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American middle-distance athlete, Shelby Houlihan, returned to action at the Razorback Invitational on Saturday. She has returned in nearly the same form she left in 2020.

Houlihan clocked a 3000-metre time of 8:31.56 for the win at the Randal Tyson Indoor Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas. She broke Parker Valby’s facility record by over 10 seconds.

Her personal best in the 3000m short track event is 8:26.66 from February 27, 2020. She ran that time at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center. A different building, and a different era, but still.

“It think it went well…”

Asked how she felt about her return to competition, Houlihan said, “I think it went well, and it was what I was hoping for. I know the indoor world standard is 8:33 so I was aiming for that.”

Taking second place was Anika Thompson and taking third was Juliet Cherubet both Oregon Ducks athletes. They finished in 9:05.75 and 9:06.79, respectively. They both ran new personal bests in that race.

Asked about her execution, Houlihan told Athletics Illustrated, “As far as execution goes, I think it was great. I luckily had a pacer for the first half of the race which was nice and then I focused on squeezing it down the last half and running what my body wanted to run without paying too much attention to pace. I was able to shift gears a couple of times in the last lap as well, which felt good. It did feel a bit rusty, but I felt strong throughout.”

Houlihan shared that her training over the past six months has been, “pretty standard to what I’ve been doing my whole career.”

This means building a good strength base in the winter.

“The past 2-3 weeks have been shifting more into specific race pace,” she added.

Her seasonal goal is to represent the US at the World Indoor Championships in March. The meet takes place in Nanjing, China starting March 21 and ending on March 23.

“I still have a lot of sharpening up to do as the season progresses. I’m mainly racing on my strength and a little bit of sharpening these first couple of races back,” added the 31-year-old. “The main focus is making the World Indoor team and trying to medal at the World Indoor Championships in March.”

All eyes will be on Houlihan at the Worlds in Nanjing and during the outdoor season as she looks to be competitive again in the 5000m event. Her personal best is 14:23.92 from July of 2020. Since then, shoe advantages have progressed.

Shoestrings…

Houlihan held the American record in the 5000m event at 14:23.92. It has since been improved by Alicia Monson at 14:19.25, which is the 29th fastest performance in history behind just 12 women.

The current world record is held by Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay at 14:00.21.

The World Indoor Championships entry standard for the 3000m is 8:33.00 or 14:25.00 in the 5000. Only the top 15 in the world will qualify and only a maximum of three per nation.

In September, the World Athletics Championships (outdoors) will take place in Tokyo, Japan. There will not be a 3000m, but the 5000m standard is 14.50.00 and 42 athletes globally will be accepted.

Results

PositionNameTime
1Shelby HOULIHAN8:31.56United States
2Anika THOMPSON9:05.75PBOregon
3Juliet CHERUBET9:06.79PBOregon
4Victoria LAGAT9:07.47Oklahoma State
5Eva JESS9:10.72PBTexas
6Sydney THORVALDSON9:10.98PBUnited States
7Leah JERUTO9:11.82Oklahoma
8Allison WILSON9:20.29Florida
9Elizabeth PICKETT9:22.58PBTexas
10Reagan GILMORE9:23.61Florida
11Josphine MWAURA9:25.06
Oklahoma State
12Ella THORSETT9:27.43Oregon
13Hannah IELFIELD9:28.65PBOle Miss
14Beth ARENTZ9:30.14PBOle Miss
15Gabi BARRERA9:30.71PBOklahoma
16Ella CHESNUT9:31.07PBLSU
17Taylor BRIGGS9:35.87Iowa State
18Caroline WELLS9:36.60Oregon

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