'Good Legs' Carry Fisher To Victory As Eight Men Go Under 27 Minutes; Nico Young, Habtom Samuel Both Go Under Collegiate Record; Tsigie Gebreselama Cruises To 12th Fastest Women's Time In History; Sadie Engelhardt Wins Pro 1,500, Rises To No. 5 Prep All-Time

By Aaron Heisen for DyeStat

Photos by Chuck Utash

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. — Grant Fisher waited until the final 100 meters to make a move. 

For most of The Road To Paris 10,000-meter race on Saturday at The TEN, Fisher sat slightly behind the leaders, just close enough to where he could close the gap while staying within reach of the green lights that signified the Olympic qualifying standard of 27 minutes.

INTERVIEWS | PHOTOS by Chuck Utash

“We went by the lights with about 600 (meters) to go,” Fisher said. “At that point, that was everyone’s main concern… Once we got by them, it was race mode. I felt good at the end. I had good legs.”

Fisher completed the Olympic standard and won the race, finishing in 26 minutes and 52.04 seconds. He executed his race strategy to a tee.

“I really didn’t want to lead,” Fisher said. “It’s a long way to go and I just didn’t want to be stuck for too long. The guys that did lead did a great job. Hats off to them, they dragged us to sub-27.” 

Those pace-setters included Canada’s Moh Ahmed, who finished fourth, in an Olympic standard time of 26:53.01. Nico Young, a junior at Northern Arizona, finished in second, ran 26:52.72 to smash the collegiate record. He broke Chris Derrick's American collegiate record by nearly 40 seconds and Sam Chelanga's overall collegiate record by 16.

Young stuck behind Fisher for the majority of the race and made his move into the top three group with less than 1,600 meters remaining. 

Sweden’s Andreas Almgrem finished third in 26:52.87. 

Adriaan Wildschutt of HOKA NAZ Elite was sixth in 26:55.54 and broke his own South African record, Woody Kincaid of Nike was seventh in 26:57.57 and Edwin Kurgat of Under Armour Dark Sky Distance was eighth in 26.57.66.

It marked the No. 2 all-time collection of sub-27 athletes in the same race, trailing only the nine competitors from the 2011 Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Oregon. 

Fisher won at The TEN in 2022. He was unable to compete in it last season, but came back to win Saturday. The qualifying time allows him to cool down and focus less on time in his lead up to Paris 2024. 

In the women’s Road to Paris race, Ethiopian Tsigie Gebreselama darted out to a lead and never looked back. She finished in 29:48.34, almost a minute ahead of the Olympic standard time. 

Weini Kelati of the U.S. finished in 30:33.82, good enough for second after she moved up into that place on the last lap. She was the only American to hit the Olympic standard after Alicia Monson, who ran in second for most of the race, bowed out with 1,600 meters remaining. 

“It feels amazing, just to get it done early in the season,” Kelati said after. “It feels like there’s a weight off my shoulders.”

After Gebreselama created distance from the field, Kelati had to decide whether she was going to try and keep pace or stick with the chasing group. She chose the latter, which allowed her to preserve energy and push for the standard at the end. 

“When I saw the light pass me I was like, ‘no, I can not let this go,’” Kelati said. 

When Kelati saw Monson step to the side she called to her saying they could work together but Monson didn’t oblige and at that point Kelati had to prioritize her race. 

Kelati, Australian Lauren Ryan, who finished third in 30:35.66 and broke the Australian record and Great Britain’s Megan Keith was fourth in 30:36.84. All ran Olympic qualifying standard times along with Gebreselama.

Sadie Engelhardt, a junior at Ventura High competing unattached, won the women’s 1,500-meter race in a personal-best 4:09.70. 

“I was going to go with the plan to stick in the back, but that’s not how it turned out,” Engelhardt said.

Instead, she rushed out of the gate, trailing only the pacer. Sammy McClintock crept up on Engelhardt’s right shoulder through the third lap. She was never able to overtake the prep star.

Lauren Gregory, who finished second, passed Engelhardt with 300 meters remaining, but couldn't hold off the high schooler's kick. 

“The pace slipped away and that’s when I tried to focus a little more on effort to make sure I still had a kick,” Engelhardt said. 

Before the meet, Engelhardt's coaches felt that she was capable of posting a sub-4:10 time, and with it, the win. It took some time for Engelhardt to believe that herself, but once she did, she carried a similar mentality into Saturday’s race — one where she adapted on the fly. 

Engelhardt's time is No. 5 all-time on the prep list. 

In the Road To Tracktown 10,000-meter races that preceded the top sections, Drew Hunter of adidas won the men's race in 27:38.87 and Amanda Vestri of ZAP Endurance won the women's race in 31:54.22. 

Bowerman Track Club teammates Kieran Tuntivate and Thomas Ratcliffe finished 1-2 in the men's 1,500 meters, in 3:37.58 and 3:37.87, respectively. Matthew Centrowitz was fifth in 3:38.88. 

Summer Wilson of JSerra CA won the girls 1,600 meters on her home track in 4:49.78. Teammate Georgia Jeanneret won the 800 in 2:09.18. 

Ibzan Felix from Beckman CA ran 4:08.12 to win the boys 1,600. 

Juan Juarez of Liberty CA won the boys 800 in 1:53.97.