Matt Tegenkamp defended his national indoor 3,000m title, and Chris Solinsky placed a close second, in a tactical race last night in Boston. Their training partner, Jonathan Riley, completed a Madison trifecta by taking third.
After a slow opening 2 kilometers (5:36), Solinsky made the race’s first truly decisive move with four laps to go on the 200-meter track at the Reggie Lewis Center. Tegenkamp calmly set off after him, and took the lead for the first time, and for good, with less than 300 meters remaining. Although the finishing times were relatively modest (8:02.52 for Teg, 8:03.8 for Solinsky), their strong finish (last kilometer of around 2:25 for Teg) was impressive. The race was only Solinsky’s second of the season, and Teg’s first since September.
Solinsky will run the indoor World Championships in two weeks in Valencia, Spain, and will be joined there by Riley. Both learned only after the race from their coach, Jerry Schumacher, that they would be making the trip across the Atlantic.
Chris will file a few dispatches from his first world team here, starting here early next week.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:23 am
I have to admit after Solinsky’s 3000m earlier I was a little scared….but not anymore