Odds and Ends

You've already read the Pre Classic post, right?
Okay, so what more do you want from one weekend of T&F??
Well, sad to say, there isn't very much left to report, and that's why I titled this post "Odds and Ends".
(But there were SOME goodies, so....!!)

Best of the NCAA Prelims (or Regionals, or Big Meet Qualifiers, or whatever the heck they're called!!) came in the West's 110H race.
The first three ran spectacular times.

Aleec Harris sped 13.18, making him the 2nd fastest Collegiate Performer.
The leader?
Renaldo Nehemiah's 13.00 from 1979!
Harris had been 11th A-T Collegiate, tied with 3 others.
And he snared the Collegiate Senior Class record.

Wayne Davis finished in 13.20, which moves him up from 4th A-T Collegiate into 3rd.

Next was Devon Allen's 13.27, which gives him the Collegiate Freshman Class record.
That record used to belong to Terrence Trammell!
Allen is now 7th A-T Collegiate!!

Ramona Burchell sped a 100 in 11.03.
She's 10th A-T Collegiate, tied with 3 others.

Kellion Knibb (She's from Jamaica!) threw the Discus 201-3, making her 11th A-T Collegiate.

Fawn Miller keeps improving in the Javelin.
Her 190-0 moves her from 13th A-T Collegiate up into 9th.
She also moves from 15th A-T US into 11th!!

And Stipe Zunic had a SP of 67-7, making him 22nd A-T Collegiate.

This Regionals format got lots of criticism, and I can understand why.
People don't come to a T&F meet to see athletes in prelims or heats.
They come to see them compete all-out, leaving blood, sweat, and tears on the track and field.
You had a dozen or so Pole Vaulters qualify at 13-7 or so.
Did anyone go for a higher height?
NO!!
So where was the excitement, unless you had someone specific you were cheering on to make the Big Show??
B-O-R-I-N-G!!!!!

The high school crowd had some state meets, which had a few good marks.
Only problem was, several of them came at those alien distances of 1600 and 3200 meters!!
Alexa Efraimson continues as the "next Mary Cain", and she really seems to be living up to that moniker!

She had a great double at her Washington State meet.
First day produced a solo 1600 of 4:33.31 (67, 71, 70, 65), with 2nd place about 16 seconds behind.
(A video of that complete race (introductions included!!) is on the MileSplit website!)
Headlines were that she'd broken the HSR.
Well, maybe for the 1600 Meter Run, but NOT for the venerable One MILE!!
That HSR still belongs to Polly Plumer and her 4:35.24 from 1982!!

Next day came Alexa's 800, and she sped a 2:04.10, for 17th A-T HS.
BTW, the girl she REMOVED from my DDD?
None other than Elise Cranny, whose 2:04.81 from this year's Mt SAC was in 24th place!

Another girl who impressed, this time in a 3200, was Bethan Knights.
Remember her?
She was the girl who had TIED Sarah Baxter in a 10:07 3200 at Arcadia earlier this spring.
Well, she ran a solid 9:55, after soloing through the first 4 laps (1600) in 4:50!!
(She'd hit the 800 in about 2:20!!)

But those times (except for Efraimson's 800) are nowhere to be found in my T&F Record Book, as I don't accept any 1600 or 3200 meter times, nor times converted from those distances!!
Too bad, as there's been quite a number of great times at those distances.

But keep the faith!
Bring Back the Mile (@TheMile) is working to return the Mile to its rightful place in American T&F!
And we have those Dream MILES coming up in New York soon.
And the NBN runs the Mile, not the 1600, and the Two Mile, not the 3200.
Also, Brooks PR and Portland Track Festival will have HS Miles!!

Sydney McLaughlin, a 9th grader, ran the 400H in 58.24 for the Freshman Class record.
One tiny footnote here, however.
While it's true she set the new 9th Grade record (breaking Kendell Williams's 58.63!!), there was a girl back in 1995 who ran faster.....as an 8th Grader!!
Char Foster sped a 57.64, an amazing time for a Middle Schooler!!
McLaughlin's time misses my DDD list by just 0.23 seconds!!

Carlos Davis threw the Discus 212-5, making him 18th A-T HS.
Taken OFF the list was Brian Blutreich's 210-8 from 1985!

Finally, Trentavis Friday had a spectacular double in the sprints.
He ran 10.17 and 20.33 over the weekend.
His 100 time makes him 6th A-T HS on that list.
And his 200 places him 7th A-T HS!

In the just-completed Gotzis Heptathlon, "new" faces ruled!

Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Great Britain won with 6682 points.
She misses my World DDD list by just 13 points!!

Second was the new Canadian National record of 6641 points, set by Ashton's wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton!!

Dafne Schippers finished with 6545, a new Netherlands National record.

And Nafissatou Thiam of Belgium set a new National Record with her PR of 6506 points.

Also worth mentioning was 17 year old Brit Morgan Lake's PR total of 6081 points, her first time over 6000.
She'd had a 5886 total from about a month ago!!

I've been keeping a running count of the marks that are making my DDD lists.
I want to see if the total for outdoors will exceed 400.
This is for all 4 lists, the World, US, Collegiate, and HS.
Here's the most current breakdown, compared to counts made earlier.

                       World Men        World Women
May 20           6                        11        
May 26           7                        12
May 31           11                      22

                      US Men              US Women
May 20           7                        23
May 26           9                        27
May 31           12                      34

                      Collegiate Men    Collegiate Women
May 20          26                       45
May 26          26                       45
May 31          28                       47

                      HS Men              HS Women
May 20          6                         17
May 26          8                         22
May 31          13                       22

Totals             Men                    Women
May 20          45                        96
May 26          50                        106
May 31          64                        125

Women continue their domination.
Collegians have the most marks from 2014 on these lists.

In the month of June, there SHOULD be massive amounts of new marks.
We have the Rome and New York DL's.
There's the NCAA Championships.
And High Schoolers have more State meets (next weekend), as well as some post-season invitationals, including the always-loaded New Balance Nationals.
Added to this list is the Brooks PR meet, as well as the Portland Track Festival.
And in addition to the DL's the professionals have Hengelo, always good for quality marks, as well as various other smaller European meets.

So follow this blog for ALL the results worth noting.
I expect the number of 2014 marks making my lists to grow from the present 189 (see chart above) to over 300 by June 30th!

And this was supposed to be an "OFF" year??!!