QUICK OXY HIGHLIGHTS
By David Monti
(c) 2013 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

   NOTE: Your editor had planned to cover this meeting on-site, but got sick and had to cancel his trip --Ed.

(18-May) -- The USATF High Performance Meet at Occidental College in the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles lived up to its name last night, with excellent depth and strong times recorded in nearly every discipline.

High schooler Mary Cain posted the most impressive mark of the meet.  The 17 year-old from Bronxville, N.Y., backed up her sensational indoor season, where she set multiple USA high school and junior records, by clocking the second-fastest time of the night, an IAAF World Championships "A" standard of 4:04.62.  In doing so, she destroyed Suzy Favor Hamilton's 1987 USA junior record of 4:09.10.  Combined with winning the USA open indoor mile title last March, Cain must now be seen as a possible team-maker for the world championships.

"I told her she was capable of running under 4:05, because she is," Cain's coach Alberto Salazar told Flotrack last night.  He continued: "Obviously, she's got a shot at making a team."

Katie Mackey had the fastest time of the night (4:04.60), and Canada's Nicole Sifuentes and former Tennessee star Sarah Brown also went under the "A" standard of 4:05.50.

Nick Symmonds, who had said via Twitter that he would be "dabbling in the 1500m" at Occidental, wound up having the fastest time of 3:36.07, despite not running in the top heat.  He picked up $2500 for his win.

"My first oversized check AND first crown all in the same night," Symmonds tweeted.

Steeplechaser Evan Jager (3:36.34) and USA mile/3K indoor champion Will Leer (3:36.67) posted the #2 and #3 times of the night.  Nobody got the IAAF "A" standard of 3:35.00.

In the men's 5000m, Mo Farah got pacing assistance from training partner Galen Rupp, and took away the win in 13:15.68.  His other training partner, Dathan Ritzenhein, took second in 13:17.68.  Everyone fell short of the IAAF "A" standard of 13:15.00.

That was not the case in the women's 5000m where Molly Huddle, the American record holder, showed excellent form with her 15:05.56 win, well under the "A" standard of 15:18.00.  A resurgent Treniere Moser was a surprising second in 15:11-flat, and Brie Felnagle (15:14.33) and Amy Hastings (15:17.35) also got the standard.

Eighteen men broke 1:50.00 in the 800m, led by Brandon Johnson's 1:44.85, the first of three athletes to break the "A" standard of 1:45.30.  The other two were Charles Jock (1:45.01) and Mike Rutt (1:45.08).  World 1500m champion Jenny Simpson won the 800m in 2:00.45; no athletes made the "A" standard of2:00-flat.

Matt Hughes won the men's steeple in 8:25.95, just squeaking under the "A" standard of 8:26-flat.  Law student Ashley Higginson won the women's race in 9:45.83, just off the 9:43.00 "A" standard.

ENDS