Alicia Monson PASSES AN IMPORTANT TEST

January 30, 2023 I by

Track and field news

The afternoon before she dominated a sterling field in the Dr. Sander Invitational mile, Alicia Monson told T&FN, “I’m definitely hoping to test that finishing speed a little.”

Did she ever! Running in her typical not-afraid-to-take-the-lead fashion, the 24-year-old Wisconsin native finished with a zippy 31. 71 circuit after pummeling the sprint out of her competitors with a tough windup to the finish, covering her last 400 in 64.26, the last 800 in 2:09.32.

That big move from a long way out has become classic Monson racing style, and only has become more effective since she transitioned from her Badger days (where she won 5 Big 10 titles) and moved to Colorado to become a heady force in Dathan

Ritzenhein’s On AC cohort.

“What we’ve learned just from my training is I can

Jeff Hollobaugh with permission

really lean on my strength a lot,” she explains. “For whatever reason, I’ve found a lot of success in keeping the race pace honest. In the past couple years, I’ve been still coming up to the pro level and so I don’t have as much confidence in that final kick.

“But I’ve been working on a lot of speed; I think my speed has improved a lot compared to my first year as a pro. But I think just the way Dathan writes the training, I have a lot of confidence in just being able to improved a lot compared to my first year as a pro. But I think just the way Dathan writes the training, I have a lot of confidence in just being able to grind at a V02 max pace, so that’s just where we go to with our races. We’re just going to make it hard and see who hangs on and how we can finish at the end.”

Still relatively young in her career arc, Monson has effectively staked a claim as one of the big names of U.S. running, leading the U.S. Rankings at 5000 and also getting No. 3 at 10,000. Her 5000 resume also includes a No. 10 World Ranking, the result of racing very effectively on the Diamond League circuit.

Monson’s ‘22 campaign left little room for disappointment. After winning the USATF XC title, her indoor season took her to Serbia, where she placed 7th in the World Indoor 3000. Then her 30:51.09 PR (No. 7 U.S. all-time) earned her 2nd in the USATF 10,000. She prepped for Worlds by becoming the No. 3 U.S. runner ever with her 14:31.11 in the Bislett 5000, placing 5th. At Worlds she managed 13th in the 10,000, matching her Tokyo finish. In Lausanne, she very nearly won the 3000, her 8:26.81 moving her to No. 4 ever among Americans. Then she made 6th in the DL Final 5000, clocking 14:38 on Zurich’s temporary road/track.

That Lausanne race she singles out as her best moment of the year, in that it revealed that she can truly contend at the highest level: “I came obviously very close to winning that race, and I feel like over the whole season I just kept on progressing with my performances and gaining confidence. I was like, ‘Alright, I can actually compete with the best in the world.’ After that I had more confidence, going into the Diamond League Final and then going into this year.”

Would she like a do-over of that final stretch, where a leaning Francine Niyonsaba caught her to take the win by a mere 0.01? “Yeah,” she says with a laugh. “I’m definitely going to be leaning in every single race I do from now on.”

The Wikipedia page for Amery, Wisconsin (population 2925), lists the Olympian as one of the small town’s “notable people.” She says of her beginnings, “If you’re a talented athlete from a small town, people are always like, ‘Oh, see you in the Olympics!’ But it was always kind of a joke. And then it came true. It’s definitely been cool to have the support from Amery over the years.”

As a prep, Monson clocked bests of 4:55.32m and 10:26.86m. Her