USATF--Some HOT Stuff!

Another of my twisted title games!
It WAS hot in Sacramento (120 on the track today, 100 in the air), but there were also some HOT marks that came from this US Championship meet.
But as usual, I want to say something first.

What do Shalane Flanagan, LaShawn Merritt, Matt Centrowitz, Allyson Felix, Christian Cantwell, and Abbey D'Agostino (among others) have in common?

They're all superstars of the sport, all professionals (Abbey D just turning Pro), and all of them were declared and accepted for this meet.
And all, save Merritt and Felix, who ran their prelim heats, then were no shows for their semi's, didn't compete!
Why?
None had injury problems.
None got violently sick (like Kori Carter did last year before the 400H final).
None got busted for drugs or murder.
None died.

No, they just gave limp tepid excuses for not competing to become the Champion of the United States of America.
This is a disgrace!

Sure, they're adults, and can make decisions on their own, or with their coaches.
Let's take Flanagan as an example.

She's training for a fast fall marathon.
So she said she chose to start her "serious" training now.
Okay, I can understand that!
Then why did she declare for the 10000 here?
Didn't she KNOW she'd be starting serious training now?
Why not scratch BEFORE the deadline (or just not declare), thus leaving a spot open for someone else?
Finally, why couldn't she have run the race anyway, as a hard workout for her marathon?
Treat it as a tempo run or something!

And this goes for all the others.
Without a VALID excuse (medical problem, Grandma dying, etc), there is NO excuse for missing your NATIONAL Championships!!

Now on to the meet itself!

There were no World or American records, but there was one Meet Record, so let's start there.

Emma Coburn continues her break-out SC season.
She won easily in a Meet Record time of 9:19.72.

Behind her came Ashley Higginson's big PR of 9:27.59.
This moves her from 10th A-T US up to 5th!

Aisha Praught also PR'ed big-time---twice!!
First came her 9:39.77 in the heat.
Then she ran 9:34.69 in the final!
The first moved her from 23rd A-T US up to 18th.
Her second moved her from 18th up to 11th A-T US!!

Sara Vaughn and Rachel Johnson also made my DDD list.
Vaughn ran 9:41.55 (in her heat) for 23rd A-T US.
And Johnson ran 9:41.56 (!!) in the final for 24th A-T US!

In the Women's 400, Francena McCorory left Sanya Richards-Ross in her wake, as she got a PR by 0.38 to win in 49.48.
This moves her all the way from 14th A-T US up to 5th!
But she misses the World DDD by 0.15 seconds!

SRR ran 49.66 in 2nd to indicate she's back STRONG from her toe surgery!
She'd run a solid 50.03 in her semi!

Will Claye TJ'ed a great 58-3, making him 21st A-T World, tied with 2 others.
He also moves up one spot on the A-T US list, from 8th to 7th.

Jeff Henderson Long Jumped 27-8 (He also had a 27-11.50 windy jump!), putting him in 18th place on the A-T US list.

Gia Lewis-Smallwood threw the Discus 216-5, moving her from 7th A-T US up into 5th!

Ronnie Ash didn't win the final (He fell over a hurdle and DNF'ed!), but he won his semi in the fastest time of the meet.
His 12.99 makes him 11th A-T US.
More importantly, it makes him 15th on the World list!!

Inika McPherson made a solid breakthrough in the HJ.
She reached 2 meters (6-6.75), beating comebacking from pregnancy Chaunte Lowe, and Brigetta Barrett in the process!
This moves her from 13th A-T US into a 4-way tie in 5th!

The SP's, both held outside Sacto's State Capitol, produced two good PR's.

Joe Kovacs used his, a put of 72-3.50, to win the Men's event.
It makes him 11th A-T US.
It also makes him 19th best on the World list!

Significant were the two names who were pushed OFF those lists by Kovacs's entries.
He removed Kevin Akins 70-10.25 from 1983 from the US DDD.
And he removed Remigius Machura's 71-11.25 from 1987 from the World list!

Also with a solid PR was Women's 2nd placer (behind Michelle Carter) Felicia Johnson.
Her put of 62-11.25 moves her from 10th A-T US up to 7th!

And Tia Brooks TIED her outdoor PR (from 2013) of 61-9.50.
She's 11th A-T US.

The Women's JT produced a great series of marks.
At least for American women!!

Kara Patterson continues her comeback, winning in 204 and change.
But right behind her was Brittany Borman's PR of almost 2 feet, a 203-7 throw.
But she doesn't move up the list, remaining 3rd A-T US!

Elizabeth Herrs improved to 187-8, making her 16th A-T US.

And Hannah Carson continues her solid year.
She first came on the scene as an 8th grader, throwing 173-7!
But she had a ragged 4 years of HS, where she did NOT improve on her Middle School mark.
And this continued in her Freshman year of college!

But this year is different.
She's been PR'ing all spring.
Her latest came in the USATF meet (so doesn't qualify for the Collegiate list, as it's after the NCAA's!), her 185-1 making her 23rd A-T US!!

Speaking of Collegians in this meet, Sandi Morris gained 2 inches on her Pole Vault PR, going 14-11 for 2nd behind Jenn Suhr's 15-1.
(It was windy during the event, holding marks down, and causing lots of early misses!)
Morris moves from 18th A-T US (tied with 5 others!) up to 16th, where she's tied with 1 other.

Tori Bowie didn't run in the final of the 100.
But she had a valid excuse, as she sustained a slight injury earlier.

She ran a breakthrough time of 10.91, continuing her great season.
It makes her 22nd A-T US, tied with one other.

The Heptathlon was pretty deep with good marks.
Behind winner Sharon Day-Monroe came 2 solid PR's.

Barbara Nwaba's 6307 is 14th A-T US.

And Erica Bougard got 6118 points.
This WOULD have made her 24th A-T US, had it not been for Nwaba finishing ahead of her!
So Bougard can be considered as 25th A-T US!!

Kristin Smith's Hammer Throw of 224-5 makes her 24th A-T US.

The Women's 800 was interesting.
(Aside from Maggie Vessey's creative AND quite revealing racing kits!!  LOL)

Brenda Martinez didn't win!
In fact, she finished 4th!

The winner was 20 year old Ajee Wilson in 1:58.70, a non-PR.
Behind her was U of O graduate (wearing her Oregon uniform!) Laura Roesler.
Roesler ran a great 1:59.04, sprinting hard at the finish after being boxed in earlier.

Her time moves her into 24th place A-T US in what can be considered her first race as a Professional!
And if it had been run at the NCAA's (or before), it would be the new Collegiate Record!!

But I agree with Track and Field News, who rule that CR's (or marks eligible for Collegiate lists!) must happen at or before the NCAA meet, not after!!

Pushed OFF the US list by Roesler's entry is Essie Washington's 1:59.07 from 1987!

Another VERY interesting facet of the Women's 800 happened in the prelim heats.

Standing there in a red uniform top AND her usual flower pinned to her hair was a 34 weeks along pregnant woman named Alysia Montano!

And she wasn't there just to take a bow, as befits a former multi-times US Champion (and Olympian!).
No, she was there to RACE!!

And she did, running what MUST be a World Record for 34 weeks pregnant women, 2:32.13.
(That's a faster pace than what Paula Radcliffe ran in her WR 2:15:25 marathon in 2003!!!)

Forget what happened in the rest of the meet.
This was THE story of the whole 5 days!!

(And, regarding what I said at the beginning of this post, this makes ANY excuse invalid and UNexcusable!!  A PREGNANT woman not only showing up at her National Championship, but RACING!!!  For SHAME, all you no-shows or dropouts, for SHAME!!!!)

Okay, now that my breathing is back to normal, let's continue.

The much-ballyhooed Women's 1500 race certainly met its expectations.
Well, SOME of them!

In the heats, the favorites, Jenny Simpson, Mary Cain, and the resurgent Morgan Uceny, all made it through easily, running sub-4:10's.
But Alexa Efraimson, who is becoming THE "next Mary Cain", tried to run with the leaders in her heat (She was in Simpson's and Cain's heat!!), and did so for 3 laps.
Then she faded for about 200 meters, before finishing with a good kick.
However, she finished only 7th in 4:12.89 (her 2nd best time ever!), not qualifying for the final.
(She and Cain are going to compete in the World Junior Trials next week....Cain in the 3000, Efraimson in the 1500....and should easily make the team!)

The final was won by Simpson in 4:04 and change, with Cain 2nd in 4:06 and change.

Morgan Uceny?
She fell....again!!
She got up and finished...last!
What is wrong with her that she falls all the time in MAJOR races??
Hopefully, she'll recover (emotionally!), and continue her strong "comeback" year!!

Before I finish, there were a few other marks good enough to report, some from the previous week.

The USATF Junior Championship (the one where Cain and Efraimson will compete next week!) Multi's were held in concordance with the Senior meet.

In the Heptathlon, two girls got good marks.
Ashlee Moore improved to 5418 points, moving her from 10th A-T HS up into 5th.
And Shaina Burns scored 5363 points, making her 8th A-T HS.

Other HS marks from last week include:

John Nizich had a JT of 224-1, moving him from 21st A-T HS to 18th, tied with 1 other.
Colin Minor threw the Hammer 229-6, making him 20th A-T HS.
(Removed FROM the list was a biggie!!  Gone is Alvin Jackson, whose 227-8 from 1972 was then the HSR!!!)
Nyla Woods threw the Hammer 185-8.
This moves her from 22nd A-T HS to 16th.
And Lena Giger's 181-0 HT makes her 22nd A-T HS.

Tianna Daniels sprinted 100 meters in 11.31, making her 22nd A-T HS, tied with 1 other.

On the international front, there were 2 National Records.

Eliska Klucinova scored 6460 in the Heptathlon, which is the Czech National Record.
Sandra Eriksson ran the 3000 Steeplechase in 9:34.71 for the National Record of Finland.

I need to correct a HUMONGOUS error I made many many blog posts ago!

Remember reading that Floyd Heard had run a much-wind-aided 200 of 19.61 at the Texas Relays about 20 years ago?
Not true!!

It was Leroy Burrell, NOT Floyd Heard, who ran that windy 19.61 time!!
And it didn't happen at the Texas Relays!!
It happened at the SouthWest Conference meet in College Station in 1990!!

Sorry for this grievous error!!  LOL

Next week are TWO Diamond League meets.
Lausanne is on the 3rd of July, and Paris is on July 5th.

Should be lots more HOT stuff!!