Laura Thweatt, seen here en route to a 3,000-meter PR in February, lowered her 10,000-meter best on Friday with a win at the Stanford Invitational. Photo by Victah Sailer/PhotoRun.

It was a good night for KIMbia athletes running 25 laps at the Stanford Invitational on Friday.

Laura Thweatt won the fast heat of the 10,000 in 31:52.94. The time was well under the Olympic standard of 32:15, and took 23 seconds off of Laura’s previous personal best from three years ago. Laura dispatched her last challenger, eventual second finisher Alphine Bolton, in the last mile.

In February, Laura lowered her 3,000-meter PR to 8:57.11.

In his 10,000-meter debut, German Fernandez placed fifth in 28:06.64. The performance gives German a qualifying mark for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

German said after the race he was bothered by a side stitch, which may have contributed to his finishing outside of the Olympic standard of 28:00.

Placing third in the deepest indoor 5,000-meter race in U.S. history, Emily Infeld set a personal best of 15:00.91 at Saturday’s Millrose Games in New York City.

Also at the meet, Evan Jager placed fourth in the 3,000 in 7:40.10, just off his indoor PR, and Lopez Lomong ran an indoor personal best of 7:43.01 to place ninth in the race. Six days after setting a 3,000-meter PR in Boston, Laura Thweatt ran an indoor PR of 15:35.24 for seventh place in the 5,000.

Emily’s time bettered the outdoor 5,000 PR of 15:07.18 she set last June, and puts her third on the all-time U.S. indoor list.

The time was all the more impressive as it came in her first race of the season. Also of note: It gives Emily the Olympic standard in the event.

Laura Thweatt en route to a 3,000-meter PR at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on February 14, 2016. Photo by Victor Sailer/PhotoRun.

In her first race since her marathon debut in November, Laura Thweatt ran 8:57.11 to take third in the 3,000-meter race at Sunday’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston. The time was a personal best for Laura and bodes well for her track plans in this Olympic year.

Even after Laura nailed her first marathon, finishing seventh at New York City in 2:28:23, she and her coach, Lee Troop, said she wouldn’t run the Olympic Marathon Trials. As Troop explained it, focusing on the track in 2016, and trying to make the Olympic team on the oval, will better serve Laura’s long-term prospects, including when she becomes a frequent marathoner.

So on a weekend when the rest of America’s healthy sub-2:30 women were racing 26.2 miles on the streets of Los Angeles, Laura was racing 15 laps inside the Reggie Lewis Center. Nearly outkicking Abbey D’Agostino, she certainly didn’t look like someone who’d lost her track-running legs to the marathon.

Next up: Laura will run the 5,000 at Saturday’s Millrose Games in New York City.

Laura Thweatt gets back at it Sunday in Boston, where she’ll be part of a stacked field in the 3,000 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.

The race will be quite a drop down in distance from her last high-profile outing, last November’s New York City Marathon. There, she ran a fabulous debut of 2:28:23 to finish seventh. While many thought her success would lead to running the Olympic Marathon Trials, Laura and her coach, Lee Troop, stuck to their plan of remaining focused on the track in this Olympic year.

The Payton Jordan Invitational is renowned as the place to go for fast 5- and 10-thousands on American soil and 2014 solidified that reputation even further. Among KIMbia athletes, the most head-turning performance came from Boulder Track Club’s Laura Thweatt who ran 15:04 for fourth place for an absolutely massive PB of 30-plus seconds. That time ranks her #5 in the world so far this year… heady stuff for an athlete whose highest conference finish in college was third. The Lee Troop-coached athlete will have a quick turn-around next run the pro mile event at the Twin Cities Marathon on Thursday.

Lopez Lomong was the top KIMbia finisher in a hot men’s 5000, setting a new lifetime best on the outdoor oval. His 13:07.95 was good for 3rd place and stands less than a second away Read the full article