Michelle (Lilienthal) Frey
THE MEN
Age: 29, PR: 2:35:51, Qualifier: 2:42:31, Grand Int’l (’10) Leading up to the 2008 trials, Frey dropped her times from 2:49 to 2:40 to 2:35. The latter time gave her the eighth fastest qualifying time. However, injuries slowed her down and she finished a disappointing eighty-fifth at the trials. The former Team USA Minnesota runner will look to rebound from that performance.
Katie Koski Age: 38, PR: 2:42:33, Qualifier: 2:42:53, Twin Cities (’11) This will be Koski’s third Olympic Trials marathon. What makes that even more impressive is that she failed to qualify for the 2008 trials. In her two previous appearances, the Duluth resident placed sixty-fifth (2000) and fifty-fourth (2004).
Four years ago the trials field was considered to be the deepest since 1984. It featured former a world record holder, the reigning silver medalist and multiple Olympians at 10,000 meters. While the 2012 trials may not be as deep, it’s certainly close. After placing first and second in 2008, Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein are back, and at 29 years old, they’re in their prime. Wiley veterans now include the 2004 silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, three time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, and Minnesota’s Jason Lehmkuhle. Throw in a guy like Brett Gotcher, who debuted with the fourth fastest qualifier, and the field is very exciting.
Nichole Porath
The Favorites
Age: 28, PR: 2:44:46, Qualifier: 2:44:46, Grandma’s (’11)
Ryan Hall
Porath’s improvement may be the most remarkable of anyone in the field. Three years ago, she sported a 3:03 PR. This quickly dropped like a rock to 2:58, 2:55 and 2:51 before running her 2:44:46 qualifier at Grandma’s this year.
Age: 29, PR: 2:04:58, Qualifier: 2:04:58, Boston (’11)
Megan Grindall Age: 30, PR: 2:45:16, Qualifier: 2:45:16, Boston (’11) Grindall is originally from Minot, North Dakota, and she now lives in Moorehead. I’ll admit that she officially has me stumped. Between 2006 and 2009, she ran anywhere from 3:04 to 3:49, including a win at the 2006 Fargo Marathon. Those are not your typical times for Olympic Trials qualifiers. This year she went to Boston and ran 2:45:16, and she followed that up at TCM with a 2:52:58.
Age: 32, PR: 2:42:03, Qualifier: 2:45:31, Chicago (’11) Cueno made great strides leading up to the 2004 trials when she dropped her PR from 2:52 to 2:42. She ended up finishing fifty-fifth at the trials in 2:44:54. The former standout at Grinnell College won the 2009 Fargo Marathon in 2:53:15. She earned her qualifier at this year’s Chicago Marathon.
Stephanie Herbst-Lucke
Dathan Ritzenhein Age: 29, PR: 2:10:00, Qualifier: 2:10:00, London (’09) Ritzenhein is arguably America’s most versatile runner. He’s a three time U.S. cross country champion. In 2009, he set the then American Record for 5,000 meters in 12:56.27. And he’s already qualified for two Olympic Games, running the 10,000 meters (2004) and marathon (2008). It was Ritzenhein who finished second to Hall at the last trials. He comes into these trials as the third fastest qualifier. Unfortunately, he spent most of 2011 not running due to surgery on his Achilles, followed by complications caused by an allergic reaction to the stitches.
Age: 46, PR: 2:42, Qualifier: 1:12:16 (half marathon) Although she now lives in Atlanta, Herbst Lucke grew up in Chaska, Minnesota. She first qualified for the Olympic Track and Field Trials in 1988. She then proceeded to take a 20 year break from competition before returning as a Masters runner. In 2008, she placed fifty-ninth at the trials in 2:45:14. It should be noted that former and current Team USA Minnesotans, Anne Bersagel and Meg Hogan have qualified for the marathon trials by way of their 10,000 meter times. However, I don’t believe they will be running in Houston.
Meb Keflezighi Age: 36, PR: 2:09:15, Qualifier: 2:09:15, New York City (’09) To be honest, I’m kind of surprised to be including Meb as a favorite. It’s not that he doesn’t have the credentials. Heck, he won the silver medal in the marathon at the 2004 Games. However, he’s 36-years-old now, which is getting up there for elite runners. But the numbers don’t lie and after Hall’s top two performances, Keflezighi has the next three: all between 2:09:15 and 2:09:26. And he proved he can win big races when he won the New York City Marathon in 2009. This was the first American to do so since Alberto Salazar in 1982.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
16
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PHOTORUN.NET
Nichole Cueno
Let’s be honest, even in the uncertain world of marathoning, this is a nobrainer. Four years ago, Hall simply pulled away from arguably the best field in trials history to win by more than two minutes. His time of 2:09:02 is a trials record. Sure, his sub 2:05 at Boston was run with a 20 m.p.h. tailwind. Take that away and his 2:08:04 still makes him the fastest qualifier. In fact, of the top nine qualifying times, Hall owns five of them.