2010 Men's and Women's Cross Country/Track and Field Media Guide

volunteer coaches
Bernard Lagat
Kabsabet, Kenya
Distance
World Champion
Olympian
Bernard Lagat joined The University of Arizona program
as a volunteer coach for the 2009-10 campaign. Lagat is
an Olympian and World Champion and is coached by UA
distance coach, James Li. He is one of the great American distance
runners and can be expected to help work with and train the UA’s own
distance runners to great success.
After winning gold medals at the 2007 World Outdoor Championships,
Lagat picked up two more medals when he finished third in the 1,500m
and second at 5,000 meters at the 2009 World Outdoor Championships in
Berlin, Germany. At the 2009 Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in
New York, Lagat tied Eamonn Coghlan’s all-time record of seven victories
in the legendary Wanamaker Mile.
Lagat’s 2008 season was highlighted by winning the men’s 1,500m
and 5,000m national titles at the U.S. Olympic Trials for the second time in
his career, having first accomplished the feat in 2006. A lingering Achilles
injury left him at less than 100% at the Olympics. In the final 100 meters
of the men’s 1,500m final at the 2007 World Outdoor Championships in
Osaka, Japan, Lagat sprinted cleanly to the front and went on to cross
the finish line first in 3 minutes 34.77 seconds. It was Team USA’s first ever
gold medal in that event at a World Outdoor Championships, and the first
Olympic or World Championships 1,500m gold medal since 1908, when
Hall of Famer Mel Sheppard won the Olympic title.
In the Osaka 5,000m final, Lagat became the first man ever to win the
1,500m/5,000m middle-distance double at World Outdoors, and the first
American to win a World Championship medal of any kind at 5,000m
with his winning time of 13:45.87. On February 17 in Birmingham, Lagat
broke the American record in the indoor 3,000m, with his time of 7:32.43.
He also ran the fastest time in the world indoors 2007 in the mile with
his 3:54.26 win at the 100th Millrose Games. Lagat had already piled up
a series of wins in 2007, including the AT&T Outdoor Championships
(5,000m), Millrose Indoor Games (mile) and Birmingham indoor (3,000m).
He continued his domination of U.S. middle distance running in 2006
with his wins in the 1,500m and 5,000 meters at the AT&T USA Outdoor
Championships in Indianapolis, becoming the first man ever to pull off
the historic double. Also in 2006, Lagat posted the five-fastest 1,500m
times by an American, and the fastest 5,000m time by a U.S. competitor
with his win at London in 12:59.22.
A U.S. resident since 1996, Lagat is a graduate of Washington State
University. IAAF rules state that an athlete changing national affiliation
must wait three years since last competing for his native country before
competing for a new country. Lagat became eligible to compete for the
United States on August 25, 2007, one day after the beginning of the 2007
World Outdoor Championships in Osaka, Japan. Shortly after becoming a
U.S. citizen, Lagat turned his attention towards rewriting the U.S. record
books. He set two records from his 3:49.89 indoor mile at the Powered by
Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas on February 11, 2005 including
an official 3:33.34 record for the 1500m set en route to the mile victory.
He earned BA’s from Washington State in Management Information
Systems, and Decision Science (Econometrics). He reached All-American
status twice in cross country and nine times in track and field while
wearing a Cougar uniform. As a collegian, Lagat won the mile and
3000m races at the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championships, earning the title
of NCAA Indoor Male Athlete of the Year. That same year, Lagat won the
5000m race at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He accumulated four
Pacific-10 Conference championships and was named Men’s Track & Field
Co-Athlete of the Year in 1999. He was Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Male Athlete of the Year on three occasions. Lagat became a father on
January 12, 2006 when his wife, Gladys Tom, gave birth to son Miika
Kimutai Lagat, Daughter Gianna was born November 2, 2008
Jake Arnold
Santa Rosa, Calif.
Multi-Events
NCAA Champion
J
ake Arnold joins the coaching cast for the Arizona track
and field program as a volunteer this year as he continues
to train under coach Sheldon Blockburger. Arnold was a
decathlete for the Wildcats from 2003-07 and won two NCAA National
Championships during that span. Since then, Arnold has gone on to
compete at U.S. Championships, World Championships and The U.S.
Olympic Trials in addition to competiting in decathlons across the world.
Arnold qualified for his second World Outdoor Championships team
with his third-place finish at the 2009 USA Outdoor Championships.
Also in 2009, Arnold competed at Gotzis and finished tenth. Arnold
participated in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. where he
finished fourth and just missed earning a spot in Beijing. He would
go on to help lead the United States team to victory in the U.S. v
Germany Decathlon where he was the individual runner-up. Arnold
remained consistent in 2007 by placing 3rd at the AT&T USA Outdoor
Championships shortly after claiming the NCAA Outdoor decathlon
title, where he posted his personal best score of 8,215 points, outscoring
his closest competition by 252. With the win, Arnold becomes just the
second athlete in NCAA Division I history to win consecutive titles in the
decathlon (George Mason’s Rob Muzzio accomplished the feat in
1984-85).
Arnold emerged as a threat in the decathlon as a college junior in
2006 by winning the NCAA Outdoor title and placing third at the AT&T
USA Outdoor Championships. Also during the 2006 indoor season,
Arnold placed second in the heptathlon at the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation (MPSF) Championships with his score of 5562. An All-American
performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships followed when he
placed fifth with a school record score of 5,640 points.
Arnold had an even more impressive outdoor campaign, winning the
Pac-10 decathlon title with a then personal best score of 7,691, and was
named Pac-10 Athlete of the Week for his efforts. He also scored points
for the team in the pole vault and 110-meter hurdles, placing sixth and
eighth respectively. At the West Region Championships, his personal best
performance in the vault (5.31m/17-5) earned him a fourth-place finish
and an automatic invitation to the NCAA Championships. He elected to
only compete in the decathlon at the NCAAs, and registered a personal
best score en route to winning the ten-event competition.
His score of 8,215 is No. 1 all-time at the University of Arizona. Arnold
was named an honorable mention 2006 Pac-10 All-Academic team
selection. As a prep star at Maria Carrillo High School in Santa Rosa, Calif.,
Arnold was a four year letter winner in track and field, where he also
earned letters in basketball, soccer and football. He owns school records
in the 4x400 relay, 300IH, 110HH, Pole Vault, High Jump and 4x100 relays.
24
2009-10 Arizona TRACK & FIELD Media Guide