Faster Week, Slower Mo

Yes, Mo Farah LOST!!
Or, looked at from a bit different perspective, Garrett Heath WON!
(Basically, he kicked Farah's ASS!!)

The Senior Men's 8K race went off on a muddy puddly hilly course in Edinburgh, Scotland, with Farah doing what he normally does--heading to the rear, letting his water bearers do all the sweaty work.
He gradually moved up, but never led, and never opened any gaps.
Heath--whose PR's of 3:34 & 13:16 (1500-5000) are nowhere near Mo's (3:28 & 12:53)--took the lead with maybe 2000 to go, but also never opened a gap.
We were all waiting for Mo's last 400, when he'd blast away from the Mere Mortals!
And we waited.
And waited!
Then it was the bearded Heath who started kicking--AWAY FROM Mo!!
Mo finally gave up about 50 meters from the finish, when he saw there was no chance to catch Heath!
(To be fair, Mo was gracious in losing, never making excuses!)

The Women's 6K race went to Kate Avery, who had loads of XC experience from her NCAA days at Iona!
She did what she always does--went to the lead early, and said, "Catch me!".
They couldn't!
Fionnela McCormack (nee Britton) was 2nd, with Gemma Steel 3rd.
Amy Van Alstine was top American, in 6th.

The Junior races (4K for Women, 6K for Men--Fair??) were taken by Yee (Don't have 1st name!) of Great Britain in 19:25, and Bobby Clay, also British, in 14:10.
Top Americans were Phil Rocha and Katie Rainsberger, both finishing 5th!

Well, folks, the 2016 INdoor T&F season just got a bit more interesting!
And it was still on the non-Pro levels--meaning HS & Collegiate--where most (but not all!!) of the action took place!
Remember my previous post--with TWO High School Class Records being reported?
Well, there's two MORE for this post!!

Mondo Duplantis continues his record-shattering streak--which his IN & OUT 2015 seasons were FILLED with!!
In apparently his first meet of the new season, Mondo DESTROYED Jake Davis's Soph Class Record of 16-9 (from 1994!), jumping over the bar set at 17-2.25!
Yes, in his first 2016 meet, he breaks the Class Record by 5.25 inches.
He missed his 3 attempts at 17-6.50!
(Davis still owns the OUTdoor Soph Class best, with a 17-6!)
This puts him on my Top 24 HS list, in 18th place!
You get the feeling that Duplantis is just getting cranked up!
Stay tuned for more from this phenom!

Another Class Record went down---and went down HEAVY!--when precocious 11th Grader Kate Murphy led from the gun in the new Staten Island arena, winning the 1000 meter race in the Number Two A-T HS time of 2:45.36!
(Mary Cain has 2 times faster--but run as a HS PRO!)
Only the HSR holder--Sarah (Bowman) Brown--is faster among non-Pro HS'ers!
And it was basically a solo run!  She won by 9 seconds!
Her final 200 was about 32 seconds, as she appeared to negative split.
Expect MUCH more from her too!
(She'll be running in the Open Mile at the Camel City meet on January 30th!)

Want more?
How about Jordan Geist blasting the SP 12 pounder out 69-6.50?
This makes him 9th A-T HS INdoors!
He's still almost 2 feet from Nick Vena's Junior Class Record, however.

Tripp Piperi opened with a solid 66-9.25 SP, but misses the Top 24 by 2.75 inches!

Another top HS mark came from Keshun Reed, as he blasted over 400 meters in 47.09.
He's now 10th A-T HS, tied with one other.

Second in that race was Champion Allison (Real 1st name!!), who ran 47.31.
This makes him 17th A-T HS!

Kaitlyn Neal ran a good 3000, time of 9:40.04.
She's now 16th A-T HS.

Andrea Willis PV'ed over a bar set at 13-6.25.
This moves her from 15th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, up to 12th, where she's also tied with 1 other!

In a Mixed race at the BU Mini-Meet last week (See my previous post!), Viraj Deokar ran 3000 in 8:24.12.
This makes him 16th A-T HS.

In a race over 3200 meters, recent 4:09.38 Miler Aidan Tooker ran a solid time of 8:54.22.
Too bad the Race Organizer couldn't have extended the distance another 18 meters!

Danyel White ran a strong 200 time of 23.91.
In a heat.

Noah Lyles opened his 2016 campaign with fast times of 6.28 in the 55, and 21.25 in the 200.
Look for MUCH faster times from this guy!!

A SEVENTH Grader (!!) ran 400 meters in 55.79--in a heat!
But she (Jeana Griffin) admitted her age, so wasn't allowed to run in the final--age limits!!
BTW, she also ran the 200 in 24.68!!

Finally (in the HS realm!), the La Salle Academy (RI) team had 3 boys run Miles in 4:15 or 4:16, taking the top 3 places in the race!
Not super fast times, but THREE guys from the SAME school??!!
Imagine what they might run in a 4XMile or 4X1500 Relay!
With the 3 improving by 3-5 seconds each in the next two months, and with a 4th guy capable of a 4:25 or so, a HSR at the NBIN is assured!!

In Akron, Ohio, Shawn Barber topped out short of his usual 19-plus feet, but won easily!
Ekaterina Stefanidi didn't have it so easy!
Her winning height of 15-5.50 was matched by Demi Payne (competing unattached), but the Greek had fewer misses!
Mary Saxer was 3rd with 14-9.

Back to Staten Island for a minute!
Lalonde Gordon ran 200 meters in 20.99.

And Christina Epps TJ'ed 44-9.50.
This mark (remarkably!, sic!) makes her 22nd A-T US!!
But maybe even more significantly, it pushes OFF the Top 24 list a TJ icon--of sorts!
You see, in the late 1980's, the event was just beginning--and the US women were leading the way!
And Wendy Brown was one of the best!
Her mark of 44-8--dating from 1987--is gone!!

Dani Bunch got a good SP mark--her 60-1.75 making her 19th A-T US, tied with 1 other!

Chuk Enekwechi got a couple of solid--but not PR--marks in the SP and WT--63-4.25 & 78-0.75!

Other good openers included--
Regina George's 600 time of 1:30.72
Kerri Gallagher's Mile in 4:38.25
Michigan's Shannon Osika running the Mile in 4:42.10 for the top Collegiate Mile of the season
Erin Finn (also of Michigan) doing 3000 in a solo 9:13.41
(She also paced the Mile!)
Chaunte Lowe began with a 5-11.50 HJ, then missed 3 tries at 6-2
And Morgan Lake BEGAN a Pentathlon with a 60H PR of 8.74.
But her normally HIGH High Jump wasn't--her best being just 1.78 (She has a 1.94 PR!).
She had a good SP, but felt a "niggle" while LJ'ing, so DNF'ed!

Some other news of possible interest--

Renaud Lavillenie announced he'll compete in 7 meets, including Karlsruhe, Berlin (ISTAF)--AND the World Championships!!

Tirunesh Dibaba said she'll run in 1 or 2 INdoor meets, but didn't specify which ones!

Footlocker winner Weini Kelati has been added to the Camel City OPEN 3000!!

Brigetta Barrett--returning from injury--will return to the HJ wars.
But she says it will be ONLY in the US of A.
(This is GREAT news, as the US is woefully bereft in the Women's HJ!!)

The 20K Walk IAAF Championships will be in Rome on May 7th & 8th!
And the World Junior Championships will go to Bydgoszez, Poland from July 19th to the 24th!
They HAD been scheduled to be held in Russia!

Speaking of that "banned" nation, they're still competing!
INdoors.
In Russia!

Nothing startling (read: questionable!) yet, but still, some okay stuff.
Some Women's 1000's in the 2:42-2:44 range, a Men's 1500 in 3:42, and some average field event marks.

I'm still hoping Yelena Isinbayeva, Sergey Shubenkov, and Anna Chicherova will ignore the ban, and compete--even if only inside Russia!!

Finally, a MAJOR name in Track and Field Journalism has retired!!
Jon Hendershott--who wrote for Track and Field News for 48 years (!!)--said he's retiring!!
On a personal note, having read EVERY word of T&FN since 1957, I'm sure I've read every word Jon Hendershott wrote for the magazine!
He will be missed!!

Next week's series of Collegiate meets SHOULD see a veritable EXPLOSION of great marks from the Collegiate front!
Of course, many of these will be so called "rust-busters", but we should still expect the quality level to be raised several notches!

And don't think there won't be a shocker or 2 or 3 from the HS'ers and the Profeshes, as Phoebe Wright likes to call those Money Makers of the sport!!

See you soon!