On December 31st, just 22 days into my blog, I wrote 4 posts reviewing the long-past 2013 Indoor season ( 2 were about the Indoor season, and 2 were about the outdoor season!), including picking my Athletes of the Year.
I'm going to change the format a bit.
I'll still pick my AOY's, but will omit the Honorable Mention's I did for 2013. (Those who made it onto my DDD lists, the Top 24 Performers lists!)
Also included will be various picks for such as:
Best Performance
Best Meet
Best Event
I'll also include some T&F Record Book trivia.
Plus some closing comments.
(As always, all my choices will be separated into the four categories: World, US, Collegiate, and HS, with each gender done separately too.)
Athletes of the Year: Men
World RENAUD LAVILLENIE Who else? He not only was the only individual WR breaker, he broke the legendary Sergey Bubka's WR!!
US GALEN RUPP He broke two US standards! While controlled record attempts, they were still exciting to watch. David Torrence and Bernard Lagat broke US records too, but in "minor" events.
Collegiate LAWI LALANG This blog is about records, and Lalang broke the iconic mile CR! I almost went with Edward Cheserek, who upset Lalang in two NCAA meet races. I also thought of going with the Texas A&M 4X400 Relay team, as they broke the CR in a great race at the SEC.
HS DEVIN KING He dominated the PV, and broke the HSR. I again considered a Relay team, the Brothers of NJ, whose 17:07.17 shattered the 4X1Mile in a great race (2 other teams broke the old mark!).
Athletes of the Year:Women
World GENZEBE DIBABA She crushed 3 WR's!! If I were a Committee of 10, she would be my unanimous choice!!
US SHARON DAY-MONROE It was close between Day-Monroe and Phyllis Francis. If Mary Cain had broken even ONE US record, I MIGHT have selected her. But she didn't. And I just feel the Pentathlon is a tougher event than the 400.
Collegiate KENDELL WILLIAMS Again, I chose the Multi CR breaker over the single-event CR breaker, Francis. Kaitlin Petrillose was the first Collegian to top 15 feet, but the PV had a great year, and a new record was bound to happen, so I gave less credit than I would if the record had been unexpected. Also, Williams not only broke the CR (and the Meet, Frosh Class, and age 18 records!), but she did so against stiff competition, as Erica Bougard also broke the former best!!
HS (I'm going to give TWO awards here, as there is some difference of opinion as to whether Mary Cain is eligible for HSR's because she's a Pro. I still consider her eligible, but I also respect that several others feel otherwise! Thus I will offer a "Non-Mary Cain" award, as well as one to her!!)
MARY CAIN She broke her own incredible HSR's in the 1500 and 1 Mile, adding the 1000 mark to her long list of HSR's. If considered still a HS'er (and I do!!), then there's no way to NOT make her the AOY!! 2:35.80, 4:06.63, and 4:24.11 (plus major victories at Millrose and USATF!) were WORLD Class marks!!
RAVEN SAUNDERS In the "non-Cain" HS world, this newcomer shocked everyone, first in December, where she improved 11 FEET (!!!) over her 2013 season best, and then added over two and a half feet MORE at NBIN to SHATTER Michelle Carter's venerable HSR in the SP! There were several other candidates. Dior Hall finally got the 60H standard she'd been seeking for years! Desiree Freier was the dominant PV'er, and got the HSR, in a year where the PV was the dominant event! Tessa Barrett broke the 5000 HSR, but not by enough to really make her a serious AOY candidate. I also considered Alexa Efraimson, who ran two 1 Miles in "Cain-esque" times, plus ran that 9:00.16 3000 (though that was nullified for being run on an OT!!). In the end, however, she was just following in Cain's shadow, not leading. Maybe we've been spoiled by what Cain has done, but a 4:32 (in a race which Cain beat her by 5 seconds!), while an incredible HS time, isn't as earth-shatteringly remarkable as what Cain did in 2013, when the same age and grade as Efraimson is now!
Best Performance: Men
World The 20-2.50 PV of Lavillenie. What else? (Not sure what I would've done if Ashton Eaton had broken the Heptathlon record, especially if it had been by a significant margin!)
US Rupp's 13:01.26 5000. Also considered was Bernard Lagat's 4:54.74 2000 AR, but it's a rarely run event, and the mark was "soft".
Collegiate Lalang's 3:52.88 mile record. Not much else out there, and a mile record is a....MILE record!! (If I were to consider Relay teams, Texas A&M's 3:03.20 4X400 at SEC would win easily!!)
HS The 17-10.25 of King. Again, not much else to choose from, at least from male HS individuals! (Same as with the Collegiates, the 4X1 Mile of Brothers might have taken the prize here, if relays were considered.)
Best Performance: Women
World It was just a matter of deciding WHICH of Dibaba's 3 WR's was the best. I chose the 8:16.60 3000. Close behind was her 3:55.17, with her 2 Mile far back.
US This one will surprise you, and is sure to be argued with. I'm going with a Pentathlon. But it's NOT the 4805 AR of Sharon Day-Monroe! I've chosen instead Kendell Williams's 4635 CR. Why? Day-Monroe's mark was great, and the AR, but she'd produced huge marks before, topping the outdoor Heptathlon US list in 2013. While Williams had ALSO produced great marks (the HSR's in the outdoor Heptathlon and the indoor Pentathlon, as well as an early season PR of 4302 this year!), this was a HUGE improvement over that 4302, and she's just an 18 year old Frosh!! Thus, in the battle of Multi's, Williams' 4635 beats Day-Monroe's 4805!!
Collegiate Obviously, it's Kendell Williams's Pentathlon at the NCAA.
HS (Once again, I'm offering TWO prizes, the Mary Cain....and the Non-Mary Cain!!)
Cain's best mark, IMHO, was NOT any of her 1500/Miles. It was her 2:35.80 1000. A very fast time, even by World standards, and she won over a class field!! If going by her WINS, and not her times, I'd have to think a bit before deciding. Finally, I'd give it to her USATF win in 4:07.04. Again, the time was fast, and she beat a solid field of US runners! And it was her 2nd consecutive National Indoor Championship.....at the age of 17!!
Raven Saunders's 56-7.50!! (Or two of her other throws at NBIN, also over Carter's old record!) It was really no contest, but SOME consideration was given to Efraimson's 4:32.15, Hall's 8.11, and Freier's 14-2.75.
Best Meet
The NBIN. Solely for the NUMBER of HSR's (and MR's) broken! Six HSR's and 12 MR's!
NCAA I chose this one over the SEC, mainly because of its Championship status.
WIC Again given preference MAINLY for its status as the most "important" meet of the year.
USATF Our National Championship. Maybe selected for the excitement and thrills of its controversies as much as for its T&F components!!
Millrose Once again, this one served as the "indoor Pre Classic", meaning it was the best US Invitational!
(Honorable Mention has to be given to a few European meets, such as Sainsbury, Glasgow, Moscow, as well as to the NB in Boston.)
Best Event
The Pole Vault. No contest! With Lavillenie breaking Bubka's WR, Petrillose getting the CR, and King and Freier getting both HSR's, this was the PV's best year in a long time!!
The Multi's. While not very close to the PV, the WIC Women's Hept was a great competition, as was the NCAA battle between Williams and Bougard. And then there was Eaton's almost-WR!!
The 3000/2 Mile. Three races gave this one some weight. Dibaba's incredible WR, Rupp's 2 Mile AR, and....Gabrielle Grunewald's USATF win. Yes, the race was slow (9:23), but what happened AFTER the race made this one.....well, unforgettable!!
So, was the 2014 Indoor season a good one?
YES!!
Much better than I thought it would be (despite my rose-colored-glasses series of predictions made on January 2!!). But it could've been even better!
Too many big names stayed away, and in a WIC year, that's unforgivable!!
A few that DID compete didn't reach the marks they sought.
In the latter category, I must include Cain, who fell short of AR's in the 1000 and 1 Mile.
Jenn Suhr had a so-so year, when compared to her previous Indoor triumphs.
While Lavillenie shined, he got injured, so didn't compete at the WIC.
And Genzebe's sister, Tirunesh, stayed away, as did Meseret Defar.
However, that said, the year was still much better than expected!
When you have....
5 WR's
8 AR's
10 CR's
9 HSR's
....broken in one 3-month season, you must rate it as GREAT!
(Not to mention the QUALITY of some of the records, and the iconic stature of the old record holders!)
Week in and week out, there were records broken, great meets, with startling newcomers and mind-bending controversies to keep things lively!!
Here are some interesting statistics regarding my Honorable Mentions.
Like I said earlier, I am NOT going to list everybody's name, nor their place on my DDD lists.
(Too much work---LOL---and they've already BEEN listed, if you've been reading all of my previous posts!!)
But check these stats out!
Last year (the 2013 season), there were 320 athletes whose marks made it onto, or moved up on, my various DDD's.
This year?
The total is 395.
SOME of this was due to my adding several lists to my DDD's, such as the 600's, and some Relays.
But even with these additions, the number of HM's was BIG!!
Here's the breakdown:
World There were 44 men who made HM, but just 38 women.
US Here, the women dominated! They outscored the men, 65 to 45!!
Collegiate Again, the women did better than the men, this time by a 57 to 43 score.
HS And here too, the women outdid the guys, 58 to 45.
The totals?
The women had 218 HM's. The men, 177.
(Last year, the totals were 168 for the women, 152 for the men!)
In the end, I must say to anyone who feels that Indoor T&F doesn't deserve its rightful place in the World of T&F.....Look at the accomplishments, the athletes, and the events of the 2014 season.
Then tell me Indoor T&F isn't important, exciting, mind-blowing, and passionately competitive!!
My Outdoor Preview will follow, sometime in the next few days.
Look for it!
No comments:
Post a Comment