June 20, 2013

• Results  |  Krause Interview

DES MOINES, Iowa -- For the first time in eight years, the world’s premier track and field competition won’t feature Matt Tegenkamp. For the second time in as many years, it will feature Mohammed Ahmed.

Ahmed, the Wisconsin junior, claimed his second-consecutive 10,000 meters title at the 2013 Canadian Championships on Thursday, while Tegenkamp came home seventh in the 10,000 at the 2013 USA Outdoor Championships.

Ahmed eased his way to the win in 29 minutes, 22.04 seconds over a small field in Moncton, British Columbia. Tegenkamp worked hard for his time of 29:21.93 against an elite lineup in Des Moines, Iowa.

In winning the Canadian title for the second-consecutive year, Ahmed secured himself a spot in the 2013 IAAF World Championships, which are set for Aug. 10-18 in Moscow. It will be Ahmed’s second-straight appearance for Team Canada after finishing 18th in the 10,000 at the 2012 Olympics in London.

Tegenkamp, on the other hand, saw his run of consecutive appearances for the U.S. at the world championships or Olympics end at five. He qualified for each of the three world championships and two Olympic Games since 2007. The last world championships without Tegenkamp as a member of Team USA was in 2005.

Though Ahmed has yet to secure the IAAF’s automatic -- or “A” -- qualifying standard (27:40.00) during this year’s window, the organization does allow each nation to enter one athlete that has achieved the “B” standard of 28:05.00.

Ahmed narrowly missed the “A” when he finished 13th at the Prefontaine Classic in 27:50.70 earlier this month. He owns a lifetime best of 27:34.64.

In March, he led the Canadians to their best-ever finish at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships by taking 22nd individually.

Senior Elliot Krause, whose final collegiate season was cut short by an injury that cost him a chance at competing at the NCAA championships, was strong in his Badgers finale. One of just two collegians in the elite field, Krause came home 19th in 30:09.41, picking off several positions over the closing laps.

“This is almost like a start of the season for me,” Krause said. “It might not have been what I wanted it to be, but workouts didn’t even come around until a week ago.

“It was good to come out here and pick a couple of guys off. It was my first time at the U.S. championships, so it’s good experience.”

Of the five Badgers products that toed the line in the first round of the 1500 meters at the U.S. championships, only one was able to advance through to Saturday’s final.

That it was 2010 graduate Craig Miller should come as no surprise. Miller is in the U.S. championships final for the second-consecutive season and third time in the last five years. He was eighth at the 2012 Olympic Trials.

It wasn’t without drama for Miller, though. He was edged out of the third and final automatic qualifying spot in Heat 1, leaving him to hope that his fourth-place time of 3:41.37 would stand up to through the next two sections to make him one of the three qualifiers on time.

In the end, it was. Heat 1 proved to be the fastest section and produced six of the 12 qualifiers for the final.

Alex Hatz ran 3:50.52 to finish 13th in his heat, ending what had been a breakout sophomore season. The same went for Austin Mudd, who fell off the pace in Heat 3 and finished at the back in 3:55.49.

Senior Rob Finnerty’s Badgers finale saw him finish eighth in his heat in 3:42.72. That came on the heels of Finnerty running three races in seven days in order to get the time of 3:38.34 that got him to Des Moines.

Wisconsin’s other close call was Jack Bolas, who, like Miller, is a 2010 UW graduate and runs for New Balance. Bolas made a move into the third and final qualifying spot with 200 meters to go in Heat 3, but he was picked off down the homestretch by Miles Batty and Andrew Bayer and finished fifth in 3:41.98. That meant Bolas, a USA championships finalist as a UW senior in 2010, missed qualifying for the final by just .28 seconds.

In the USA Junior Championships, being run concurrently with the senior meet at Drake Stadium, incoming UW freshman Joshua McDonald took fourth in the discus with a throw of 190 feet.

McDonald entered the meet following a sweep of the Missouri Class 4 state titles in the shot put (56-9 3/4) and discus (188-8) last week for Timberland High School. The effort made him a repeat state champion in the discus.

The Badgers continue competition at the USA championships Friday, with junior Alex Brill and former Badger -- and American record-holder -- Evan Jager in the first round of the 3000 steeplechase at 4:10 p.m. Junior Michael Lihrman is set to compete in the men’s hammer throw at 5 p.m., with teammate Danny Block set for the discus at 6:30 p.m.