandez is going through.

"I wish him the best and hope he doesn't get caught up in the hype," Rupp said. "When I look at people that I ran against (at 19), there were people who were supposed to be the next big thing and some of them fell off. I hope it doesn't happen to German. He's one of the best guys at his age. I'm looking forward to running against him."

Fernandez was happy with his performance and said he enjoyed his first Hayward experience.

"It's really special," Fernandez said. "Hayward Field is a great place to run. The crowd gets into it, the runners get into it. I've never run in this atmosphere before, so it was great to be here."

Thomas Boyd/The OregonianGalen Rupp (center), Dathan Ritzenhein (right) and Tim Nelson on the awards stand after the 10,000 meters at the USA Track and Field Championships.

A good fit: Alberto Salazar, who coaches the Portland contingent of the Oregon Track Club, which includes Rupp, Kara Goucher, Adam Goucher and Amy Yoder Begley, said new addition Dathan Ritzenhein would be a good fit.

"Always, Dathan is the one guy I was thinking I might take on if it came to that point," said Salazar, who has been reluctant to make his group too large. "But he was with a coach. So I thought if for some reason it doesn't work out, he is the one guy I would consider taking on."

Ritzenhein, who represented the United States in the marathon at the Beijing Olympics, split recently with coach Brad Hudson.

"We've been talking for about a month and a half," said Salazar, who told Ritzenhein they should postpone making the move until after the U.S. championships to avoid disrupting both the consistency of Ritzenhein's training and the chemistry of Salazar's group.

"We came to an agreement a couple of weeks ago that it was going to work," Salazar said. "We talked for a while and I said, 'Let's not rush into it.' I wanted to make sure of exactly what he thought he had to do and what I thought he had to do, to see if we were on the same page."

As it turns out, they were. Salazar said Ritzenhein would give up the marathon, at least for a while, and concentrate on the 10,000.

Ritzenhein placed second to Rupp on Thursday night in the USATF 10,000 final.

Salazar said he thinks Rupp and Ritzenhein will make ideal training partners. The partnership will start immediately.

"I think they're both similar," Salazar said. "I absolutely believe it's in Dathan's best interest to do the same type of training as Galen."

 

COMMENTS

Sorry for pasting these articles in to my blog. HAHA. I am a keen follower of runners who are non kenyans. Galen Rupp is the new running sensation in USA and so is the 19 year old German Fernandez. Coach Alberto Salazar has recently seen a winning streak in all his athletes and I am really excited to see how they fare in the future. :):)