Fisher clocks 26:33.84 and Canadian star Ahmed runs 26:34.14 to elevate to Nos. 7 and 9 all-time competitors, as 18 male athletes run sub-28, including Rayner’s Australian mark of 27:15.35; Cranny just missed Huddle’s American record with 30:14.66 effort, but becomes fastest female at a U.S. event

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. – When Elise Cranny scaring the American record and running the fastest women’s time ever on U.S. soil wasn’t even the top storyline for Nike Bowerman Track Club, it was an indication of just how special Sunday evening was for the group and everyone in attendance at Sound Running’s second edition of The Ten.

That’s because Grant Fisher and Moh Ahmed led a historically deep field in the men’s 10,000 meters, with the top three competitors all achieving national records and 18 athletes running under 28 minutes at JSerra High.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | CHUCK UTASH PHOTOS

Fisher and Ahmed battled all the way to the line, elevating to the Nos. 7 and 9 performers in global history.

Fisher prevailed in 26:33.84, eclipsing the 2014 American record of 26:44.36 established by Galen Rupp.

Ahmed lowered his own Canadian record by 25 seconds to clock 26:34.14, marking only the third time in history that a pair of athletes both ran under 26:35 in the same race, including the first since 2005.

Fisher’s performance was No. 12 all-time, with Ahmed producing the 14th-fastest mark in history.

Jack Rayner broke the Australian national record of Pat Tiernan, with the PUMA Elite standout in the race.

Rayner ran 27:15.35, taking down Tiernan’s mark of 27:22.55, set at the same venue Dec. 5, 2020, at Sound Running’s The Track Meet. Tiernan placed 14th on Sunday in 27:45.95.

American Sean McGorty (27:18.15) and Thailand standout Kieran Tuntivate (27:23.64), Nike Bowerman Track Club teammates with Fisher and Ahmed, finished fourth and fifth. Tuntivate missed his national record of 27:17.14 set at last year’s event.

The 18 athletes achieving sub-28 efforts in the same race is one shy of the most produced in a competition on U.S. soil, trailing only the 2011 Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford.

Eight individuals earned the World Championships standard, including Patrick Dever of Great Britain clocking 27:23.88, American Shadrack Kipchirchir (27:24.93), along with former BYU standout and first-year Nike professional Conner Mantz (27:25.23).

Cranny appeared primed to challenge the 30:13.17 performance produced in 2016 by Molly Huddle during her sixth-place finish at the Rio Olympics, but came up just shy of the American record by clocking 30:14.66.

Cranny, who made her 10,000 debut and ran 30:47.42 at last year’s event to elevate to the No. 3 all-time U.S. competitor, did surpass Nike Bowerman Track Club coach and athlete Shalane Flanagan for No. 2 in American history.

Cranny also achieved the fastest performance ever on U.S. soil, a mark previously established by Ethiopia’s Werknesh Kidane with her 30:19.39 effort at the 2005 Payton Jordan Invitational, in addition to elevating to the No. 24 all-time global competitor.

Dominique Scott, representing adidas and Team Boss, also challenged the South African record with the second-fastest time in her country’s history, before placing runner-up in a personal-best 31:00.10, one of nine athletes to secure the World Championships standard and 13 in the section to produce a sub-32 performance.

Andrea Seccafien, also training with Nike Bowerman Track Club, just missed her Canadian record of 31:13.94, which she achieved in May in nearby Irvine, taking third in 31:15.78.

American athletes Natosha Rogers (31:16.89), Millie Paladino (31:19.92), Sarah Lancaster (31:21.75), Paige Stoner (31:22.55), Courtney Frerichs (31:23.13) and Emily Lipari (31:24.82) secured the next six spots, all earning the global standard to compete in July at the World Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Frerichs, an Olympic and World Championships silver medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase representing Nike Bowerman Track Club, was making her 10,000 debut.

Lauren Hurley, a 34-year-old mother representing Rise Elite and Tracksmith, competing in only her third career track race at the distance following an impressive career as a triathlete, won the U.S. Championships qualifying race in 31:49.46, just off the American standard of 31:45.

Molly Grabill, who trains with Hurley, was second also achieving a personal-best 31:57.72.

Jeralyn Poe, a former Michigan State and Northern Arizona standout, took third in 32:02.76.

Canadian Luc Bruchet eclipsed the 28-minute barrier for the first time in his career to prevail in the first men’s 10,000 section in 27:56.12.

Benjamin Eidenschink was second in 28:00.54 and Willy Fink took third in 28:06.36.

In a special men’s 1,500 race, On Athletics Club teammates Geordie Beamish and Ollie Hoare showcased a thrilling matchup in their final tuneup before the World Indoor Championships on March 18-20 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Beamish, representing New Zealand, rallied in the final 100 meters to edge Hoare, competing for Australia, by a 3:36.53 to 3:36.54 margin.

American Vincent Ciattei took third in 3:39.27.