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On Friday evening July 4 Scott Bauhs finished an amazing year of running and racing with a 16th place effort at the Olympic Trials 10,000m in Eugene, Oregon. Although it wasn’t quite what he had hoped for, he did give a solid effort for as long as his legs would allow before he began to tire. After losing touch with the leaders just before the 5,000m mark, Scott struggled with the reality that his body wasn’t cooperating, and that his dream of becoming an Olympian would have to be put on hold for 4 years. Having talked to Scott since his race I’m confident that he’s very satisfied with the progress this year, and that he’s motivated from the experience gained in Eugene. I’ll do my best to summarize Scott’s race/experience below and will reflect on the year that he enjoyed.
First off, I have to say that the Olympic Trials this year was a very special event. I’ve been to many, many track meets including the Olympic games, and I’ve never enjoyed the atmosphere of a meet
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as much as I did the one in Eugene. Vin Lannana, the new Track/XC coach at Oregon moved to Oregon with a vision of re-creating what was once a great place to witness top-quality track and field. Since his arrival in Eugene, evidence of Vin’s vision have been evident, and the 2008 Olympic trials was proof that the spirit of track and field is still alive in the U.S. Near sell-out crowds packed the stands and the noise created by knowledgeable fans was deafening, even in the qualifying rounds.
I arrived in Eugene a week before Scott’s race to watch the Women’s 10,000m final and was completely blown away by the electricity in the air as moves were made and covered by athletes fighting for spots on the Olympic team. I told Scott the next day (via e mail) that he was in for a treat on Friday the 4th as any athlete would love to compete on such a stage.
Scott arrived in Eugene on the Monday before his race and was able to take in the amazing 800m finals, as well as some quality steeplechase action that evening.
The next morning he enjoyed a light workout on the Hayward Field track during an off day from competition. The surface was quick and he was excited to run circuits around the Hayward Stadium with 20,000+ fans in the stands. The following days were fairly relaxing as the big day approached.
Raceday came soon enough and the anticipation that comes with such a big event was evident as Scott seemed to become a bit more nervous each day. Walking through the track stadium with Scott each day and noticing that lot’s of people recognized him, reminded me that he will no longer fly under anyone’s radar again. I think this was the first time that Scott experienced what it is like to step onto a REALLY big stage with the expectations of many on his shoulders. The experience of being one of the crowd favorites at such a big event will definitely help him feel more comfortable in such a setting in the years to come.
At 6:00pm I pedaled my bicycle to the track, leaving Scott to rest for another hour in the hotel before we were to meet at the Athlete’s warm up area. Scott’s parents Tom and Teri had printed “GO Scotty” T shirts for the big event and Chico supporters were to meet near the Southwest Corner of the track to don the T’s and enjoy a few minutes before the evening’s events began. I was completely blown away by the huge Chico contingent that had made their way to Eugene. Fifty T Shirts were printed and we had quite a few who showed up too late to enjoy one of the future collectors items. It was just awesome to see so many of the supporters of our program/ Scott on hand for such a great event. Knowing that many of those present that evening are on this e mail list, I want to thank you all so much for making the effort to get to Eugene to support Scotty that night. I’m still shocked that a small DII school can produce so many great fans! Also, Thanks so much to Scott’s parents Teri and Tom who donated the T Shirts to these fans for no cost! One of the only drawbacks that I can think of with the Eugene Trials is that seating was assigned and Chico fans weren’t able to sit in large groups in most cases. Because of this, small groups of folks wearing the Go Scotty T shirts split off to claim their seats as the 7:00pm running events began.
Scott arrived at the athlete’s warm up area and we ventured inside a large maze of medical tents and different check in areas. His personalized bib # was given to him and with an hour remaining before he needed to start warming up we looked for a place where we could hopefully watch the events that were taking place on the track (via television). We settled inside a large tent where some athletes came for medical treatment after or before their races/competitions. They had a television going and we were able to watch the 1500m semifinals as well as a few other events which killed some of the nervous time before warming up. It was almost impossible though Not to be a bit star-struck in the athletes area as Olympic champions, World Record Holders and all kinds of folks wandered about preparing for competition or helping their athlete do the same.
At 8:20pm Scotty headed out of the tent to start his warm-up for the biggest race of his young career.
Scott returned from what seemed like an extra long warm-up (I must have glanced at my watch 20 times between 8:45 and 8:55pm) and appeared ready for battle. A few final words of pre-race encouragement were given (by yours truly) that had a lot to do with confidence and enjoying a great opportunity, and a final call was heard for the Men’s 10k participants. Of course Scott was the final competitor to arrive in the final staging area (partly my fault) but he seemed excited to be in the element that awaited inside the stadium. Despite his nerves I knew that Scott was mentally prepared and would bring his “A” game to the table that night, I’d just hoped that his body would be willing to go where his mind was.
At the conclusion of the women’s 5,000m final, the star studded men’s 10k field entered the stadium and the crowd showed their anticipation for the big event as people cheered for their favorite athletes. Scotty did a long stride ending on the top of the turn near the “K” section where a contingent of the Chico folks were cheering, and he waived his appreciation. In a field that had an Olympic Medalist, a World Championship qualifier from U of Oregon (Galen Rupp), and numerous other U.S. champions, the applause that Scotty received was definitely one of the loudest as the announcer introduced each of the 25 competing athletes.
The gun was fired at 9:20pm under perfect conditions and right away it was evident that the pace on this night would be honest. Abdi Abdirahman who had just missed breaking the American 10,000m record a short 4 weeks prior to the trials took the lead yanking the field out as fast as the 5k field had gone out several nights previous. The plan for Scott was to put himself in a position where he could cover the moves of the lead pack and let the field whittle down as the pace tightened. Tactically Scott played his hand perfectly on this night, putting himself among the back of the lead pack, and as expected the honest pace quickly pared a 25-man field down to just over half that size by 8-9 laps. Scott split 4:27 and 4:24 for the initial 3200m (8:51= 27:39 pace) and held on tightly on the end of what was a 14 man pack.
By the ninth lap it appeared that Scott wasn’t as comfortable as we’d hoped. Surges from ahead caused small gaps to form between he and the closest competitors ahead of him and by the 11th lap he was no longer able to respond to these surges. A 66.0 11th lap was quick, but not quick enough to cover the moves from ahead, and the result was a gap that was temptingly close but still too far for him to make up. Scott hit 5k in 13:58 (27:56 pace) but was en-route to a 70 second revolution, which put him too far behind the group to entertain the thought of catching up. Now the race became even more difficult as Scott ran solo in “No Man’s Land” for most of the final 12 laps. The honest pace was taking it’s toll on others ahead as they fell off the main pack as Scott had a few laps earlier, but they were just too far ahead already to mount much of a charge forward.
As the race wound down Scott became a spectator in a race that he was running in, as he could see the lead group of three on the big screen as they fought hard to stay ahead of a tough field of pursuers. Digging with all he had Scott pulled out a 64 final revolution to pass a final competitor and ironically to stop the clock at his pre-Stanford PR (28:54). In my pre-race analysis I mentioned that this was perhaps the best field ever assembled at a US trials for the 10k distance. This indeed the case as no less than 7 men ran under the 28 minute mark. Looking back at former Olympic Trials results it’s rare to see more than 1-2 running under the 28 minute barrier. This was indeed a very talented group of distance runners!
As I told many of those who had asked me about Scott’s chances in the days leading up to the trials, my only concern was that Scott’s racing schedule had been so long and that his most recent break had been taken the summer before. There were min-breaks and down weeks, but given his rigorous racing schedule this year, we knew there was a chance that we might have been expecting too much within such a long window of time.
Scott’s initial reaction as I met with him after the race was one of disappointment and not knowing what had gone wrong. He mentioned that his stomach felt bad during the race and that his legs just didn’t feel quite right early in the race. I assured him that from my perspective that he’d done everything that he could and that he had raced strong and smart, but that we were expecting too much of his body for such a long year. If the pace had been more tactical as it usually is in a championship race it might have bettered his chances, but given that it was an all out guts race from the start, everyone had to be 100% ready physically and Scotty just wasn’t. He understood and agreed and didn’t let the rough race weigh on him too badly (which was great news).
At the beginning of the school year a substantial break was planned late in the fall, allowing for enough build-up to hopefully qualify for the World XC Championships in Scotland. This break was deleted after Scott ran the 1:03 1/2 marathon and put himself in position to run for the US in Japan in November. Coming off the Japan race Scott was able to take only a few days off before starting to prepare for the effort that it would take to make another US team in Scotland, and of course two weeks after his 52nd place effort at the World XC championships in Scotland, Scotty was in Chico breaking 4 minutes for the mile in front of the awesome Chico fans. Looking back on the year I’m certain that Scott wouldn’t trade in any of the experiences that he enjoyed along the way, but then again I’m confident that he’s learned from this year and will ‘fine-tune’ his approach into the upcoming World and Olympic Championship qualifying meets.
For everyone who’s followed his journey closely, stay tuned as I’m quite certain that you’ve only seen the start of something great. Scott just turned 22 years old a few months ago, and has already accumulated an amazing amount of experience for an athlete of his age. All of this should pay great dividends in the coming years. In fact you won’t have to travel far to watch Scotty attempt to make next summer’s World Championship track team as the US Championships are set to be held in Eugene, Oregon (June ‘09). Scott’s time from this year is an automatic US championship mark so he’ll definitely be toeing the line for a spot on the US team to Germany next summer.
Below I’ll list the final results from the 10k final at the Trials, and below that I’ll include some of the many highlights that Scott has enjoyed this year.
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Men 10000 Meter Run
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World: W 26:17.53 8/26/2005 Kenenisa Bekele, ETH
American: A 27:13.98 5/4/2001 Meb Keflezighi, Nike
OT: T 27:36.49 7/9/2004 Meb Keflezighi, Nike
Hayward: S 26:25.97 2008 Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia
Name Year Team Finals
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Finals
1 Abdi Abdirahman Nike 27:41.89
2 Galen Rupp unattached 27:43.11
3 Jorge Torres Reebok 27:46.33
4 Edward Moran Nike 27:52.10
5 Josh Rohatinsky Nike 27:54.41
6 James Carney New Balance 27:58.81
7 Adam Goucher Nike 27:59.31
8 Dathan Ritzenhein Nike 28:05.31
9 Sean Quigley Puma 28:21.96
10 Tim Nelson Nike 28:29.95
11 Edwardo Torres Reebok 28:35.91
12 Josh Simpson New York A C 28:37.16
13 Meb Keflezighi Nike 28:39.02
14 Daniel Browne Nike 28:42.78
15 Fasil Bizuneh New Balance 28:43.11
16 Scott Bauhs Cal. St. , Chico 28:54.32
17 Brett Gotcher McMillan Elite 28:54.89
18 Matthew Downin New Balance 28:55.66
19 Seth Pilkington Weber State 29:10.33
20 Michael Kilburg Portland 29:26.76
21 John Moore Portland 29:26.79
22 Steve Sundell New York A C 29:35.86
23 Louis Luchini Oregon TC Elite 29:42.78
24 Stephen Haas Team Indiana Elite 29:57.45
25 Seth Summerside adidas 30:52.33
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Scott’s amazing year in a nutshell:
Sept ‘07: Scotty races and wins the Chico Invitational XC meet with a high powered Stanford team visiting Chico. Given Scott’s many accomplishments both before and after, this may seem not all that noteworthy but it has to be mentioned that Scott was just starting workouts and wasn’t “race ready” but wanted to run in Chico knowing that so many of our great fans would want to see him compete since it was our only home XC meet. This was his idea and tells a lot about the class of this competitor.
Sept ‘07: With three more weeks of training behind him a Red-Shirting Bauhs wins the Stanford XC Invit defeating many top DI runners in the process. Kenyan standout Aaron Rono who would eventually run away with the NAIA XC title had passed Bauhs at mid race and appeared to have the race won, before Bauhs stormed back to claim the victory in a serious 23:03 finish time for the 8k course.
October ‘07: Bauhs runs 1:03.04 at the San Jose Rock and Roll 1/2 marathon (averaging 4:48 mile pace for 13.1 miles!) making him the fastest US runner to have run the distance at age 21 or under.
November ‘07: Scott is selected for and competes in his first International competition for the U.S. His 28:30 10k leg at the Ekiden relays in Japan sets the tone for the U.S. Team and team captain gives Scott the sash that they pass along during the race (given to the best performer of the team). It should be noted that Scott spent part of the week before his Japan trip in a mini-van with teammates driving to Joplin, MO to support the Chico teams who were competing at the NCAA meet.
Feb ‘08: Scott places 10th at the US XC championships in San Diego in front of a huge contingent of Chico supporters while claiming the 9th and final spot on the US XC team that would compete at the World XC Championships in Scotland the next month.
March ‘08: With better fitness behind him Bauhs finishes as the #4 runner for the US team while placing 52nd overall at the World Championships.
April ‘08: two weeks after running in Scotland Bauhs becomes Chico’s first Sub 4 minute miler while 2,000+ screaming fans cheer him under the fabled mark. Bauhs also becomes the 308th American to have run under 4 minutes and is greeted after by Kim Ellison who had run 4:01 on the same track for Chico State some 37 years before. This was a magical night!
April ‘08: A week after his stunning mile race Scott ran 13:31 for 5,000m breaking his own school record and became the fastest DII American ever at the distance. He now stands at #3 on the All Time DII list for the 5k event. Something to note was that Scott ran the 13:31 during a 90 mile week (preparing for the upcoming Stanford 10k) and had run 12 miles the day before the race!
May ‘08: A day after winning his third straight CCAA 1500m title Scott recorded 27:48 10k at the Payton Jordan Classic in Palo Alto, CA making him the fastest DII 25 lapper ever, and the 4th fastest American Collegiate runner Ever!!!! The time shaves a full 66 seconds off his previous track PR and made him the fastest American for the year to that point. Of course 27:48 was also an Olympic ‘A’ Qualifying mark, which thrust the Junior into the discussion of who might have a shot at the Olympic team for the 10k event.
May ‘08: Bauhs wins his second NCAA title, this year at the 5k distance. Scott was also awarded the USA Coaches’ Association Male Athlete of the Year Award at the NCAA Banquet!
July ‘08: After a 5 week stretch devoted to training for the Olympic Trials Bauhs finishes 16th at the 2008 Olympic Trials for the 10k distance. It should be noted that Bauhs split at 5,000m was quicker than his finish time the year before at the USATF 5,000m championship. Perhaps this can be the silver lining in what was a rare “tough race” for Bauhs.
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