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**But Begley May be Biggest Winner**
EUGENE (27-Jun) -- Although Shalane Flanagan's commanding last lap brought her victory in tonight's 10,000m over Kara Goucher as the U.S. Olympic Trials opened here at the University of Oregon, most of the fans who left Hayward Field tonight were probably talking about the closing circuit of the women who finished third, Amy Begley.
"I think Amy is actually the story of the night," said Goucher after placing second in 31:37.72 to Flanagan's 31:34.81, a stadium record.
That's because Begley, Goucher's training partner and one of her closest friends, turned a sub-67 second final lap to dip under the Olympic Games "A" standard of 31:45.00 and lock in her first-ever Olympic team berth. In very warm conditions, about 80°F with 50% humidity, Begley ran a personal best 31:43.60 before flopping flat on her back on the track in exhaustion.
"This is probably the best ever," said a beaming Begley at the post-race news conference. "Kara and I have been running since we've been itty bitty. I wouldn't want to go to Beijing with anyone else."
It will also be Goucher's first Olympics, a coup for Alberto Salazar who coaches both Goucher and Begley, and an even bigger coup for Nike who has all three athletes under contract. Moreover, they are all represented by the same manager, Peter Stubbs.
The race went out surprisingly slowly considering that only four women had the Olympic Games "A" standard prior to the race. With USATF not allowing any athletes to chase the time standard after the Trials are over, for those without the standard tonight was do or die. Flanagan and Goucher, two of the "A" standard holders, could afford to be patient.
"I knew I wasn't going to take it out," said Goucher of the early pace. "I was going to wait as long as I can."
But Begley didn't have that luxury, and when the halfway mark was passed in about 16:11, she was some 18 seconds behind the pace. She was trying not to panic.
"Alberto kept saying 'it's going to be fast enough, it's going to be fast enough,'" Begley said.
But through 8000m, when Begley, Goucher and Flanagan were running closely together well ahead of the field, she was still 13 seconds behind the needed pace. Two laps later, Flanagan and Goucher took off to battle for the victory, and Begley was left to get the time on her own.
"It's me against the clock at this moment," Begley said she recalled telling herself when she passed the finish line with one lap to go. After a mighty effort over the last lap made possible by months of training with Salazar and Goucher, she couldn't tell if she had made it because the clock had frozen with Flanagan's winning time.
"I didn't know," said Begley. "I saw 31:34. Was I within 11 seconds of the winner? That's going to be a really lonely night for me (if I didn't get it)."
When she found out the time she errupted in joy and she and Goucher began to jump up and down with excitement.
"I can't believe it," said Goucher later. "It's so incredible. Who'd a thought we'd make the same Olympic team in the same event? I know how hard she's worked."
But there was also heartbreak. Katie McGregor, the 2005 U.S. 10,000m champion, finished a distant fourth in 32:29.82, the same position she finished at the 2004 Trials. However, because she holds the "A" standard, she could still go to Beijing if Flanagan also makes the team in the 5000m next week and decides to only do that event in Beijing. Nothing has been decided.
"This is a great dilemna to be in, I think," said Flanagan who has won the only two 10,000m races she has contested. "We'll see how my body reacts. The 5000 should be an unbelievable race as well. For me to win again would be tremendous."
There were few surprises in the men's 5000m qualifying which only whittled the field from 24 to 16 for the final. All the favorites made it through, including Bernard Lagat who finished third in the first heat with a 58.8 second final lap. Matt Tegenkamp won the first heat and Galen Rupp --to the enthusiastic approval of the partisan U of O crowd-- won the second.
In 800m qualifying, high schooler Chanelle Price was surprisingly eliminated on the women's side. She was tripped up early in the second heat, and never fully recovered her stride. Also eliminated was defending national champion, Alysia Johnson, who finished last in heat three. On the men's side, Khadevis Robinson faded to sixth in the first heat and was lucky to advance on time (his was the fastest heat). Lopez Lomong, Nick Symmonds and Andrew Wheating were the three heat winners.
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