Joe Klecker won his first U.S. title Friday night with a strong final kick. Photo by Chloe Montague
Joe Klecker won the U.S. championship in the men’s 10,000 meters at the Prefontaine Classic Friday night at Hayward Field with a thrilling kick that gave him just enough breathing room to beat American record holder Grant Fisher.
Klecker’s time was 28 minutes, 28.71 seconds, just 0.1 ahead of Grant Fisher in a photo finish where Klecker and Fisher battled in the last 100 meters of the race.
“I got out in front on the second to last lap, and I was gonna stay there until someone pulled up on my shoulder,” said Klecker. “When Grant did, it was just about trying to match his speed, so I didn’t really think about who was left, Just wanted to go with them and fight to the line.”
Klecker’s win qualified him for the U.S. team at the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in July, just a year after he competed in the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing 16th in the 10,000.
“You don’t take it for granted ever in the U.S. to make the world team, but really if I didn’t make it, I’d have to reassess what I’m doing the rest of the summer,” Klecker said.
Fisher also qualified for worlds,, but that didn’t mean he was satisfied with his performance.
“Yeah I’m disappointed, not very happy with my tactics over the past couple of laps, there’s some things I could have done differently,” said Fisher. “I should have stayed a little bit closer to the front and stayed out of trouble a bit more.”.
Sean McGorty, Grant Fisher’s teammate in their Stanford days, finished third, becoming the last American to qualify for worlds. He bounced back after failing to qualify for the Olympics during the steeplechase final at the Olympic trials last June in Eugene.
“So proud of Sean, man,” Fisher said. “Sean was one of the reasons I committed to Stanford. He hosted me on my visit when I was in high school to mentor me.”
Emmanuel Bor was in great position to make the team and finish third until he tripped in the final 100 meters, causing him to slip to eighth place.
“I knew I just had to maintain it, but I lost control with my shoe, and you know it’s just a very unfortunate situation,” Bor said.
Woody Kincaid, one of the race favorites, dropped out of the race after about 18 minutes. He stopped running while being in the middle of a close pack.
