The early pace was set by Heather Dorniden and Alysia Johnson as they went out in 59.91 for the first 400 meters.  Anna Pierce and the pack were about 10 meters back of the leaders.

After sitting back off the pace early, Pierce looked strong and accelerated going into the last lap.  ”I was planning to go hard from about 250 meters out,” explained Pierce.  She pulled away to a convincing win, followed to the finish line by Alysia Johnson.

Johnson, who represented the US in the 2007 Outdoor World Championships, has been struggling with injuries ever since.

“It’s been a really long couple of years for me, rehabbing since the trials in 2008,” she said. “I’ve been really glad to finally get some base milleage behind me.”

Pierce’s 2010 plans include the World Indoors in Doha, but not the 1500 meters today which was just an “insurance policy”.

1 Anna Pierce                  Nike                   2:00.84
2 Alysia Johnson               Nike                   2:01.45
3 Heather Dorniden             Team USA Minnesota     2:02.33
4 Erin Donohue                 Nike                   2:03.78
5 Angee Henry                  Team Neb Brooks        2:04.62
6 Laura Januszewski            unattached             2:05.15