Back to the Basics (Records & Marks)

Albuquerque is not known for tornados, earthquakes, floods, or hurricanes.
Yet the aftermath of the Women's 3000 race there seemed to bring on all those disasters...and more!
While no dead bodies were found on the 200 meter oval, there were several emotional deaths strewn about in the 24 hours that followed the race.
Basically, it came down to this sequence of events:

1. With about 200 meters left, Gabriele Grunewald tried to pass Jordan Hasay (in pursuit of leader Shannon Rowbury), but Hasay moved out, and Grunewald bumped into her, slightly throwing Hasay off balance.
Then Grunewald, sprinting hard, brushed by (but didn't touch) Rowbury, and went on to win in a slow 9:23 and change.

2. Hasay's Coach, Alberto Salazar, didn't see it that way.  He thought Grunewald's "bump" prevented Hasay from winning the race, or at least finishing 2nd to NOP's Rowbury.  So he filed a protest to disqualify Gabriele.

3. After 2 (or 3?  or 4?  or 15??) protests were filed, and Salazar exercised his screaming techniques, and after he almost punched out Jerry Schumacher (Don't ask!!!), USATF officials DQ'ed Grunewald, making the Sopot 3000 team Rowbury and Hasay.

4. Then the Twitterverse erupted.  (Forgot to add volcanic eruption to the above list of disasters.  And a couple of tsunamis!)  Wow!  Fans, media folk, friends, family, dogs, cats, and even some elite athletes sent tweets (like bullets!) flying every which way, attacking Salazar, USATF, NOP, Nike....even Hasay and Grunewald to some extent!  It was like New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina!  (Or like any boxer facing Muhammed Ali in his prime!!)

5. Jordan Hasay, bless her little darling self, finally surrendered to the fates.  (Or maybe to threats of knee-bashing by Tonya Harding's sidekicks??)  She wrote a heart-rending statement, saying she was giving up her place on the team, which allowed Grunewald to finally be declared the winner (for a second time!!) of the race, and as a member of Team USA.

5. All's well that ends....not so well!!

Well folks, I'm sure you'll find lots more stuff on this on Twitter and other sites.
So let's FINALLY get back to the basics of this blog....records and marks.
Since there's quite a bit, I'll try to strip it all down to one-liners, so as to save space (and reading time).
On your marks.....(HAHAHA)......

Sharon Day-Munroe broke the AR for the Pentathlon with 4805 points at USATF.
She moves from 7th to 1st on the US list, and she's 12th A-T World.
Also a Meet Record.

Sami Spenner scored 4498, making her 3rd A-T Collegiate & 6th A-T US.

AJ Kruger's 77-9.25 WT is the Age 35 record.

Michael Lihrman gets the Collegiate Junior Class record with his 79-7.50.
Don't know his birthdate, but the mark would break either the Age 21 or Age 22 records!
Lambert (1st name?) is now 19th A-T US with his 75-7.50 WT.

Other Multi marks:
Gray Horn's 6071 in the Hept is 16th A-T US.
Barbara Nwabi's 4406 is 9th A-T US.
Lindsey Lettow's 4284 is 17th A-T US.
Brianna Leslie's 4182 makes her 20th A-T US.
Lindsey Schwartz's 4161 makes her 21st A-T US.
And Jeff Mohl's 5746 Hept score is 20th A-T US.

More WT marks:
Amanda Bingson threw 73-6.75 at USATF, and is now 17th A-T World and 14th A-T US.
(Actually, that's it!!  Usually there's lots more!!)

Ryan Whiting's SP of 72-11.25 at USATF moves him from 9th to 5th on the World DDD, and from 5th to 3rd on the US DDD.
Kurt Roberts (also at USATF) threw 70-6.50, which gives him an equal-13th A-T US, tied with 1 other.
Joe Kovacs (USATF) threw 70-5, tying him with 1 other at 15th A-T US.
Felicia Johnson's SP of 58-10.25  makes her 24th A-T US.

Some PV marks:
Mary Saxer's winning height of 15-5.50 (beating Jenn Suhr!!) at USATF ties her for 15th A-T World (with 1 other), and gives her 4th A-T US.
Sandi Morris, Kat Majester, and Emily Grove all PR'ed at 14-9.50 at USATF, tying all three at 15th A-T US!
Lexi Weeks, an Arkansas HS'er, PV'ed 13-6.50 for # 10 A-T HS indoors.

A few good sprint and hurdle marks came out of USATF:
Marvin Bracy ran 6.48 in the 60 flat for 21st A-T World (tied with 6 others!), and 13th A-T US, tied with 3 others.
Nia Ali's (Love those short names!!) 7.80 60H's win at USATF makes her 17th A-T World (tied with 3 others), and 5th A-T US.
Janay DeLoach Soukup's (Short names???) 7.82 60H nabs her 22nd World (tied with 7 others!), and 7th A-T US (with 1 other).
Lakeisha Lawson's 7.09 flat 60 ties her at 12th A-T US, along with 2 others.  She was 14th (with 2 others) before.

I have some TJ marks for you.
Amanda Smock's winning 45-5.75 at USATF ties her (with 1 other) at 10th A-T US.
Chris Carter's USATF-winning 56-3.25 moves him to 14th A-T US, tied with 1 other.
Chris Benard's 55-9 is now 24th A-T US.
A new HS 10th Grade record was set by J'man Ward (from Illinois) with his 50-2.50.
He misses the Top 24 Indoor list by one-half inch!!!

Ruth Beitia HJ'ed 6-6.75 for the Indoor Age 34 record.

Tori Polk LJ'ed 21-11.75 at USATF to tie her at 15th A-T US with 1 other.
Tyron Stewart LJ'ed 26-11.75, tying him at 21st A-T US with 1 other.

Finally, a few more track marks to report.
Georgetown's Women's DMR team ran 10:55.63 for 5th School A-T Collegiate!
Dan Curtis ran a 3000 in 8:23.85 for 12th A-T Indoor HS.
Gabe Montague ran a 1000 in 2:25.45 for 9th A-T HS.
(Still not done compiling my Indoor 1000 and 600 and relay lists, so Montague's mark may place him higher or lower!  Will let you know when I'm done.)
Joanna Atkins ran 51.13 for 400, making her 9th A-T US.
The Eastern States HS meet at the Armory, just completed, had a great Men's 400.
Zyaire Clemens won in 47.13, good for 11th A-T HS.
He was followed by Taylor McLaughlin's 47.30 and Rai Benjamin's 47.31, good for 14th and 15th A-T HS Indoor, respectively.

The USATF Women's 800 brought 3 good times.
Ajee Wilson's winning 2:00.43 is now 12th A-T US.
Chanelle Price was inches behind at 2:00.48, so she's 13th A-T US.
And comebacking Molly Beckwith ran 2:01.87, her Indoor PR, good for 24th A-T US, but tied with 1 other!

No records or PR's, but I have to mention the 4:07.05 1500 victory by Mary Cain.
Second was Treniere Moser in 4:09.96.
Everyone else was 4:13 or slower!
Remember, this was at 5000 foot altitude!
(One altitude expert says it's worth 4:01 at sea level!)
She sprinted a 60 second last lap!
This woman.....this 17 year old GIRL.....is now certifiably WORLD Class!!!

Hopefully, the "weather" will clear up in the next few days, and we can return full time to what this blog (and our sport!!!!!) is meant to be about......records, marks, and competition!!

Blessings to Gabriele Grunewald and Jordan Hasay, the only REAL winners of that USATF fiasco!!