"New" names mark transition to OUTdoors

If not for some "old yet new" names popping (back) up here and there, the Texas Relays "opening" to the 2015 OUTdoor season might have gained the headline of "Same old, Same old"!

As in seeing a bunch of fast sprint times in Texas, but all wiped from the lists by excessive winds.
As in, Yes, it's nice you're performing OUTdoors, but why do you need to "rust bust" after a full INdoor season?
As in, Why can't things be a bit different this year?

Well, that's where those "old yet new" names come in.
But first things first!

The Women's Heptathlon at the Texas Relays started things off.
And Alex Gochenour, who scored 4430 points in the INdoor NCAA Pentathlon 2 weeks ago, hit a BIG PR, going from 5522 to 6027W.
(Similar to the jump made by Kendall Williams, when she went from 5578 to 6018.)
While excessive winds in some events forces a "W" to be appended, it still makes the list.
She's now 14th A-T Collegiate.

Jena Hemann joined her in the "6" world, scoring 6002W, for 18th A-T Collegiate.

The Women's JT had a couple of good marks.

Kara Winger (formerly Patterson) hit a big 199-6 JT in her first meet of the year.
It's the Texas Relays Meet Record.

Leading the Collegians was Irena Sediva, whose 188-2 moves her into 14th A-T Collegiate.

Both Pole Vaults produced solid---and interesting---results.

Once again, INdoor CR holder Demi Payne failed to rise to the occasion---so to speak.
While she didn't NH this time (as she did at the INdoor NCAA's), her 14-7.25 was almost a full foot lower than her PR.
However, there's a silver lining here.

Because we're OUTdoors now, Payne's mark moves her solidly onto the A-T Collegiate OUTdoor list.
She's 11th A-T Collegiate, tied with 6 others!
Remember that her PR prior to her meteoric rise this year was 13-11.25.
So when comparing her 14-7.25 to her old OUTdoor PR, it was an impressive jump forward.
But Demi Payne moved into a whole other sphere INdoors!!

Sandi Morris hit 14-11, tieing the Texas Relays Meet Record of Tina Sutej from 2012.
She remains 4th A-T Collegiate, but she's no longer tied with 4 others.

Shawn Barber Vaulted a great 19-4.25.
On the OUTdoor list, he moves from 14th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, all the way to 2nd, tied with 1 other.
He ties the Collegiate Soph Class record.
And he now owns both the INdoor and OUTdoor Canada National Records!

Jake Blankenship went over 19 again.

He ties the Collegiate Junior Class record.
He's now 7th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other.
Oh, and he's also 24th A-T US, but tied with 8 others!

Adam Hague came over from Great Britain to face his Commonwealth competitor (Barber!).
And it was a journey worth taking.
Hague, still just 17 years old, went over a bar set at 18-4.50, thus tieing the OUTdoor Age 17 mark, set by Maksim Tarasov back in 1988!!

Did you think my naming Mondo Duplantis as the INdoor AOY was insane??
Well, he's quickly (re-)proving my point OUTdoors---that what he's accomplishing at HIS level---meaning as a HS Freshman---makes a more powerful statement than guys breaking the overall HSR by 0.25 or 0.50 inches.

He opened his OUTdoor season a few weeks ago (See an earlier post!) with an OUTdoor Frosh Class record of 16-10.
Well, he's moved it up a bit!
His 17-1 breaks his old mark by 3 inches.
(Rumor has it that he cleared that bar cleanly, and got well over 17-4, but knocked the bar off on his way down.)

Jacorian Duffield HJ'ed 7-7 to open his OUTdoor season.
This makes him 21st A-T Collegian, but tied with 5 others.

Slightly older than Duffield, 39 year old Amy Acuff beat back her Collegiate rivals, jumping an Age 39 record of 6-2.
She passed her next height, trying instead for the WC Qualifier of 6-4.
But she missed.....this time!

Michael Stigler ran a Texas Relays Meet Record 48.44 in the 400H.
This makes him 11th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other.

And guess who he knocked OFF my Top 24 Collegiate list?

Gone are Ralph Mann, whose 48.64 dated from 1970!!
Oh, and gone too is some guy named Edwin Moses, whose 48.64 dates from 1978!!

The Arkansas Women's Sprint Medley Relay team broke the Texas Relays Meet Record, running 3:42.36.
I don't know the exact splits, but that works out to something like 53.0 for the 400, a couple of 22.5's for the 200's, then an 800 in about 2:04+.

Veronica Campbell-Brown did a rust-buster over 400 meters, running 53.53, beating Shalonda Solomon's 54.10.
(I believe this was in Florida.)

Kaylin Whitney, the new HS Pro, ran the anchor leg on the USA Red team's 4X100 Relay at the Texas Relays.
They won it in 43.41.
I don't know her split, but I saw the video, and she definitely did some damage over her 100 meter leg!

Raven Saunders dropped about 3 feet from her INdoor NCAA winning mark in the SP.
She opened her first Collegiate OUTdoor season with a good, but ultimately disappointing 58-1.

But as with Demi Payne, "good" and "disappointing" are relative terms!!
For her 58-1 broke the OUTdoor Freshman Class record!!
(And I have a feeling she'll be breaking it again...and again....and again!!!)
However, the mark falls 3.50 inches short of making my OUTdoor Collegiate DDD list!

Now, who are those "old yet new" names I mentioned earlier?

The most prominent (for Americans, at least) has to be Wesley Frazier.
Remember me asking her whereabouts in a very early post (December of 2013 or January of 2014?).
Well, very briefly, here's her story.

After tripling at the 2013 NBN, which included a 5000 in 15:55, she started at Duke with high expectations.
But after her first XC race, she fell ill to Mono.
This kept her inactive (mostly) for her entire Freshman year.
Then she suddenly left Duke, moving home to North Carolina, where she enrolled at NC State.

But since she transferred within the SEC, she's ineligible to compete for NCS this year!
So, competing as unattached (but under the NCS name), she WON the 5000 meters at the Raleigh Relays!!

Her time was 15:45.31, which is a PR by 10 seconds!
(And it's slightly faster than Mary Cain's PR--for whatever THAT's worth!!)
And it's a Raleigh Relays Meet Record.

Second and 3rd in that race were 2 other sophs from NCS, both getting under 16:00.
(Another NCS soph finished in 16:31.)
And her younger sister Ryen is set to join her in the fall!!
Do you think NC State will have a decent XC team this fall??

(Speaking of Ryen, she won the RR 3200 race, running a solid 10:05 and change.  Remember, she ran a FULL 2 Mile race INdoors in 10:02.86 at the NBIN!!)

Another HS Pro didn't start her Raleigh Relays race!
Listed as an entrant in the 10000 meters was teenage Marathoner Alana Hadley.
But for whatever reason, she had a DNS next to her name!
Too bad, because she's still the official Freshman Class 10K record holder, her 34:59.38 dating from 2012.
While it wouldn't have counted on my lists, it would've been interesting to see what she could have done.
I was predicting something well under 34:00!!

Remember Michelle Jenneke?
At the 2012 Barcelona WJC, she "danced" at the starting line of her 100H race, creating an instant YouTube sensation.
Her somewhat provocative movements created a stir far removed from her potential as a hurdler.

Well, I don't know if she still "dances" prior to races, but her hurdling is now verging on World Class!!

In the Australian Championships, lining up next to the venerable Sally Pearson, Jenneke exploded from the line, at least even with Pearson.
And they remained even---with Jenneke perhaps even a bit ahead!---through 75 meters.
Then the Olympic talents of Pearson came through, and she put a few feet between them at the tape.
Pearson ran a solid 12.59.  (Wind was an allowable 1.3.)

Jenneke, after turning a 12.92 in her heat---her first race under 13.00---ran 12.82.
Believe it or not, she is now the 2nd fastest Australian---EVER!!!

Kayla Montgomery ran in the Raleigh Relays 5000 too.
But not in the same section as Wesley Frazier.
There were 5 sections.
Kayla finished 6th in her section, running a solid 17:33.49.
This is her fastest Collegiate 5000.
Her PR remains the 17:16 she ran as a HS'er in the 2014 NBIN.

Some Road Racing news.

Alexi Pappas won the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago, running 26:21.

In the more famous Carlsbad 5000, held earlier today, Genzebe Dibaba missed her target of the Road 5000 WR of 14:46.
But she won the race easily, running 14:48.
She went out too slow, hit the first 2 Miles in 4:50 and 4:42, leaving her too much to make up in a rabbitless race!
(Her older sister, Tirunesh, gave birth to a son!!)

First American was Sarah Brown, who finished exactly a minute behind Dibaba.
(Next was Morgan Uceny!)
The US headliner was supposed to be Brenda Martinez, but she was sick, and either DNS'd or DNF'd.
Not sure which!

On the Men's side, Lawi Lalang beat his training mate, the ageless Bernard Lagat.
Lalang ran 13:32, with Lagat 3rd in 13:40.

Next week is the Stanford Invitational and the Florida Relays, among a ton of other meets.

BTW, for those just ITCHING to know, Jeremy Wariner ran his first 800.
He ran 1:53.02 for the win.
(Let's see, HOW many HS'ers ran at least that fast INdoors this year??  LOL)

2015 INDOORS--The Season in Total

With OUTdoors already upon us, let's not forget the past 4 months we spent INdoors watching History unfold.
In this post, I'll select my Athletes of the Year, Performances of the Year, the Events of the Year, as well as present assorted trivia from my T&F Record Book---all centered on the 2015 INdoor Season.

Athletes of the Year--Men

World
MO FARAH--Because I put most value on Records, and because there was just one Individual World Record broken this year, my AOY is Mo Farah.  His 8:03.40 Two Mile WR was not only superior solo running, but look whose record he broke!  Ken Bekele's 8:04.35 was a much-respected mark!  And Farah negative splitting it---4:03.9-3:59.5---with no rabbit the second half---was distance racing at its very best!

US
BERNARD  LAGAT--This was a toughie!  Trayvon Bromell ran two fast 200's in 2 days.  Marquis Dendy had a great LJ-TJ double with World Class marks.  Michael Lihrman rewrote the WT record book.  Matt Centrowitz had a great year.  But with the only AR being the 600 mark by Casimir Loxsom, I gave extra weight to "lesser" records.  And with Lagat breaking FOUR Age 40 records (1500, 1 Mile, 3000, 2 Mile)---actually more, since he broke the 3000 mark 3 times!!--I have to hand my AOY to the Grand Old Man of Track.

Collegiate
SHAWN BARBER--Again, there was stiff competition for this award.  All the ones noted above--Lihrman, Bromell, Dendy, and Omar McLeod--were serious candidates.  But as with Lagat, it was the NUMBER of CR's broken by Barber that impressed me the most.  And he made some serious attempts at the Lavillenie-esque 6.00 meter mark!

HS
MONDO DUPLANTIS--What?  Huh?  How can you give the AOY to a guy whose best Vault was more than a FOOT less than the HSR setter, Deakin Volz?  Or even Pauli Benavides?  And what about Noah Lyles, who is the best HS sprinter, even though he's still an 11th Grader?  Again, it's what he accomplished at HIS level!!  Just a Freshman, he smashed the Frosh Class record at least 4 times!  He took it from 15-6 up to 16-9.50.  The Frosh record is now higher than the Soph record!

Athletes of the Year--Women

World
GENZEBE DIBABA--Repeating from last year, Dibaba broke "just" one WR in 2015, but it being the ONLY Individual WR broken by a Woman, my award goes to Ms Dibaba.  And what an amazing run it was!  As with Farah's 2 Mile, Genzebe ran most of the race without rabbiting!  Second place was almost a minute behind!  Sister Tirunesh better come back STRONG---or "Baby Baby" just might become THE Dibaba we remember most!  SOME consideration was given to Katerina Johnson-Thompson.  If she'd broken the WR, I might have given it to her!

US
JENNY SIMPSON--As with Ms Dibaba, Simpson's INdoor 2015 "season" was a "one and done".  But when the year before, your witty and humble self-deprecating take on your lap miscount is seen as a positive, and then you announce that THIS time you'll COUNT the laps---and then proceed to do so, smashing the American Record in the 2 Mile---well, who else could this award go to?  If Shannon Rowbury had broken
4:20--or if Demi Payne hadn't NH'ed at the NCAA's--things MIGHT have been different.  Then again, Simpson is such a wonderful representative of our sport!!

Collegiate
RAVEN SAUNDERS--This SHOULD have gone to Kendell Williams!  She broke her own CR in the Pentathlon, beating a very strong field!  Or this SHOULD have gone to Demi Payne, that sparkling new Mom who blasted her way into WORLD CLASS PV'ing!  And what about Emily Sisson, Jenna Prandini, or even Payne's arch-rival, Sandi Morris?  Yet the ravenous RAVEN impressed me the most!  And she sustained her power throughout the entire INdoor season, saving her best for last!

HS
RYEN FRAZIER--Here's another one where my AOY did NOT break any "major" records!  (i.e. WR, AR, CR, HSR).  Lexi Weeks did.  Kamryn McIntosh did.  So did Anna Rohrer!  So why Frazier?  Because of her OVERALL season of great--though maybe not record-breaking--marks.  Remember, her 4:44.20 Mile opened this INdoor season way back in November!  She improved to 4:41.56.  Her 2 mile of 10:02.86 is FAST--and she won the race by 18 seconds!  Then she ran that fast 5000, tenaciously tagging after Rohrer, but not being able to find that final little kick.  Doesn't matter!  Her season as a whole wins her my AOY!

Performance of the Year--Men

World
Mo Farah's 8:03.40 Two Mile.  No contest.  I just wish he'd run his WC and OG races the same way!!

US
Trayvon Bromell's 20.19.  Or even his heat time of 20.23.  Just 19, he ran the number's 2 and 3 fastest Collegiate times in history!!  And with Canadian Andre De Grasse running 20.26 in the final, it wasn't a runaway!  Some consideration was given to Lagat's Mile at Millrose, but Lagat lost that race!  And what's more impressive than running the 3rd best time in the WORLD--EVER??

Collegiate
Bromell's 20.19.  But in the closed world of Collegiate T&F, Bromell had some great competition!  Michael Lihrman's 83-11.75 WT.  Omar McLeod's 7.45 60H--as a Soph!  Barber's CR.  (If he'd made that 6.00 bar....!!)

HS
Noah Lyles 20.83 200.  It smashed the Junior Class record, and I believe it's the Age 17 record too!  Volz's PV HSR just wasn't high enough!  (Spoiled by too many great PV records these past couple of years!)

Performance of the Year--Women

World
Genzebe Dibaba's 5000.  Come on, what else??  (Again, if KJT had scored just 14 more points...!!)

US
Jenny's 9:18.35.  As with Dibaba's run, it's the WAY she ran it that mattered most.  Strong powerful front-running---with no rabbit---and making people believe you could have gone a LOT faster!

Collegiate
Raven Saunders 61-1.25.  She'd already PR'ed in the series---at 59-9.50.  Then Tori Bliss showed her stuff.  And that brought out the BEAST inside Ms Saunders.  She shattered that old PR by over 15 inches--making Miss Bliss's own PR look like child's play!!

HS
Lexi Weeks's HSR in the PV--14.3.25.  Leaving twin sister Tori behind at season's end, she showed talent far beyond mere genetic benevolency!  If Anna Rohrer had cut 10 more seconds off the 5000 HSR, I might have given it to her.  But HSR's for Women in the 5000 are becoming commonplace at the NBIN!

The EVENT of the Year?

The Distance Medley Relay--or DMR.
Yes, I'm calling it for a RELAY!!
With the US Men and the US (NB) Women both smashing the WR, this was the Event of the Year.

The 5000 was the best Individual Event.
You had Dibaba's WR and Sisson's CR, as well as Rohrer's HSR.

Bronze goes to the Two Mile, with Farah's WR and Simpson's AR getting the nod!

Homorable Mention should go to the Pentathlon for Women.
You had KJT's great mark---and that whole European Championships competition.
And you had Kendell William's CR, and another fabulous competition at the NCAA's!

I'll close this post with some T&F Record book trivia.

Early in the season, I selected 17 HS events (60, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1 Mile, 3000, 60H, HJ, LJ, TJ, PV, SP, and WT) for comparison between the 2014 and 2015 INdoor seasons.
Using my HS Track book and the lists on the T&FN website as my sources, I then chose marks for each of the 17 events, seeing how many either met or surpassed those minimal marks.
I tried to be reasonable, but also tough.

Here's my results.
Listed below, left to right for each gender, are the event, Minimal Mark, Number who made that mark in 2014, then in 2015.  Men are on the left, Women on the right.

60 (6.80)                  6     6          (7.40)               3      5
200 (21.50)              3     7          (24.00)             4      2
300 (34.00)              5     7          (38.00)             1      1
400 (48.00)              6     6          (54.00)             1      1
500 (1:04.00)           1     1          (1:15.00)           2      5
600 (1:20.00)           1      3         (1:33.00)           7      4
800  (1:52.00)          4      9         (2:10.00)           3      6
1000 (2:27.00)         5      4         (2:50.00)           3      7
1 Mile (4:10.00)       2      6         (4:45.00)           3      3
3000 (8:28.00)        3      5          (9:40.00)           4      1
60H  (7.90)             4      9          (8:40)                5      6
HJ  (7-0)                 4      2          (5-10)               2      1
LJ  (24-0)               5      4          (20-0)               2       2
TJ   (50-0)              4       3         (41-0)               3       5
PV  (17-0)              3       4         (13-4)               4       8
SP  (64-0)              1       3         (50-0)               4       1
WT  (75-0)             3       3         (60-0)               2       2

TOTALS               60      82                                53     60

Summary
As you can see, the Men did MUCH better in 2015 than in 2014 in those events using those minimum standards.
The Women just barely beat last year's athletes.
The Men really stepped things up in the 200, 800, 1 mile, and 60H.
The Women did better this year in the 500, 1000, and the PV.

Finally, remember last year I said 395 marks were added to my DDD's during the INdoor season of 2014?
There were 177 for the Men, and 218 for the Women.
Well, here's my counts for the 2015 season.

There's 373 marks dated 2015 on my 4 INdoor DDD's.
That's 176 for the Men, and 197 for the Women.
The Men remained almost exactly the same, while the Women's total fell by 21.

The 4 groups broke down this way:

World            
Men--28
Women--30

US
Men--44
Women--65

Collegiate
Men--48
Women--60

HS
Men--56
Women--42

Summary:
On the World level, there was almost no difference.
The women reigned supreme in the USA.
Collegiate Women were dominant.
And HS Men ruled over their Female counterparts.
(Which is demonstrated somewhat by the previous chart!)

Overall, I found the 2015 INdoor T&F season to be fully worthy of my time, energy, and interest.
Even though I fell sick just before its biggest weekend, it was still thrilling for me to follow----and to blog about.

I look forward to doing the same over the next six months during the 2015 OUTdoor season!!

Hope you'll come along for the ride!!

NBIN makes its Mark(s) again!

In INdoor Track and Field, there are some givens.
And in recent years, one of the surest is that the NBIN will fill out the lists that were, before the meet, rather slow getting revved up.
And it seems the Men have taken over from the Women, providing many of the highlights, and much of the depth.
So let's begin with the Men's distances, where in some cases, you got 2 for the price of one!

Grant Fisher broke the NBIN Meet Record in the 1 Mile, running 4:03.54.
True or false?
The results sheet (and the eTN) says True.
I say False.

Coming around the final curve, at about 1540 meters, Fisher tripped over the curb rail, stumbled into the infield, and, while trying to regain his balance (and not fall!), ran about 15 or 20 meters OFF the track!
The announcers wondered if he would be Disqualified.
But he wasn't.
Here's my take:

1. He won the race with a time of 4:03.54.
2. He was clearly ahead when he stumbled, and there was no interference with any other runner.
3.  Even with the missteps, he would clearly have won.
4. BUT---he did NOT run the FULL Mile!!

So whether it called for a DQ or not, he did NOT run the full distance, so therefore can NOT be said to have won the MILE!
And even though I'm going against the grain, I'm not accepting his Mile time for my lists, or for my Record Book.

However, he was timed at 1500 enroute (before he went off-track) in 3:46.41.
That is the NBIN Meet Record, and is 2nd A-T HS.
If this were a printed results page, it would appear as....
1. Grant Fisher             (nt)

Two other 1500 times make my list.
James Burke's 3:51.93 is 13th A-T HS.
Sam Ritz's 3:52.14 is 14th A-T HS.

Burke's Mile time of 4:08.48 rates 21st A-T HS.

The Men's Two Mile was even better!
In addition to 4 Two Mile times being added to my lists, there were SIX 3000 meter enroute times added too.

Andrew Hunter won the race in 8:48.22.
That puts him 6th on the A-T HS 2 Mile list.
His 8:16.44 3000 is 9th A-T HS.

Levi Thomet, from Alaska, ran the Two Mile in 8:48.32.
That's good for 7th A-T HS.
His enroute 3000 time of 8:16.46 is 10th A-T HS.

Alex Ostberg ran the Deuce in 8:48.88, making him 8th A-T HS.
His 3K time of 8:16.73 makes him 11th A-T HS.

Aldan Tooker followed in 8:56.16, making him 23rd A-T HS.
His 3000 time of 8:21.34 ranks him 13th A-T HS.

Zack Souder's 3000 time of 8:27.11 rates him 20th A-T HS.
And Zach Dale's 3K time of 8:29.49 is good for 24th A-T HS.

Anna Rohrer beat Ryen Frazier in a thrilling duel over 5000 meters.
And she did it by breaking the HSR (and the NBIN Meet Record) for the 5th straight year!!
Her time of 16:10.79 led Frazier's 16:12.21 to the tape.

Rohrer led almost all the way, but Frazier has a kick, so it was never over until the final straight!
And it was negative split, as Rohrer hit 2500 meters in about 8:12, thus running the second half in 7:58.

Rohrer gets the Senior Class record as well.
Frazier moves to 3rd A-T HS.
(Her sister Wesley is now 4th!!)

Stephanie Jenks finished 3rd, but didn't PR.
Aubrey Argyle's 16:50.35 moves her into 17th A-T HS.
And Sarah Kittel's 16:57.97 is 23rd A-T HS.

Frazier also ran the 2 Mile.
She won easily (by 18 seconds!) in a fast 10:02.86.
She's now 4th A-T HS.
And her 3000 enroute time of 9:23.68 is 5th A-T HS.

Kate Murphy's 9:43.93 3000 time and her 2nd place 10:20.22 in the 2 Mile both rank her 24th A-T HS.

Noah Lyles (and a few other Male sprinters) had a good meet.

Lyles broke the NBIN Meet Record, and the Junior Class record with his 20.83 in the 200.
And it rates him 2nd A-T HS.

Right behind him came Ryan Clark's 20.85.
This moves him from 12th A-T HS, tied with 3 others, up to 3rd!

Clark and Lyles were both timed in 6.65 in the 60, with Clark getting the W.
Both are now 13th A-T HS.
Clark moves up from 16th.

Darryl Harroway ran 6.70, making him 21st A-T HS, tied with 4 others.

Rai Benjamin ran the 200 in 21.09, making him 8th A-T HS, tied with 2 others.
But he did even better in the 400, as his 46.59 moves him  up from 15th A-T HS all the way to 3rd, where he's tied with 1 other.

Taylor McLaughlin (Sydney's older brother) ran 46.80, and he's now 5th A-T HS.

Izaiah Brown's 47.32 rates him 16th A-T HS.

And Noah's brother Josephus ran 47.35, which makes him 18th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.

Speaking of the young Sydney McLaughlin, she shattered her 60H PR, running a solid 8.17.
This is the Soph Class record..
She's now 3rd A-T HS, tied with 1 other.

(I'm putting her on my very short list of "Next To Turn Pro Before Their Senior Year of HS"!!)

Anna Cockrell also ran well, her 8.21 making her 5th A-T HS.

Further back was Alexis Duncan, whose 8.36 makes her 20th A-T HS, tied with 2 others.

Deakin Volz (son of "Volzing" inventor Dave) nabbed the HSR with his Vault of 17-11.25.
It's also the NBIN Meet Record, as well as the Senior Class record.
And he moved from 2nd A-T HS into 1st.

The Women's PV went to Kristen Denk's 13-8.50 PR.
This moves her from 16th A-T HS, tied with 4 others, into 10th.

Meagan Gray reached 13-4.50, making her 17th A-T HS, tied with 4 others.

Nicole Greene dominated the Women's HJ, as her 6-0.50 won easily, as no one else reached even 5-10!!
For Greene, it broke Lisa Bernhagen's venerable NBIN Meet Record of 6-0, which was 31 years old!!
She's now 5th A-T HS, tied with 2 others.

Both Sprint Medley Relays produced new HSR's!

The Men's team from Dunbar Ohio ran 3:24.16, cracking the old mark dating from 1997.
It's both the HSR and the Meet Record.
And the Women's team from Rush-Henrietta-Sperry (Where is that??) ran 3:52.68, getting the HSR and the MR.

The Women's Horizontal Jumps produced some good marks.

Kate Hall took the LJ with a solid jump of 20-11.25.
It's the NBIN Meet Record, and makes her 4th A-T HS.

Courtney Corrin, who set the OUTdoor Frosh Class record a couple of years ago, reached 20-7, her INdoor PR.
She's 9th A-T HS.

Asa Garcia took the Triple Jump with her 43-2.50.
This ranks her 5th A-T HS.

Sydnel Murphy reached 42-0.75, which makes her 13th A-T HS.

And Chinne Okoronkwo's 41-10 makes her 16th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.

HSR's in the Mile Walk might not rate high on anyone's list of prominent records, but a HSR is a HSR!

And Ashleigh Resch's time of 7:00.33 is the new HSR, as well as the Meet Record.
She's from Ohio.

Grant Holloway and Chad Zallow both ran 7.59 in the 60H, with Holloway getting the Win.
But both get the NBIN Meet Record.

Holloway also gets the Junior Class record.
He's 2nd A-T HS.
Zallow moves from 4th, tied with 3 others, into a tie at 2nd, tied with Holloway.

Charles Graham ran it in 7.75, making him 21st A-T HS, tied with 1 other.

Elijah Armstrong won the 5000 in 14:41.72.
He moves from 15th to 13th on the A-T HS list.

Mike Brannigan's 14:42.33 makes him 14th A-T HS.
And Casey Cumber's 14:51.83 makes him 23rd A-T HS.

The Men's 800 had depth.
Brian Bell ran 1:51.08, making him 10th A-T HS.

Brandon (brother of Sean) McGorty ran 1:51.50, making him 17th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.
Donovan Brazier's 1:51.57 makes him 20th A-T HS.
And Connor Ross's 1:51.67 rates him 23rd A-T HS.

Ja'Mari Ward doubled in the Men's Horizontal Jumps.
His 25-7.25 LJ is 6th A-T HS.
And his TJ of 51-7.25 rates him 11th A-T HS.

Jared Lovelace TJ'ed 50-10.25 for 20th A-T HS.

Nevada Moreno's 1 Mile time of 4:43.23 is the new Soph Class record!
And it ranks her 12th A-T HS.
As does her enroute 1500 time of 4:25.35.

Danielle Jones ran the Mile in 4:44.90 making her 16th A-T HS.
Her 1500 split of 4:26.15 ranks her 14th A-T HS.

George Patrick scored 3961 Pentathlon points, making him 11th A-T HS.

In the Women's Pent, Alexus Pyles scored 3619 points, making her 17th A-T HS.
Behind her was Maya Neal's 3598, which makes her 22nd A-T HS.

Sabrina Gaitan's PR of 60-10 in the WT moves her from 14th to 9th on the A-T HS list.
Jordan McClendon's 59-9 ranks her 15th A-T HS.

Owen Russell's WT of 76-3.50 ranks him 20th A-T HS.

Teahna Daniels sped 60 meters in 7.33 for 22nd A-T HS, tied with 2 others.

And Lauren Rain Williams ran the 200 in 23.46 for the NBIN Meet Record.

In a Middle School race, 7th Grader Katelyn Tuohy ran the Mile in 4:59+.
In a post-race interview, she said this was her FIRST year of running track!!

Outside of The Armory, there's been quite a bit of action since I took sick.
So let's wrap things up with a "quick" overview of all I've gathered.
This will be scattershot, so gather your wits and read on!

Kaylee Antill threw the WT 60-2.25, moving her from 20th to 10th on the A-T HS list.

Titiana Marsh may be a rare bird---a young American female TJ'er with some potential!
She shattered the Frosh Class record with her 41-2 leap!
It misses my DDD list by just 2.5 inches!!

A 15 year year old Jamaican, Chris Taylor, ran 400 meters in 45.69 OUTdoors.
It's reportedly the Age 15 record!

Walking Records have been going down heel to toe.....so to speak.
Elmira Alembakova broke the WR in the Women's 20K Walk with her 1:24.47.

Behind her came Marina Pandakova's 1:25:03, which rates as 3rd A-T World.
She was followed by Svetlana Vasilyova's 1:25:04, which is 4th A-T World.

On the Men's side, Japan's Yusake Suzuki Walked 20K in an astounding 1:16:36 for the WR.

Tom Walsh broke his own New Zealand National Record in the SP with his 70-1.50.
I believe that was his first 70 footer!

Jeannelle Scheper began her Collegiate OUTdoor season in a good way, HJ'ing 6-3.25.
This puts her at 20th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others.

Mondo Duplantis began HIS OUTdoor season in a good way too.
His 16-10 opener is the OUTdoor 9th Grade record!!
The old mark, Jake Lavender's 16-3.25, dated from 1987!!

Back to INdoors for a sec!
Jaymas Dennison ran 600 meters in 1:16.22, making him 10th A-T US.
He was followed by Strymar Livingston's 1:16.53, which makes him 12th A-T US.

Two relative newbies to the Half-Marathon business won their respective races with fast PR's.

Molly Huddle won the NYC race in 1:08:31, beating her previous best by 33 seconds.
But more significantly, she beat a Kenyan woman, Joyce Chepkirui, whose PR is more than 2 minutes faster.
Oh, and she beat friendly rival Sally Kipyego too!!

Meanwhile, over in Lisbon, Mo Farah is getting serious, winning the race in a speedy 59:32, his first time under an hour!!

And what about Kayla Montgomery?
Well, she's had some good races of late.

In 2 different OUTdoor meets, she ran 3000 meters in 10:27.90.
She was 3rd in the race, 2nd on her team, and the top Frosh.

Finally, at the Alabama Relays last weekend, she ran a race that was interrupted when the stadium lights suddenly went dark!!
(Actually, there were 3 sections of the event, so I'm not certain it was HER race that was stopped!)
But about 20 minutes later, with the lights back on, she finished 5th in the 3rd heat of the 1500, running 4:47.94.

Next PLANNED post will be my INdoor Wrap-up, which will include my selections for Athletes of the Year, as well as best performance and other assorted trivia.

But as John Lennon famously sang...
Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans!

NCAA--Big Records among the Shocks

Well, this report is a BIT belated!
If you saw my previous post from 12 days ago, then you know I fell (VERY!!) ill to food poisoning, and was unable to file a report (let alone follow the results!!) either before, or after the recent NCAA
Well, better late than never.
(Or is that...Better live than dead!?)

This year's event had some BIG records and tons of great marks.
But it also gave us a shock...or two or three.

And there was none bigger than Collegiate Record holder in the PV, Demi Payne, NO HEIGHTING!!
Expected fireworks between Payne and former CR holder Sandi Morris never got off the ground----LITERALLY!!
Payne missed 3 times at her opening bar of 14-6.

As it was, Morris won with a 15-1.
(Just 1 year ago, that would have tied Kaitlin Petrillose's CR!!)
But it did tie Petrillose's Meet Record!

Duke's Megan Clark raised her PR to 14-9 to take 2nd.
She moves from 19th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, up to 8th, tied with 4 others.
She also moves onto the A-T US list, into 21st place, tied with 3 others.

Stephanie Richartz moved up to 14-7.25.
She moves from 22nd A-T Collegiate to 13th, where she's tied with 5 others!

Shawn Barber did it again!
For the 3rd (or 4th?) time this season, he raised the Collegiate Record in the PV.
His latest extension rose to 19-4.75.
Besides the CR, it's also the Meet Record, the Age 20 record, the Junior Class record, and the National Record of Canada--all of which were his previously!
He's now 16th A-T World, tied with 2 others.

Jake Blankenship also got a 19 footer!
His 19-0.25 moves him from 11th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 5th, tied with 2 others.
He's also now 14th A-T US, tied with 10 (!!) others!

Another Collegiate Record fell--in the Women's Pentathlon!
But it didn't change hands, as Kendell Williams broke her own mark from last year by 43 points, scoring 4678 points.
This is also the Soph Class record and the NCAA Meet Record.
She doesn't move up in the US rankings, however, remaining 5th A-T US!
And she misses the World DDD by 91 points!

The event had some depth on the Women's side.
Erica Bougard scored 4566 points, 20 short of her PR.
But she gets the Senior Class record!

Xenia Rahn took 3rd with 4450 points.
She moves from 20th A-T Collegiate to 7th!

Alex Gochenour scored 4430 points, making her 9th A-T Collegiate.
She's also 11th A-T US!

Jess Herauf scored 4372 points.
She moves from 20th A-T Collegiate up to 13th.
(I earlier said Xenia Rahn had moved from 20th A-T Collegiate.  Basically, both were true, as one displaced the other prior to moving up!)
Herauf is also now 16th A-T US.

The Men's Heptathlon had a surprise winner.
Luca Weiland scored 6070 points.
It's the Soph Class record.
And it makes him 8th A-T Collegiate!

He beat favored Garrett Scantling by just 2 points, Scantling's 6068 points moving him from 12th to 9th on the A-T Collegiate list!
(He remains in 18th place on the A-T US list!)

Mike Morgan scored 5995 points, making him 13th A-T Collegiate!
He's 19th A-T US!

Bilal Abdullah scored 5941 points.
He's now 18th A-T Collegiate, and 20th A-T US.

Devon Williams scored 5835 points, which would have put him in 24th place on the A-T US list, except 1 or 2 others beat him to it!

Jenna Prandini had quite a meet!
She pulled off 2 out of 3 wins, losing only to CR holder Ramona Burchell in the 60.

She ran 22.52 in the 200, exploding onto the A-T Collegiate list in 6th place!
She moved from 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 6th, also tied with 1 other.
And she enters the World DDD in 17th place, tied with 2 others.

Kyra Jefferson improved her PR from 22.79 to 22.64 in her heat, then again to 22.63 in the final!
This moves her from 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, to 12th.
And it moves her from 17th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 11th.

(Prandini's losing effort in the 60, a 7.15, still moves her from 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, to 10th, tied with 5 others!)

Jenna also won the Long Jump with a leap of 21-10.
This makes her 16th A-T Collegiate, and 21st A-T US.

The Women's Field Events were fairly strong across the board.
And none---not even the PV!---were more thrilling than the Shot Put.

Raven Saunders is a Maniac, a Monster, an Animal, a Beast---an EXTREMELY talented thrower!
No matter what happens over the next few years, the story---and the scope!---of this woman's meteoric rise though the ranks is simply stunning!

As I've noted before, she doesn't believe in improving her PR's by INCHes!
No, this girl propels herself forward by FEET (in every sense!  LOL).
From a mid-40's thrower as late as fall of 2013, she exploded to 52-3 in late December of that year.
A few days later, she added another FOOT (and 5 inches!), reaching 53-8.
Then, in the 2014 NBIN, she added almost three more FEET, hitting the INdoor HSR of 56-7.50.
A few months ago, as a Southern Illinois Freshman, she added another FOOT, hitting 57-10.50.
Then ANOTHER FOOT, now up to 59-0.25.
Finally, at the NCAA, she added JUST (!!) 9 inches, reaching 59-9.50.
BUT wait a sec!
Battling an on fire Tori Bliss, Saunders exploded yet again---adding more than TWO FEET to the PR she had at the Meet's beginning, and a healthy 15.75 inches to her In Series PR---reaching a massive 61-1.25!

This is the Frosh Class record.
It moves her from 15th A-T Collegiate up to 4th.
And it makes her 14th A-T US.

Might I be so bold as to predict she'll get the American Records, both OUTdoors and INdoors, BEFORE the Rio Olympics?
And that Valerie Adams just might have a whole new challenge to her reign as Queen of the Shot!

As noted, Tori Bliss wasn't a ragdoll!
She improved her PR to 60-7.25.
She remains 8th A-T Collegiate.
But she moves from 19th A-T US to 15th.

Omar McLeod broke the Collegiate Record in the 60H, running 7.45.
And it was a runaway victory, as 2nd was just 7.67.
It's also the NCAA Meet Record, the Soph Class record, and the National Record of Jamaica.
He moves from 2nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, into 1st.
But he misses the World Top 24 list by 0.01 seconds!

The Women's 60H was a closer race!
Kendra (now called Keni??) Harrison won with a time of 7.87.
This moves her from 5th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 3rd.
And she moves from 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 19th.

Just one tick back was Bridgette Owens, her 7.88 moving her from 13th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 5th.
She's now 19th A-T US, tied with 1 other.

Trayvon Bromell produced both a huge shock and (two) great marks!

The shock was when he False Started in the 60.
(Remembering Trentavis Fridays's FS in the WJC's last year!)

Similar to Friday, Bromell also redeemed himself in the 200.
First running 20.23 in his heat, he sprinted a spectacular 20.19 in the final.
This is the Age 19 record.
It makes him 2nd A-T Collegiate.
And 2nd A-T US.
And 3rd A-T World!!
So why doesn't he get the Soph Class record also?
Because Wallace Spearmon's 20.10, the Collegiate Record, was run when he was a Soph!

Andre De Grasse, a Canadian, finished 2nd in 20.26.
He gets the Canada National Record.
And he gets the Junior Class record.
He's 3rd A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others.
And he's 5th A-T World, tied with 3 others.

Michael Lihrman won the battle of the WT'ers.
His 80-10.25 was good for the NCAA Meet Record.

Conor McCullough finished 2nd, tossing the WT out 80-3.75.
This moves him from 13th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 2nd.
He moves from 14th A-T US, to 5th, tied with 1 other.
And he moves from 20th A-T World to 6th, where he's tied with 1 other.

Ida Storm finished behind Kirsten Peoples, but People's didn't PR in the Women's WT.
Storm improved from 73-6 to 74-0.25.
This improves her own National Record of Sweden.
It moves her from 14th to 12th on the A-T Collegiate list.
And it moves her from 20th A-T World, tied with 1 other, to 17th.

DeAnna Price hit 72-3.75.
She gets 24th A-T Collegiate.
And 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other.

The Men's SP produced a mild upset..
Stipe Zunic beat favored Ryan Crouser.
Zunic's winning throw of 69-3.25 is the National Record of Croatia.
He moves from 20th A-T Collegiate to 13th, tied with 1 other.

Jonathan Jones's SP of 67-6.75 makes him 24th A-T Collegiate.

The TJ's were won by Marquis Dendy and Ciarra Brewer.
Dendy hit 57-0 for the NCAA Meet Record.
He moves from 8th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, into 3rd.
And he moves from 12th to 8th on the A-T US list!
(He misses the World DDD by less than 4 inches!)

Dendy also won the LJ, tieing his 2013 PR of 27-2.

Brewer beat Keturah Orji with a big PR leap of 45-11.75.
This moves her from 15th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 9th.
And it moves her from 16th A-T US, tied with 2 others, into 5th.

The Women's Mile winner, Leah O'Connor, ran like a Professional--except there was no rabbit.
Hitting 2:11.6 at the halfway point, she was clearly going for a FAST time!
She faded, but not by much!
Her 4:27.18 is the 2nd fastest Collegiate time ever!
And she's now 8th A-T US, tied with 1 other.

She beat back Shelby Houlihan, whose 4:28.71 was by no means a jog!
It moves her from 11th A-T Collegiate to 6th.
And it places her at 18th A-T US.

Rosie Clarke improved her PR by 0.03 seconds, to 4:31.75, but she remains 14th A-T Collegiate.

Erin Teschuk's 4:32.35 makes her 18th A-T Collegiate.

Natoya Goule got Hazel Clark's NCAA Meet Record in the 800, running 2:01.64.
And she ran it like a Born Again Alysia Montano!
She split 27.08, then 29.55, for a first 400 of 56.63!
Then she raced through 600 in 1:28.04.
Since the time is official, this makes her 6th on the A-T Collegiate 600 list!!
It also moves her from 6th A-T Collegiate (for the full 800), tied with 1 other, into 3rd!

Hanna Green's 2:03.16 moves her from 24th A-T Collegiate to 16th.

Edward Kemboi won the Men's 800 in 1:46. 05.
This places him 6th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other.

Dylan Capwell improved to 1:46.70.
This moves him from 16th A-T Collegiate to 14th, tied with 1 other.

Clayton Murphy's 1:47.06 makes him 24th on both the Collegiate and US lists.

Vernon Norwood beat Deon Lendore in the 400, running 45.31.
He moves up on all 3 of the lists.
From 13th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, to 10th.
From 15th A-T US, tied with 2 others, to 13th.
And from 24th A-T World, tied with 5 others, into 19th.

Courtney Okolo's 51.12 took the Women's 400.
This moves her up 1 spot on the A-T Collegiate list, from 13th to 12th.
And it moves her from 13th to 11th on the A-T US list.

Taylor Ellis-Watson's 51.52 moves her from 19th to 15th on the A-T Collegiate list.
She also moves from 20th to 16th on the A-T US list!

The Women's distance races produced some decent marks.

Dominique Scott beat Elise Cranny in the 3000.
Scott's 8:55.19 makes her 8th A-T Collegiate!

Cranny ran a solid 8:58.88.
This gives her the Freshman Class record!
And it makes her 17th A-T Collegiate.

Katrina Coogan ran 9:01.16, making her 22nd A-T Collegiate.

Moved OFF my Collegiate 3000 list were two icons.
Lauren Fleshman's gone from 2003.
And from 1990, gone too is Suzy Favor Hamilton!!

Rachel Johnson improved her 5000 PR from last December by 0.10 seconds, running 15:40.35.
There is no change in her Collegiate lists standing, as she remains 18th.
But she moves up one spot on the US list, from 20th to 19th.

Scott and Cranny also had a duel of sorts in the DMR.

Scott's 1600 split of 4:28 beat Cranny's 4:31, and that about decided the winner.
Arkansas ran 10:51.89.
They moved from 9th A-T School to 2nd.

And Stanford ran 10:53.66.
However, Arkansas improved their School's PR by quite a bit more than Stanford did.
Thus, in one of those weird end results, Stanford actually LOSES a spot, despite getting a PR!
They drop from 4th School to 5th!

Baylor's 11:04.21 makes them 19th A-T School.

The 4X400 Relays produced some list-changing marks.

Texas A&M's Men's team broke the Collegiate Record!!
Their 3:02.86 is also the NCAA Meet Record.

Nebraska ran 3:04.83, moving them from 13th A-T School to 9th.

Arkansas's Women ran 3:28.70.
They move from 6th to 4th fastest School.

USC (Southern California) ran 3:29.63, moving them from 16th fastest School to 7th.

Clemson ran 3:30.88, moving them from 15th to 10th fastest School.

Duke's 3:32.56 makes them the 16th fastest School.

And Kentucky's 3:33.17 moves them from 23rd fastest School to 18th!

Ronnie Baker was a mildly shocking Men's 60 winner.
His 6.52 makes him 11th A-T Collegiate, tied with 4 others.

Finally, from the NCAA meet, Leontia Kallenou HJ'ed 6-4.
This is the National Record of Cyprus.
And it moves her from 24th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, to 16th, where she's also tied with 2 others!

Because of my illness, I'm playing Catch-Up.
Thus, I have quite a lot of non-NCAA or NBIN marks to report.

But this post is too long, so hopefully, I'll be able to place them at the end of my NBIN report----which I HOPE to produce later today!!

I am sooooooo happy to be back-----and healthy again!!
Thank you for your patience!

While it's ludicrous for me to post my "predictions" for Meet Records for the NCAA and NBIN meets----something I was PLANNING to do almost two weeks ago before HELL attacked me!!--I will tell you of one such prediction I had in mind!!

I was going to say I thought Raven Saunders would win the SP with a massive PR of.....61-8.25!!
(Not THAT far off, eh??)

No posts

I apologize profusely for not having my Meet Records Predictions posts for the NCAA and NBIN meets.
But I ate some old broccoli a few days ago, and I'm now suffering from food poisoning.
At least I think that's what it is, as it began not long after I ate the broccoli.

As of right now, it's gotten a little better, but is nowhere near over.

Thus it looks very unlikely I'll be posting results from the meets tomorrow and Sunday.

For results, go to the T&FN website for the links.

KJT channels JJK at Euros

She didn't get the coveted World Record of Nataliya Dobrynska (5013 points in 2012), but Katerina Johnson-Thompson personified the thrilling (and record-challenging) happenings in Prague over the past 3 days in the European Championships.
KJT might have had a JJK moment (breaking a Multi WR, something which Jackie Joyner-Kersee made a habit of), but it seemed as if she were at least channeling the A-T great throughout the 5 events.
After 4 strong events, she needed to run the 800 in 2:11.8 to get the WR.
From comments she made afterward, it sounded as if she might not have known how fast she needed to run.
And with an OUTdoor 800 best in the 2:07's, she was fully capable of getting it!
Alas, she ran "just" 2:12.8, missing the record by 13 points.
(Shades of Ashton Eaton missing the Olympic Games record in the Decathlon by just 14 points in 2012!)

Still, she became the 2nd woman in history to score 5000 points, a number she got exactly!!
It's the National Record of Great Britain, as well as the Age 22 record and the European Championships Meet Record!
She's now 2nd A-T on the World list!

Her 17 year old teammate, Morgan Lake, got the Age 17 record with her 4527 point total, breaking her own mark!

And Eliska Kucinova scored 4687 points, getting the National Record of the Czech Republic!

In fact, National Records and Age Records dominated the record assault.

Another WR that didn't fall was the Men's PV.
But the man who holds that record still cleared 19-9.50.
So Renaud Lavillenie breaks his own Age 28 record, and his own Meet Record!
His 3 misses were at 6.17, one centimeter over his WR!

The Women's PV produced some good marks.

Anzhelika Sidorova jumped 15-9 for the win.
This moves her from 13th A-T World, tied with 2 others, up to 8th, tied with 1 other.

Ekaterina Stefanidi jumped 15-7 in 2nd, but didn't PR.

And 21 year old Angelica Bengtsson reached 15-5, her INdoor best, making her 24th A-T World, but tied with 4 others.

Kira Grundberg duidn't make the final, but her jump of 14-7.25 in Qualifying is the National Record of Austria!

Not at the Euros, but Li Ling vaulted 14-9 for the National Record of China!

The Women's 60 produced several great marks, and not just in the final!

Mujinga Kambundji broke the National Record of Switzerland twice!
She ran 7.15 in her semi, then broke it again with a 7.11 final!

Ezinne Okparaebo ran 7.10, getting the National Record of Norway.

Dina Asher-Smith, the British 19 year old, first ran 7.10 in a prelim, then tied the National Record of 7.08 in the final!
It's also the Age 19 record, which she first broke with her 7.10.

And while not medaling, 17 year old Ewe Swoboda ran quite well!
She just missed her own Age 17 mark in the heats with her 7.22.
Then in the final, she broke it, hitting 7.20!!

Another Age 17 record was set by Konrad Bikowiecki.
His SP mark of 67-2 happened first in the Qualifying, then again in the final!

Stipe Zunic got the National Record of Croatia with his toss of 67-9.75.

Bob Bertemes threw 67-5.25 for the National Record of Luxemburg!
(Both of these marks came in the Qualifying round.  They didn't improve in the final!)

The winner of the Women's SP, Anita Marton, threw 63-1.25 for the National Record of Hungary.

The Men's 3000 produced surprisingly fast marks.
I say surprisingly, because most Championship meet distance races are more strategic---meaning SLOW!

Ali Kaya got both the European  Championship Meet Record, and the National Record of Turkey with his 7:38.43.

Henrik Ingebrigtsen scored twice in the National Record department!
He got the 1500 and 3000 NR's of Norway with his times of 3:39.70 and 7:45.54.

A very popular win for the home crowd was Jakob Kolusa's surprising upset in the Men's 1500.
And his time of 3:37.68 is the National Record of the Czech Republic!

Sandra Eriksson ran 8:54.06 in the Women's 3000, getting the National Record of Finland.

Anita Hinriksdottir ran 2:01.56 in the 800, breaking her own National Record of Iceland.
(Jenny Meadows, the British favorite in the 800, made the final only because of a DQ of a runner ahead of her.  Her illness--a flu?--getting worse, however, she withdrew from the final!)

The Women's Triple Jump and 60H produced several NR's.

Hanna Kryozyeva broke Israel's National Record in the TJ---twice!
She hit 47-3.25 in the Q's, then 47-6.75 in the final.

The winner, Yekaterina Koneva, upped her PR to 48-2.25, reaching 24th on the A-T World list!

Pablo Torrijos got the National Record of Spain in the Men's TJ with his jump of 55-11.

The winner of the Women's 60H, Alina Talay, ran 7.85 for the National Record of Belarus.

Nooralotta Niziri ran 7.97, getting the National Record of Finland.

And Andrea Ivancevic ran 8.02 in the heats of the 60H, then 7.97 in the semi, that getting the National Record of Croatia.

Both LJ's produced some new records.

Micho Torreus jumped 27-2.75 for the National Record of Sweden.

The Women's winner, Ivana Spanovic, leaped 22-10.75 for the National Record of Serbia.
It also gained her the 23rd spot on the A-T World list, but tied with 2 others!

Another Age Record fell---twice!!
Florentina Marincu LJ'ed 22-0 for the Age 18 record.
She then broke her own mark, jumping 22-4.

The Men's Heptathlon didn't break any records, but it got 2 marks onto my DDD.

Winner Ilya Shkurenyou scored 6353 points, reaching 13th A-T World.

Arthur Abele's 6279 points makes him 19th A-T World, tied with 1 other.

He didn't PR, but maybe the most popular athlete for the Prague crowd was hometown boy Pavel Maslek, who won the 400 in 45.33.
He did, however, get the European Championships Meet Record.

In the final event on the final day, the Men's 4X400 Relay, Maslak couldn't help his team to a win!

That honor went to the team from Borlee----um, I mean Belgium!!
With THREE Borlee's on the team, it was hard to tell the difference!!

Belgium's time of 3:02.87 makes them the 2nd fastest Nation!
They had been 12th!

Right behind them was Poland.
Their time of 3:02.97, an improvement of 0.04 seconds on their previous best, actually moved them DOWN the list!!
They'd been 2nd, behind the USA, but Belgium's win slid the Polish team down a notch--to 3rd best Nation!

Maslek's Czech Republic team ran 3:04.09, moving them from 11th Nation to 7th.

Outside the Euros, two major marks were broken!

Yohan Deniz, already the WR holder in the 50,000 meter Walk, added the 20K WR to his list!
He Walked the distance in 1:17:02.

And in the Nagoya Women's marathon in Japan, 2nd placer Mariya Konovalova shattered the Age 40 record by more than 2 minutes, running an astounding time of 2:22:27!

So, all in all, the European Championships was a great meet.
Which could have been even better if a few athletes hadn't been missing.

And if Katerina Johnson-Thompson---who IMHO has the SADDEST looking, yet most BEAUTIFUL face in our sport!!!---had only known what she'd needed to run for the WR, we would've seen that mark go down!

After finishing her 800 run---and Event Win---instead of wildly celebrating, KJT sat forlornly on the track, covering her head with her National Flag, crying!

THAT is the sign of a true Champion---that she would be so very distraught and disappointed----scoring FIVE THOUSAND points!!!

Cheer up, young lady, your best is yet to come!!

And watch out, World, because the Europeans are VERY strong this year!!

Coming in a few days will be my Meet Record predictions for both the NCAA and NBIN meets!
See you then!

AR highlight of Atypical USATF

This has been quite a weekend!
So much so that I had to divide my report into TWO posts.
And both are loaded with great records and marks!

On to the USATF Championships, held this year in Boston!

Casimir Loxsom's American Record in the 600 was the highlight of a fairly atypical USATF.
(Of course, if I were at all sarcastic, I would call the 2014 meet ALSO "atypical", with its boatload of controversies!  But that's a whole different kind of atypical!  LOL)

I called this meet "atypical" because they offered a somewhat different slate of events on the track.
Instead of the usual 400 and 800, they gave us the 300, 600, and 1000.
Not to mention the Two Mile!
Although the Two Mile HAS been run here before, as Lynn Jennings holds the MR with her 9:28.15 from 1986!
Best part was that they offered the exact same events for both Men and Women!

Anyway, Loxsom broke his own AR from earlier this season.
His time was 1:15.33
It's the Meet Record, bettering his time from the heats.
He also betters his Age 23 record!
But he doesn't move up on the World list, remaining 4th A-T.

The American 600 list was heavily revised!
Mark Wieczorek finished 2nd in 1:16.07.
This breaks his own Age 30 record.
He moves from 9th A-T US to 6th.
And it puts him on the World list, in 20th place!

Ja-von Hutchison's 1:16.32 makes him 10th A-T US.

Boris Berian improved his PR, running 1:16.57.
This moves him up 9 slots on the A-T US list, from 20th to 11th!
He had run 1:17.07 in his heat!

Brycen Spratling, who recently broke the 500 WR, ran 1:17.17 in his heat, but not improving in the final.
The time ranks him 22nd A-T US.

While the Women's 600 didn't produce an AR, the field had much greater depth!
And leading the way was new Mom, Alysia Montano!

However, she was SUPPOSED to have some MAJOR competition in Ajee Wilson, who had the fastest heat time, with her 1:26.56.
Which became---and still is!--the new Meet Record!!

But mid-way through the race, Wilson dove face first to the track after either getting clipped, or tripping.
And she went down HARD---just like Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury did last summer!
(She somehow finished the race, running 1:39+!!)

So Montano, who VERY typically took the lead, won, but her time of 1:26.59 missed Wilson's MR by just 0.03 seconds!!
Afterwards, she was seen being interviewed, holding Baby Linnea!

Second was (hopefully!!) comebacking Phoebe Wright, one of my personally favorite people in our sport!!
She somehow avoided the crash site, finishing in 1:28.00.
But that wasn't her PR!
So let's go back to the Prelims, to see where the REAL action was!

As noted, Wilson ran 1:26.56, the fastest time of the meet!
She was followed by Kendra Chambers, who ran 1:26.73.
This ranks her 5th A-T US.
And she's 23rd A-T World!

Then came Wright, whose 1:27.81 stood up as her best mark.
She's now 11th A-T US.

Megan Malasarte was just behind Phoebe, running 1:27.87.
She's now 12th A-T US.

Bethany Praska's time of 1:28.19 moves her from 19th A-T US up to 16th.

Mckayla Fricker ran 1:28.24, making her 18th A-T US.

One tiny tick of the watch behind her was Shannon Leinart, who ran 1:28.25.
She's now 19th A-T US.

Megan Krumpoch ran 1:28.31.
She's 20th A-T US!

Finally, LaTavia Thomas ran 1:28.76 in her heat, and she's now 23rd A-T US.

Because of the crash (which took down Kendra Chambers also!), no one ran faster in the final!

Two events produced somewhat surprising winners.
(Well, maybe the winner of the Women's PV was NOT such a shocker!)

Collegiate Record holder Demi Payne took a break from Collegiate action, instead facing Pro's like Jenn Suhr and Mary Saxer for the 1st time!

But Suhr had bruised her heel exiting a swimming pool (!!), and she missed her opening height!

Still, Payne had some good competition, as Katie Nageotte got a PR.
Her vault of 14-9 makes her 21st A-T US, tied with 2 others!

Kayla Caldwell also PR'ed, clearing the bar set at 14-7.25.
But she doesn't make the US Top 24, because Nageotte's entrance ON the list set the 24th place mark 0.25 inches too high!

The more shocking winner was Lauren Wallace in the Women's 1000.
Treniere Moser was favored in a field that included HS Pro Alexa Efraimson!
(But no Mary Cain!)

However, Moser was caught in traffic, shuttled to the rear, and couldn't make up the distance in the last 400.
Wallace ran smart, hugging the curve, expecting an opening on the inside, which when it came, she took full advantage of!

Watch the USATF-TV video of this race to see the shocked look on her face while crossing the line, and for minutes afterward!
The Oiselle crowd, who she's aligned with, were VERY happy, to say the least!!

Her winning time was 2:40.42.
She moves from 23rd to 19th on the A-T US list!
(Charlene Lipsey had run 2:40.79 in her heat, establishing the MR, and (temporarily) making her 19th A-T US.)
Wallace had run 2:41.23 in her heat, making her--again temporarily---23rd A-T US.

The only other person to PR was Efraimson, who ran 2:41.23, finishing a respectable 5th in a strong tight field.  (Only 0.81 seconds separated the first five!)
Well, here we go, with my newly designated HS Pro division!

Efraimson is now SECOND on that VERY exclusive list, headed by Mary Cain's 2:35.80 from last year!
(And it's now the 3rd best Performance on the HS Pro list!)
But it does place her on the A-T US list---barely.
She's 24th!
(She beat some good ones, among them Stephanie Charnigo and Geena Lara!!)

The 300's were taken by Manteo Mitchell's 32.86 and Natasha Hastings's 36.52.
These are the Meet Records, of course.

The Men's Two Mile had a good field, but they ran it strategically, meaning SLOW!
(Well, at least slower than their talent indicated they could---and should!!)

Ryan Hill won the race, timed in 8:26.72.
He's 18th A-T US.

Garrett Heath's 8:27.99 ranks him 23rd A-T US.

The Women's Two Mile was a veritable WALK!!
(With all due respect to REAL Two Mile Walk Winner Maria Michta-Coffey!!)

Shannon Rowbury was doubling, having won a slow Mile the day before in 4:34 and change.
So she ran to win, yet her time of 9:43.94 is the Age 30 record, and makes her 23rd A-T US.
She obviously could go a whole lot faster, even challenging Jenny Simpson's new AR of 9:18.35--if she'd so chosen to do so!!
Which she did NOT, winning a NOP 1-2 over Jordan Hasay.

The Men's One Mile was in the same (DE-)classe!!
Matthew Centrowitz ran his last 400 in the 53's, for a Mile time of 4:01-plus!
(YAWN!!)

Jasmin Stowers dominated the 60H field, winning easily in a PR of 7.84.
(No one else broke 8.00!!)
She moves from 19th A-T US, tied with 1 other, up to 12th, where she's tied with FIVE others!
She ran 7.89 in her heat, temporarily moving her into that 19th spot!

Michelle Carter won the SP with a throw of 63-9.75.

But Becky O'Brien joined the 60 foot club with her throw of 60-2.
(That's just one inch further than Collegian Tori Bliss threw this weekend!!)
She's now 16th A-T US!

Chaunte Lowe won the HJ for the umpteenth time at the USATF meet!
Her 6-2 clearance beat 39 year old Amy Acuff, who jumped 5-11.50.

Jeremy Taiwo showed his recent Oversize Track mark of 6344 in the Heptathlon wasn't a one-off.
He produced a "legal" point total here of 6273, winning the "competition" by over 700 points!!
Besides being the USATF Meet Record, it also makes him 19th on the World list!
And it moves him from 11th to 5th on the A-T US list!

Sharon Day-Monroe had won the Pentathlon with 4654 points!

A few marks to add to the LONGGGG list of them in my first post of the day!

Raven Saunders continues to produce prodigious marks in the SP as a Freshman at Southern Illinois.
But in her Conference meet, she JUST missed her PR of 59-0.25!
She reached 59 feet even!
And she added two more tosses of 58 feet-plus, so she's showing something Freshmen (or FreshWOMEN!!) don't normally show---consistency!
The NCAA should be quite a battle in the Women's SP!!

BTW, Saunders hit 57-9 and change in the WT, so her SP best beat her WT best by over a foot!

A HS meet on Penn State's track produced a great Men's 800!

John Lewis ran 1:50.57 to beat Elias Graca's 1:50.86.
Lewis is 6th A-T HS.
And Gracas is now 8th A-T HS.

I promised I'd report anything I could find on Multiple Sclerosis victim Kayla Montgomery, currently a Freshman at Lipscomb College in Tennessee.

She hadn't raced for the past two weeks, apparently having a slight niggle, which she rested.
So, her endurance off a bit, she was inked in to run a DMR leg and the One Mile at her Atlantic Sun Conference meet.
But she didn't run the DMR.
She DID race the mile, running 5:11.70, finishing 7th in a field of 13.
She was 2nd from her team in the race, which had 5 runners from her team!

Kayla's up and down season (No pun intended, though one would fit here, as she falls "down" at the end of every race, due to her MS!  LOL) may seem lackluster, but if you compare it---relatively speaking---to some more elite College Frosh, it's not that bad!

Elise Cranny has run well....and run poorly!
Desiree Freier has Vaulted 14-2.75 this year, but has also gone a foot less!
Bethan Knights has been fairly quiet this year.
And Sarah Baxter hasn't even raced at all!

Well, that---added to my HUMONGOUS first post from earlier today, puts a "wrap" on this weekend's T&F activity!
And what a week it was!!

Next post MIGHT be Wednesday or Thursday, but only if enough good marks come in AFTER I post this!
Otherwise, expect the next post to be a week from today, with results from the European Championships, and whatever else I can find!!

3 Collegiate Records on Conference Weekend

Three Collegiate Records were taken down in the past 24 hours!
And the weekend's action on that front isn't over yet.
But with the wealth of material I already have, I decided to go with that info, and put out my first of two posts today.
The second will come in a few hours, and will cover the USATF meet, plus whatever happens elsewhere I don't have in this post!

Ramona Burchell won the SEC 60 in the CR time of 7.08, nipping the old mark by 0.01 seconds!
She also gets the Collegiate Senior Class record.
She moves from 3rd A-T Collegiate into 1st.
She's from Jamaica, but misses the World DDD by 0.04 seconds.

Michael Lihrman destroyed his own CR in the Weight Throw by more then 2 feet!
His 83-11.75 toss fell less than a foot short of the WORLD Record!!
Besides the CR, he also gets the Senior Class record, the Age 23 record, and the Big 10 Meet Record!
He moves from 4th A-T US into 2nd.
And from 5th into 2nd on the A-T World list!!
His main competition, the only other Collegiate 80 footer, Chuk Enekwechi, finished over 6 feet behind!

Last but not least in the CR department is Emily Sisson!
She beat Kim Smith's 11 year old 5000 record, running 15:12.22 in the Big East Conference meet.
Second place was about 68 seconds back!!
(Remember that Genzebe Dibaba won her WR 5000 by 64 seconds!)

Sisson started her INdoor season with a bang, running 15:21.84 back in December, finishing 2nd behind Sarah Disanza's 15:20.57.
But this is 2015, so she's the leading American THIS year!
Besides the CR, she also gets the Collegiate Senior Class record, as well as the Big East Meet Record.
She moves from 4th A-T Collegiate into 1st.
She moves from 6th to 3rd on the A-T US list.
And she becomes 23rd A-T on the World list!
The runner she displaced on that list?
None other than Molly Huddle, her 15:13.86 from last year erased!

Well, those are the "biggies" from the non-Pro set, but by no means the only major marks!

Tori Bliss became the newest American (and Collegiate) 60 foot SP'er!
Her 60-1 throw is the SEC Meet Record.
She's now 7th A-T Collegiate.
And she rates 17th A-T US!

Also at the SEC, Omar McLeod trounced the 60H field with his super time of 7.49!
Besides it being the new SEC Meet Record, it's also the Collegiate Soph Class record.
(He also holds the Frosh Class mark!)
He moves from 14th A-T Collegiate into 2nd, tied with 1 other.
He misses the National Record of Jamaica by just 0.01 seconds!

In the Women's 60H at the SEC, Kendra Harrison ran 7.92 for the Meet Record!
She moves from 8th A-T Collegiate, tied with 4 others, into 5th, where she's tied with 1 other.
She also becomes 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other!

Sandi Morris tried AGAIN to break the CR in the PV, but missed her attempts at 15-7.25.
However, her make at 15-3.50 strengthens her hold on 2nd on the Collegiate DDD.
It's also an SEC Meet Record, displacing Tina Sutej's old mark of 14-11.
She remains 6th A-T US, except she's no longer tied with anyone!

Stephanie Richartz also got a small PR, 0.25 inches, as she reached 14-4.75.
She remains 22nd A-T Collegiate.

On the European front, Piotr Lisek broke his own National Record of Poland with his Vault of 19-4.25.
He does move onto the World DDD, into 18th place, where he's tied with "just" 11 others!!

Liz Ryzih Vaulted 15-5.75.
This makes her 16th A-T World, tied with 2 others!

Chris Uhle's 18-1.25 is the new ACC Meet Record.

In the HS PV, Mackenzie Shell improved to 13-6.
This moves her from 21st A-T HS, tied with 4 others, into 13th.

Besides Lihrman's CR, and Bliss's 60-1 toss, the WT and SP had several other good marks from Collegiates!

Ryan Crouser's 69-4.25 is the new Big 12 Meet Record!
Stipe Zunic's 66-11.50 is the new SEC Meet Record!

A recent mark I missed is Claire Uke's SP of 58-10.75.
She becomes 17th A-T Collegiate.
Taken OFF the Collegiate DDD was one of the American greats from the 80's, Regina Cavanaugh!
Her mark had been from 1986!

Danniel Thomas (Yes, that's how her first name is spelled!) tossed the ball 58-1.25.
She's now 24th A-T Collegiate!

Jill Rushin's Put of 57-9.50 misses my Collegiate Top 24 by just 2.25 inches!
Also in the SP, but on the HS scene, Willie Morrison's 67-4 makes him 17th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!

There were several good WT marks too.
Conor McCullough's toss of 77-5.25 is the Mountain Pacific Meet Record.
He moves from 15th A-T Collegiate to 11th, where he's tied with 1 other.
He moves from 19th to 14th on the A-T US list.
And he becomes 20th A-T World, tied with 1 other!

Ida Storm got the female version of the Mountain Pacific Meet Record!
Her WT of 73-6 is also the National Record of Sweden, breaking her own mark!
She moves from 24th to 14th on the Collegiate DDD.
And she becomes 20th A-T World (like McCullough!), tied with 1 other!

Cameron Brown's WT of 76-8.50 makes him 12th A-T Collegiate.
He's also 15th A-T US!

Jordan Young tossed the ball and chain out to 75-2.50.
He's now 19th A-T Collegiate!

Matthias Tayala's WT of 75-1.75 makes him 20th A-T Collegiate.

But Collegians weren't the only ones with great WT marks!
Some HS'ers got in on the action too!

Bobby Colantonio extended out to 79-9.
He moves from 17th A-T HS into 12th.

Owen Russell's 75-8.25 makes him 22nd A-T HS.
And Alva Hicks became 24th A-T HS with her throw of 57-6.50!

Leontia Kallenou tied her own and 1 other's SEC Meet Record in the HJ with her win at 6-2.75.

Three more ACC Meet Records were set.
Thomas Curtis ran 3000 meters in 7:52.92.
Clemson's Women's 4X400 Relay team ran 3:32.87.
And Manuel Ziegler TJ'ed 54-6 for the other ACC Meet Record.

Two great marks came in from Europe!

Bernard Lagat AGAIN broke his Age 40 record in the 3000 meters!
His time is now down to 7:37.92!!
And he WON the race, against a very solid field!!
Oh, BTW, this mark is faster than his Age 39 record too!!

Sharika Nelvis took over the World lead in the 60H with her 7.83 time.
She moves from 17th A-T US to 9th, where she's tied with 2 others!

The 1000 meters saw some good action.
Meagan Doody ran 2:49.08.
She's 21st A-T HS.
Right behind her comes Hannah Parker's 2:49.24, which makes her 22nd A-T HS.

Also on the HS list is James Asselmeyer's 2:25.86.
He's now 13th A-T HS.

Four Collegiates made my Top 24 list.
Brandon Fish ran 2:20.83 for 16th A-T Collegiate.
Spencer Haik's 2:21.04 makes him 17th.
Jesse Garn's 2:21.10 is now 18th A-T Collegiate.
And Ned Willig's 2:21.60 ranks him 22nd A-T Collegiate!

In the 800, we find Dylan Capwell's 1:46.82 ranking him 15th A-T Collegiate.
But he's also now 16th A-T US!!

Hanna Green's 800 of 2:03.43 makes her 24th A-T Collegiate!

Some marks I missed from earlier in the week made inroads on my lists.

Chad Zallow's 7.70 in the HS 60H keeps him 8th A-T HS, but he's no longer tied with anyone!

Jenna Prandini ran 200 in 22.87.
She's 23rd A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other.

Courtney Okolo ran 400 in 51.35, which makes her 13th A-T US!!!

Taylor Ellis-Watson's 51.72 , makes her 20th A-T US!!

In the 600, two women ran the identical time of 1:28.78, which makes them both 17th A-T US, tied with each other!
They are Hanna Green and Kamryn McIntosh.
BTW, McIntosh's time is the HSR!!
I reported that in an earlier post, but neglected to mention her place on the US list!
One POSSIBLE error, however!
I've seen her mark reported as the 1:28.78, but ALSO as 1:28.87.
Either way, it's the HSR, but might make a bit of difference in her place on the US list if it's actually the slower time!
I'll follow through on this in a later post!

Kate Hall took over the HS lead for 2015 with her LJ of 20-6!
She moves from 21st A-T HS, tied with 2 others, all the way up into 9th!

The Women's Pentathlon on the Collegiate front saw some heavy action.
Regrettably, however, some of the marks came on Oversize Tracks, which for my purposes, negates the mark for my Record Book!

Let me make a brief comment!
I know you're tired of hearing me rant against OT's!
But in the case of the INdoor Multi's, whether they be the Men's Heptathlon or the Women's Pentathlon, I have a VERY powerful organization that agrees with me.
(Or I agree with them!!  LOL)
The IAAF lists for the Multi's are divided into two sections.
One for "legal" marks.
The other--a separate list!!--for marks made on OT's!!

Thus I feel empowered (and emboldened) to continue my decision to NOT honor OT marks in the Multi's!

That said, here's some OT marks that were quite good!

Kendell Williams won the SEC with, for her, an average mark of 4509 points.
Lindsey Vollmer showed she'll be a threat in the NCAA with her OT mark of 4404 points!
(Vollmer's mark would have made her 9th A-T Collegiate, and 12th A-T US, if not for the OT!)
Jess Harauf scored 4361 points on an OT.

On regulation tracks (meaning those measuring 220 yards or 200 meters--or less!), Kaylon Eppinger scored 4317 points.
This makes her 18th A-T US!

And yet another ACC Meet Record was set by Pentathlete Xenia Rahm.
Her mark of 4273 points makes her 20th A-T Collegiate.
She's from Germany, so doesn't make the US list!
Duh!

One other OT mark came in the women's DMR.
Michigan State ran 10:57.80.

(There were some other decent OT marks in various events, but really, what's the use of listing them??)

As I noted at the beginning of this post, this is most likely an INcomplete report of the non-Professional groups!
Any marks I come across that belong here will be reported either in my USATF post, or in a mid-week post, as soon as I gather all the missing marks!!

See you in a few hours!!