Boston, MA April 15-17, 2017
Photo: [email protected]
victah1111@aol.com
Defending Champions Return for B.A.A. 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile
American record holder Ben True and Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba aim to retain B.A.A. 5K titles, while global medalist Nicole Sifuentes leads B.A.A. Invitational Mile field.
BOSTON – The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today announced an elite field of world class competitors for the 2018 B.A.A. 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile, to be held on Saturday, April 14, two days prior to the 2018 Boston Marathon®. New Hampshire’s Ben True will return to Boston looking to earn his fifth B.A.A. 5K title, while Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba will defend her 2017 crown.
Click Here: NRL Telstra Premiership
Following the B.A.A. 5K, Canada’s Nicole Sifuentes and American Drew Hunter will lead world-class fields at the tenth annual B.A.A. Invitational Mile. The B.A.A. Invitational Mile will also include Middle School 1K races and Scholastic Mile races featuring youth athletes from the eight cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course.
A $39,900 (USD) prize purse will be distributed to the top finishers of the B.A.A. 5K, while a $14,500 (USD) prize purse will be available in the B.A.A. Invitational Mile.
True is a veteran and New England favorite on the roads of Boston, having broken the American record twice at the B.A.A. 5K in both 2015 and 2017. A year ago, True timed 13:20 en route to his fifth win in seven years. Coming off a win at the NYC Half in March, True will drop down in distance and face a tough field that includes fellow Americans Eric Jenkins, Tommy Curtin, and Scott Fauble. Jenkins, a native of New Hampshire, is a two-time NCAA champion and was runner-up at last year’s USA Championships 5000m on the track.
Leading the international challengers are 2016 Olympic 5000m bronze medalist Hagos Gebrhiwet, three-time B.A.A. Half Marathon champion Daniel Salel, and last year’s B.A.A. 5K fourth place finisher Philip Langat. Charles Philibert-Thiboutot of Canada is also in the field.
Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba earned a nailbiting victory a year ago, denying Molly Huddle her fourth straight victory by two seconds. Crossing the line in 14:54, Diriba set a new personal best; since then she’s been a consistent winner on the U.S. road racing scene. Diriba placed third at the B.A.A. 10K in June of 2017, and won the NYC Half last month.
Americans Emily Sisson, Molly Seidel, Diane Nukuri, Sarah Pagano, and Elaina Tabb will all toe the line alongside Diriba. Sisson represented Team USA at the 2017 IAAF World Championships 10,000m, while Seidel finished second at the USA 5K Championships last November. Pagano and Tabb each are part of Team B.A.A. – training in Boston under B.A.A. High Performance coach Ricardo Santos – and have represented the USA in cross country and on the roads.
Kenya’s Monicah Ngige and Ethiopians Fotyen Tesfay and Gotytom Gebreslase join Diriba as the top women’s international entrants. A field of 10,000 participants will take part in the B.A.A. 5K, the first event of the 2018 B.A.A. Distance Medley. The race starts and finishes on Charles Street adjacent to Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden, and passes the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street approximately 2.4 miles into the race.
Returning to the B.A.A. Invitational Mile a year after setting a course record is Nicole Sifuentes of Canada. In 2017, Sifuentes clocked an event record 4:33.7 to take the title, finishing a step ahead of Cory McGee. The two-time Olympian returns looking to become the first woman to earn back-to-back B.A.A. Invitational Mile crowns.
Sifutentes will again face McGee, as well as fellow University of Michigan alums Shannon Osika and Becca Addison. Lauren Johnson, Katrina Coogan, and Amanda Rego round out the field. Johnson is a member of Team B.A.A., and finished fourth at last year’s USA Outdoor Championships 1500m.
The B.A.A. Invitational Mile men’s field features Drew Hunter, a 3:56.79 miler and one of the top young talents in track and field. Hunter will be joined on the line by Patrick Casey, Daniel Winn, Daniel Herrera, Sam Parsons, John Simons, and Julian Oakley. Oakley placed ninth at the IAAF World Indoor Championships last month representing New Zealand.
A detailed start list and schedule of events for both the B.A.A. 5K and B.A.A. Invitational Mile can be found below. The men’s event record for the B.A.A. 5K stands at 13:20, set by Ben True in 2017, while the women’s event record is 14:50 run by Molly Huddle in 2015. The men’s and women’s event records for the B.A.A. Invitational Mile are 4:03.3 (Nick Willis, 2013) and 4:33.7 (Nicole Sifuentes, 2017).
The B.A.A. Invitational Mile includes six races, held shortly after the 2018 B.A.A. 5K. The first two races feature middle school age students from the eight cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course – Hopkinton, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley, Newton, Brookline, and Boston. The girls’ and boys’ Middle School 1K races include runners between sixth and eighth grade and finish at the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street.
Following the Middle School 1K races is the Scholastic Mile, which features girls’ and boys’ races for high school students from the eight cities and towns of the Boston Marathon course. The Scholastic Mile follows the same three-lap, USATF-certified course the professional mile athletes run, finishing at the Boston Marathon finish line.
SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2018 – SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
8:00 a.m. B.A.A. 5K, Boston Common
10:30 a.m. Girls’ Middle School 1K, Boston Marathon Finish Line
10:40 a.m. Boys’ Middle School 1K, Boston Marathon Finish Line
10:55 a.m. Girls’ Scholastic Mile, Boston Marathon Finish Line
11:05 a.m. Boys’ Scholastic Mile, Boston Marathon Finish Line
11:20 a.m. Men’s Invitational Mile, Boston Marathon Finish Line
11:30 a.m. Women’s Invitational Mile, Boston Marathon Finish Line
MEN’S 5K ELITE FIELD
MEN’S 5K ELITE FIELD
Name
Age
Country
Road 5K PB
Track 5000m PB
Ben True
32
USA/NH
13:20 (AR, B.A.A. 5K ’17)
13:02.7
Daniel Salel
27
Kenya
13:27
13:08.2
Hagos Gebrhiwet
23
Ethiopia
13:14
12:47.5
Philip Langat
27
Kenya
13:30
13:48.0
Eric Jenkins
26
USA/OR
N/A
13:05.85 (indoors)
Tommy Curtin
24
USA/MA
13:58
13:26.6
Reid Buchanan
25
USA/CA
13:51
13:27.8
Scott Fauble
26
USA/AZ
14:21
13:50.81 (indoors)
Matt Llano
29
USA/AZ
N/A
13:59.62 (indoors)
Trevor Dunbar
26
USA/CO
14:01
13:26.3
Brian Schrader
26
USA/MA
13:57
13:29.1
Joe Stilin
28
USA/NC
13:49
13:32.2
Luis Vargas
24
USA/NC
13:38
13:47.00 (indoors)
Charles Philibert-Thiboutot
27
Canada
14:03
13:33.2
Brandon Doughty
24
USA/NC
13:55
13:39.1
Jackson Thomas
24
USA/OK
14:26
14:32.3
Mohamed Hrezi
26
Libya/MI
N/A
13:39.62 (indoors)
Brian Harvey
30
USA/MA
14:01
14:13.9
Eric Ashe
29
USA/MA
14:36
14:36.3
WOMEN’S 5K ELITE FIELD
Name
Age
Country
Road 5K PB
Track 5000m PB
Buze Diriba
24
Ethiopia
14:54
14:50.0
Emily Sisson
26
USA/RI
15:42
15:02.10 (indoors)
Fotyen Tesfay
20
Ethiopia
N/A
15:12.1
Monicah Ngige
24
Kenya
15:29
15:58.5
Diane Nukuri
33
USA/AZ
15:34
15:41.75 (indoors)
Molly Seidel
23
USA/MA
15:35
15:15.21 (indoors)
Gotytom Gebreslase
23
Ethiopia
15:17
14:57.3
Sarah Pagano
26
USA/MA
15:46
15:18.6
Elaina Tabb
26
USA/MA
15:59
15:32.5
Lauren Paquette
31
USA/TN
15:44
15:14.4
Violah Lagat
29
Kenya/AZ
15:35
15:35.1
Tori Gerlach
23
USA/MA
16:12
15:50.49 (indoors)
Sasha Gollish
36
Canada
16:10
15:24.1
Sarah Brown
31
USA/MA
15:48
16:20.8
Rosie Donegan
24
Australia/MA
N/A
15:59.08 (indoors)
Dana Giordano
24
USA/MA
16:09
15:54.0
Rosa Moriello
25
USA/MA
16:19
16:03.6
Emily Durgin
23
USA/MA
N/A
16:00.93 (indoors)
Marci Klimek
30
USA/MA
16:22
16:05.8
B.A.A. 5K PRIZE STRUCTURE (Equal for both men and women)
Place
Open
Masters
Push Rim Wheelchair
1
$7,500
$300
$300
2
$4,000
$200
$200
3
$2,500
$100
$100
4
$1,500
5
$1,000
6
$750
7
$600
8
$400
9
$300
10
$200
GRAND TOTAL: $39,900
MEN’S MILE ELITE FIELD
Name
Age
Country
Road Mile PB
Track Mile PB
Drew Hunter
20
USA/CO
N/A
03:56.8
Sam Parsons
23
USA/NC
N/A
04:07.5
Daniel Herrera
25
MEX/LA
3:54
03:56.1
John Simons
27
USA/NH
4:09
3:59.32 (indoors)
Patrick Casey
27
USA/OR
4:01
03:52.6
Daniel Winn
26
USA/NY
3:58
03:56.7
Julian Oakley
24
NZL/RI
N/A
3:55.10 (indoors)
WOMEN’S MILE ELITE FIELD
Name
Age
Country
Road Mile PB
Track Mile PB
Nicole Sifuentes
31
CAN/MI
04:29.1
04:28.5
Shannon Osika
24
USA/MI
4:28
4:27.55 (indoors)
Cory McGee
25
USA/MA
4:36
4:27.67 (indoors)
Katrina Coogan
24
USA/MA
4:38
04:33.0
Lauren Johnson
30
USA/MA
4:31
04:25.0
Amanda Rego
27
USA/CO
N/A
4:26.28 (indoors)
Becca Addison
26
USA/MI
4:38
4:30.70 (indoors)
B.A.A. INVITATIONAL MILE PRIZE STRUCTURE (Equal for both men and women)
Place
Open
1
$3,000
2
$2,000
3
$1,500
4
$750
5
$500
GRAND TOTAL: $14,500
GRAND TOTAL: $14,500
ABOUT THE BOSTON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (B.A.A.)
Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit organization with a mission of promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running. The B.A.A.’s Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon, and the organization manages other local events and supports comprehensive charity, youth, and year-round running programs. Since 1986, the principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon has been John Hancock. The Boston Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, along with international marathons in Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City. More than 60,000 runners will participate in B.A.A. events in 2018. The 122nd Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 16, 2018. For more information on the B.A.A., please visit www.baa.org.