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)
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)
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