Tegenkamp, Solinsky represent U.S. in Worlds final
August 23, 2009 | Men's Cross Country
Former University of Wisconsin All-Americans Chris Solinsky and Matt Tegenkamp helped give the United States three of the top 12 finishers in the men's 5,000 meters Sunday at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics.
The Badger duo wrapped up their run on the world stage with Tegenkamp finishing eighth and Solinsky 12th on the final day of the World Championships at Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Fellow American and defending world champion Bernard Lagat took second for the U.S. behind winner Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, who completed a sweep of the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races by clocking in at 13:17.09.
12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics
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Tegenkamp, who entered the final with the second-fastest seed time from Thursday 's preliminary round, finished in 13:20.23 to improve on his 13th-place finish from last year's Olympic Games but fall short of the fourth-place showing he had at the last World Championships in 2007.
Solinsky, who ran near the front of the pack over the first 10 laps of the race before fading as the pace picked up, clocked in at 13:25.87 in his first major international final.
Bekele led wire-to-wire on his way to the win, clocking a 54.72-second final lap to hold off a late charge from Lagat, who finished in 13:17.33. Solinsky was eighth as the leaders took the bell lap, while Tegenkamp was just behind in ninth and made a charge into sixth place with 200 meters to go.
Neither could hang on as a number of competitors came up with outstanding kicks to the finish, however.
