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Torrence, Eccleston Defend Titles at HOKA ONE ONE Long Island MilePublished by
Three Women Go Sub-4:30, Seven Men Run Sub-4:00By Scott Bush Calm conditions and loaded fields led to fast performances across the board Wednesday evening at the HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile. With countless fans taking part in the community mile races leading up to the top professional events, the crowd continued to build in anticipation and excitement throughout the evening. With the sun finally set and the crowd lining the track up to lane three, the race was on. As expected, the early stages of the women's race unfolded with a top group of runners packing it up a few strides behind the rabbit. Evenly paced and in control, the lead women passed through the first 400 meters in 67 seconds, then doulbing their efforts to come through half way in 2:15. With the rabbit stepping aside, former University of Michigan runners Shannon Osika and Amanda Eccleston, as well as Lauren Johnson, took over the lead, creating a gap between themselves as the rest of the field. While not much changed during the third lap, it was just past the bell that Eccleston and Johnson put a step on Osika and it then became a two woman race. Johnson and Eccleston ran stride for stride, neither having a significant edge on the other until 150 meters to go, when Eccleston pushed past Johnson, hit the home stretch in the lead and only lengthened the lead. Eccleston strode home to her second consecutive HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile victory in 4:26.87, while Johnson edged Osika for second, 4:28.18-4:28.45. Women's Top 8 Finishers4:26.87 - Amanda Eccleston Similarly on the men's side, the race got off to a fast start, as rabbit Declan Murray grabbed the lead after the first 100 meters and expertly led the pack through the first 400 meters in 59 seconds. With the leaders running up on his shoulder, the pace picked up slightly, running through the half way split in 1:55. While the field was strung out, a half dozen men were clearly in contention with just over 1000m to go, with Canada's Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, Ford Palmer, David Torrence, Kyle Merber, Colby Alexander and Eric Avila in the mix. As Murray dropped off the track with 500 meters to go, Philibert-Thiboutot shot to the lead and started to drive the pace as the final lap approached. Down the backstretch the athletes came Philibert-Thiboutot created a small lead for himself, while Torrence and Palmer pulled away from the rest of the chase pack. With 200 meters to go, Torrence pulled up on the shoulder of Philibert-Thiboutot and coming off the final turn, Torrence swung wide, put in a few quick strides and quickly positioned himself in the lead, with Philibert-Thiboutot only able to look over his shoulder to make sure he had second wrapped up. While Torrence didn't match his winning mark from 2015, his 3:54.99 ranks him at #18 in the world this year. Philibert-Thiboutot finished a close second in 3:55.25, while Palmer charged to a third place finish in 3:55.60 and a total of seven men dipped under the four minute barrier. What a night! Men's Top 8 Finishers3:54.99 - David Torrence Watch the event replay and relive the excitement of the HOKA ONE ONE Long Island Mile on RunnerSpace, at http://hoka-one-one-long-island-mile.runnerspace.com What They're Saying...
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