Seneca Lassiter
Personal information | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Born | (1977-03-12) March 12, 1977 (age 47) Williamsburg, Virginia |
Sport | |
Sport | Track |
Event(s) | 800m, 1500m, mile, 5000m |
College team | Arkansas |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal best(s) | 800m: 1:45.51[1] 1500m: 3:33.72[1] Indoor mile: 3:54.21[1] 5000m: 13:39.82[1] |
Seneca Lassiter (born 12 March 1977) is an American former middle distance runner who specialized in the 1500 meters. As a high schooler running for Lafayette of Williamsburg, Virginia, he won National Scholastic indoor and outdoor championships for the mile and 800 meter run. In collegiate competition he ran for University of Arkansas, which was recognized for its prestigious track program which in Lassiter's time included recruits such as Sharif Karie. Lassiter ran professionally for Nike after his college spell.
Running career
High school
Lassiter ran for Lafayette High School in Williamsburg, Virginia. As a junior in 1994, he won both the National Scholastic indoor and outdoor mile run championships. He again won the National Scholastic indoor as a senior in 1995 and won the 800 meters at the USA Juniors.[2]
Collegiate
Lassiter ran collegiately for the University of Arkansas under coach John McDonnell where he won the NCAA Outdoor 1500 m in 1997 and 1998 and was 2nd in 1999. Lassiter finished 2nd in the NCAA Indoor Mile in 1997 and 3rd in 1998 and 1999. He was named most outstanding performer among collegiate men at the Penn Relays in both 1997 and 1999.[3]
In 1997, Lassiter won the 1500 meters at the USATF Outdoor National Championships. While still a collegian, he was ranked as the number 2 1500 meter runner in the US by Track and Field News magazine after both the 1997 and 1999 seasons.
Post-collegiate
Lassiter continued running for Nike following the completion of his college eligibility.
In 2001, Lassiter won the mile at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships and followed that by finishing sixth at the 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Lisbon, Portugal. He then finished second in the 1500 meters at the USATF Outdoor Championships in the same year. He was again ranked #2 in the US by Track and Field News at the completion of the season.
Lassiter had another strong season in 2002, again winning the 1500 meters at the USATF Outdoor National Championships and again ranking #2 in the US.
In 2002, Lassiter admitted to serving as a pacemaker in the 1500-meters for then-Kenyan Bernard Lagat at the World Cup competition. Lassiter and Lagat were training partners at the time and Lassiter’s actions took him out of the running in the race and eliminated a chance for the US team to score more points in the team competition.[4][5][6] Lassiter later issued an apology to the team and was sanctioned by the USATF for his actions, requiring him to complete 20 hours of community service and receiving a letter of reprimand. Lassiter then began coaching at Springdale High School in Springdale Arkansas [7]
Rankings
Lassiter was ranked among the top ten 1500 meter runners in the US by Track and Field News for six straight years:[8]
Year | Event | US rank |
---|---|---|
1997 | 1500 meters | 2nd |
1998 | 1500 meters | 9th |
1999 | 1500 meters | 2nd |
2000 | 1500 meters | 6th |
2001 | 1500 meters | 2nd |
2002 | 1500 meters | 2nd |
References
- ^ a b c d IAAF. "Athlete profile for Seneca Lassiter".
- ^ Seneca Lassiter USATF profile
- ^ Relays’ Most Outstanding Performers « The Penn Relays Archived 2009-01-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Athletics ; Pacemaker who missed the point | Independent on Sunday, The | Find Articles at BNET
- ^ PLUS: TRACK AND FIELD; Lassiter's Strategy Upsets U.S. Officials - New York Times
- ^ WITH LASSITER PACING, LAGAT WINS WORLD CUP 1500M TITLE - 2002 IAAF World Cup Day 1 Archived 2008-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 03MAYELITEBEAT.pdf Archived 2005-03-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- v
- t
- e
New York Athletic Club
- 1876M: Harold Lambe (CAN) * Cornelius Vought
- 1877M: Richard Morgan
- 1878M: Thomas Smith
NAAAA
- 1879M: Henry Pellatt (CAN) * William Duffy
- 1880–83M: Harry Fredericks
- 1884M: Percy Madeira
- 1885M: George Gilbert
- 1886–87M: Edward Carter
- 1888MNote 1: Thomas Conneff
Amateur Athletic Union
- 1888MNote 1: G.M. Gibbs (CAN) * Thomas Conneff
- 1889–90M: Albert George
- 1891M: Thomas Conneff
- 1892M: George Orton (CAN) * Ernest Hjertberg
- 1893-5M: George Orton (CAN) * A.J. Walsh
- 1896M: George Orton (CAN) * Mortimer Remington
- 1897–98M: John Cregan
- 1899M: Alex Grant
- 1900M: George Orton (CAN) *Alex Grant
- 1901–03M: Alex Grant
- 1904M: David Munson
- 1905M: Jim Lightbody
- 1906M: Albert Rodgers
- 1907M: James Sullivan
- 1908M: Herbert Trube
- 1909M: Joe Ballard
- 1910M: Joe Monument
- 1911–12M: Abel Kiviat
- 1913M: Norman Taber
- 1914M: Abel Kiviat
- 1915M: Joie Ray
- 1916M: Ivan Meyers
- 1917–23M OT: Joie Ray
- 1924–25M: Ray Buker
- 1926M: Lloyd Hahn
- 1927M-28OT: Ray Conger
- 1929M: Leo Lermond
- 1930M: Ray Conger
- 1931M: Leo Lermond
- 1932OT: Norwood Hallowell
- 1933: Glenn Cunningham
- 1934: Bill Bonthron
- 1935–38: Glenn Cunningham
- 1939: Blaine Rideout
- 1940: Walter Mehl
- 1941: Leslie MacMitchell
- 1942–43: Gil Dodds
- 1944: William Hulse
- 1945: Roland Sink
- 1946: Lennart Strand (SWE) * Leslie MacMitchell
- 1947: Gerry Karver
- 1948: Gil Dodds
- 1949–50: John Twomey
- 1951: Len Truex
- 1952–53M: Wes Santee
- 1954M: Fred Dwyer
- 1955M: Wes Santee
- 1956: Jerome Walters
- 1957M: Merv Lincoln (AUS) * Bob Seaman
- 1958M: Herb Elliott (AUS) * Ed Moran
- 1959: Dyrol Burleson
- 1960: Jim Grelle
- 1961M: Dyrol Burleson
- 1962M: Jim Beatty
- 1963M: Dyrol Burleson
- 1964: Tom O'Hara
- 1965–67M: Jim Ryun
- 1968: John Mason
- 1969M: Marty Liquori
- 1970M: Howell Michael
- 1971M: Marty Liquori
- 1972: Jerome Howe
- 1973M: Leonard Hilton
- 1974: Rod Dixon (NZL) * Tom Byers
- 1975: Leonard Hilton
- 1976: Eamonn Coghlan (IRL) *Michael Manke
- 1977–79: Steve Scott
The Athletics Congress
- 1980: Steve Lacy
- 1981: Sydney Maree (SAF) * Steve Scott
- 1982–83: Steve Scott
- 1984–85: Jim Spivey
- 1986: Steve Scott
- 1987: Jim Spivey
- 1988: Mark Deady
- 1989: Terrance Herrington
- 1990: Joe Falcon
- 1991: Terrance Herrington
- 1992OT: Jim Spivey
USA Track & Field
- 1993: Bill Burke
- 1994: Terrance Herrington
- 1995–96OT: Paul McMullen
- 1997: Seneca Lassiter
- 1998: Jamey Harris
- 1999: Steve Holman
- 2000OT: Gabe Jennings
- 2001: Andy Downin
- 2002: Seneca Lassiter
- 2003: Jason Lunn
- 2004–05: Alan Webb
- 2006: Bernard Lagat
- 2007: Alan Webb
- 2008: Bernard Lagat
- 2009–10: Lopez Lomong
- 2011: Matthew Centrowitz
- 2012: Leonel Manzano
- 2013: Matthew Centrowitz
- 2014: Leonel Manzano
- 2015–16: Matthew Centrowitz
- 2017: Robby Andrews
- 2018: Matthew Centrowitz
- 2019: Craig Engels
- 20212020 OT: Cole Hocker
- 2022: Cooper Teare
- 2023: Yared Nuguse
- Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
- M: Denotes that the race was run over a mile rather than 1500 m
- OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996 & 2000 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
- 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.