It's hard to believe those 6 days of the World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon are over!
Being able to watch the entire meet (for FREE!) on both Universal Sports and USATF-TV feeds made the meet so much more enjoyable, getting to live every dramatic record broken (or those which came sooooo close!) and all the record drama that meets like this bring forth, that those 6 days sped by TOO fast!!
But, speaking of speed, let's take a look AT those 6 days of fierce competition.
Seven Meet Records were broken (though 1 of those was a tie).
And 4 United States HSR's were broken, with one of them being broken TWICE!!
(One of the MR's was also broken twice, which I'll explain in just a minute!)
The event that saw BOTH Meet Records broken were the 10000 Meter Walks.
These took place entirely on Hayward Field's track, so the spectators got to see every step (and mis-step!).
Anezka Drahotova of the Czech Republic took the lead right away, and never gave it up.
She hit 5000 in 21:21, then did 21:26 to get the MR in 42:47.25.
I don't keep Walk records, but this was also a World Junior Record, not to mention the Czech Republic National Record.
Some interesting facts about her:
She's also a runner, qualifying for the 3000SC here. (She didn't run it, as the heats came just a day after her Walk effort!)
And she's a champion bicyclist too!
She has a twin sister, Eliska, who also raced here.
The Men's Walk also produced a Meet Record.
Daisuke Matsunaga of Japan kept a metronomic pace (kept looking at his watch to make sure he was on record pace!), and was successful, clicking off a 39:27.19 for the MR.
(An aside: I really LOVE those Japan team uniform tops!! Great design and colors!)
The 3000SC is rarely run in the USA High School system.
In fact, even the 2000SC isn't a standard event.
So when Colorado's Bailey Roth came to the fore in 2013, it became known that he'd never even SEEN a SC hurdle (or water pit), let alone jumped over one, up to maybe 2-3 weeks before his initial 2000SC race.
But he took to the Steeple like.....heh!.....a fish takes to water!
He ran about 5:45 last year over the 2000 distance.
And this year, at the NBN meet, he lowered that to 5:41.67, the HSR.
Right after that, I tweeted him that, based on his 5:41, he had an excellent chance to take down the HSR over the 3000SC distance.
I won't take credit for his doing so, but he did it.
TWICE!
Coming in with a 9:03 PR (from the WJC Trials earlier this month!), he crushed that mark, AND the HSR of 8:50.1 by Jeff Hess in 1979, with a stunning 8:48.60.
And that was enough to qualify for the final!
He finished 10th, but nipped his own HSR with his time of 8:47.04.
This is, of course, also the HS Senior Class Record!
And it (the first record) moved him from 9th A-T HS up to 1st.....where he remained after the final!
Another "ancient" HSR to fall came in the Women's 100H.
It was clear from the start that the USA's Kendell Williams and Dior Hall would be heavily favored.
However, the Netherlands Nadine Visser made this event more interesting than the pre-meet formsheet indicated.
Visser ran a windy 13.01 in her semi, improving her overall (windy or not) PR by almost two-tenths of a second.
Could she pull off an upset?
Alas, no.
But she DID push the 2 Americans to incredible times!
Williams, who just finished her Freshman year at the University of Georgia, ran a Meet Record time of 12.89.
That record, by Cuba's Aliuska Lopez, was 12.96 from 1988!!
A very close 2nd, Hall ran 12.92, claiming the HSR of 12.95 set by Candy Young way back in...1979!!
(That made TWO 1979 HSR's broken in less than one week!!)
She also, obviously, gets the HS Senior Class Record!
This moves her from 2nd A-T HS into 1st.
But she missed the Age 18 record (by Kristi Castlin) by....0.01 seconds!!
Visser wound up getting a PR with her excellent 12.99!
The MALE version of Kendell Williams ALSO had a pretty fair meet!
To say 9.97 man Trayvon Bromell was the favorite going in would be the understatement of the year!
(Especially after 10.00 guy Trentavis Friday false-started at the Trials!)
So it appeared that Bromell had a clear road ahead to victory.
The only question left was.....How fast could he go?
The answer, sad for him, was not fast enough to win!
Yes, amazingly, Bromell lost, and Williams won!
He'd run a PR of 10.23 in his heat.
This moved him from 23rd A-T HS (tied with 6 others!) up to 15th.
But in the final, he powered to the finish in 10.21, edging out Bromell for the Gold.
This latter time moved him up 3 more spots on my HS DDD list, where he's now 12th, tied with 3 others.
Frenchman Wilhelm Belocian cut through the (invisible) tape in 12.99 in the Men's 110H final.
This too was a Meet Record.
(The race used 39 inch hurdles!)
The overwhelming Men's Triple Jump favorite, Cuba's Lazaro Martinez, just 16 years old (!!), came through as expected.
He didn't PR, but his first jump measured 56-0.50 for the MR.
Then he did it again....for good measure (heh heh, pun intended!!).
His 56-2.50 claimed his own Meet Record!!
He's a pretty big guy physically, and VERY impressive!!
If he stays healthy, and competes a few more years, I could easily see him claiming the World Record someday.
My DDD's for the HS Decathlon is for those using international (adult, professional level) implements (hurdle heights, etc).
The WJC, being a meet for Juniors, obviously used the JUNIOR-size props.
That said, the Czech Republic's Jiri Sykora broke the MR with his 8135 point total.
He's also an impressive looking athlete, and should go on to much success on the Pro circuit.
The two Pole Vaults produced record performances of one kind or another.
And both produced ding-dong battles for places.
While the MR wasn't broken, the Men's vault nabbed a great mark for the USA's Devin King.
Despite getting the same mark as the Silver and Bronze medal winners, King finished just 4th with his PR of 18-0.50!
I want to say this was his first 18 foot vault, but a few days earlier, he'd vaulted 18-0 in a STREET vault!
I don't know (yet) if that mark is acceptable for HS list purposes.
If it is, then THAT was his initial 18 footer.
If not, his WJC mark was.
Whatever the case, his WJC prevailed anyway (by half an inch!).
He moves from 11th A-T HS, tied with 3 others, up to 6th.
And the Women's PV had a humdinger of a battle too.
Russia's Alena Lutkovskaya pulled out the win with her Meet Record-tying height of 14-9.
Two girls got marks of 14-7.25, with America's Desiree Freier prevailing for Silver with her latest HSR.
In fact, she got TWO of those babies in this meet!
The first came when she cleared 14-6.
This was her OUTdoor PR (She'd earlier this season gotten 14-6 INdoors!!), so claimed her own HSR at that height.
She then went higher, her 14-7.25 getting her 2nd place, but 1st place on the A-T HS list.
It's also, of course, the HS 12th Grade Class Record, again breaking her own mark.
AND......it's better than the COLLEGIATE Frosh Class Record!!
This five foot tall (Tall?? LOL) wunderkind misses the United States All-Time Top 24 Performers list by....one-quarter inch!!!
Finally (in the Women's PV), Eliza McCartney claimed the NATIONAL Record (not just the JUNIOR NR, but the OVERALL NR!!) of New Zealand with her Bronze medal-winning height of 14-7.25.
(She had more misses than Freier.)
All 4 Relays were of high quality, but none of them captured the Meet Records.
The closest were the two 4X100's.
The United States won both, missing the Men's MR by a mere 0.04 seconds!
The USA Women won too, but missed the MR by 0.06 seconds!!
In the meet's two closing races, the 4X400 Relays, the MR's weren't threatened, but the USA won both of them fairly easily.
(Japan, however, surprised some by capturing 2nd in the Men's 4X400!!)
Morgan Lake of Great Britain, just 17 years old, won the Heptathlon with her PR of 6148 points.
She HJ'ed a PR of 6-4.25 in that 7-eventer.
She also competed in the Open HJ, winning there with 6-3.
In both jumps, she made 3 attempts each at 6-5.50, which would've been the Age 17 record if she'd succeeded!
Ashlee Moore of the USA scored a PR of 5466 points, but she remains in 5th place on the A-T HS list!
So what happened to the "BIG STAR" of the WJC pre-meet hype?
(aka Mary Cain!)
She did quite well, thank you!
Would you believe she WON the 3000?
And would you also believe she was the first American of either sex to win a distance race in the WJC's??
Not only that, she beat a few Kenyans and Ethiopians while doing so!!
I'll have a post sometime soon about the great depth of HS (and College Frosh) middle and long distance runners on the female side.
In that, I'll speak to the question of whether to accept Cain's marks run AFTER turning Professional as HSR's.
For the nonce, I AM accepting those marks, and including them on my HS DDD's.
Thus, the following should be read with that caveat in mind!!
Mary Cain won the 3000 meters race in 8:58.48.
This broke Lynn Bjorklund's 1975 HSR of 9:08.6.
Finally!!
It also claims the HS Senior Class Record.
And it moves her from 8th A-T HS into 1st.
The race itself was great.
The K splits were a "jogging" 3:03 and 3:04 (6:07 at 2K), with Cain and the Africans in a pack, Cain in 2nd on the inside.
They started to RUN at around 250 or 300 to go, but Cain seemed boxed in.
On the final curve, she tried to break out, but one of the Africans wouldn't let her go.
She actually slowed down, thinking maybe to cut around her from the back.
Then (magically, it seemed to me!!), the African girl ALSO seemed to stop (!!), and Cain sprinted hard into an instant lead, giving it her all the rest of the way, winning by a clear 20 meters!!
This was the Mary Cain of 2013 and Indoors 2014 we all have learned to know and love.
On that final straightaway, I've never seen a better Mary Cain!!
IMHO, she can run 8:35 or thereabouts.
The two "NEXT Mary Cain's", Alexa Efraimson and Elise Cranny were in the 1500.
They easily made the final, both taking the needed 4th in their heats to qualify.
But they were going up against the much-vaunted Dawit Seyaum of Ethiopia, who had a 3:59 to her credit.
However, their PR's showed them as the 3rd (Efraimson) and 5th (Cranny) fastest runners coming into the final.
It opened a bit fast, but soon became another of those maddening jog-and-kick affairs you see WAY too often in Championship meets.....on any level!!
Both of them ran tactically smart races, with Efraimson sticking closest to the front, Cranny not far back.
This continued through laps of 68 and 69 (2:17 at 800), and they hit the bell (1100 meters) at about 3:08, with the Americans still close.
Could they pull a Cain, and beat these "unbeatable" Africans?
Wish I could say YES!, but alas, it was no.
Alexa tried......really tried.
When Seyaum finally took off, Efraimson sprinted too.
And stuck close for maybe 20 meters.
Then Dawit was GONE!
But she still sprinted, finally running out of gas on the straight, where (somewhat shockingly!), Cranny passed her.
Cranny took 4th, with Efraimson 6th!!
We should remember that in the WJC in Barcelona in 2012, Cain took 6th also, behind Faith Kipyegon's 4:04.96 Meet Record.
A couple of other highly-rated USA High School girls did fairly well, but neither PR'ed.
Raven Saunders got the Silver medal with her final round put.
But TJ'er Keturah Orji just didn't have it here, and didn't medal or PR.
The HSR remains intact, and that 45 foot barrier will have to wait for another prodigy to come along!
The biggest upset of the meet, besides Williams over Bromell in the 100, came in the Women's 800.
Cuban Sahily Diago, despite a PR of 1:57+, was beaten by Margaret Wambui of Kenya!!
Wambui had come in with a PR a full 6 seconds slower than Diago!!
Before I close here, let me report a couple of oddities that occurred!
One was heartWARMING.
The other was heartRENDING!
The latter happened in the heats of the Men's 4X400 Relay.
Nigeria's 2nd man was allowed to cut in after the first turn.
He didn't!!
He continued running the ENTIRE LAP in the FOURTH lane!!!
(I'm not an expert, but my guess is he ran an extra 20 meters!!)
Finally, just before the hand-off, he realized his mistake, sharply cut over to where the 3rd man was waiting for the baton!!
Embarrassing, to say the least!!
I'm sure his Coach and/or the Officials will have to answer for this egregious error!!
The more positive dramatic element took place in the Women's 100 heats.
Angela Tenorio of Ecuador "false-started", and was told to leave the starting line.
She did.....in tears and bewilderment!
Later, it was decided she did NOT false-start!
So the officials created a "race".....just for her.....to see if she would "qualify" for the semi's!
She needed to run at least 11.77 to make it.
She was in her blocks......all by herself.......waiting to get down to her start position, when right in front of her, apparently not knowing she was about to run the most important race of her life, the Kenyan 10000 winner, flag draped over his back, ran past her on his victory lap!!
However, after this amusing, yet much loved delay, she finally ran the race.
In 11.27!!
She was in the semi's, and she finally wound up taking the Silver medal!!
And Ms Tenorio was probably the most popular and beloved Silver winner ever!!
That wraps up my report on the WJC of 2014.
I have a few older marks, plus a few new marks to report, but this is far too long already, so will include them when I do my post (on August 2nd!) at the conclusion of the ongoing Commonwealth Games, happening now in Glasgow!!
Hope you all enjoyed the meet (and were able to see it either in person or online....as I did!).
And hope you enjoyed this report.
If you did, please refer my blog to your friends who want ALL the news on T&F Records and Marks, past, present, and future!!
See you in a few days!
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
World Junior Championship Meet Record Predictions--Women
NOTE: See my post on the Men for all the usual rules & regs, caveats and criteria! But just as a quick reminder, I'm listing the MR possibilities in 3 sections, as follows:
A--The MR is almost certain to go, with from 75 to 100% chances.
B--Here, the odds are between 25 and 74%. Where needed, I'll indicate which end they're closer to!
C--Almost NO chance to fall, with odds from 0 to 24%.
A
100 (11.12)
Sixteen year old Kaylin Whitney nipped the HSR at the USATF Jr's!! And she just finished her 10th grade year!! As noted with the men, only wind or injury will keep this record intact!
But Whitney will have a fierce challenger in Brit Dina Asher-Smith!!
Also keep your eye on American Arianna Washington, and the other British girl, Desiree Henry.
200 (22.53)
Whitney ran 22.49 at USATF.
She'll again have Asher-Smith for company.
Let's hope the wind takes a siesta!
400 (50.50)
This one is much closer to the "B" category, probably about 75 to 80% odds of being broken.
Kendall Baisden has a 50.46, but she's run that kind of time just once, and has no one to push her!
800 (2:00.06)
Sahilly Diago of Cuba is on the Diamond League, adult World Championship, and Olympic Games level with her super PR of 1:57.74.
This will be a time trial!
It would be nice to see Iceland's Anita Hinriksdottir break 2:00 also.
1500 (4:04.96)
Dawit Seyaum of Ethiopia has a sub-4:00 PR
(BTW, she turns 18 on the day of the Final, July 27!!)
Her teammate, Gudaf Tsegay, is sub-4:03.
But there's some confusion here (which extends to the 3000!)
Senbere Teferi, who has an 8:41+ PR in the 3000, and was initially listed in that event, is now listed in the 1500 only!
BUT.....the rules are that only TWO athletes per nation are allowed in each event!
So if Teferi runs the 1500 ONLY, what happens to her 1500 teammates??
Will one of THEM transfer to the 3000?
The FINAL Heat Sheets aren't available for this event (or the 3000), so this stands where it is.....CONFUSING!!
That said, Seyaum should easily crush this MR!!
(Assuming she doesn't jog the first 1200!!)
Watch to see if Alexa Efraimson can get Mary Cain's HSR of 4:04.62!!
And what will Elise Cranny do? She says she thinks she has a 4:08 in her.
3000 (8:46.86)
NOTE: See the 1500 for details on who's running what!!
IF.....Teferi runs this event, Mary Cain will have the race of her life on her hands!!
Cain has never broken 9:04 (Her 9:02 was on an OT, so doesn't count!), and just jogged the Trials.
But I've always believed she has a SUB-8:40 in her!
If Teferi runs, she MIGHT force Cain to take Salazar's leash off and.....RUN!!
And IF all that happens, this could be THE best distance race of the entire meet!!
At worst, Cain should go sub-9:00 for the first time!
Very interesting trivia fact: Lilian Renzeruk of Kenya was born on the SAME month and day as Cain, May 3rd, although she's a year younger than Mary!
5000 (15:08.06)
This record going down is dependent on just one thing...whether sub-15:00 girls Alemetu Haroye of Ethiopia and Agnes Tirop of Kenya decide to RUN.....or JOG!!
The other Ethiopian, Getytom Gebreslase, also could go sub-15:00.
BTW, this meet once held a 10000 for Women.
In 1992, Wang Junxia of China ran 32:29.90 for the MR.
If you recall, Ms Junxia ran slightly faster one year later, her 29:31.78 still standing as the WORLD Record!!!
I really wish the IAAF weren't so sexist, and would add a 10000 for Women.....again!!
3000SC (9:31.35)
Ruth Jebet of Burundi recently broke the Age 17 record with her 9:27.90.
If she runs anywhere close to that, this record is GONE!
100H (12.96)
The two Americans, Kendell Williams and Dior Hall, will challenge this record.
Barring disaster (or heavy winds), this MR should fall!
And Hall has a VERY decent chance at the HSR of Candy Young, set back in 1979!!
400H (54.70)
This one I ALMOST put in the "B" category.
Shamier Little has a PR of 55.07, but has the potential to go faster.
But, IMHO, that 14 year old (!!!), Sydney McLaughlin, who wasn't allowed to run here because she's "too young", probably would have had a better shot at the MR than Little does!
AND the HSR!!!
Alas, McLaughlin isn't here, another example of the sexism AND ageism of the IAAF!!
LJ (22-4.50)
Another I almost placed in the "B" category.
Florentine Marinciu of Romania and Esa Brume of Nigeria should vie for this one. Both are a few inches shy of the record.
PV (14-9)
This one ALSO falls nearer to the "B"'s.
But Alena Lutkovskaya of Ukraine is at 14-5 level, and might have her Day of Days.
Another to watch is Eliza McCartney of New Zealand, who is just 17.
Desiree Freier, America's best hope, will turn 18 on July 24th!
Can she get her own HSR??
JT (206-8)
This one's nearer the "B"'s too, but Sofi Flinck of Sweden is a Rising Star, so this record could go.
10000 Walk (43:24.72)
Anesha Drahotova of the Czech Republic turns 19 on July 27th, and has a good chance to get this MR.
4X100 and 4X400 Relays (43.40 and 3:27.60)
The United States (with Whitney and Washington leading the way) could get the shorter event MR.
The 4X400 is a bit more in doubt, with just Baisden having the ability to bring this record down.
Jamaica's and Great Britain's teams will challenge the US, as will Nigeria in the longer race.
(And that was just the "A" category!! As you can see, the Women's MR's could see a wholesale revision!!)
B
HJ (6-6.75)
No one's close, but Iryna Gereshchenko of Ukraine, and British Heptathlete Morgan Lake should go highest
Lake is just 17.
HT (231-8)
Al'ona Shamotina of Ukraine and Reha Gyuratz of Hungary will battle it out.
Both are 18.
Heptathlon (6470)
This really belongs in the "C" category, so place this MUCH nearer the 25% level than the 74% mark!!
Yorgelis Rodriguez of Cuba has a PR of 6231, over 200 points below the MR.
But with PR's in 3 or 4 of the 7 events, she could challenge it!
Morgan Lake has that MAJOR star quality, and could shock here.
Another to watch is Nadine Visser of the Netherlands.
I REALLY wish Kendell Williams had decided to go in this event than in just the 100H!!
C
TJ (47-11.75)
Ana Peletier will probably win the meet, but is nowhere near the MR.
Watch to see if Keturah Orji gets the HSR (AND the 45 foot mark!) she's been chasing all year!!
This is her LAST chance!!
SP (61-6.75)
Not even close!
Tianguan Guo of China and Emel Dereli of Turkey should vie for the title, but not the MR.
Can Raven Saunders break her own HSR??
Well, folks, there you have it!
Set in stone!
But I'll tell you right now, no matter what happens, this meet should be one of the most exciting of the entire year!!
Enjoy!!!
A--The MR is almost certain to go, with from 75 to 100% chances.
B--Here, the odds are between 25 and 74%. Where needed, I'll indicate which end they're closer to!
C--Almost NO chance to fall, with odds from 0 to 24%.
A
100 (11.12)
Sixteen year old Kaylin Whitney nipped the HSR at the USATF Jr's!! And she just finished her 10th grade year!! As noted with the men, only wind or injury will keep this record intact!
But Whitney will have a fierce challenger in Brit Dina Asher-Smith!!
Also keep your eye on American Arianna Washington, and the other British girl, Desiree Henry.
200 (22.53)
Whitney ran 22.49 at USATF.
She'll again have Asher-Smith for company.
Let's hope the wind takes a siesta!
400 (50.50)
This one is much closer to the "B" category, probably about 75 to 80% odds of being broken.
Kendall Baisden has a 50.46, but she's run that kind of time just once, and has no one to push her!
800 (2:00.06)
Sahilly Diago of Cuba is on the Diamond League, adult World Championship, and Olympic Games level with her super PR of 1:57.74.
This will be a time trial!
It would be nice to see Iceland's Anita Hinriksdottir break 2:00 also.
1500 (4:04.96)
Dawit Seyaum of Ethiopia has a sub-4:00 PR
(BTW, she turns 18 on the day of the Final, July 27!!)
Her teammate, Gudaf Tsegay, is sub-4:03.
But there's some confusion here (which extends to the 3000!)
Senbere Teferi, who has an 8:41+ PR in the 3000, and was initially listed in that event, is now listed in the 1500 only!
BUT.....the rules are that only TWO athletes per nation are allowed in each event!
So if Teferi runs the 1500 ONLY, what happens to her 1500 teammates??
Will one of THEM transfer to the 3000?
The FINAL Heat Sheets aren't available for this event (or the 3000), so this stands where it is.....CONFUSING!!
That said, Seyaum should easily crush this MR!!
(Assuming she doesn't jog the first 1200!!)
Watch to see if Alexa Efraimson can get Mary Cain's HSR of 4:04.62!!
And what will Elise Cranny do? She says she thinks she has a 4:08 in her.
3000 (8:46.86)
NOTE: See the 1500 for details on who's running what!!
IF.....Teferi runs this event, Mary Cain will have the race of her life on her hands!!
Cain has never broken 9:04 (Her 9:02 was on an OT, so doesn't count!), and just jogged the Trials.
But I've always believed she has a SUB-8:40 in her!
If Teferi runs, she MIGHT force Cain to take Salazar's leash off and.....RUN!!
And IF all that happens, this could be THE best distance race of the entire meet!!
At worst, Cain should go sub-9:00 for the first time!
Very interesting trivia fact: Lilian Renzeruk of Kenya was born on the SAME month and day as Cain, May 3rd, although she's a year younger than Mary!
5000 (15:08.06)
This record going down is dependent on just one thing...whether sub-15:00 girls Alemetu Haroye of Ethiopia and Agnes Tirop of Kenya decide to RUN.....or JOG!!
The other Ethiopian, Getytom Gebreslase, also could go sub-15:00.
BTW, this meet once held a 10000 for Women.
In 1992, Wang Junxia of China ran 32:29.90 for the MR.
If you recall, Ms Junxia ran slightly faster one year later, her 29:31.78 still standing as the WORLD Record!!!
I really wish the IAAF weren't so sexist, and would add a 10000 for Women.....again!!
3000SC (9:31.35)
Ruth Jebet of Burundi recently broke the Age 17 record with her 9:27.90.
If she runs anywhere close to that, this record is GONE!
100H (12.96)
The two Americans, Kendell Williams and Dior Hall, will challenge this record.
Barring disaster (or heavy winds), this MR should fall!
And Hall has a VERY decent chance at the HSR of Candy Young, set back in 1979!!
400H (54.70)
This one I ALMOST put in the "B" category.
Shamier Little has a PR of 55.07, but has the potential to go faster.
But, IMHO, that 14 year old (!!!), Sydney McLaughlin, who wasn't allowed to run here because she's "too young", probably would have had a better shot at the MR than Little does!
AND the HSR!!!
Alas, McLaughlin isn't here, another example of the sexism AND ageism of the IAAF!!
LJ (22-4.50)
Another I almost placed in the "B" category.
Florentine Marinciu of Romania and Esa Brume of Nigeria should vie for this one. Both are a few inches shy of the record.
PV (14-9)
This one ALSO falls nearer to the "B"'s.
But Alena Lutkovskaya of Ukraine is at 14-5 level, and might have her Day of Days.
Another to watch is Eliza McCartney of New Zealand, who is just 17.
Desiree Freier, America's best hope, will turn 18 on July 24th!
Can she get her own HSR??
JT (206-8)
This one's nearer the "B"'s too, but Sofi Flinck of Sweden is a Rising Star, so this record could go.
10000 Walk (43:24.72)
Anesha Drahotova of the Czech Republic turns 19 on July 27th, and has a good chance to get this MR.
4X100 and 4X400 Relays (43.40 and 3:27.60)
The United States (with Whitney and Washington leading the way) could get the shorter event MR.
The 4X400 is a bit more in doubt, with just Baisden having the ability to bring this record down.
Jamaica's and Great Britain's teams will challenge the US, as will Nigeria in the longer race.
(And that was just the "A" category!! As you can see, the Women's MR's could see a wholesale revision!!)
B
HJ (6-6.75)
No one's close, but Iryna Gereshchenko of Ukraine, and British Heptathlete Morgan Lake should go highest
Lake is just 17.
HT (231-8)
Al'ona Shamotina of Ukraine and Reha Gyuratz of Hungary will battle it out.
Both are 18.
Heptathlon (6470)
This really belongs in the "C" category, so place this MUCH nearer the 25% level than the 74% mark!!
Yorgelis Rodriguez of Cuba has a PR of 6231, over 200 points below the MR.
But with PR's in 3 or 4 of the 7 events, she could challenge it!
Morgan Lake has that MAJOR star quality, and could shock here.
Another to watch is Nadine Visser of the Netherlands.
I REALLY wish Kendell Williams had decided to go in this event than in just the 100H!!
C
TJ (47-11.75)
Ana Peletier will probably win the meet, but is nowhere near the MR.
Watch to see if Keturah Orji gets the HSR (AND the 45 foot mark!) she's been chasing all year!!
This is her LAST chance!!
SP (61-6.75)
Not even close!
Tianguan Guo of China and Emel Dereli of Turkey should vie for the title, but not the MR.
Can Raven Saunders break her own HSR??
Well, folks, there you have it!
Set in stone!
But I'll tell you right now, no matter what happens, this meet should be one of the most exciting of the entire year!!
Enjoy!!!
World Junior Championships Meet Record Predictions--Men
We're just a few short hours before the World Junior Championships begins in Eugene, Oregon.
To help you enjoy the meet just a bit more, I'm offering my opinion as to which MEET Records might be broken.
I'll give a name or two of those who are most likely to break the record.
But I'll also tell you if the US HSR might go as well, even if that athlete doesn't get the Meet Record!
I'm dividing this into 2 posts, this one for the Men, the next for the Women.
I've broken the events down into 3 groupings, based on the odds of the MR going down.
The groupings are as follows:
A---These MR's are most likely to fall, the chances between 75 and 100%.
B---These MR's COULD go, but the odds fall anywhere between 25 and 74%!! Because the numbers are so divergent, I'll mention where about they stand on this scale.
C---These MR's are LEAST likely to fall, with the odds between 0 and 24%.
A
100 (10.05)
Trayvon Bromell could take this down in his semi! Then AGAIN in the final!!
Only the wind could save this record!
Kendell Williams could produce a solid HS time, but won't get the HSR!
200 (20.28)
Unless there's excessive wind, or Trentavis Friday is injured, this record is GONE!!
And he might even challenge the HSR of 20.13, as he had a windy 20.03 at USATF Jr's!
110H (13.18)
Three guys could challenge this record.
Wilhelm Belocian of France, David Omarizie of GB, and Tyler Mason of Jamaica.
TJ (55-11)
With 16 year old (!!) Cuban Lazaro Martinez in Eugene, this MR could be broken by a full foot or more!!
NOTE: I hesitate to even mention the Men's weight events, except for the Javelin Throw. Why? Because they use the so called "Junior" weights. My Record Book has United States HSR's listed for just two weights: 12 & 16 pounds in the SP, the International weights for the DT and HT, plus the US HS weights, which are NOT the "Junior" weights used in this meet!! Thus, I'm not really interested in these records!! I've chosen to give just cursory attention to these events. Note also that these exceptions do NOT apply to the WOMEN's weight events, which are the SAME from HS to the Professional level!! (See my blog from December 2013 about the Boys SP!!)
HT (265-1)
Ashref Elsify should smash this "record", though I'm not even sure what weight he used in his PR.
Decathlon (8059)
This is another event where "Junior" weight implements are used. I also do NOT keep "Junior" weight Decathlon records!
However, Jiri Sykora of the Czech Republic seems capable of getting this "record".
10000 Walk (39:35.01)
I don't keep Walk records, but Dalsuke Matsunaga of Japan has a PR that could challenge this one.
4X100 and 4X400 Relays (38.66 and 3:01.09)
With guys like Bromell and Friday on the 4X100, this record is almost certain to go down.
The 4X400 is a bit less likely to go, but I'd still put it on the lower part of the "A" category for the US.
B
1500 (3:35.53)
Saying middle distance and long distance records can be broken is a roll of the dice.
So many Championship races (1500 to 10000) are jog & kick affairs.
There may be qualified athletes to break the records, but they seldom choose to aggressively attack a record in these situations.
That said, you NEVER underestimate the Africans where fast times are concerned.
Hillary Ngetich and Jonathon Sawe of Kenya have sub-3:40 times, with Ngetich's PR being VERY close to the MR.
And this IS Hayward Field!!
5000 (13:08.57)
We have Moses Letoye of Kenya, Phillip Kipyego of Uganda, and Tsegay Tuemay of Eritrea to battle it out.
They'd need to chop close to 10 seconds from their PR's to get it!
10000 (27:30.85)
Joshua Cheptegai of Uganda and Tsegaye Mekannen of Ethiopia will lead this one.
Will they just go for the win, or the win AND the MR??
Cheptegai is just 17!!
LJ (26-11)
Jianan Wang of China and Travon White of the US have a chance at this MR.
But just a slim chance (closer to that 25% level!).
SP (72-10)
See Note above! This mark is held by Jacko Gill.
DT (220-10)
Less than 50% chance.
C
400 (44.66)
This is a toughie, as it's been rare for an Under-20 to go sub-45:00.
Michal Cedeno of Trinidad and Michael Cherry will give it a shot, but at best, will go just 44.9.
800 (1:43.79)
No one in the field is even close. The best PR is a 1:45+.
3000SC (8:06.10)
There doesn't appear to be any Kipruto's or Kemboi's in this, so this record should be safe.
Watch to see if Bailey Roth can FINALLY take down Jeff Hess's 1979 HSR of 8:50.1.
I don't care if he finishes LAST, as long as he gets that HSR!!
400H (48.51)
This record won't go down, but the fastest PR belongs to a 17 year old, Jaheel Hyde.
Ken Selmon is a US HS'er, but he probably won't go faster than 49.5 or so, if that! (He's also 17!)
HJ (7-9.25)
I think those 7-10 or higher Professionals can breathe easy for awhile.
This group won't get anywhere near this MR!!
PV (18-8.75)
Axel Chapelle of France has the best PR.
Watch Devin King, who recently vaulted 18-0 in a Street Vault!
The HSR might be in his sights!!
JT (272-5)
Safe.
Stay tuned for the Women!!
To help you enjoy the meet just a bit more, I'm offering my opinion as to which MEET Records might be broken.
I'll give a name or two of those who are most likely to break the record.
But I'll also tell you if the US HSR might go as well, even if that athlete doesn't get the Meet Record!
I'm dividing this into 2 posts, this one for the Men, the next for the Women.
I've broken the events down into 3 groupings, based on the odds of the MR going down.
The groupings are as follows:
A---These MR's are most likely to fall, the chances between 75 and 100%.
B---These MR's COULD go, but the odds fall anywhere between 25 and 74%!! Because the numbers are so divergent, I'll mention where about they stand on this scale.
C---These MR's are LEAST likely to fall, with the odds between 0 and 24%.
A
100 (10.05)
Trayvon Bromell could take this down in his semi! Then AGAIN in the final!!
Only the wind could save this record!
Kendell Williams could produce a solid HS time, but won't get the HSR!
200 (20.28)
Unless there's excessive wind, or Trentavis Friday is injured, this record is GONE!!
And he might even challenge the HSR of 20.13, as he had a windy 20.03 at USATF Jr's!
110H (13.18)
Three guys could challenge this record.
Wilhelm Belocian of France, David Omarizie of GB, and Tyler Mason of Jamaica.
TJ (55-11)
With 16 year old (!!) Cuban Lazaro Martinez in Eugene, this MR could be broken by a full foot or more!!
NOTE: I hesitate to even mention the Men's weight events, except for the Javelin Throw. Why? Because they use the so called "Junior" weights. My Record Book has United States HSR's listed for just two weights: 12 & 16 pounds in the SP, the International weights for the DT and HT, plus the US HS weights, which are NOT the "Junior" weights used in this meet!! Thus, I'm not really interested in these records!! I've chosen to give just cursory attention to these events. Note also that these exceptions do NOT apply to the WOMEN's weight events, which are the SAME from HS to the Professional level!! (See my blog from December 2013 about the Boys SP!!)
HT (265-1)
Ashref Elsify should smash this "record", though I'm not even sure what weight he used in his PR.
Decathlon (8059)
This is another event where "Junior" weight implements are used. I also do NOT keep "Junior" weight Decathlon records!
However, Jiri Sykora of the Czech Republic seems capable of getting this "record".
10000 Walk (39:35.01)
I don't keep Walk records, but Dalsuke Matsunaga of Japan has a PR that could challenge this one.
4X100 and 4X400 Relays (38.66 and 3:01.09)
With guys like Bromell and Friday on the 4X100, this record is almost certain to go down.
The 4X400 is a bit less likely to go, but I'd still put it on the lower part of the "A" category for the US.
B
1500 (3:35.53)
Saying middle distance and long distance records can be broken is a roll of the dice.
So many Championship races (1500 to 10000) are jog & kick affairs.
There may be qualified athletes to break the records, but they seldom choose to aggressively attack a record in these situations.
That said, you NEVER underestimate the Africans where fast times are concerned.
Hillary Ngetich and Jonathon Sawe of Kenya have sub-3:40 times, with Ngetich's PR being VERY close to the MR.
And this IS Hayward Field!!
5000 (13:08.57)
We have Moses Letoye of Kenya, Phillip Kipyego of Uganda, and Tsegay Tuemay of Eritrea to battle it out.
They'd need to chop close to 10 seconds from their PR's to get it!
10000 (27:30.85)
Joshua Cheptegai of Uganda and Tsegaye Mekannen of Ethiopia will lead this one.
Will they just go for the win, or the win AND the MR??
Cheptegai is just 17!!
LJ (26-11)
Jianan Wang of China and Travon White of the US have a chance at this MR.
But just a slim chance (closer to that 25% level!).
SP (72-10)
See Note above! This mark is held by Jacko Gill.
DT (220-10)
Less than 50% chance.
C
400 (44.66)
This is a toughie, as it's been rare for an Under-20 to go sub-45:00.
Michal Cedeno of Trinidad and Michael Cherry will give it a shot, but at best, will go just 44.9.
800 (1:43.79)
No one in the field is even close. The best PR is a 1:45+.
3000SC (8:06.10)
There doesn't appear to be any Kipruto's or Kemboi's in this, so this record should be safe.
Watch to see if Bailey Roth can FINALLY take down Jeff Hess's 1979 HSR of 8:50.1.
I don't care if he finishes LAST, as long as he gets that HSR!!
400H (48.51)
This record won't go down, but the fastest PR belongs to a 17 year old, Jaheel Hyde.
Ken Selmon is a US HS'er, but he probably won't go faster than 49.5 or so, if that! (He's also 17!)
HJ (7-9.25)
I think those 7-10 or higher Professionals can breathe easy for awhile.
This group won't get anywhere near this MR!!
PV (18-8.75)
Axel Chapelle of France has the best PR.
Watch Devin King, who recently vaulted 18-0 in a Street Vault!
The HSR might be in his sights!!
JT (272-5)
Safe.
Stay tuned for the Women!!
Friday, July 18, 2014
Monaco DL: Ohhh Myyyy!
When it takes me about one full hour to revise my T&F Record Book in just ONE event, and it takes over 3 full pages to notate all the Record Book-worthy marks, and when you realize there were just 17 events in the entire meet, AND that several events were just average (on a DL scale), you KNOW you have an "Ohhh Myyyy!" meet on your hands!
So let's not waste any more time, and get to the report.
The Men's 1500 was a MONSTER!!
Surely one of the best-ever 1500's anywhere, anytime.
The advertised World Record attempt by Asbel Kiprop fell a tad short.
As in he didn't even win the race, or set a PR!
Silas Kiplagat did win, his time of 3:27.64 missing Hicham El Guerrouj's 2002 Meet Record by 0.30 seconds!
It's the Age 24 record, and this time he GOT El G's 1999 mark....by a gigantic 0.01 seconds!!
He moves from 12th All-Time World all the way to 4th!
And he moves onto my Combined 800-1500 list!
His 1:44.8 and 3:27.64 add to 5:12.44, making him 5th best on that list!
This was a DEEP race, with Best Place marks set in 4th through 10th places!
Ayanleh Souleman's 3:29.58 took over the Best 4th Place spot.
Best 5th Place is now Abdelaati Iguider's 3:29.83.
Sixth Place is still Aman Wote's.
He broke his own record with his 3:29.91.
Also given a 3:29.91 (with no indication in the results that it was a tie!) was Nick Willis in 7th, for another Best Place record.
Leo Manzano's 3:30.98 PR gave him the Best 8th Place mark ever.
And Matthew Centrowitz is now the Best 9th Place ever with his PR of 3:31.09.
In 10th came Henrik Ingebrigtsen, his 3:31.46 the Best 10th Place ever!!
National Records were broken by Souleiman, Wote, Willis, and Ingebrigtsen.
Souleiman got his own Djibouti National Record.
Wote broke his own Ethiopia National Record.
Willis is the new National Record holder for New Zealand.
And Ingebrigtsen continues setting new Norway NR's, as he also got his own mark.
Souleiman is now 21st A-T World
Manzano moves from 11th A-T US up to 5th.
And Centrowitz moves from 9th A-T US up to 7th!
Last but certainly not least (especially with the World Junior meet coming up in just 4 days!) is a new Age 18 record.
Ronald Kwemboi ran a phenomenal 3:28.81 for the Age record (assuming his given birthdate of September 1995 is correct!).
It also places him in rather elite company on the World list.
He now shares 7th A-T World with none other than....Mo Farah!!
BTW, I don't know if he's entered in the World Junior meet (I'll have a preview of the meet in a few days!), but if he is, I think you can just hand him the Gold right now!!
Molly Huddle continues her outstanding season.
She broke her own US National Record in the 5000, with a solid time of 14:42.64.
Following not too far back was Shannon Rowbury, finally getting her wished-for sub-15:00.
And she did so by a substantial margin, her time of 14:48.68 moving her from 15th A-T US all the way into 4th!
Genzebe Dibaba finally showed some of her Indoor season shape, as her winning 14:28.88 makes her 9th A-T World.
It's also the new Monaco DL Meet Record, as this event has never been run here before!
And it places her solidly on my Combined Events list for the 1500-5000 Combo!
Her 3:57.54 (OUTdoor time!!) and the 14:28.88 add up to 18:26.42, making her 5th best ever.
Caterine Ibarguen ripped a gigantic Triple Jump of 50-3!
It's a new Meet Record!
It's the new Age 30 record.
And it's the Colombia National Record!
It also moves her way up on the A-T World list, from 22nd (tied with 1 other) up into 5th!
The Men's 800 was another deep race.
David Rudisha, despite running his 2014 best time of 1:42.98, finished just 5th!
It missed the Best 5th Place mark by just 0.03!
Another missing a Place mark by a miniscule margin was Ferguson Cheruiyot, his 1:42.84 in 4th missing that Best Place mark by just 0.02 seconds!
Nijel Amos won the race in 1:42.45.
That's the new Meet Record.
Pierre Ambroise-Bosse nabbed the National Record of France with his 1:42.53.
It also moves him into 11th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Cheruiyot's mark becomes 24th A-T World.
And Alexander Rowe tied Australia's National Record with his 1:44.40.
(I need to double-check this "record", as I believe Ralph Doubell's hand-timed 1:44.3 from 1968 was/is the record! I'll revise this if necessary!)
France had a great day in Monaco!
Besides Bosse's 800 National Record, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde also broke a French National Record.
His 110H win in 12.95 took care of the NR.
But it missed Aries Merritt's 2012 Meet Record by just 0.02 seconds!
M-L moves from 24th A-T World (tied with 2 others) up to 12th, tied with 1 other.
Orlando Ortega's 13.01 in second makes him 20th A-T World, tied with 1 other.
Knocked OFF that list were two 1990's-era vets.
Gone are the 13.05's from Tony Dees (1991) and Florian Schwarthoff (1995)!
Tori Bowie continues her break-out season!
Her 10.80 100 beat a class field by 0.16 seconds!
Among her "victims" were Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Allyson Felix!!
Bowie is now 16th All-Time World!
And she moves from 22nd A-T US (tied with 1 other) up into 8th!
Myriam Soumare's 11.03 missed Muriel Ahoure's 2012 Best 7th Place record by just 0.03!!
And while I know the Men's 100 included some "controversial" figures, I'm taking the results at face value.
I believe in "innocent till proven guilty"
PAST guilt is just what it is....PAST guilt!!
Thus, I must honor Justin Gatlin's fantastic 200 mark of 19.68.
This was AGAINST a wind of minus-0.5!!
It's the Age 32 record.
It beats the most venerable Michael Johnson's Age 32 record (19.71 from 2000)!
And ironically enough, it beats another controversial person's Meet Record!
Tyson Gay (who finished well back here!) had the old MR, set in 2010.
Gatlin moves from 23rd A-T World (tied with 3 others) up to 8th, where he's tied with 1 other.
He also moves from 12th A-T US (tied with 2 others), into 6th.
Finally, he improves his placing on my Combined 100-200 Events list.
His 9.79 and 19.68 add up to 29.47, making him 6th on that list
In the absence (Not counting her quite PREGNANT appearance at the USATF meet, where she ran 2:32.13!!) of Alysia Montano, 20 year old Ajee Wilson is becoming America's best 800 runner.
(Moscow Bronze medal winner Brenda Martinez isn't quite up to her 2013 shape!)
Wilson BEAT the favored Eunice Sum with her PR of 1:57.67!
She moves 10 spots up the A-T US list, from 16th into 6th!!
Winnie Nanyondo set a Uganda National Record with her 1:58.63.
Jenn Suhr was beaten by Fabiana Murer, but her 15-5.50 PV gave her the Age 32 record!
Katarina Stefanidi, another having a great season, vaulted 15-5.50 also, tying the Greece National Record.
It also makes her 19th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
One of THE featured events, the Men's High Jump, suffered from ES (Expectations Syndrome), as it will whenever most of history's 2.40-plus jumpers show up at the same venue on the same day!
But Bogdan Bondarenko tried his best, clearing 7-10.50 for the Meet Record, then missing 3 tries at 7-11.25!
The crowd loved it, though!!
I have 3 "old" marks to report.
One of the "2 others" Stefanidi is tied with at 15-5.50 in the PV is Lisa Ryzih.
She's also 19th A-T World, tied with....Stefanidi!
Kris Pars threw the Hammer 270-7, making him 24th A-T World.
Finally, Tigist Getret's 9:28.36 Steeplechase is the new Age 17 record!
(Not sure if SHE will be at the World Junior meet either. Will let you know!)
As noted, I will PREVIEW the WJC, most likely late on the 21st, or very early on July 22nd!
I'll be reviewing which Meet Records might be broken, as well as doing some general commentary.
Watch for it!
So let's not waste any more time, and get to the report.
The Men's 1500 was a MONSTER!!
Surely one of the best-ever 1500's anywhere, anytime.
The advertised World Record attempt by Asbel Kiprop fell a tad short.
As in he didn't even win the race, or set a PR!
Silas Kiplagat did win, his time of 3:27.64 missing Hicham El Guerrouj's 2002 Meet Record by 0.30 seconds!
It's the Age 24 record, and this time he GOT El G's 1999 mark....by a gigantic 0.01 seconds!!
He moves from 12th All-Time World all the way to 4th!
And he moves onto my Combined 800-1500 list!
His 1:44.8 and 3:27.64 add to 5:12.44, making him 5th best on that list!
This was a DEEP race, with Best Place marks set in 4th through 10th places!
Ayanleh Souleman's 3:29.58 took over the Best 4th Place spot.
Best 5th Place is now Abdelaati Iguider's 3:29.83.
Sixth Place is still Aman Wote's.
He broke his own record with his 3:29.91.
Also given a 3:29.91 (with no indication in the results that it was a tie!) was Nick Willis in 7th, for another Best Place record.
Leo Manzano's 3:30.98 PR gave him the Best 8th Place mark ever.
And Matthew Centrowitz is now the Best 9th Place ever with his PR of 3:31.09.
In 10th came Henrik Ingebrigtsen, his 3:31.46 the Best 10th Place ever!!
National Records were broken by Souleiman, Wote, Willis, and Ingebrigtsen.
Souleiman got his own Djibouti National Record.
Wote broke his own Ethiopia National Record.
Willis is the new National Record holder for New Zealand.
And Ingebrigtsen continues setting new Norway NR's, as he also got his own mark.
Souleiman is now 21st A-T World
Manzano moves from 11th A-T US up to 5th.
And Centrowitz moves from 9th A-T US up to 7th!
Last but certainly not least (especially with the World Junior meet coming up in just 4 days!) is a new Age 18 record.
Ronald Kwemboi ran a phenomenal 3:28.81 for the Age record (assuming his given birthdate of September 1995 is correct!).
It also places him in rather elite company on the World list.
He now shares 7th A-T World with none other than....Mo Farah!!
BTW, I don't know if he's entered in the World Junior meet (I'll have a preview of the meet in a few days!), but if he is, I think you can just hand him the Gold right now!!
Molly Huddle continues her outstanding season.
She broke her own US National Record in the 5000, with a solid time of 14:42.64.
Following not too far back was Shannon Rowbury, finally getting her wished-for sub-15:00.
And she did so by a substantial margin, her time of 14:48.68 moving her from 15th A-T US all the way into 4th!
Genzebe Dibaba finally showed some of her Indoor season shape, as her winning 14:28.88 makes her 9th A-T World.
It's also the new Monaco DL Meet Record, as this event has never been run here before!
And it places her solidly on my Combined Events list for the 1500-5000 Combo!
Her 3:57.54 (OUTdoor time!!) and the 14:28.88 add up to 18:26.42, making her 5th best ever.
Caterine Ibarguen ripped a gigantic Triple Jump of 50-3!
It's a new Meet Record!
It's the new Age 30 record.
And it's the Colombia National Record!
It also moves her way up on the A-T World list, from 22nd (tied with 1 other) up into 5th!
The Men's 800 was another deep race.
David Rudisha, despite running his 2014 best time of 1:42.98, finished just 5th!
It missed the Best 5th Place mark by just 0.03!
Another missing a Place mark by a miniscule margin was Ferguson Cheruiyot, his 1:42.84 in 4th missing that Best Place mark by just 0.02 seconds!
Nijel Amos won the race in 1:42.45.
That's the new Meet Record.
Pierre Ambroise-Bosse nabbed the National Record of France with his 1:42.53.
It also moves him into 11th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Cheruiyot's mark becomes 24th A-T World.
And Alexander Rowe tied Australia's National Record with his 1:44.40.
(I need to double-check this "record", as I believe Ralph Doubell's hand-timed 1:44.3 from 1968 was/is the record! I'll revise this if necessary!)
France had a great day in Monaco!
Besides Bosse's 800 National Record, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde also broke a French National Record.
His 110H win in 12.95 took care of the NR.
But it missed Aries Merritt's 2012 Meet Record by just 0.02 seconds!
M-L moves from 24th A-T World (tied with 2 others) up to 12th, tied with 1 other.
Orlando Ortega's 13.01 in second makes him 20th A-T World, tied with 1 other.
Knocked OFF that list were two 1990's-era vets.
Gone are the 13.05's from Tony Dees (1991) and Florian Schwarthoff (1995)!
Tori Bowie continues her break-out season!
Her 10.80 100 beat a class field by 0.16 seconds!
Among her "victims" were Veronica Campbell-Brown, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Allyson Felix!!
Bowie is now 16th All-Time World!
And she moves from 22nd A-T US (tied with 1 other) up into 8th!
Myriam Soumare's 11.03 missed Muriel Ahoure's 2012 Best 7th Place record by just 0.03!!
And while I know the Men's 100 included some "controversial" figures, I'm taking the results at face value.
I believe in "innocent till proven guilty"
PAST guilt is just what it is....PAST guilt!!
Thus, I must honor Justin Gatlin's fantastic 200 mark of 19.68.
This was AGAINST a wind of minus-0.5!!
It's the Age 32 record.
It beats the most venerable Michael Johnson's Age 32 record (19.71 from 2000)!
And ironically enough, it beats another controversial person's Meet Record!
Tyson Gay (who finished well back here!) had the old MR, set in 2010.
Gatlin moves from 23rd A-T World (tied with 3 others) up to 8th, where he's tied with 1 other.
He also moves from 12th A-T US (tied with 2 others), into 6th.
Finally, he improves his placing on my Combined 100-200 Events list.
His 9.79 and 19.68 add up to 29.47, making him 6th on that list
In the absence (Not counting her quite PREGNANT appearance at the USATF meet, where she ran 2:32.13!!) of Alysia Montano, 20 year old Ajee Wilson is becoming America's best 800 runner.
(Moscow Bronze medal winner Brenda Martinez isn't quite up to her 2013 shape!)
Wilson BEAT the favored Eunice Sum with her PR of 1:57.67!
She moves 10 spots up the A-T US list, from 16th into 6th!!
Winnie Nanyondo set a Uganda National Record with her 1:58.63.
Jenn Suhr was beaten by Fabiana Murer, but her 15-5.50 PV gave her the Age 32 record!
Katarina Stefanidi, another having a great season, vaulted 15-5.50 also, tying the Greece National Record.
It also makes her 19th A-T World, tied with 2 others!
One of THE featured events, the Men's High Jump, suffered from ES (Expectations Syndrome), as it will whenever most of history's 2.40-plus jumpers show up at the same venue on the same day!
But Bogdan Bondarenko tried his best, clearing 7-10.50 for the Meet Record, then missing 3 tries at 7-11.25!
The crowd loved it, though!!
I have 3 "old" marks to report.
One of the "2 others" Stefanidi is tied with at 15-5.50 in the PV is Lisa Ryzih.
She's also 19th A-T World, tied with....Stefanidi!
Kris Pars threw the Hammer 270-7, making him 24th A-T World.
Finally, Tigist Getret's 9:28.36 Steeplechase is the new Age 17 record!
(Not sure if SHE will be at the World Junior meet either. Will let you know!)
As noted, I will PREVIEW the WJC, most likely late on the 21st, or very early on July 22nd!
I'll be reviewing which Meet Records might be broken, as well as doing some general commentary.
Watch for it!
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Emma clears final barrier to AR (& Fast US Miles)
When does finishing 2nd become your greatest race?
Simple.
When your time breaks your National Record!
Emma Coburn is now America's fastest 3000 meter Steeplechaser!
She couldn't quite beat Hiwot Ayalew's winning time of 9:10.64 (the Glasgow--London--DL Meet Record), but her time of 9:11.42 beat Jenny Simpson's mark by 1.08 seconds!
And it moved her from 17th A-T World up to 11th!
I checked what her 3000 flat time is, and all I could find were times SLOWER than she's run over 28 hurdles and 7 water pits!
With a 4:06+ 1500 time, she's clearly capable of a HUGE PR there.
And in the 5000!
And anything else she chooses to run!
Besides Coburn's AR, there were 2 other National Records broken in this race.
With European Championship significance!
Charlotta Fougberg's 9:23.96 is the new National Record of Sweden.
And the new NR for Finland is Sandra Eriksson's 9:24.70.
These ladies broke their NR's by 11 and 10 seconds, respectively!!
A much smaller PR was run by Stephanie Garcia.
Her 9:24.28 beat her previous best by 0.07 seconds, and she remains 4th A-T US.
A huge upset occurred in the Women's DT in Glasgow.
Gia Lewis-Smallwood beat Sandra Perkovic!!
Her mark of 221-9 moves her from 5th A-T US up to 3rd!
But the biggest star of the Glasgow DL might have been Dafne Schippers!
She won both the 100 "B" race and the 200, setting new Netherlands National Records in BOTH!!
Her time of 11.03 beat LJ winner Tianna Bartoletta's 11.07, and she was just 0.02 slower than the winning time in the "A" 100 race!
And in the 200, she just nipped Allyson Felix, 22.34 to 22.35, outkicking her in the final meters!
Tom Walsh of New Zealand didn't win the SP, but his 69-7.75 is the NZ National Record!
Bernard Lagat finished well back in a sluggish 5000, but he finally (after 2 earlier attempts) got the Age 39 record with his 13:27.08.
Room for lots more!!
Two other Age Records fell.
Helen Clitheroe ran the 3000 in 9:03.95 at Age 40, beating Joyce Smith's venerable 9:11.2 from 1978!!
And Kim Collins continues to roll in the 100, his 10.07 again getting (his own) Age 38 record.
The One Mile distance is getting a lot of attention this year, it being the 60th Anniversary of Roger Bannister's cracking of the 4:00 barrier!
But in the past 24 hours, in two separate locations 1000's of miles apart, the US Women's All-Time Mile list was radically changed, at least in the lower half of my DDD list!
And one US man crashed the party!
Sarah Brown started things off at Vancouver's Harry Jerome meet.
Her winning time of 4:26.67 made her 15th fastest American ever!
Then in the Morton Games in Ireland, 3 more American women made the list.
Molly Huddle won the race in 4:26.84.
This is the Age 29 record.
And it makes her 16th A-T US!!
Aisha Praught's SC year has brought her 2 or 3 PR's.
But here she ran the Mile in 4:27.61, for 20th A-T US.
And Lauren Penney ran 4:28.02 to latch onto 24th place A-T US.
Cut OFF the list was a biggie!
Jan Merrill was one of America's greatest runners in the 70's, but her 4:28.23 from 1979 is no longer in my Top 24!
Not to be outdone by these women, Will Leer broke the Morton Games Meet Record with his PR of 3:51.82.
This puts Leer in 19th place on the A-T US list!!
I love that these women (Leer too, but I'm speaking now of the women!!) ran these times, and made my list.
But, with all due respect to their athletic ability, they are NOT considered the best milers in the United States.
Looking at my list, there's just 1 woman who can truly be considered a "deluxe model" American miler.
She's Shannon Rowbury, whose 4:20.34 from 2008 ranks her second on the list.
Kim Conley's also on the list, her 4:27.23 from 2012 ranking her 18th A-T US.
But Conley is best known as a 5000 meter runner.
Only this Indoor season, with her 4:24.54, did she become a top-rated miler.
Missing from the Outdoor Top 24 are such MILE (or 1500!) icons as Jenny Simpson, Mary Cain, Morgan Uceny, Brenda Martinez, Gabe Grunewald, Heather Kampf, Treniere Moser, and Katie Mackey.
And you could probably add a few others with list-making potential, such as Emma Coburn (See earlier comments!), Abbey D'Agostino, Cory McGee, and maybe even Jordan Hasay, who PR'ed with 4:07.70 in the Glasgow 1500, despite finishing LAST (13th place)!!
It's my "bucket list" dream to see the One Mile (AND the TWO Mile!!) list radically revised.
There's far too many times on there from the 70's (Francie Larrieu's 4:27.52 from 1979), the 80's (FIVE women, including the AR holder, Mary Slaney!!), and the 90's (TEN women!!).
Let's have someone open their meet schedule to a LOADED Women's Mile race!
If we're going to honor Bannister, this would be a great way to do it!!
Sorry for the digression!
I do have 3 more marks to report, which I missed from earlier blogs.
Amber Campbell got a PR in the HT (in Edmonton).
Her 241-6 won the meet, but she remains in 6th place on the A-T US list.
I somehow overlooked Arianna Washington's 11.22 100 time.
This makes her 13th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.
And Brock Eager threw the Hammer 231-0, for 17th A-T HS.
Next up is the Herculis DL in Monaco, just 6 days away.
And from what I can tell, the line-ups for this one are spectacular!
(Don't make me look bad, Monaco.....PRODUCE!!!)
Also upcoming are the 6-day-long World Junior Championships (July 22-27) in Eugene.
I'm planning on a PREVIEW BLOG sometime prior to July 22nd.
Look for it!
And then there's the Commonwealth Games, the T&F portion being from July 27th through August 2nd.
Finally, we might expect some good marks from Belgium's Heusden-Zolder meet on July 19th.
If you like this blog, please pass the word around to like-minded records and marks "animals"!!
And is there anything you'd like to see in here that I'm not doing.....or not doing enough of?
Anything you'd want me to STOP doing?
See you next week!
Simple.
When your time breaks your National Record!
Emma Coburn is now America's fastest 3000 meter Steeplechaser!
She couldn't quite beat Hiwot Ayalew's winning time of 9:10.64 (the Glasgow--London--DL Meet Record), but her time of 9:11.42 beat Jenny Simpson's mark by 1.08 seconds!
And it moved her from 17th A-T World up to 11th!
I checked what her 3000 flat time is, and all I could find were times SLOWER than she's run over 28 hurdles and 7 water pits!
With a 4:06+ 1500 time, she's clearly capable of a HUGE PR there.
And in the 5000!
And anything else she chooses to run!
Besides Coburn's AR, there were 2 other National Records broken in this race.
With European Championship significance!
Charlotta Fougberg's 9:23.96 is the new National Record of Sweden.
And the new NR for Finland is Sandra Eriksson's 9:24.70.
These ladies broke their NR's by 11 and 10 seconds, respectively!!
A much smaller PR was run by Stephanie Garcia.
Her 9:24.28 beat her previous best by 0.07 seconds, and she remains 4th A-T US.
A huge upset occurred in the Women's DT in Glasgow.
Gia Lewis-Smallwood beat Sandra Perkovic!!
Her mark of 221-9 moves her from 5th A-T US up to 3rd!
But the biggest star of the Glasgow DL might have been Dafne Schippers!
She won both the 100 "B" race and the 200, setting new Netherlands National Records in BOTH!!
Her time of 11.03 beat LJ winner Tianna Bartoletta's 11.07, and she was just 0.02 slower than the winning time in the "A" 100 race!
And in the 200, she just nipped Allyson Felix, 22.34 to 22.35, outkicking her in the final meters!
Tom Walsh of New Zealand didn't win the SP, but his 69-7.75 is the NZ National Record!
Bernard Lagat finished well back in a sluggish 5000, but he finally (after 2 earlier attempts) got the Age 39 record with his 13:27.08.
Room for lots more!!
Two other Age Records fell.
Helen Clitheroe ran the 3000 in 9:03.95 at Age 40, beating Joyce Smith's venerable 9:11.2 from 1978!!
And Kim Collins continues to roll in the 100, his 10.07 again getting (his own) Age 38 record.
The One Mile distance is getting a lot of attention this year, it being the 60th Anniversary of Roger Bannister's cracking of the 4:00 barrier!
But in the past 24 hours, in two separate locations 1000's of miles apart, the US Women's All-Time Mile list was radically changed, at least in the lower half of my DDD list!
And one US man crashed the party!
Sarah Brown started things off at Vancouver's Harry Jerome meet.
Her winning time of 4:26.67 made her 15th fastest American ever!
Then in the Morton Games in Ireland, 3 more American women made the list.
Molly Huddle won the race in 4:26.84.
This is the Age 29 record.
And it makes her 16th A-T US!!
Aisha Praught's SC year has brought her 2 or 3 PR's.
But here she ran the Mile in 4:27.61, for 20th A-T US.
And Lauren Penney ran 4:28.02 to latch onto 24th place A-T US.
Cut OFF the list was a biggie!
Jan Merrill was one of America's greatest runners in the 70's, but her 4:28.23 from 1979 is no longer in my Top 24!
Not to be outdone by these women, Will Leer broke the Morton Games Meet Record with his PR of 3:51.82.
This puts Leer in 19th place on the A-T US list!!
I love that these women (Leer too, but I'm speaking now of the women!!) ran these times, and made my list.
But, with all due respect to their athletic ability, they are NOT considered the best milers in the United States.
Looking at my list, there's just 1 woman who can truly be considered a "deluxe model" American miler.
She's Shannon Rowbury, whose 4:20.34 from 2008 ranks her second on the list.
Kim Conley's also on the list, her 4:27.23 from 2012 ranking her 18th A-T US.
But Conley is best known as a 5000 meter runner.
Only this Indoor season, with her 4:24.54, did she become a top-rated miler.
Missing from the Outdoor Top 24 are such MILE (or 1500!) icons as Jenny Simpson, Mary Cain, Morgan Uceny, Brenda Martinez, Gabe Grunewald, Heather Kampf, Treniere Moser, and Katie Mackey.
And you could probably add a few others with list-making potential, such as Emma Coburn (See earlier comments!), Abbey D'Agostino, Cory McGee, and maybe even Jordan Hasay, who PR'ed with 4:07.70 in the Glasgow 1500, despite finishing LAST (13th place)!!
It's my "bucket list" dream to see the One Mile (AND the TWO Mile!!) list radically revised.
There's far too many times on there from the 70's (Francie Larrieu's 4:27.52 from 1979), the 80's (FIVE women, including the AR holder, Mary Slaney!!), and the 90's (TEN women!!).
Let's have someone open their meet schedule to a LOADED Women's Mile race!
If we're going to honor Bannister, this would be a great way to do it!!
Sorry for the digression!
I do have 3 more marks to report, which I missed from earlier blogs.
Amber Campbell got a PR in the HT (in Edmonton).
Her 241-6 won the meet, but she remains in 6th place on the A-T US list.
I somehow overlooked Arianna Washington's 11.22 100 time.
This makes her 13th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.
And Brock Eager threw the Hammer 231-0, for 17th A-T HS.
Next up is the Herculis DL in Monaco, just 6 days away.
And from what I can tell, the line-ups for this one are spectacular!
(Don't make me look bad, Monaco.....PRODUCE!!!)
Also upcoming are the 6-day-long World Junior Championships (July 22-27) in Eugene.
I'm planning on a PREVIEW BLOG sometime prior to July 22nd.
Look for it!
And then there's the Commonwealth Games, the T&F portion being from July 27th through August 2nd.
Finally, we might expect some good marks from Belgium's Heusden-Zolder meet on July 19th.
If you like this blog, please pass the word around to like-minded records and marks "animals"!!
And is there anything you'd like to see in here that I'm not doing.....or not doing enough of?
Anything you'd want me to STOP doing?
See you next week!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
High Schoolers Shine at USATF Juniors
One of the greatest gatherings of America's Under 20's put on a Hell of a show in Eugene's legendary T&F venue, Hayward Field, these past two days.
And the ones who were the supposed stars, the ones who several pundits were featuring in everything they said or wrote, actually UNDER-performed!!
But there is such a wonderful salad of material to report, so let's get on it!!
BOTH 100 meter HSR's were broken, and it happened just hours apart!!
Trentavis Friday--in his HEAT!!!---broke Jeff Demps mark of 10.01 from 2008, running 10.00!
In his HEAT!!
Besides the HSR, it's also the 12th Grade record, the Meet Record, and it moves him from 6th to 1st on the A-T HS list!!
And then he false-started in the final!
Unbelievable!
Because a Race for the Ages was set up, with 9.97 man Trayvon Bromell having run an eased up 10.08 in his heat!
But it was a clear FS, so no protest was filed.
Bromell easily won the final.
I'll return to Friday in a moment.
In the Girls 100 heats, 16 year old Sophomore Kaylin Whitney sprinted an 11.17.
This mark tied the Soph Class mark of Marion Jones (!!) from 1991.
It moved her from 17th A-T HS up to 8th, tied with 2 others.
Then in the final, Whitney finally opened up just a bit.
Her time of 11.10 broke the HSR of Angela Williams from 1998 by the same margin of 0.01 as with Friday.
It also set the Meet Record, and broke that Class Record tie with Jones!
I don't keep Age 16 records, but I've learned that's a WORLD Age 16 record!
Two other HS 100 people had good marks.
Kendell Williams (the MALE version!! LOL) ran 10.27, making him 23rd A-T HS, tied with 6 others!
And Arianna Washington ran 11.30, moving from 24th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, up to 19th, tied with 1 other.
But Friday and Whitney weren't finished!
Each returned on the 2nd day in their respective 200's.
Whitney---and remember, she's just 16 and just ended her sophomore year---became the 2nd fastest HS 200 meter runner ever, sprinting a great 22.49.
In so doing, she defeated several Collegians, including LSU's Jada Martin, who finished 0.53 behind!!
This is the new Meet Record, as well as the Soph Class record!
The old MR had been one Allyson Felix's, dating from 2004!
The old Soph Class mark belonged to....Marion Jones! That mark (of 22.76) was shattered by a solid 0.27 seconds!!
And get this!
Her time of 22.49 is FASTER than the ELEVENTH Grade record, also set by Marion Jones in 1991 with her 22.58!
And don't forget, this makes this 16 year old wunderkind # 2 on the A-T HS list!
Shoved OFF the list was Jackie Thompson.
Her 23.08 was run in...1973!
Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Whitney's time would rank her 21st on the A-T Collegiate list as well!!
Mr Friday's 200 final?
Well, you could say there was good news and there was bad news.
(Sort of like his 1st day saga, with the HSR and the FS!!)
He didn't FS this time.
In fact, he actually ran better than he did in the 100, IMO!
His time of 20.03 (!!) would have shattered the HSR of 20.13 by a full tenth of a second.
But a slight breeze of 2.9 nullified any chance of a record!
Kendell Williams finished 0.43 seconds behind!!
Just an amazing display of young American sprint talent!!
A great match-up was created when Collegiate Frosh Heptathlete Kendell Williams (the FEMALE version!!) decided she would enter just the 100H, and forego a certain place on the US Junior Multi's squad!
She ran a great 12.98 in her heat, but it was wind-aided.
Her main rival would be HS'er Dior Hall, who ran an easy 13.17 in her heat.
No one else was close.
And they came through, even though Williams was a decisive winner.
Williams ran a great PR time of 12.87.
This is the new Meet Record.
Hall finished in 13.00 for the Senior Class record (breaking her own mark of 13.09!).
It moves her up one place on the A-T HS list, from 3rd to 2nd.
In the Boys 110H race, Theo Viltz didn't win, but his 13.42 moves him from 24th A-T HS (tied with 2 others) up to 18th.
The longer Hurdles races produced some fireworks....just over a day after the 4th of July!!
Sydney McLaughlin's achievements perhaps weren't as spectacular as young Kaylin Whitney's, but she had a halfway decent excuse.
This girl is a year younger than Whitney, and is just a Freshman!!
In fact, she's even too young to compete in the World Junior Championships in a couple of weeks!!
(Though she was allowed to compete here. Strange rules!!)
Ms McLaughlin, like Whitney in the 200, became HS's second fastest performer ever, running a spectacular time of 55.63, just 0.43 off the 1984 (!!) HSR of Leslie Maxie (which I was privileged to witness in person)!!
She lost the race to College Frosh Shamier Little, but only in the final 30 or 40 meters when Little powered past her.
But it smashes her own Frosh Class record of 56.89 by a whopping 1.26 seconds!!
What could she run in the Big Show in 2 weeks....if she were allowed to compete??
The mind boggles!
(Oh yes, this moves her to 2nd from 7th place A-T HS!)
In the Boys (Men's??) 400H, Kenny Selmon ran 50.13.
This moved him from 17th A-T HS up to 12th.
The Girls PV had the possibility of being a close shadow of the Lausanne DL Men's High Jump.
You know, that one where 4 members of the 2.40 meter Club clashed.
In this Vault competition, you had HSR holder Desiree Freier, as well as 2 very good Collegiate frosh, Lakan Taylor and Annie Rhodes, and the 9th and 10th Grade record holder, Kaitlin Merritt.
But only Freier performed up to par.
She got over the bar set at 14-1.25, setting a new Meet Record.
She missed 3 times at 14-5.25.
But making up somewhat for the other 3 was another High School girl.
Her name is Bonnie Draxlert, and her 13-11.25 took 2nd place.
It also moves her from 17th A-T HS up into 9th!
Bailey Roth, sort of the Evan Jager of HS Steepling, ran a great time of 9:03.92, making him 9th A-T HS!
Why did I connect him to the American Record holder?
Well, remember Jager had never run a Steeple prior to 2012, when, after just a handful of races, he broke the AR with his 8:06.91.
Similarly, Roth hadn't even SEEN a SC hurdle prior to HIS first race last year!
In a very brief time, he ran the fastest 2000SC in HS history.
And now, in his very first race over 3000 meters (with hurdles and a water pit!), he runs a 9:03!!
Think he has a chance to get the 35 year old HSR of 8:50.1 in the WJC's??
Myles Marshall (son of one of the best-ever American 800 men, John Marshall) ran 1:48.43 in 2nd place.
But it makes him 15th A-T HS!
Megan Glasmann won the JT with a throw of 175-0.
Not her PR, but it did garner her the Meet Record!
One other High Schooler (Audrey Belf) performed against a group of Collegians as if she WAS a Collegian.
Despite looking like she was dying (during the middle of the 5000) in the 90ish heat of Hayward, she somehow had the strength (and the talent!!) to increase her pace over the last few laps.
She beat the Collegians (including one who just ended her Frosh year at the University of....Oregon!!) with a fairly slow time of 17:01.75.
But her margin of victory was a humongous 22.14 seconds!!
Those mega-stars I mentioned earlier?
Normally, as any good Public Relations person will tell you, you'd mention THEIR performances FIRST.....no matter the quality (or lack thereof!).
But this blog is about Records and truly great marks, ones good enough to be rated on one of my Top 24 Performers lists!
And these girls---yes, they were all females!---DID run times that normally would rank them VERY high on my lists.
Only trouble was, their times didn't match either their true potential, or what they'd already achieved!!
Mary Cain----she of the multitudinous HSR's, indoors and out, and of the 1000's of stories written about her already, despite her just reaching 18 two months ago, and having just graduated from Bronxville (NY) High School----Mary Cain broke the Meet Record in the 3000 with her time of 9:15.81.
Yes, it set the MR.
And yes, it made her 8th A-T HS. (See an earlier blog wherein I explain that I'm accepting whatever she's run since turning Professional last November as eligible for my HS lists, and for HSR's!)
(BTW, moved OFF my list by Cain's entry was Erin Keogh's 9:24.6 from 1986!)
But she ran just enough to time qualify for the WJC.
She COULD have run around 8:40 if she'd wanted to.
(Hopefully, she'll be ready to run that fast in 2 weeks when she battles REAL competitors....from the Continent of Africa!!)
Her main "rival" looked to be Stephanie Jenks, like Kaylin Whitney and others, just ending her Sophomore year!
And Jenks DID stick to her like glue.
For about 6.5 laps of the 7.5 lap race!
Then Mary decided to stop doing her calculus homework, or texting her Bronxville pals, and put in a bit of effort.
She easily left the talented Jenks in her wake, winning by more than 12 seconds....most of it gained in the final 400 meters!!
The two other mega-stars were Alexa Efraimson and Elise Cranny.
They met in the 1500 final. (They'd walked through separate heats in the mid-to-high 4:30's!)
And if you like all-out final 400 sprints in distance races, then the Alexa & Elise Show rated a standing ovation!
They cruised through the early laps in about 70 and 72.
They reached the 1100 meter mark at 3:15.89, still going at the same pace as earlier.
Finally, just before coming off the penultimate curve, Alexa revved up her gears!!
But Cranny moved with her.....or a split-second later....leaving her a few feet behind.
And it pretty much remained that way over the last 300.
Efraimson won in 4:16.87 to Cranny's 4:17.40.
Third place was about 9 full seconds back of the Dynamic Duo!!
(And most of the rest of the field were collegians!!)
Efraimson's final lap---run without any apparent stress or release of sweat----was 60.98!
Cranny's was about 61.8, but that reflected her hesitancy in following Efraimson's initial move, not any lesser talent!
All in all, a good race, but nothing to write home about, when compared to their greater achievements!
I'll close this rather lengthy treatise by leaving the Junior meet behind, and moving to some small meet 1000's of miles away from Eugene.
Doesn't matter the meet's name, or where it took place. (Telling the truth, I don't know, and don't care! Although I DO know it was at about 1000 meters of altitude!)
Botswanan Isaac Makwala had his Day of Days earlier today.
He first sped a Botswana National Record in the 400, with a great time of 44.01.
His previous best was just 44.83 from earlier this year!
This makes him 11th A-T World!!
Moved OFF my DDD list was the legendary Wayne Collett, whose 44.24 from 1972 had been 24th on the list!
Then, apparently just an hour or so later, he sped a 200 in another Botswanan National Record, timing out in 19.96.
I did some research (asked someone on Twitter! LOL), and found out he had a 100 PR of 10.40.
(And a wind-aided 10.13, so he'll probably improve on that 10.40!)
Anyway, if you add his 100, 200, and 400 times together, the Combined time is 1:14.37.
He just misses my short list of Best Combined 100/200/400 Runners by 0.07 seconds.
But I added him to the list anyway!
It's led by Michael Johnson, whose 10.09, 19.32, and 43.18 add up to 1:12.59!!
Next week is the Glasgow DL, which is promising to be one of the best! (Where have you heard THAT before??!!)
And probably more.
And the ones who were the supposed stars, the ones who several pundits were featuring in everything they said or wrote, actually UNDER-performed!!
But there is such a wonderful salad of material to report, so let's get on it!!
BOTH 100 meter HSR's were broken, and it happened just hours apart!!
Trentavis Friday--in his HEAT!!!---broke Jeff Demps mark of 10.01 from 2008, running 10.00!
In his HEAT!!
Besides the HSR, it's also the 12th Grade record, the Meet Record, and it moves him from 6th to 1st on the A-T HS list!!
And then he false-started in the final!
Unbelievable!
Because a Race for the Ages was set up, with 9.97 man Trayvon Bromell having run an eased up 10.08 in his heat!
But it was a clear FS, so no protest was filed.
Bromell easily won the final.
I'll return to Friday in a moment.
In the Girls 100 heats, 16 year old Sophomore Kaylin Whitney sprinted an 11.17.
This mark tied the Soph Class mark of Marion Jones (!!) from 1991.
It moved her from 17th A-T HS up to 8th, tied with 2 others.
Then in the final, Whitney finally opened up just a bit.
Her time of 11.10 broke the HSR of Angela Williams from 1998 by the same margin of 0.01 as with Friday.
It also set the Meet Record, and broke that Class Record tie with Jones!
I don't keep Age 16 records, but I've learned that's a WORLD Age 16 record!
Two other HS 100 people had good marks.
Kendell Williams (the MALE version!! LOL) ran 10.27, making him 23rd A-T HS, tied with 6 others!
And Arianna Washington ran 11.30, moving from 24th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, up to 19th, tied with 1 other.
But Friday and Whitney weren't finished!
Each returned on the 2nd day in their respective 200's.
Whitney---and remember, she's just 16 and just ended her sophomore year---became the 2nd fastest HS 200 meter runner ever, sprinting a great 22.49.
In so doing, she defeated several Collegians, including LSU's Jada Martin, who finished 0.53 behind!!
This is the new Meet Record, as well as the Soph Class record!
The old MR had been one Allyson Felix's, dating from 2004!
The old Soph Class mark belonged to....Marion Jones! That mark (of 22.76) was shattered by a solid 0.27 seconds!!
And get this!
Her time of 22.49 is FASTER than the ELEVENTH Grade record, also set by Marion Jones in 1991 with her 22.58!
And don't forget, this makes this 16 year old wunderkind # 2 on the A-T HS list!
Shoved OFF the list was Jackie Thompson.
Her 23.08 was run in...1973!
Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Whitney's time would rank her 21st on the A-T Collegiate list as well!!
Mr Friday's 200 final?
Well, you could say there was good news and there was bad news.
(Sort of like his 1st day saga, with the HSR and the FS!!)
He didn't FS this time.
In fact, he actually ran better than he did in the 100, IMO!
His time of 20.03 (!!) would have shattered the HSR of 20.13 by a full tenth of a second.
But a slight breeze of 2.9 nullified any chance of a record!
Kendell Williams finished 0.43 seconds behind!!
Just an amazing display of young American sprint talent!!
A great match-up was created when Collegiate Frosh Heptathlete Kendell Williams (the FEMALE version!!) decided she would enter just the 100H, and forego a certain place on the US Junior Multi's squad!
She ran a great 12.98 in her heat, but it was wind-aided.
Her main rival would be HS'er Dior Hall, who ran an easy 13.17 in her heat.
No one else was close.
And they came through, even though Williams was a decisive winner.
Williams ran a great PR time of 12.87.
This is the new Meet Record.
Hall finished in 13.00 for the Senior Class record (breaking her own mark of 13.09!).
It moves her up one place on the A-T HS list, from 3rd to 2nd.
In the Boys 110H race, Theo Viltz didn't win, but his 13.42 moves him from 24th A-T HS (tied with 2 others) up to 18th.
The longer Hurdles races produced some fireworks....just over a day after the 4th of July!!
Sydney McLaughlin's achievements perhaps weren't as spectacular as young Kaylin Whitney's, but she had a halfway decent excuse.
This girl is a year younger than Whitney, and is just a Freshman!!
In fact, she's even too young to compete in the World Junior Championships in a couple of weeks!!
(Though she was allowed to compete here. Strange rules!!)
Ms McLaughlin, like Whitney in the 200, became HS's second fastest performer ever, running a spectacular time of 55.63, just 0.43 off the 1984 (!!) HSR of Leslie Maxie (which I was privileged to witness in person)!!
She lost the race to College Frosh Shamier Little, but only in the final 30 or 40 meters when Little powered past her.
But it smashes her own Frosh Class record of 56.89 by a whopping 1.26 seconds!!
What could she run in the Big Show in 2 weeks....if she were allowed to compete??
The mind boggles!
(Oh yes, this moves her to 2nd from 7th place A-T HS!)
In the Boys (Men's??) 400H, Kenny Selmon ran 50.13.
This moved him from 17th A-T HS up to 12th.
The Girls PV had the possibility of being a close shadow of the Lausanne DL Men's High Jump.
You know, that one where 4 members of the 2.40 meter Club clashed.
In this Vault competition, you had HSR holder Desiree Freier, as well as 2 very good Collegiate frosh, Lakan Taylor and Annie Rhodes, and the 9th and 10th Grade record holder, Kaitlin Merritt.
But only Freier performed up to par.
She got over the bar set at 14-1.25, setting a new Meet Record.
She missed 3 times at 14-5.25.
But making up somewhat for the other 3 was another High School girl.
Her name is Bonnie Draxlert, and her 13-11.25 took 2nd place.
It also moves her from 17th A-T HS up into 9th!
Bailey Roth, sort of the Evan Jager of HS Steepling, ran a great time of 9:03.92, making him 9th A-T HS!
Why did I connect him to the American Record holder?
Well, remember Jager had never run a Steeple prior to 2012, when, after just a handful of races, he broke the AR with his 8:06.91.
Similarly, Roth hadn't even SEEN a SC hurdle prior to HIS first race last year!
In a very brief time, he ran the fastest 2000SC in HS history.
And now, in his very first race over 3000 meters (with hurdles and a water pit!), he runs a 9:03!!
Think he has a chance to get the 35 year old HSR of 8:50.1 in the WJC's??
Myles Marshall (son of one of the best-ever American 800 men, John Marshall) ran 1:48.43 in 2nd place.
But it makes him 15th A-T HS!
Megan Glasmann won the JT with a throw of 175-0.
Not her PR, but it did garner her the Meet Record!
One other High Schooler (Audrey Belf) performed against a group of Collegians as if she WAS a Collegian.
Despite looking like she was dying (during the middle of the 5000) in the 90ish heat of Hayward, she somehow had the strength (and the talent!!) to increase her pace over the last few laps.
She beat the Collegians (including one who just ended her Frosh year at the University of....Oregon!!) with a fairly slow time of 17:01.75.
But her margin of victory was a humongous 22.14 seconds!!
Those mega-stars I mentioned earlier?
Normally, as any good Public Relations person will tell you, you'd mention THEIR performances FIRST.....no matter the quality (or lack thereof!).
But this blog is about Records and truly great marks, ones good enough to be rated on one of my Top 24 Performers lists!
And these girls---yes, they were all females!---DID run times that normally would rank them VERY high on my lists.
Only trouble was, their times didn't match either their true potential, or what they'd already achieved!!
Mary Cain----she of the multitudinous HSR's, indoors and out, and of the 1000's of stories written about her already, despite her just reaching 18 two months ago, and having just graduated from Bronxville (NY) High School----Mary Cain broke the Meet Record in the 3000 with her time of 9:15.81.
Yes, it set the MR.
And yes, it made her 8th A-T HS. (See an earlier blog wherein I explain that I'm accepting whatever she's run since turning Professional last November as eligible for my HS lists, and for HSR's!)
(BTW, moved OFF my list by Cain's entry was Erin Keogh's 9:24.6 from 1986!)
But she ran just enough to time qualify for the WJC.
She COULD have run around 8:40 if she'd wanted to.
(Hopefully, she'll be ready to run that fast in 2 weeks when she battles REAL competitors....from the Continent of Africa!!)
Her main "rival" looked to be Stephanie Jenks, like Kaylin Whitney and others, just ending her Sophomore year!
And Jenks DID stick to her like glue.
For about 6.5 laps of the 7.5 lap race!
Then Mary decided to stop doing her calculus homework, or texting her Bronxville pals, and put in a bit of effort.
She easily left the talented Jenks in her wake, winning by more than 12 seconds....most of it gained in the final 400 meters!!
The two other mega-stars were Alexa Efraimson and Elise Cranny.
They met in the 1500 final. (They'd walked through separate heats in the mid-to-high 4:30's!)
And if you like all-out final 400 sprints in distance races, then the Alexa & Elise Show rated a standing ovation!
They cruised through the early laps in about 70 and 72.
They reached the 1100 meter mark at 3:15.89, still going at the same pace as earlier.
Finally, just before coming off the penultimate curve, Alexa revved up her gears!!
But Cranny moved with her.....or a split-second later....leaving her a few feet behind.
And it pretty much remained that way over the last 300.
Efraimson won in 4:16.87 to Cranny's 4:17.40.
Third place was about 9 full seconds back of the Dynamic Duo!!
(And most of the rest of the field were collegians!!)
Efraimson's final lap---run without any apparent stress or release of sweat----was 60.98!
Cranny's was about 61.8, but that reflected her hesitancy in following Efraimson's initial move, not any lesser talent!
All in all, a good race, but nothing to write home about, when compared to their greater achievements!
I'll close this rather lengthy treatise by leaving the Junior meet behind, and moving to some small meet 1000's of miles away from Eugene.
Doesn't matter the meet's name, or where it took place. (Telling the truth, I don't know, and don't care! Although I DO know it was at about 1000 meters of altitude!)
Botswanan Isaac Makwala had his Day of Days earlier today.
He first sped a Botswana National Record in the 400, with a great time of 44.01.
His previous best was just 44.83 from earlier this year!
This makes him 11th A-T World!!
Moved OFF my DDD list was the legendary Wayne Collett, whose 44.24 from 1972 had been 24th on the list!
Then, apparently just an hour or so later, he sped a 200 in another Botswanan National Record, timing out in 19.96.
I did some research (asked someone on Twitter! LOL), and found out he had a 100 PR of 10.40.
(And a wind-aided 10.13, so he'll probably improve on that 10.40!)
Anyway, if you add his 100, 200, and 400 times together, the Combined time is 1:14.37.
He just misses my short list of Best Combined 100/200/400 Runners by 0.07 seconds.
But I added him to the list anyway!
It's led by Michael Johnson, whose 10.09, 19.32, and 43.18 add up to 1:12.59!!
Next week is the Glasgow DL, which is promising to be one of the best! (Where have you heard THAT before??!!)
And probably more.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Paris beats Lausanne in DL Series
Sorry you had to wait, but as my title implies, the Lausanne DL didn't produce enough material to warrant a separate post!
In fact, even with Paris added, the total of good marks is still below that of some USA domestic meets (of the non-DL variety!).
That said, let's see what DID happen of note.
Kirani James broke through, big time!
He improved his 400 best all the way to 43.74.
This is a Grenada National Record.
It's also the Age 21 record, breaking the vaunted Lee Evans's mark from 1968 (!!!) of 43.86.
Plus, he moves from 9th All-Time World up to 5th, tied with 1 other.
That "other" happens to be LaShawn Merritt, who finished 2nd with a 43.93.
And that time just misses the Best 2nd Place mark ever, set by Butch Reynolds with his 43.91 in 1996!
This race also allowed Chris Brown to again break his Age 35 mark, this time with a 44.59.
Another age record happened in the Men's 100.
The race was somewhat controversial, as the top 3 all had been busted for drugs at one time or another!
(The Twitterverse went nuts with tweets about this!!)
Anyway, the winner, Justin Gatlin sprinted 9.80, for the Age 32 record.
Tyson Gay ran a solid 9.93 in his 1st race back from his drug ban!
The Men's HJ was maybe THE most hyped event in Lausanne, as all the latest 2.40 jumpers came together.
But the WR of Javiar Sotomayor survived this multiple challenge.
Andriy Protsenko's 7-10.50 had the biggest affect on the Record Book.
It made him 7th A-T World, tied with 5 others.
But it was what happened to my DDD that excited me the most.
There had been NINE tied at 7-9.25.
With Protsenko's PR, all of them were kicked OFF my list!!
Among them were 4 guys with marks from the 1980's!
They were:
Carlos Thranhardt from 1984
Tom McCants from 1988
Valeriy Sereda from 1984
And Jerome Carter from 1988!
Also, Ivan Ukhov's jump of 7-9.75 is the best 3rd Place mark ever, but tied with 1 other.
Two National Records went down in a Women's 4X100 race.
The Netherlands ran 42.40, as they become the 13th fastest Nation.
And Switzerland ran a NR of 42.94, becoming the 21st fastest Nation.
That Netherlands mark is the new Meet Record.
Henrik Ingebrigtsen ran the 1500 in 3:33.68 for a Norway National Record.
Moving on to Paris, 3 American women ran the races of their lives, albeit all in non-winning efforts.
But this blog is not about who wins, it's about records and marks, even if that person finishes dead last!!
In a spectacular 1500, Jenny Simpson JUST missed Mary Slaney's "ancient" American Record (3:57.12 from 1982), running a great time of 3:57.22!!
Phoebe Wright paced the field through a first 400 of 61.92!
But most of the field were at about 63.
They came through 800 in 2:07, and 1200 in 3:10.9.
At that point Hassan had a meter's lead on Simpson.
And she held on to it all the way to the finish!
It appeared to me that Jenny gained on her just a bit in the final 50 meters,
This moves her from 3rd A-T US up to 2nd!
Back somewhat came Shannon Rowbury with her first-ever sub-4:00 time.
Her 3:59.49 moves her from 8th A-T US up to 5th!
(She tweeted later that she tripped twice in the early laps, thus inferring there's a much faster PR awaiting her!)
Hassan's 3:57.00 is the new Netherlands National Record!
In the Women's 3000SC, Emma Coburn keeps chopping her PR (but not her steps!!).
She ended 2nd to Hiwot Ayalew's 9:11.65 Meet Record, but her 9:14.12 cut her best by over 3 seconds, and left her just 1.62 seconds shy of tying one Jenny (Barringer) Simpson!!
Small world, eh?
BTW, this moves Emma from 22nd A-T World all the way to 17th!!
Another American, Stephanie Garcia, ran 9:24.35 to move up 1 place on the A-T US list, from 5th to 4th!
And Salima El Ouali Alami's 9:21.24 set a new Morocco National record.
Jamaica's Hansle Parchment ran the first sub-13.00 110H race of the year.
His 12.94 is the Jamaican National Record.
It's also the Age 24 record.
And it moves him from 23rd A-T World (tied with 2 others) up to 10th, tied with 1 other.
In 2nd was Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, whose 13.05 makes him 24th A-T World, tied with 2 others.
In a fierce battle, the Women's DT produced not 1, not 2, but THREE Meet Records!!
First up was American Gia Lewis-Smallwood's 215-3.
Then it was Australian Dani Samuels's turn, with her 218-4. (She later improved to 221.7.)
Finally, despite 3 early fouls (in the first 4 rounds), Sandra Perkovic moved from 4th place in the competition to the top step of the podium with her Meet Record mark of 224.8!
In the Men's 100, Kim Collins didn't win, but he did get another Age 38 record, running 10.10.
In other news, Jinzhe Li LJ'ed 27-9.50 for the National Record of China.
Fami Ogunade's 20.06 200 set the Qatar National record.
And Pavel Fajdek tossed the Hammer 270-3.
But he missed getting into the Top 24 in the world by 3 inches!!
He also missed Poland's National Record by a mere 4 inches!!
Finally, I just became aware that I have a new leader in my Combined Events list in the Men's 800-1500.
Asbel Kiprop has PR's of 1:43.15 and 3:27.72.
This adds up to 5:10.87!!
(It helps to have Peter Matthews great statistical work, the Athletics Annual 2014, for research in this area!!)
The next post will have all the great marks to come from the USATF Junior Championships, which is also the Trials for the WJC!!
Look for it either late tomorrow night or early Monday morning!
In fact, even with Paris added, the total of good marks is still below that of some USA domestic meets (of the non-DL variety!).
That said, let's see what DID happen of note.
Kirani James broke through, big time!
He improved his 400 best all the way to 43.74.
This is a Grenada National Record.
It's also the Age 21 record, breaking the vaunted Lee Evans's mark from 1968 (!!!) of 43.86.
Plus, he moves from 9th All-Time World up to 5th, tied with 1 other.
That "other" happens to be LaShawn Merritt, who finished 2nd with a 43.93.
And that time just misses the Best 2nd Place mark ever, set by Butch Reynolds with his 43.91 in 1996!
This race also allowed Chris Brown to again break his Age 35 mark, this time with a 44.59.
Another age record happened in the Men's 100.
The race was somewhat controversial, as the top 3 all had been busted for drugs at one time or another!
(The Twitterverse went nuts with tweets about this!!)
Anyway, the winner, Justin Gatlin sprinted 9.80, for the Age 32 record.
Tyson Gay ran a solid 9.93 in his 1st race back from his drug ban!
The Men's HJ was maybe THE most hyped event in Lausanne, as all the latest 2.40 jumpers came together.
But the WR of Javiar Sotomayor survived this multiple challenge.
Andriy Protsenko's 7-10.50 had the biggest affect on the Record Book.
It made him 7th A-T World, tied with 5 others.
But it was what happened to my DDD that excited me the most.
There had been NINE tied at 7-9.25.
With Protsenko's PR, all of them were kicked OFF my list!!
Among them were 4 guys with marks from the 1980's!
They were:
Carlos Thranhardt from 1984
Tom McCants from 1988
Valeriy Sereda from 1984
And Jerome Carter from 1988!
Also, Ivan Ukhov's jump of 7-9.75 is the best 3rd Place mark ever, but tied with 1 other.
Two National Records went down in a Women's 4X100 race.
The Netherlands ran 42.40, as they become the 13th fastest Nation.
And Switzerland ran a NR of 42.94, becoming the 21st fastest Nation.
That Netherlands mark is the new Meet Record.
Henrik Ingebrigtsen ran the 1500 in 3:33.68 for a Norway National Record.
Moving on to Paris, 3 American women ran the races of their lives, albeit all in non-winning efforts.
But this blog is not about who wins, it's about records and marks, even if that person finishes dead last!!
In a spectacular 1500, Jenny Simpson JUST missed Mary Slaney's "ancient" American Record (3:57.12 from 1982), running a great time of 3:57.22!!
Phoebe Wright paced the field through a first 400 of 61.92!
But most of the field were at about 63.
They came through 800 in 2:07, and 1200 in 3:10.9.
At that point Hassan had a meter's lead on Simpson.
And she held on to it all the way to the finish!
It appeared to me that Jenny gained on her just a bit in the final 50 meters,
This moves her from 3rd A-T US up to 2nd!
Back somewhat came Shannon Rowbury with her first-ever sub-4:00 time.
Her 3:59.49 moves her from 8th A-T US up to 5th!
(She tweeted later that she tripped twice in the early laps, thus inferring there's a much faster PR awaiting her!)
Hassan's 3:57.00 is the new Netherlands National Record!
In the Women's 3000SC, Emma Coburn keeps chopping her PR (but not her steps!!).
She ended 2nd to Hiwot Ayalew's 9:11.65 Meet Record, but her 9:14.12 cut her best by over 3 seconds, and left her just 1.62 seconds shy of tying one Jenny (Barringer) Simpson!!
Small world, eh?
BTW, this moves Emma from 22nd A-T World all the way to 17th!!
Another American, Stephanie Garcia, ran 9:24.35 to move up 1 place on the A-T US list, from 5th to 4th!
And Salima El Ouali Alami's 9:21.24 set a new Morocco National record.
Jamaica's Hansle Parchment ran the first sub-13.00 110H race of the year.
His 12.94 is the Jamaican National Record.
It's also the Age 24 record.
And it moves him from 23rd A-T World (tied with 2 others) up to 10th, tied with 1 other.
In 2nd was Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, whose 13.05 makes him 24th A-T World, tied with 2 others.
In a fierce battle, the Women's DT produced not 1, not 2, but THREE Meet Records!!
First up was American Gia Lewis-Smallwood's 215-3.
Then it was Australian Dani Samuels's turn, with her 218-4. (She later improved to 221.7.)
Finally, despite 3 early fouls (in the first 4 rounds), Sandra Perkovic moved from 4th place in the competition to the top step of the podium with her Meet Record mark of 224.8!
In the Men's 100, Kim Collins didn't win, but he did get another Age 38 record, running 10.10.
In other news, Jinzhe Li LJ'ed 27-9.50 for the National Record of China.
Fami Ogunade's 20.06 200 set the Qatar National record.
And Pavel Fajdek tossed the Hammer 270-3.
But he missed getting into the Top 24 in the world by 3 inches!!
He also missed Poland's National Record by a mere 4 inches!!
Finally, I just became aware that I have a new leader in my Combined Events list in the Men's 800-1500.
Asbel Kiprop has PR's of 1:43.15 and 3:27.72.
This adds up to 5:10.87!!
(It helps to have Peter Matthews great statistical work, the Athletics Annual 2014, for research in this area!!)
The next post will have all the great marks to come from the USATF Junior Championships, which is also the Trials for the WJC!!
Look for it either late tomorrow night or early Monday morning!
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