Posted: May 1, 2006

Athletics: Webb Nips Ritz In Strong 10,000M Debut

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

PALO ALTO (30-Apr) -- Alan Webb made a strong 10,000m debut here tonight, just nipping Dathan Ritzenhein in the final sprint to finish in 27:34.72, to 27:35.65. In doing so, Webb became the 8th-fastest American of all-time over the distance, and Ritzenhein --who set a personal best time-- became the 9th-fastest surpassing Bruce Bickford and Bob Kennedy.

"I thought I could run with these guys," said Webb who was clearly pleased that he had won the race. "It's hard to know what would happen; it's such a long way."

Gabe Jennings and Michael Aish took the field through 1000m in 2:44.7 and 2000m in 5:28.1. Both Webb and Ritzenhein followed the pace, as did Matt Gonzales who would later fade. Jennings stepped off the track after 2400m, and Aish continued to set a strong pace. The New Zealander took the contenders through 3000m in 8:15.8 and took them to 4000m in 11:02.0 before retiring.

At that point, Webb and Ritzenhein began to share the lead as they had agreed before the race.

"We decided to switch every 800m," Ritzenhein explained after the race.

It was Webb who was on the front through 5-K in 13:48.1, but Ritz who led at 6-K in 16:34.9. The small but appreciative crowd at Stanford University was getting worked up with every lap as stadium announcer Scott Davis continued to call out the splits which showed they were well under 27:45 pace.

Just slightly behind the leading pair, Anthony Famiglietti was also making an excellent 10,000m debut. He was running alone about nine seconds back at half-way, but in the second half the Olympic steeplechaser began to eat into their lead.

The laps ticked by, Webb leading Ritzenhein, Ritzenhein leading Webb. Passing 8000m in 22:09.9 they were still on target, and Famiglietti had now closed the gap to only six seconds. Both athletes were beginning to fight both mental and physical fatigue.

"About 6-K, I was saying, 'Man, 10 more laps!'" Webb recalled thinking.

"I didn't know if I had it in me with a couple of laps to go," Ritzehein said.

It was Ritzenhein who took the bell and observers punched their stopwatches to see who would be fastest over the last lap. The pair rounded the final turn together, and Webb put the hammer down in the homestraight. Ritzenhein relented, but Webb continued to sprint right through the finish line. His last lap was completed in just under 61 seconds.

"It's really cool," Webb said of his debut at the distance before heading off for his cool down run. His coach, Scott Raczko, told reporters that despite his athlete's success here tonight at the 25-lap distance, he was sticking to the mile this summer.

"This was always in the plan to run a 10-K," he said. "I don't know who the rumor got out there, but he's not planning to move up (to the 5000m)."

Ritzenhein was pleased that he had put his 2007 World Championships qualifying time in the bank (27:49.00) and when he races the 10,000m at Hengelo on May 28, he's free to try for an even faster time.

"I can take some risks," Ritzenhein said after explaining that he had dedicated tonight's race to a friend, Matthew Weber, who had died last Thursday of wounds he had suffered in a roadside attack while serving in Iraq last November. "He finally went on Thursday. I was thinking 'Matt, Matt, Matt' the whole way."

Famiglietti put in the fastest final lap, clocking 59.3 seconds to finish a solid third in 27:37.74. The New Yorker was elated.

"This is what it's all about," said Famiglietti who admitted that he really wanted to better Todd Williams's personal best of 27:31.34. "It's great when it all comes together in one race."

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