2017 USATF Outdoor Championships

Shelby Houlihan Outkicks Shannon Rowbury And Molly Huddle For USATF 5K Win

Shelby Houlihan Outkicks Shannon Rowbury And Molly Huddle For USATF 5K Win

Shelby Houlihan Outkicks Shannon Rowbury And Molly Huddle For USATF 5K Win

Jun 24, 2017 by Johanna Gretschel
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Sacramento, Calif. -- Shelby Houlihan won her first U.S. outdoor title on Friday night, beating American record holders Shannon Rowbury and Molly Huddle in the last 120 meters to win the 5K at the U.S. championships in 15:13.87.

Natosha Rogers, who was fifth in last night's 10K final, led the field through 3K in 9:22.9 with Huddle, last night's 10K champion, hovering on her shoulder. The 32-year-old Huddle, looking to make a clean defense of her 10K and 5K U.S. titles, took over the lead about 1K later as they reached 4K in 12:26 with a 72.4 split, the fastest of the evening.

Once Huddle made the decisive move, the lead group had narrowed to four women, with Marielle Hall, Houlihan and Rowbury racing single file behind Huddle. There was a slight gap to the fifth and sixth place women as Lauren Paquette of Brooks and Karissa Schweizer of the University of Missouri struggled to keep pace.


At the bell lap, Houlihan made a big move to pass Huddle and finally put the green light on for the racing to begin. Rowbury countered with her own move, swinging wide to pass Hall, a 2016 Olympian at 10K, and setting her sights on Huddle, but a win here wasn't meant to be.

On the final curve, it was all Houlihan, the 2017 USATF Indoor two mile and mile champion and 2016 Olympian for 5K. Rowbury powered past Huddle, but her 1500m specialist's kick couldn't stop Houlihan from crossing the line first.

"I was thinking I had to make a huge move to drop them because I know how tough they are," Houlihan said after the race. "I was just trying to give it everything I had in the last 100m and hope to hold them off. I was kinda eyeing the scoreboard to see if anyone was coming on me, but I was able to hold them off so it felt good."


Both Houlihan and Rowbury closed in 61 seconds.

Rowbury would take second in 15:14.08 and Huddle held her position for third in 15:15.29.

Shannon ​Rowbury talked to the media after qualifying for worlds in the 5K:



Schweizer closed in 1:05.54 to secure fourth place, and potentially a spot at the world championships if either Rowbury or Huddle opt to drop the 5K at worlds. Last year, Huddle won both the 10K and 5K but dropped the 5K at the Olympics, while Rowbury is still entered in the 1500m finals and has not yet announced her intentions for the world championships.

"I pushed my coach to do the double and I know tomorrow's gonna be tough, but today's goal was to make the team in the 5K," Rowbury said to the press after the race. "I don't know if I'll do both if I make it in the 1500m, but now I have to shift my focus to tomorrow. I don't do this because I want an easy path in life. I wanted a challenge and this is what I get."

Huddle signaled a little more clearly that she is interested in doubling in London.

"We thought about it and since this might be my last real track season before I move up [to the marathon], so I thought might as well try both. I never done it before and it seem feasible," she said to the media. "There was no pressure, it was fun."

​Huddle talks to the media after placing third in the 5K one day after winning the 10K title:



Hall placed fifth in 15:19.56, while Paquette finished sixth in 15:25.06.

​We spoke with top collegian Karissa Schweizer, whose fourth place finish gives her an outside shot at going to worlds: