It's THAT time of year!

Yes, folks, it's that time of year when you see the final results from the Tracks & Fields of the world, but they're mixed in with some Road and early Cross Country results.
In this never-fully-ending OUTdoor season, I have some good Records & Marks to offer you---from all 3 venues!
I'll do them one at a time, starting with T&F.

The Rieti meet has always been good for solid marks, and this year's version followed course.

Leading the way was the Men's 300 and the Women's 800.

Remember Rusheen McDonald's 43.93 from a 400 HEAT in Beijing?
Then do you recall his pathetic 47.89 in a post-WC race?
Well, this mark, his 300, rates a LOT closer to the former than the latter!
He won the 300 in 31.94.
I don't have a 300 list, but I'm certain this mark is of great worth on a Worldwide scale!
(Someone posted on a MB that he probably split faster during his 43.93!!)

The 800 was taken by comebacking Francine Niyonsaba in 1:57.62.
It wasn't just her time that opened my eyes, it was who she beat!

Second was Brussels Mile victor Faith Kipyegon!
Her time of 1:58.02 (a PR), when added to that 4:16.71 Mile, gives her an 800-Mile Combined Events total time of 6:14.73.
BUT---my CE list for those distances ENDS at 6:13.99.
However, because of her potential in both of those events, I decided to add her to my list, even though she falls outside its time zone!

Other good Rieti marks were---
Femi Ogunode's 9.93 100
Adam Kszczot winning the 800 in 1:44.82
Taoufik Makhloufi taking the 1500 in 3:35.53
Elaine Thompson easily winning the 200 in 22.59

And in the Women's 1500, Fiona Benson finished a close 2nd to Ludu Tsegay's 4:05.18, running a PR of 4:05.24.
Sheila Reid was further back in 4:08.20.

Konrad Bukowiecki set a new Age 18 Record with his SP of 68-2.25.
The old Age 18 Record?
Held by none other than HSR holder Michael Carter, with his 67-9.
But no more!

Also in the Shot Put, Tia Brooks improved her OUTdoor PR by a few inches, her 62.4 (behind Christina Schwanitz in a Throwers Meet in Europe) moving her from 10th A-T US into 9th.

The once-renowned Talence Multis meet flopped!
And one of the athletes who flopped BADLY was almost the sole cause, as she'd been heavily favored!

Katarina Johnson-Thompson---aka KJT---DNF'ed!
Her 1st day was good, as she scored 3851--behind her 6682 PR pace by 73 points, but still good.
IF---IF she could get a solid LEGAL Long Jump, to make up for her long foul in Beijing!
Alas, she probably went the safety route a bit too much, ending with a measly 6.17 jump!
From there, her spirits defeated, she threw less than 30 meters in the JT, then DNS'ed the 800!

Moving to the Roads, a few races shone!

In separate Half-Marathons, Mo Farah won in 59:23 on an essentially downhill course, but it was a PR for him, whatever the course!
And he beat Stanley Biwott, who finished just 1 second behind!
(Yes, that MoBot kick worked yet again!)

In the other Half, Bedan Karoki ran 59:14.
Too bad he wasn't in Farah's race--or vice versa!

In the Fifth Avenue Mile (NYC), Jenny Simpson prevailed again, defeating her 2015 arch-nemesis Shannon Rowbury by just 0.3 seconds, 4:29.1 to 4:29.4.
(Simpson broke 4:20 in last year's race!!)

Susan Kuijken followed in 4:29.9.
Then came the "Queen of the Road Mile" Heather Kampf, her time 4:30.2.

Back a ways was 800 specialist Alysia Montano, wanting to better her PR of 4:34+ in this, her THIRD-EVER Road Mile!  (Or is that Mile---PERIOD??)
Alas, she missed it by a second, running 4:35.4 back in 11th!
(She'd LED at the halfway point, thus getting the $1000 bonus!)

In the Men's race, Nick Willis prevailed over Chris O'Hare, 3:54.8 to 3:55.9!
Henrik Ingebrigtsen followed in 3:56.1.
But getting the same time was Matthew Centrowitz!
Much further back, in 12th, was Ageless Bernard Lagat, who dipped under 4:00 with his 3:59.9.

In the USATF Championship 5000, Molly Huddle and Shalane Flanagan locked horns through the first 2 miles, before the ghost of Emily Infeld kicked Huddle into a fifth gear, and she won handily, 15:12 to 15:17--looking over BOTH her shoulders to see if Shalane was imitating Emily!!
She wasn't.

The Men's race was won in a sprint finish by David Torrence over Dathan Ritzenhein.in the relatively slow time of 13:56.

Now turning to XC, we see several quality times from High Schoolers and a couple of female College Frosh.

In Tennessee's Vanderbilt Classic, comebacking Erin Finn won easily in 16:43 (5K course), as 2nd was 19 seconds back!

In the same race, Kayla Montgomery finished WAY back (152nd out of 244 finishers!  and 15th of 23 Lipscomb teammates!), but at least she's still running!
Her Multiple Sclerosis hasn't defeated her!!
(Her time was 19:21, or 6:13 per mile pace!)

Ryen Frazier set a Course Record of 16:06 in the Adidas Classic in North Carolina--her home course!
The Frosh beat her Redshirting Soph sister Wesley by 22 seconds.
However, Wesley would have been 2nd NC Stater if she wasn't running "unattached".
Having transferred over the summer from Duke, she'll be eligible to run  track in 2016!

BTW, if you include Wesley, NC Staters took 5 of the first 6 places, with Duke's (!!) Madison Granger taking 4th!

Another College Frosh to shine was Notre Dame's Anna Rohrer, who won easily.

In HS races, MileSplit offered the following:

Ella Donaghu ran the fastest 5K so far among HS'ers, winning in 16:46 in a meet in Seattle.

Hannah Debalsi won over 4000 meters in 15:00.

Fiona O'Keefe won a 3 Mile race in 16:41.
But it was the Course Record she beat that makes this one interesting!

Ever hear of Julia Stamps?
She was a VERY fast track and XC runner from 2 decades back.
To beat her CR is newsworthy!

It's not often you can beat a girl who's run 4:16 on the track!
So when Annie Hill defeated Christine Aragon, 17:12 to 17:27, one takes notice!

The Guys weren't exactly twiddling their thumbs while the Gals sped away!

Drew Hunter--he of 8:12+ 3000 fame, set a Course Record of 15:12 in a 5K race!

And the fastest time---albeit over 3 Miles!--was run by Jon Davis, whose 14:10.9 won easily!

To end this "57 Varieties"-type post, I have some "OFF-Track" news.

Sarah Brown is Pregnant!!
According to a blog she wrote, it wasn't planned, but she LOVES the idea of becoming a Mother!
The only "drawback" is that the news came less than a year away from Rio!!

Her due date is March 16, but she still plans on racing in the Olympic Trials!!

Another woman "foiled" in her attempt to make TeamUSA is Lauren Fleshman.
Burdened by injuries the past few years, she finally opted for surgery on her achilles tendon.
(She even provided a photo of her stitched-up ankle!!  Too much info??  LOL)

Fleshman intends to come back strong, as the surgery was totally successful!
(Don't count her out!  She's one of a very few active 5K Women who have a Track sub-15:00 to her credit!!)

Have you seen the NUDE photos of Hammer Throw American Record holder Amanda Bingson from her ESPN Body Issue shoot?
And surely you know those photos went VIRAL on the Web!

Well, besides the new-found fame, she's now bringing in some big bucks!
She was just hired by a top-name fashion company to model "plus-size" clothing!
She---and her fans---are THRILLED!!

Finally, where has Mary Cain been---and what has she been up to?

Well, an InstaGram photo showed her leading a small group of runners on the Van Cortland Park course.
This, of course, is in NYC!
And it was just a couple of days ago---long after classes began about 3000 miles away at the University of Portland, where she was a Freshman last year.
It's ALSO about 3000 miles away from where her teammates in the Nike Oregon Project (NOP) are being led through their paces by coach Alberto Salazar!

So what's the deal?
Is she now attending Fordham University (near where I lived for a year back in 1958!!), as some people on Let's Run's Forum seem to believe?

Has she left NOP---and Salazar---permanently?
This one's highly doubtful---at least based on a hashtag she added to the photo blurb!

Another L-R rumor has it she's running more miles than ever in training---up to 100 per week!
(The photo showed her in "lean and mean"-type shape!)

So my take---and it's based on "gut feeling" rather than on solid evidence!---is that she MIGHT be taking time off from school to properly prepare for Rio (or at least the Olympic Trials!).
Or she might be taking a few classes online (or even at Fordham!), with the intention of continuing at Portland next fall.

She might be keeping her distance from the still-being-investigated Salazar (by USADA!), in the same way Mo Farah has been, training away from the main NOP group!

BTW, Cain HAD been listed as an entry in that USATF 5000, but her name was gone a couple of days before the race!

This blogger will SOON have his Collegiate and High School Athletes of the Year chosen, done in conjunction with his yearly Collegiate & HS OUTdoor Wrap-Up!!

Watch for both of those!

ADD: One more news item!
Genzebe Dibaba has said she'll double in the INdoor World Championships in Portland next year!!
She'll do the 1500 and 3000----she says!