While nothing super ridiculous (and thereby unbelievable!) happened this weekend, there WERE some good marks....and even some surprises!
Look again at the beginning of my 1st sentence--"nothing super ridiculous (and thereby unbelievable!)".
Then check this out!
Michelle-Lee Ahye sprinted the 100 at the always-speedy Florida Relays in a good 10.97.
Now look at the wind reading.
MINUS 2.5!!!
THAT definitely borders on the unbelievable.
But every listing I've seen for it has the same time and wind reading.
So unless or until I learn otherwise, that has to be the best mark of the weekend!
It's the Florida Relays Meet Record.
Also in Florida, Chanelle Price got a Meet Record with her 2:00.62 opener.
Natoya Goule was about one second back for a good early Collegiate time.
While we're on the 800, the Men's Florida Relays Meet Record was snatched by Alex Amankwah's 1:45.91.
A Men's team--the USA "A" squad--broke the Florida Relays Meet Record in the 4X100 Relay with a great time of 38.18.
Justin Gatlin was the anchor!
Kaylin Whitney ran the opening leg on a 4X200 Relay team called Star Athletics.
But they didn't have the fastest time, running 1:33.08.
(The winners ran about 1:31.4.)
Have no idea what Whitney's split was!
Florida's Men got the Meet Record for the Sprint Medley Relay (400, 200, 200, 800).
They ran a solid 3:13.96.
The HJ produced a couple of good marks--one for each gender!
Jeannelle Scheper jumped 6-4.75.
This moves her from 20th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, up to 6th, tied with 5 others!
At the Stanford Invitational---mostly known for its distance races--China's Guo Zhang got the Meet Record, jumping 7-7.75!!
And yes, the Stanford meet DID come through on the distance side!
Warming up for her next Boston Marathon race (just 2 weeks away!!), Shalane Flanagan led Ethiopian superstar Geleta Burka--running her 1st-ever track 10K!--through the first 9600 meters.
Then Burka's superior 1500 speed came through for her, pushing her past Flanagan for the win.
Their times were 31:08.16 and 31:09.20.
BTW, Burka is also running Boston!!
The fastest Collegian was, surprisingly, a woman known more as a 1500-3000 person.
Dominique Scott ran 32:11.60 to become 6th A-T Collegiate!
So what will she run at NCAA's?
Two other Collegians ran strongly.
Tennessee's Chelsea Blaase ran 32:28.39, moving into 16th A-T Collegiate.
She was closely followed by Margo Malone, whose 32:29.89 makes her 18th A-T Collegiate!
Pushed OFF my Collegiate DDD list were two iconic names.
Molly Huddle---Yes, Molly Huddle!!---is now off the list, her time dating from 2006.
The other name calls for a bit of info-rattling.
Does the name Kathy Ormsby ring any bells?
It should!
In 1986, Ormsby broke the Collegiate 10000 record with her 32:36.2.
But she had a great rival in Wisconsin's Stephanie Herbst.
At the NCAA meet, they were neck and neck through the first several laps, and were going at CR pace.
Then Ormsby ran off the track--and out of the stadium, baffling everyone.
While Herbst was winning in a new CR time of 32:32.75, Ormsby ran to a nearby bridge and jumped over the railing onto solid ground below.
She became paralyzed, but has survived to live a productive life.
Herbst was devastated --although she didn't find out about Ormsby until the next morning.
An EXCELLENT book was written about Ormsby and Herbst---and that race---and is strongly recommended as maybe the best book written about women distance runners---their psychological and emotional make-up, plus a comprehensive history of women's middle and long distance running (circa the 80's).
It was published in 2000, so has a lot on what happened AFTER that 1986 race, including some material on Suzy Favor Hamilton!
It's called "The Silence of Great Distance", and it's by Frank Murphy.
It's available very cheaply on Amazon.
Sorry for going on about this, but Ormsby's story is still indelibly imprinted on my everyday thoughts.
Anyway, her 32:36.2 is also now OFF my Collegiate DDD.
The 5000 was won by Gabe Grunewald, who in her Flotrack interview after the race, spoke eloquently about that day being the 6th anniversary of her first being diagnosed with cancer!!
She won with a great 50 meter kick, time of 15:19.01.
Back a ways was Kate Avery.
Her 15:25.63 moves her from 20th to 18th on the A-T Collegiate list.
Courtney Frerichs ran the 3000SC in 9:49.06, making her 23rd A-T Collegiate.
Nattily dressed Maggie Vessey got the Stanford Meet Record with her 800 time of 2:01.58.
She gave a great Flotrack interview afterward!
Kayla Montgomery--another young woman with a great life story--ran the 10000 at the Eastern Illinois meet.
Two of her Lipscomb teammates finished 1st and 2nd, but Kayla ran a solid 35:49.63. for 3rd--and 6 team points!
This was a shock to me.
I was thinking that because of her MS--and her past running history!--that the 10K would be beyond her range.
But her time is maybe her best-ever--at least in terms of comparing it with her 5K best of 17:16 (INdoors).
I don't know what her splits were, but she averaged 17:54.8 for her 5K's.
Considering that her best 5000 in 2015 was just 17:33, to run TWO of them back-to-back just 21 seconds slower tells me her MS is LOSING the war!
I can't wait to see what's next for this incredible young lady!
Back to the field events!
Irena Sedeva improved her JT to 190-4, after opening last week at 188-2.
It's the Collegiate Soph Class record!
(The old mark was by Rachel Yurkovich in 2007!)
Sedeva moves from 14th to 10th on the A-T Collegiate list.
Jonathan Jones threw the SP out to 67-11.
He's now 22nd A-T Collegiate.
In that same Eastern Illinois meet, there was a GREAT Women's SP.
Two Pro's got OUTdoor PR's, beating that Collegiate Wonder Girl, Raven Saunders, like she was a Kindergartener!!
Brittany Smith threw the ball 61-11.50.
This moved her from 17th to 9th (tied with 1 other) on the A-T US list.
Behind her with another PR was Geneva Stevens.
Her mark of 60-10.50 moves her from 19th to 18th on the A-T US list.
Raven?
She threw just 55-5, with 4 fouls!!
(Was she unnerved throwing against Professionals??)
I have another SP mark to report.
From INdoors!
Seems that Illinois had a late March High School INdoor meet---I believe it was March 27th!
Kathleen Young threw the ball 49-1.25.
Doesn't sound good enough to report??
Well, would you change your mind if you knew this makes her the Soph Class INdoor record holder?!
I'm going to end this post with 3 questions.
Where the F--K is Sarah Baxter?
(She's listed on the UO roster---and NOT as a redshirt!)
Where are Mary Cain and Alexa Efraimson?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you, as always, for the great report. I just wanted to mention that I love the additional "color" stories you provide, such as the Kathy Ormsby story. I did remember her name, but didn't remember her bizarre story.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the continuing coverage of Kayla Montgomery. As you reported, her 10K mark is amazing, and I would not have expected it either.
Has Sarah Baxter done much of anything since she lost that cross-country race to Alexa Efraimson and Elise Cranny? And what's the point of "turning pro" if you hardly ever race any more, hmmmm? That means you, Mary and Alexa!
Congrats to Elise Cranny, however. Of that generation of prodigies, she's the one out there racing, and running very well!
Thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeleteYou're right on Baxter.
As far as I know, she's done NO racing since that NXN race in fall of '13!!
Confused as to why she's on the roster, but not redshirting!
(The UO roster denotes redshirts, but there's nothing by her name!)
As for Mary & Alexa, I wish they'd say SOMEthing---even if it's that they're sitting out '15!!
NOP's done press releases about Mary in the past, even if their announced plans later fell through!
Speaking of Alexa, I bought a month of Flotrack ($19.99) so I could watch the Stanford meet.
I also watched their Driven series on Efraimson.
It's GREAT!!
The first part is over a half hour--the 2nd part's about 15 minutes.
Lots of comments from her parents!
You're right on Cranny. Though was a bit surprised she didn't run Stanford. But I don't think ANY of the Stanford frontline ran there!
Looking back at '13 on the girls side, MOST of the top 10 HS'ers have done great things since then.
Cain, Efraimson, & Cranny have had SOME good races.
Raven Saunders, Desiree Freier, and Keturah Orji have had good to excellent collegiate frosh years.
W Frazier was sick with Mono, then did that transfer, but ran a 10 second PR recently.
Erin Finn had a great frosh year, running 15:26 & 32:41.
Baxter's the only one to stay underground!
And as far as I know, she has NO valid excuse! (Injury, illness, major traumatic experience, etc.)
But keep reading my blog----when and if I find out anything on them, it'll be in my blog!
If you're interested in that Ormsby story, you should read that book I recommended. It has lots of history on 70's & 80's women's middle & long distance running---worldwide, but mostly uS.
It details the entire 85-96 season of Herbst & Ormsby.
Also focuses a lot on the whole Wisconsin team, as Herbst ran for them---then segues into Suzy Favor (Hamilton).
VERY interesting book!
Glad you enjoy my Kayla Montgomery reports!
After seeing that ESPN report "Catching Kayla" and seeing her appearance on the Rachel Ray show, I've been her # 1 fan!!
Corrections--
ReplyDeleteUS, not uS.
85-86 season, not 85-96.
I was wrong on Baxter.
ReplyDeleteAfter that NXN race, she ran track in the spring of '14.
That was when she had that "tie" in the 3200 at 10:07.
But she cut her season short (before NBN) because of some injury.
However, she has NOT run anything for Oregon!
At least, I can't remember any XC results from her.
So to be a freshman and not to redshirt is a mystery---unless she's suddenly going to appear---a la Wesley Frazier recently!---and run some totally unexpected great time!
We'll see, I guess!
Just saw on Let's Run that Baxter ran 1st race since last spring at Willamette Invite.She finished 6th in a 1500, time of 4:29.54. (Winner was Frida Berge in 4:23.)
ReplyDeleteShe ran unattached, but so did others from UO.
Not impressive, but at least she's on the books now!