National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Centro, Huddle lead "light day" qualifiers

Fifth in a 9-part series! Keep checking back for the next 4!

2013 IAAF World Champs photos by John Nepolitan | John's NSAF Alums Wednesday 0814 Gallery
NSAF file photos by Vic Sailer, Photorun.net, for the NSAF

 
Matt Centrowitz: 2013 IAAF WC 1500 qualifying at left, 2007 NON 2M victory at right.

Wednesday, the fifth day of the 9-day 2013 IAAF World Championships, was a light day, with just a morning session as athletes in many events recharged for the second half of the meet.  But even with just one final and qualifying rounds for four other events, there were 11 National Scholastic Athletics Foundation “alums” in action – seven for Team USA and four more for other nations. 

And, it turns out, the group included a few of the great performers in the history of the indoor and outdoor NSAF championships.

Five alums lined up in the first round of the men’s 1,500, including the runner who stunned American distance fans two years ago with his 2011 World Champs bronze in the event.  Matt Centrowitz (Portland, Ore.), while a prep at Broadneck HS (Annapolis, Md.) in 2007, beat Craig Forys in the Nike Outdoor Nationals 2-Mile in what many considered at the time to be the greatest all-around high school race at that distance: His 8:41.55 led 14 runners under 9:00.  He competed in both Nike Indoor and Outdoor Nationals as a soph and junior, finishing outside the top 10 before breaking through with a second in the NIN 2M (9:02.05, behind Forys) three months before the NON epic.

 
2013 IAAF WC 1500 qualifying: At left, Lopez Lomong; at right, Leo Manzano.
 

Centrowitz was 5th in the 3rd of three heats here, automatically advancing with his 3:38.62.  In heat one, American Lopez Lomong (Beaverton, Ore.) was 3rd in 3:38.48, while 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist Leo Manzano (Austin, Texas) was 2nd in heat two in 3:39.39.  Lomong and Manzano also have NSAF meet history: Lomong was 2nd in the NIN mile in 2004 in 4:13.41 while a Tully (N.Y.) senior, while Manzano in his final two years at Marble Falls (Texas) took 7th in the 2003 adidas Outdoor Champs (AOC) mile (4:07.83) and 4th in the 2004 AOC 800 (1:50.48).

Also, Canadian Nate Brannen was 2nd in H3 at 3:38.49 and New Zealand’s Nick Willis was 9th in H1 in 3:39.83 – both moving on to the semis.  Fans will remember both in NSAF meets, but moreso Brannen: For he was 2nd in the 2001 NIN deuce in 8:57.28 while ahead of him Alan Webb was making his celebrated run at the national record before finishing in 8:45.19.  Willis, meanwhile, earns his alum status thanks to a 5th in the Great American XC College Race of Champs.

 
Molly Huddle: 2013 IAAF WC 5k qualifying at left, 2002 AOC 2M title at right.

Then in the women’s 5,000 heats, fans watched no less of a great NSAF former champion in Molly Huddle (Providence, R.I.).  Who can forget the 2002 AOC 2-mile when Huddle, then an Elmira Notre Dame (N.Y.) senior, chased the sub-10 barrier?  She came up just shy with 10:01.08, but it was a standard that stood until the 2011 New Balance Nationals Outdoor, when Aisling Cuffe broke it.  Huddle also was 3rd in the mile that weekend, had won the NIC mile that March, and the previous year had been 3rd in both the AOC 1M and 2M.

Huddle was 3rd in first heat of the 5,000 in 15:40.91, while teammate Shannon Rowbury (San Francisco) was 4th in 15:50.41, both qualifying with room to spare.  Rowbury, too, is a former AOC champ, having won the 800 in 2001 (2:12.00) while a junior at Sacred Heart (San Fran).  Also competing in the prelims was Jackie Areson, the former Atlantic (Del Ray, Fla.) HS and U. of Tennessee star who represents Australia.  She ran NIN and NON finals in both her junior and senior years, highlighted by an NIN mile victory in 2006 at 4:50.13.  She was 8th in heat two, qualifying to the final on time at 15:40.21.

 
Marquis Dendy: 2013 IAAF WC long jump qualifying at left, 2011 NBNI at right.

On the field, the men’s long jump qualifying saw three NSAF alums competing, with the Team USA duo including a relative youngster and a super vet.  Unfortunately, Marquis Dendy (Gainesville, Fla.) was way off form and not close to qualifying to the final with a 24-1.75(-0.4w), but he has plenty of years to improve on that.  He was a prep superstar at Middletown (Del.), with his NSAF peak coming with a LJ/TJ sweep in the 2011 NBNI at 25-3.25 and 51-3.75 – he ranked US#1 in both that winter.  While Dendy was off form that year at NBNO (6th and 3rd), he won the NBNO LJ as a junior in 2011 and made the World Juniors that year, placing 8th in the final.  He had begun his NSAF career as a soph when he was 5th in the TJ at NIN, 2nd in the TJ at NBNO, and runner-up in the Caribbean Scholastic TJ.

On the other end of the spectrum, all-time great 35-year-old Dwight Phillips (Snellville, Ga.) became the oldest competitor ever to make a IAAF WC long jump final when he went 26-1(-0.2w) to qualify 9th.  He has made seven WC finals, winning in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2011.  He prepped at Tucker (Ga.) and was 5th in the 1995 National Scholastic Outdoor LJ.

Finally, Jamaican Damar Forbes – just 22 himself – made his first international final after getting eliminated in qualifying at World and Olympic meets the past two years, leaping 26-1.5(-0.5w) to advance in 7th.  Forbes prepped at MLK (Lithonia, Ga.) before a collegiate career at LSU.  He was the NIN LJ runner-up in 2009, then won it all in June at NON with a 24-6.5.

There’s more than 100 NSAF alums here in Moscow, including Team USA and international competitors, who have previously competed in the Foundation’s events.  Please note: You can read the detailed NSAF accomplishments of all of the relevant athletes mentioned below who began competition during the previous days of the meet: Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

 
At left, Damar Forbes in 2009 NON LJ; at right, Jackie Areson in 2006 NIN mile.