National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

Centro, Wilson shine in bittersweet finale

Last in a 9-part series!

2013 IAAF World Champs photos by John Nepolitan | John's NSAF Alums Sunday 0818 Gallery
NSAF file photos by Vic Sailer, Photorun.net, for the NSAF

 
2013 IAAF men's 1,500 final: Matt Centrowitz taking the silver (right) and receiving it on the stand (left).

Sunday’s 2013 IAAF World Championships session was – for Team USA and their seven National Scholastic Athletics Foundation alums competing on the final day – kind of bittersweet.  Yes, there was some significant success, especially in the two middle distance races, but the ultimate satisfaction was hard to come by.  The meet as a whole was that way for the Americans, with a strong total of 25 medals but a 2nd-worst-ever (in 14 WCs) total of just six gold medals.

The 17 NSAF alums, overall, who closed out the week Sunday – out of more than 100 running, hurdling, jumping and throwing here – gave it their all and could mostly be proud of what they’d done.  And for those like Matt Centrowitz, Ajee Wilson and Octavious Freeman, the day was a little something more.

The detailed NSAF accomplishments of all of those who began competition during previous days are available on the pages for the following days: August 10 | August 11 | August 12 | August 13 | August 14 | August 15 | August 16 | August 17.

Centro and Wilson come up big

There was a lot of excitement for NSAF and Team USA fans that had built up around the men’s 1,500 and women’s 800 finals.  Could Matt Centrowitz, that great Nike Outdoor Nationals (NON) 2-Mile champ from six years past, match or exceed his bronze from the 2011 World Champs?  Would the three American women in the two-lapper, including NSAF alums Alysia Montano and junior supertalent Ajee Wilson, produce perhaps multiple medals and the best-ever U.S. results in that event?

The men’s 1,500 came first and it was kind of an odd affair: Hardly a fast race, but not so slow that a winning time north of 3:40 was likely.  A race where Kenyan favorite Asbel Kiprop seemed to be able to control the race however he liked.  And it was a race where the really huge kicks that multiple athletes could have launched at that pace never seemed to come.

But it was a race that worked for Centro.  He never let himself get in bad position, was pretty much where he wanted to be when it was time to move, and was able to beat everyone but Kiprop (3:36.28 for gold) in staking his claim to the silver medal (3:36.78).  The performance delivered the rock-solid confirmation that Centro is as good and consistent a racer as has been seen from an American-born miler, now with a three-year run of 2011 WC bronze, a 2012 Olympic 4th, and now the 2013 WC silver.

 
2013 IAAF WC men's 1,500 final: At left, Nate Brannen before the race; at right, the leaders at mid-race.

Canadian Nate Brannen, another NSAF alum who was in his sixth Olympic or World Champs, but had made a final for the first time, was 10th in 3:38.09

In the 800, NSAF alums Ajee Wilson and Alysia Montano were joined by Brenda Martinez as a Team USA trio that promised the hopes of a best-ever collective finish for Americans in the meet’s 30-year history.  Wilson, who turned pro after her career at Neptune (N.J.) HS, has been only slightly less amazing than Mary Cain for being a prodigal young middle or long-distance talent.  Plus she has something Cain doesn’t have: A string of championships at 800 that includes the 2011 World Youth and 2012 World Junior crowns, plus her 2011-12 New Balance Nationals Indoor titles.

 
2013 IAAF WC women's 800 final: At left, Ajee Wilson pre-race; at right, Alysia Montano leads mid-race.

Montano, as is her wont, blasted out into the lead from the gun.  It’s a strategy that was worked for her on most of the big stages, but this time going out in 26 and then 56 for the first two furlongs was too fast for her to have enough left to hold off a field of this talent.  By the final stretch she was hanging on for dear life, while Martinez – a come-from-behind runner – and Wilson were charging from the inside and outside while battling the rest of the field.

In the end, it was Eunice Jepkoech Sum of Kenya (1:57.38) and Mariya Savinova of Russia (1:57.80) who got the gold and silver, with Martinez (1:57.91) slipping in for bronze, Montano (1:57.95) diving across the line 4th, and Wilson hitting the line sixth.  While Wilson is two years older than Cain, both are “Juniors” for record purposes and, with her PR 1:58.21, Wilson surpassed Cain’s U.S. Junior mark set at the Pre Classic in June.

Twin silvers in the 4x1s

With the 4x400s out of the way, the relay action Sunday was focused on the 4x100s, where Team USA was underdogs to the Jamaicans in both the men’s and women’s races, yet were right there as the finals unfolded – until problems on a few of the exchanges.  Of course, the favorites had the basically insurmountable double sprint champs Usian Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on anchors.  So even with better exchanges, golds were unlikely.

If Allyson Felix hadn’t been injured in the 200 final, Team USA might have put out an all-NSAF alum quartet in the women’s 4x100, but there was still the trio of Alexandria Anderson, English Gardner and Octavious Freeman, all following leadoff Jeneba Tarmoh (100 bronze medalist Carmelita Jeter was also injured).  In the heats, this group ran a very solid 41.82 – a full second off the magical World Record from the London Olympics, but pretty good for a pretty young group.

 
2013 IAAF WC women's 4x100: At left, Alexandria Anderson hands to English Gardner in the prelims. At right, Octavious Freeman brings it home.

In the final, the Americans (same group) were in good position, leading as Anderson stormed down the backstretch.  But Gardner took off too soon and then had to wait for Anderson.  What had been a solid exchange in the prelims this time stalled Team USA’s effort and killed the already slim hopes of battling with Jamaica in the end.  Still, Freeman blasted a tremendous final leg and almost caught the French team for silver.  France was actually DQ’d later, so Team USA did take home the second-place medals for the 42.75.

It should be mentioned that Team USA had two NSAF alums in the women’s 4x100 relay pool that wound up not getting to compete: Barbara Pierre and Aurielle Scott.  Pierre was 8th in the 2005 NON 100 while at Oak Ridge (Orlando, Fla.) HS.  Scott was a big part of numerous relay titles and high placings for the high-powered Eleanor Roosevelt (Greenbelt, Md.) teams of the 2007-2010 era.  In 2009, she individually was 3rd in the NIN 60, then 4th in the NON 200.  She was also part of the Caribbean Scholastic Invite (CSI) crew that year and won the 100.

Also with NSAF ties was the Dominican Republic quartet and Canadian Crystal Emmanuel.  Fanny Chalas, Mariely Mejia, Mariely Sanchez and Margarita Manzueta comprised the entire D.R. 4x100 that won this year’s CSI race.  Here, they were 5th in heat 1 with a national record 43.28.  Emmanuel, who competed in the 2010 Nike Indoor Nationals (NIN) 60, was part of the Canadian quartet which ran 2nd in H2 with a NR 42.99, then was 6th in the final with 43.28.

On the men’s side, no one really expected the Americans to slow the ongoing dominance of the Usain Bolt regime, as the Jamaicans had won the last four World and Olympic titles.  Now if Team USA had the services of Tyson Gay (not on team due to doping violation), they might have given Jamaica – missing Yohan Blake due to injury – a pretty good race. 

As it turned out, Charles Silmon, Mike Rodgers, and Mookie Salaam seemed about to get the stick to anchor Justin Gatlin – the 100 silver medalist who was the only NSAF alum of the group – with a slight lead on the Jamaicans.  But again, a very shaky exchange almost brought Team USA to a standstill, allowing Bolt to retake the lead and make it an easy 37.36 win.  Again, the Americans had to settle for silver in 37.66 – not so much a disappointment of itself, but the way it happened.

Dentarius Locke was also part of the Team USA men’s 4x100 crew that didn’t get to run.  While at Tampa (Fla.) Chamberlain, he had a terrific NSAF career.  In the 2008 NON, he was 100/200 runner-up; then at the 2009 NIN he was 3rd in the 60.  Finally, that spring he captured both the 100 (10.59 into a 2.6) and 200 (20.87w) at NON.

Finally, NSAF alum Aaron Brown – who won the 2010 NIN 200 (21.54) and was 4th in the 60, repped Team Canada in the 4x100 as the team ran 38.29 in the prelims, then a strong 37.92 in the final for bronze.