Alyssa Wilson (Monsignor Donovan HS, Toms River NJ) threw the Shot a "Raven-esque" 54-5 to BLAST her way into HSR talk for the 2016 INdoor season, which is still "in utero" in December 2015!
In an amazing 1st meet of her season, Wilson's 54-5 suddenly puts her 3rd All-Time INdoors, behind only HSR holder Raven Saunders, and former HSR holder Michelle Carter!
That is one hellaciously exclusive little club!
But unlike Ms Saunders, who came from the mid-40's in December 2013--almost EXACTLY 2 years ago!!--all the way to 52-3, then 53-8 before Christmas--Wilson had a solid year's foundation to work from!
Her OUTdoor marks from 2015 were 51-5 (SP), 153-4 (DT), and 170-3 (HT).
INdoors last year, she had SP & WT marks of 48-6.50 & 51-7.
This shocking mark also crushed Heather Colyer's 11th Grade record of 52-5.75, dating from 1997, by almost 2 whole feet!
BTW, she also won the WT with her winning distance of 50-10.
Also from the Bishop Loughlin Games--
Josh McLemore won the 300 in 34.32.
Amanda Crawford won from Sammy Watson, also in the 300, time of 38.80, with 1000 winner (2:56.84) Watson in 4th with 40.07.
Kemami Mighty (Real name!! LOL) took the 600 in 1:21.15.
And Alyssa Aldridge had a good 2 Mile (NOT 3200!!) time of 10:42.25 to start her year!
At the Armory, in the AT&T Hall of Fame Invite, Aidan Tooker ran what was reported as the fastest-EVER HS INdoor Mile in the month of December--time of 4:09.38!
His last lap was about 61.2.
Haven't verified this yet, but the 2nd BU Mini-Meet results show a couple of fast Mile times!
John Gregorek's time is listed as 3:58.15.
And Erin Donohue's time is said to be 4:31.24.
If correct, those are solid early season times!
Finally (in the results dept), we have another National Record for New Zealand--OUTdoors!
If you recall, Eliza McCartney--then 18 years old--PV'ed 14-9 to break her own NR of 14-7.25.
Well, she's done it again!!
She raised the bar a whopping 5.75 inches (total of 7.50, if you go back to her 14-7.25!), going over at 15-2.75.
It was announced as a "World Junior Record".
Which this blog, of course, does NOT recognize!
(She was born December 11, 1996.)
The OUTdoor Age 19 record remains Holly (Bleasdale) Bradshaw's 15-5 from 2011.
Of course, McCartney has until December 10th, 1996 to break THAT record!!
The Collegiate and Professional worlds were quiet this weekend, but the Bowerman Award winners were announced in a well-produced 2 hour show, the entire webcast of which is available to all (free of charge!!) on Flotrack!
(I watched it earlier--tears in my eyes! LOL)
Oh yeah, the winners were Jenna Prandini and Marquis Dendy!
What was NOT quiet has been the reaction to the NCAA decision to race the Mile (replacing the 1500) at its OUTdoor Championship, beginning in 2016.
If you read my previous post, you KNOW my feelings about it.
But while I am happy with what I said, what Flotrack's Taylor Dutch wrote is puzzling to me--and saddens me greatly!
Trying to wrap up the conflagration in a few neat paragraphs, Ms Dutch dug the hole a few feet (or METERS??) deeper!
I'm paraphrasing here, but her essential message was that there is no female equivalent mark of excellence as that provided for men with the target mark of a sub-4 minute Mile!
(Some on Social Media had suggested that 4:30 was the Women's comparative!)
I respect her, but it saddens me to think she sees women's slower times as not EQUAL to standards of excellence developed for men over centuries of time!
There's no argument that women run slower, jump lower or shorter, and throw things less distance (or similar distances, but with less poundage in their implements!) than men do.
That's a physiological fact long accepted by both genders--with NO loss of respect for women's efforts and their strength and talent!
So when Dutch wrote that she saw a 4:30 Mile time as "not as marketable" as the sub-4:00 is for men, I cringed--then became saddened.
If we take Dutch's idea, and extend it to EVERY event in T&F, then of COURSE women will SEEM to be "less marketable" than men!
But what if we took the times, distances, and heights that WOMEN have produced--mostly just in the last 40+ years, since Title IX became law--and make THOSE the criterion by which we measure excellence in our sport--and make THOSE marks the standards for "marketability"??
When a fan with an open mind attends or watches a track meet (Track AND Field meet--pardon! LOL), doesn't that person feel as much thrill seeing Female Athlete A run the Mile in 4:28 as when Male Athlete B wins his race in 3:58?
Or when a Woman PV's 15-5, is there not as much applause as when her male equivalent Vaults 19-0.25?
How about when a Gal sprints a 10.87, while a Guy dashes the same 100 meters in 9.86?
And on and on and on, in EVERY event!!
So here--just off the top of my head--I'm going to extend to Taylor Dutch (and all the naysayers of the NCAA's decision!) MY suggestions for a WOMAN's "marketable" standard of excellence in each of the various INdoor events!
The marks offered are the MINIMAL mark (such as is 3:59.99 for the Men's Mile).
(And remember, these are for INdoors---different marks would be offered for OUTdoors!)
Try these!
60-----7.09
200----22.39
400----50.49
600----1:26.99
800----1:59.99
1000---2:34.99
1500---4:04.99
1 Mile--4:24.99
3000---8:39.99
2 Mile--9:19.99
5000---15:09.99
60H----7.89
HJ------6-6.75 (2.00 meters)
LJ------22-10 (6.96)
TJ------48-0 (14.63)
PV-----15-0 (4.57)
SP-----61-0 (18.59)
WT----75-0 (22.86)
Pent----4500
(NOTE: The Field event marks could be reversed--giving round numbers for the Metric measurement, and their "odd" equivalents in English measure! Such as the PV being 4.60 in metric, and 15-1 in feet and inches!)
As I said, these were "quickie" suggestions--NOT considered over a lengthy stretch of time!
I'm sure if I really thought about it, I would come up with different figures!
Also, I was looking at this from an American's P.O.V--so I kept the marks at least somewhat realistic for American women to reach!
But whatever marks one chooses, for them to become "marketable" to the "masses" takes more than just the numbers themselves.
We need the ATHLETES to see those numbers as marketable!
And THAT requires Pride of Ownership!
A man OWNS the sub-four minute Mile as HIS Badge of Honor--if he's a middle distance runner.
Just as a Male PV'er sees 18 or 19 feet as highly respectable, so should a Female see 14 or 15 feet the same way!
When a woman breaks 2 minutes in the 800--whether INdoors or OUTdoors!---isn't she PROUD of her accomplishment?
Aren't the fans in the stands, or watching on TV, happy for the Woman who just broke two minutes for the first time??
Or 4:30 in the Mile?
Taylor Dutch--think about this--and what you wrote in your Flotrack article!
Ask yourself this--
When one of your compatriots runs her heart out, and crosses the line in a sprinter's dip, and then you watch her as she stares at the large clock on the infield, seeing she has just run her FIRST Mile under 4:30---even if just by a few tenths of a second---and you see her sweat-soaked face break out in a splendiferously beautiful smile--her very own PRIDE visable to all---then ask yourself, Taylor Dutch, whether a sub-4:30 Mile for a Woman is as RICH a Standard of Excellence for your gender as that sub-4 is for the Guys!!
Know what?
I think, as this season develops--first INdoors, then to OUTdoors, we will see the switch to the Mile for Collegians as a POSITIVE!
And women will see a sub-4:30 as a goal to aim for!
NOTE: This post was meant to include the minimal marks necessary to be included on my T&F Record Book's DDD (Top 24 Performers) lists for INdoors.
But I've run out of room here.
So, sometime in the next day or three, I WILL present my chart of the 24th Performer for the INdoor events--as I did last year!
(Last year, that post was on December 2nd! It will be about 3 weeks later this year!)
See you soon!
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