Derrick Sets US Jr. 5000 Record, Kastor Wins in Scotland

Derrick sets U.S. Junior Record at Payton Jordan Invitational

Stanford’s
Chris Derrick posted a record performance in the men’s 5,000 meters
Saturday at the 2009 Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford
University’s Cobb Track & Angell Field in Palo Alto, Calif.
 
Derrick
set the new U.S. Junior men’s 5,000m record with his time of 13 minutes
29.98 seconds, which bettered 2008 Olympian Galen Rupp’s standard of
13:37.91 from 2004. Two-time U.S. Junior Cross Country champion German
Fernandez, who is a freshman at Oklahoma State, also bettered Rupp’s
record in finishing just behind Derrick in 13:31.78.
 
Also at
Stanford on Saturday, reigning NCAA women’s 3,000m steeplechase
champion and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team member Jenny Barringer easily won
the women’s 5,000 meters in 15:07.64. Her time threatened the
collegiate record of 15:07.56 set by Cathy Branta Easker in 1985 (as
recognized by FAST), and is the fastest time in the world this year.
Barringer set the American and collegiate steeple record of 9:22.26 at
the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
 
Elsewhere, Matthew
Centrowitz posted the sixth-fastest 1,500 meters in collegiate history
with his win in 3:36.92, which currently sits atop the U.S. list. A
redshirt freshman at the University of Oregon, Centrowitz’s performance
is third all-time at Oregon, trailing marks posted by Olympic gold
medalist Joaquim Cruz (3:36.48 in 1984) and his father, Matt’s time of
3:36.7 from 1976.
 
Kastor wins in Scotland
 
Demonstrating
that the broken foot she suffered at last summer’s Olympic Games is
fully healed, 2004 Olympic women’s marathon bronze medalist Deena
Kastor was victorious Sunday at the 2009 Bupa Great Edinburgh 10 km Run
in Scotland.

Kastor
took charge of the race after two kilometers and was unchallenged
throughout, winning in 32 minutes, 38 seconds. Kastor thrived on the
hilly course, which is similar to her training runs in California. 
Latvian Jelena Prokopcuka was the runner-up, finishing 36 seconds
behind Kastor.

After
a long rehabilitation, Kastor told PA Sport that her broken foot was
healed and ready to go. “My foot felt great in practices because I was
so conservative before making my comeback, so I wasn’t expecting any
problems,” she said. “The only thing I was questioning before coming
here was being mentally tough because I’d been away so many months.”