Curtis 10th at Olympic Trials 10,000 metersRuns 27:58.48 in Rain-Drenched Eugene

Bobby Curtis finished 10th tonight at the US Olympic Trials, ending his bid for a spot on the US team for London. Curtis was never in the mix once the race got through its early stages and in fact had to rally to crack the top 10. The race was contested under heavy rainfall, and three of the pre-race favorites ran together as if to ensure that (a) all three made the team and (b) Dathan Ritzenhein achieved his needed "A" standard. Once the latter seemed assured, USA NR-holder Galen Rupp easily sprinted to the lead, followed by Matt Tegenkamp -- that left Ritzenhein safely ensconced in third with an "A" standard in hand. The team strategy worked wonderfully as the holy trinity controlled the race throughout.

Curtis will now have to wonder if his pre-Trials strategy of avoiding races on the track throughout much of the spring and early summer was a wise one. Despite what seemed to be an excellent level of fitness coming out of training, Curtis was seemingly unable to insinuate himself into the mix at the front of the pack, despite a race pace that was fully within his own comfort zone (Curtis' PR is 27:24). Unfortunately, when it all comes down to getting it right on a single night, lots of things hinge on the stars aligning -- tonight they failed to do so for Bobby Curtis. One assumes that he'll be off to Europe for the pre-Olympic circuit to collect his wits. Don't be surprised if he reels off another impressive performance or two over there -- which will be little consolation for a man who seemed poised to make a statement at the Trials.

 1. Galen Rupp         Nike               27:25.33  M
 2. Matt Tegenkamp     Nike / OTC         27:33.94
 3. Dathan Ritzenhein  Nike               27:36.09
 4. Chris Derrick      Stanford           27:40.23
 5. Aaron Braun        adidas/McMillan    27:41.54
 6. Ryan Vail          Brooks             27:52.53
 7. Brent Vaughn       Nike               27:55.44
 8. Luke Puskedra      Oregon             27:56.62       
 9. Bobby Mack III     Unattached         27:58.07       
 10. Robert Curtis     Reebok             27:58.48     
 11. Hassan Mead       Minnesota          27:59.04
 12. Benjamin True     Saucony            28:08.17  
 13. Jacob Riley       Hansons-Brooks     28:08.32     
 14. Tim Nelson        Nike / OTC         28:15.11
 15. Joseph Chirlee    U.S. Army          28:17.84
 16. Jeff Schirmer     ASTF               28:35.18
 17. Chris Landry      Unattached         28:35.46
 18. Girma Mecheso     Oklahoma State     28:38.73
 19. Josh Simpson      AST                28:48.32 
 20. David Jankowski   ZAP/Reebok         29:00.67
 21. James Strang      Unattached         29:09.77
 22. Mikhail Sayenko   Brooks             29:18.57
 23. JC Trujillo       adidas             29:36.50
 DNF Scott Bauhs       Unattached