Back in the day, there used to be a TV show called "That Was the Week That Was".
Well, folks, THIS was one of those weeks!
You had TWO DL's (Rome & Birmingham), a great California State HS meet, and a few interesting performances coming from some smaller meets
You ALSO had "revelations" about the Nike Oregon Project and its Coach, Alberto Salazar, that so overtook the T&F World's (and even OUTSIDE that world's) 24 hour news cycle, it made your brain freeze up!
I won't go into the scientific details about Big Al and his Gang---because I'm a Dumb Ass, scientifically speaking.
Suffice to say, when you have a possible FBI investigation hanging over your head, this ain't about smoking a joint or popping more Tylenols than recommended.
NOP (and Salazar) are having problems this spring.
While these can't all be blamed on the "drug thing" or on Salazar's methods, the accruing of events point to a group NOT having its finest year.
1. Mary Cain is having her worst year ever, and decides to leave the group--at least physically--and return home to Bronxville NY.
2. Galen Rupp, Treniere Moser, and Shannon Rowbury all start their OUTdoor season late, and all lose their races. (Though Moser might be a slight exception, as she performs okay---though still loses!)
3. Mo Farah says he's "stressed out" from dealing with the news about his Coach. He backs out of the Birmingham 1500 a day before the meet, and returns "home" to confront Salazar!
4. Former NOP members, including a woman of the highest integrity---Kara Goucher---says she feels "betrayed" by Salazar, and confirms some of the damning information about drug use within NOP.
Like I said, NOT their finest hour!!
But even without Farah, the Birmingham DL went on, as did Rome's DL a few days ago!
While they weren't without their moments, they were generally of the 2014 Rome-Stockholm class of "lesser" DL's.
Of course, one of the reasons are their timing.
Pre came far enough in advance of the NCAA and USATF meets that a large (and powerful!) American contingent was present.
But Rome and Birmingham are too close to those US meets to allow very many Americans to fly round trip to Europe for the meets.
Especially with a group of small---but KEY----meets scattered around the country that welcomed some folks wanting to get Q's.
Well, enough of this.
Let's get to what DID happen on the Tracks and Fields of the World in recent days---DESPITE the NOP crap!
Julius Yego is a "strange" guy.
After all, how many Javelin Throwers from Kenya can you name---besides him?
So when he keeps breaking the National Record, and moves toward my Top 24 World list, you start paying attention.
Then,you have what happened today in Birmingham.
One of his throws fell outside of the sector line, and was ruled a foul.
But it was so HUMONGOUS a throw that they decided to measure it.
It was said to be 299-10 long!
If legal, it would have shattered the NR by over 12 feet!
And would rank him 9th A-T World.
One problem with the ruling about a "sector" foul.
The sector line was only drawn to about 288 feet!
So they had to EXTEND the line in order to decide whether it was inside or outside the "line".
Well, long story short, about 20 minutes after the meet ended, they ruled it as INside their newly minted line, and thus made Yego the astounding winner of the event!
BTW, Yego's previous PR (and NR) was 287-7.
But Birmingham had just one Meet Record, and that was in its very first event, the Women's Discus.
Sandra Perkovic---Who else?---tossed it out 227-2 for the MR.
All her fair throws were 3 or 4 meters past 2nd place!
Marvin Bracy won the 100 in a PR of 9.93.
He moves from 22nd A-T US, tied with 6 others, to 17th, tied with 4 others!
Age records fell to Fabiana Murer and Bernard Lagat.
Murer's winning PV was 15-5.75, and it serves as the Age 34 record.
Lagat finished way back (8th or 9th??) in a slow (3:37+ winner) 1500, but his 3:41.87 broke Tony Whiteman's 3:42.02 from 2012 for the Age 40 record!
And news came in after I posted last week about split times in the Pre 5000.
Turns out Lagat was officially timed at 3000 meters in that race, thus breaking the Age 40 record with his 8:00.23.
Thus, he got TWO Age records out of one race!
(Plus a 3rd one in Birmingham!)
Speaking of Prefontaine 5000's, let me make a CORRECTION!
Genzebe Dibaba was also officially timed at 3000 meters in her 5000, time being 8:33.33.
So it was NOT 8:36, as I'd stated in my Pre post.
Keshorn Walcott got his own Trinidad National Record in the JT with his 284-9.
Thiago da Silva PV'ed 19-2.75 for the National Record of Brazil.
Pedro (or Pablo) Pichardo TJ'ed 58-11.25 for the Rome DL Meet Record.
(He recently jumped 59-4!)
Justin Gatlin sprinted a 9.75 in Rome for the Meet Record there.
Oh, and BTW, the record he beat?
Belonged to a guy named Usain Bolt!!
Heather Kampf finished way back in the Rome meet, but her 4:04.50 was a PR by 1.66 seconds.
But she misses making the US Top 24 by....0.07 seconds!!
Abbey D'Agostino's life as a Pro hasn't exactly been a bed of roses.
But she won a 5000 in 15:23+, so appears to be ready for USATF.
She won over Desiree Linden, the Marathoner, who ran her fastest 5K in years, 15:27 and change.
Nick Symmonds lost the race to a College guy, but his 3:59.69 was his very first sub-4:00 Mile!!
(And he didn't drink any beer along the way.....as far as I know!! LOL)
Hannah Carson threw the Javelin 185-7 in her Regional meet.
She moves up one spot on the A-T Collegiate list, from 21st to 20th, where she's tied with 1 other.
Hyvin Jepkemoi won the Rome 3000SC in 9:15.08.
She's now 19th A-T World.
And that "pacer" turned "racer"---Virginia Nyambura---ran 9:15.75, for 20th A-T World.
In maybe the most hair-raising 100H race ever, Sharika Nelvis SURVIVED the mayhem, winning the Rome race in 12.52.
She moves from 18th, tied with 1 other, to 17th on the US list!
Behind her?
Well, I only saw the video once, so I may be off on the details.
But Jasmin Stowers and Brianna Rollins either were DQ'ed, or fell, but got up and jogged across the line in 25 seconds or so.
And Sally Pearson?
BAD!!!
VERY BAD!!
She hit a hurdle and went crashing to the track, her arm extended to try to cushion the fall.
Instead, she fractured her wrist, and will almost certainly be out the rest of the season.
She was seen crying out in agony.
Get well soon, Sally!
Well, everything else I have is from the realm of US High Schools.
And measured against what happened in the PRO world, they were "sunshine on a cloudy day"!!
Grant Fisher broke four minutes in the Mile.
In a race against Pro's (Jordan McNamara won the race!), Fisher reached the 800 (or 880?) in 2:01.6. Thus, he did his last half in 1:57.8.
His final time---3:59.38---TIES him with Matt Maton for 3rd place on the A-T HS list, where he (natch!) is tied with one other!
Maton says he's done for the year, but not Fisher.
So he'll have maybe 1 or 2 (or more??) chances to break that tie!
The HS Freshman Class record in the Mile was broken.
Cole Johnson ran it in 4:12.21 to break the old mark by about 3 seconds.
BTW, this was in the same race where Fisher ran that "strange" 4:01.66.
Remember?
(If not, read my post about it!)
The UGLY (in my opinion!!) world of HS 1600's and 3200's produced some GREAT marks nonetheless.
In the California State meet, Amanda Gerlich ran the 1600 in 4:39.33, beating Marissa Williams's 4:39.88.
In 3rd was Great Oak's big star, Destiny Collins, who ran 4:41.30.
However, Collins came back to win a great battle with Fiona O'Keefe in the 3200.
O'Keefe took the lead early, and held it through 7 laps, running at 10:00 3200 pace.
She indeed ran 10:01+.
(She had run a solo 10:00.85 a few days earlier!!)
But Collins sprinted the final lap in 67 seconds, her final time being 9:53.79!!
If only that had been an extra 18 meters!!
NONE of those times will be on my MILE and TWO MILE lists!!
Sad.
But while the distance folks put on a SHOW, so did 11th Grader Michael Norman!
And what a SHOW it was!!
First, he was part of a 4X100 Relay that lost the baton, so DNF'ed!
Then he ran prelims in the 200 and 400.
Then came the finals.
In the 200, he sprinted 20.30, eclipsing his former PR (run just a few days earlier!!) by 0.16 seconds!
He won easily!
He moves from 10th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 6th.
But he missed the Junior Class record by just 0.02 seconds!!
Then, in the 400, he ran what someone called an "easy looking" 45.19.
This moves him onto my list--in 6th place, tied with 1 other.
And guess what?
He missed the Junior Class record here too by the same 0.02 seconds!!
Oh, almost forgot!
He then anchored his team's 4X400 Relay in 44.9!!
He took his team from LAST place all the way to 3rd!!
The Women's 100H race produced two great times.
Jasmyne Graham, who had run 13.21 earlier this season, improved to 13.17 for the win.
She moves from 6th A-T HS, tied with 2 others, to 5th.
Right behind her came Mecca McGlaston, whose 13.18 is now 6th A-T HS!!
Zaria Francis ran the 100 in 11.31, making her 23rd A-T HS, tied with 2 others.
Rylee Bowen, who ran "only" 4:55 in the CA State 1600, ran a fast 1600 in 4:43.92 earlier.
She's just a 9th Grader.
The Frosh Class record for the MILE is 4:42.00, and is held by....Mary (Decker) Slaney!!
Speaking of HS Girls Miles, let me make another CORRECTION.
In that spectacular Prefontaine HS Mile, I'd said (in my Pre post) that SEVEN girls had run faster than 4:42.
Wrong!
There were "just" SIX!!
Seventh place was Stephanie Jenks's 4:42.18!
Also coming under the umbrella title of "HS News"---although in the HS PRO Division!!--is a result from a meet in Florida.
Kaylin Whitney, the 17 year old 11th Grader who recently turned Pro, WON a race against a couple of Jamaicans and some American "elders", running her 2nd fastest legal 200 time of 22.72.
She also ran 11.43 in the 100, which I believe is also her fastest time this year.
Remember that she recently came in 2nd to Veronica Campbell-Brown's 22.68, running 23.06.
She's coming around just in time for USATF!!
ADDED Monday: Whitney's times (11.43 and 22.72) are the new HS PRO records. She also gets the HS PRO Junior Class records for both!
I'll close this "WEEK" that was....with news about someone named....WEEKS!!
Yes, one of those Weeks twins from Arkansas made news again!!
But instead of the family "star", Lexi, it was Tori who made the headlines.
She vaulted 14-1 to win the Great Southwest meet.
This moves her from 11th A-T HS all the way up to 5th!
She became the 9th HS girl to clear 14-0 or higher OUTdoors!
And Lexi?
She cleared "only" 13-6 (or 13-8?? Can't remember!) to come in 2nd behind her twin!
So Alberto, what's next?
Whose life are you going to fuck up next??
Where does it end??
I HOPE it ends with this (CENSORED) thrown out of the sport of Track and Field!!
At the very least, NOP must END!!
Mary, look for another group, another Coach!
There are plenty of GREAT ones out there!
(One suggestion would be to join Mike Hickey's little "group".....which includes Alexa Efraimson and the steadily improving McKayla Fricker. You'd have two FAST women to train with, and a Coach who, in terms of attitude and demeanor, seems the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of your current coach! Also, you'd be close by, if you decide to continue attending Portland U!!)
As for the older members of NOP, I think you know this road is a DEAD END!!
Make a "U'ey" and RUN as fast as you can AWAY from Alberto and the TOXIC MESS he has created....and fomented!!
See you in 2 or 3 days with my NCAA Preview!!
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