Conferences heat Collegiate pot

The sub-title to this should be--Well, SOME of them!
And if you read my post from yesterday--once again centering on Oversize Tracks--you'll understand.
For THREE of the MAJOR Collegiate Conferences (Big 10, Mountain Pacific, Big 12) were held in OT facilities!
This accomplished one thing, and one thing only--it eliminated ALL oval race times from consideration for All-Time Lists, Meet, Class, and Collegiate Records!!
And there were LOADS of marks at those 3 meets worthy of List & Record consideration!!
All just GONE!!

But the remainder of this Conference Weekend did indeed heat up the Collegiate pot--just 2 weeks away from the National Championship meet!

Nothing is hotter than a Collegiate Record!
Angel Piccirillo--a Villanova senior--took down Kate Van Buskirk's 2011 CR in the 1000 meters (2:41.00), winning the Big East meet title in the CR time of 2:40.82!
And she did it by herself, as Sabrina Southerland finished 5 seconds behind in the Ocean Breeze.

It's also the Senior Class record.
She's now 21st A-T US too!
Pushed OFF my US DDD was Alexa Efraimson!!

In the ACC Women's 5000, the Notre Dame duo of Molly Seidel and Anna Rohrer put on a great show!
Sharing the lead throughout, Seidel finally took control with over 1000 left, winning in 15:19.64, with Freshman Rohrer running a great 15:32.03.

Seidel's ACC Meet Record time makes her 4th A-T Collegiate!
And 8th A-T United States!
For Rohrer, the HSR holder from 2015, her 38 second PR (on a LEGAL track!) gives her 9th A-T Collegiate, and 16th A-T US!!
They both doubled back in the 3000, Seidel winning again, time of 9:02.24.
It's the ACC Meet record!
But it misses the Top 24 list by 0.89 seconds!
Rohrer ran 9:11.24.

The Big East meet had some good races.
The Women's 500 saw Claire Mooney beat Andrea Keklak, 1:10.90 to 1:10.98.
Katrina Coogan took the 3000 in 9:07.44.
Joseph White won the 800 in 1:47.59.

In the ACC, Robert Heppenstahl's 1:47.35 gave him the Meet Record in the 800!

The Big East meet saw a tight (and fast!) Men's DMR.
Georgetown's 9:28.91 edged Villanova's 9:29.17.
For G-town, it's the Big East Meet Record.

Ryan Crouser tied the Collegiate Record in the Shot Put!
Throwing 69-10.25 in the 4th round for a PR, he then exploded out to 71-3.50 (21.73) in the final round, tying Ryan Whiting's CR!
It breaks Whiting's Senior Class record, as Whiting's best was as a Soph!
Crouser broke his own Big 12 Meet Record!
He's now 10th A-T US.
He's also 17th A-T World!

Also at the Big 12, Akela Jones put on quite a show!
Her 6-4 HJ ties the Meet Record, and is the National Record of Barbados!
It makes her 10th A-T Collegiate, tied with 3 others!
She ran the 60H in 8.00, making her 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 4 others!
In the LJ, her 22-1.75 winner is also the MR, and the National Record of Barbados!
She moves from 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, to 8th!

Also at the Big 12, Ronnie Baker took the 60 in 6.51, giving him the Meet Record.
He moves from 11th A-T Collegiate, tied with 4 others, to 7th, where he's also tied with 4 others!

Jordan Moore's 7.60 in the 60H makes him 20th A-T Collegiate, tied with 4 others!

Kaitlin Petrillose nipped her own Big 12 MR with her Vault of 14-5.50!
Megan Clark got the ACC Meet Record in the PV with her 14-10 mark.
Sydney Clute tied the Big 10 Meet Record with her PV of 14-3.25!

The SEC once again led all Conferences in total number of quality performances.
Maybe the best of these was the 200 of Felicia Brown, her 22.45 being the SEC Meet Record.
And it puts her on the A-T World list, in 12th place!
She's 3rd A-T US.
And she moves from 17th to 3rd on the A-T Collegiate list!
Brown had run 22.73 in her heat, making her then 9th on the Collegiate list!

Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake ran his 200 heat in 20.51, beating David Winters's 20.61.

The Men's 800 was a great race, with Donavan Brazier's 1:46.08 prevailing over Andres Arroyo's 1:46.20 and Hector Hernandez's 1:46.32.
For Brazier, he gets the SEC Meet Record!
For Arroyo, it makes him 13th A-T Collegiate.
(Arroyo is listed as Puerto Rican, but I'll have to check to see if that's a National Record!)
Hernandez moves from 18th to 15th on the A-T Collegiate list, and becomes 13th A-T US!

Keturah Orji got an INdoor PR in the TJ, her 46-2.50 also nabbing the SEC Meet Record.
She moves from 10th A-T Collegiate to 6th, tied with 1 other.
On the A-T US list, she moves from 6th to 4th!
She's just 1.50 inches from tying the Collegiate Soph Class record!

Lexi Weeks took the 3-way battle in the SEC Pole Vault, making 14-8.25.
She missed 3 tries at the PR height of 15-1.50.
Second was Jessie Johnson's PR of 14-5.25.
She's now 23rd A-T Collegiate, tied with 5 others!
One of those Johnson's tied with is Tori Weeks, who jumped 14-2.

Mikiah Brisco beat Shayla Sanders in the SEC 60, her 7.18 making her 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 6 others!

The Women's 4X400 Relay at the SEC saw 3 teams affect my DDD.
Tennessee's 3:30.56 moves them from 13th School to 10th.
Kentucky's 3:31.56 moves them from 16th School to 14th!
And Missouri's 3:34.42 makes them 24th best School!

The Men's DMR saw Mississippi's 9:37.14 set the SEC Meet Record!

Garrett Scantling's 6003 took the Heptathlon.
In the Women's Pentathlon, Kendell Williams's 4420 won over Taliyah Brooks's 4376, Annie Kunz's 4277, and 5 others, all scoring 4116 points or better!

Quenesha Burks took the SEC LJ, her 22-1.75 moving her from 10th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, to 8th, tied with 1 other!
Chanice Porter's 21-9.50 makes her 19th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others!

Audie Wyatt took the SEC PV with 18-1, which I believe is his first 18 footer!

Michael Cherry ran 45.61 in his SEC heat, making him 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other.
Taken OFF my DDD was Michael Berry!
So yes, you can say we exchanged a BERRY for a CHERRY!!

Devon Allen sprinted 60H in 7.60, getting the Mountain Pacific Meet Record!
It makes him 20th A-T Collegiate, tied with 3 others!
Hannah Cunliffe topped Jasmin Todd (3rd) and Arianna Washington (5th) in the Mountain Pacific 60, running 7.21.

In the Big 10 meet, Devynne Charlton's 7.97 beat Cindy Ofili's 7.99 in the 60H.
Charlton is now 16th A-T Collegiate!

The Big 10 WT winners were Chuk Enekwechi's 77-11.50 and Kelsey Card's 72-7.75!

Going back to Millrose for a second, I should note that I forgot to mention that Ed Cheserek's 7:40.51 is the Collegiate Junior Class record!
In Glasgow's 3000, Ben Blankenship's 7:44.96 gives him 24th place on the A-T US list!

Also note that Vashti Cunningham's OUTdoor HJ was 6-4.25, NOT 6-4.50 as my earlier post said!
But it's still the Senior Class record for OUTdoors!

High Schoolers had some solid marks to offer.
Brendan McGorty's 1000 of 2:25.81 makes him 13th A-T HS.
Ariel Keklak ran 1000 meters in 2:46.98 for 7th A-T HS.
Behind her came Sarah Edwards and Clare Martin, both timed in 2:47.61.
They are both 12th A-T HS, tied with each other!
Thomas Ratcliffe ran a Mile in 4:06.92 for 8th A-T HS!
Jordan Geist broke his own Junior Class record with his SP of 72-9.50!
He remains 3rd A-T HS!
Nickolette Dunbar threw the Shot 53-0.
She moves from 18th to 8th on the A-T HS list!
Tara Davis LJ'ed 20-10.75, making her 5th A-T HS!
Samiyah Samuels LJ'ed 20-5.75 for 12th A-T HS, tied with 2 others.
Jaron Brooks HJ'ed 7-2, giving him a share of 13th A-T HS--along with 14 others!!

Sydney McLaughlin sped a 53.34 over 400 meters.
She moves from 14th to 7th on the A-T HS list!
Titiana Marsh continues her climb in the TJ, leaping 42-4, giving her the Soph Class record!!
She moves from 17th to 11th A-T HS!!
Chinne Okoronkwo TJ'ed 41-7.75.
She's now 20th A-T HS, tied with 2 others!

Danae Rivers ran 600 in 1:31.20, making her 22nd A-T HS!
Tara Davis sped 60H in 8.34.
She's now 16th A-T HS, tied with 2 others!
Lanae Tava Thomas LJ'ed 20-2.50.
She's now 20th A-T HS, tied with 3 others!
Abby Weiler PV'ed 13-7.25 for 12th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
Carson Dingler PV'ed 13-4.50 for 19th A-T HS, but tied with 5 others!
OFF my HS DDD is one of the earliest HS stars in the PV, Samantha Shepard, her 13-4.25 from 2002 now gone!!
Keshun Reed's 21.27 in the 200 gives him 19th place on the A-T HS list.
Will Allen's 200 of 21.30 makes him 22nd A-T HS.
Rayvon Grey LJ'ed 24-11.50.
He's 18th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
Chris Nilsen PV'ed 17-6.50.
He moves from 19th A-T HS, tied with 4 others, to 7th, tied with 3 others!
Nick Johnson and Zach McWhorter both PV'ed 17-2, and they're both now 19th A-T HS, tied with 4 others, including each other!

The WT has 3 good marks to report!
Logan Kinsky threw it 77-4.25 for 16th A-T HS.
Isaiah Rogers reached 76-9 for 19th A-T HS.
And Nick Lane's 75-11 makes him 23rd A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
Thrown OFF my HS list is Mark McGehearty's 75-9, dating from 1993!

Sammy Watson had a good day.
Her 600 time of 1:29.53 is the new Junior Class record.
She moves from 7th A-T HS to 3rd!
She also ran a non-PR 1000 in 2:46.77!
Kaitlyn Neal improved her 3000 best to 9:28.59!
It moves her from 17th to 8th on the A-T HS list!!
Finally (from the world of HS'ers!!), a couple of fast 500's!
Grant Holloway interrupted his sprinting and LJ'ing to run 1:03.35, making him 10th A-T HS!
Lauryn Ghee also had a busy day, but managed to run 1:11.78, good for the Junior Class record!
However, the Frosh and Soph Class records are faster!!
That said, the person whose record she broke?
Natasha Hastings!!

Teddy Tamgho's return to action post-2015 injury was a 55-8.50 TJ!
Andrea Geubelle matched her TJ PR from 2013, jumping 45-7.75!

Good PV marks came from Jenn Suhr (15-11 in Boston), Kristin Hixson (14-9), and Renaud Lavillenie (19-5.50 in the French Championships).

OUTdoor PV marks in from Down Under included 15-3's from Alana Boyd and Eliza McCartney!
McCartney bettered that, jumping 15-5.50.
That's the new Age 19 record!
It also breaks her own National Record of New Zealand!
And it gets her 22nd A-T World, tied with 2 others!

Other good marks from New Zealand were Valerie Adams's 61-10.25 SP, Tom Walsh's 68-7.25, and Dani Samuels's Discus Throw of 217-10!
Also competing Down Under was England's Jade Lally.
Her 2 DT comps saw her get big PR's, first with 210-8, then with 213-7 two days later!
It's said to be the National Record of England!
However, I list only the NR for Great Britain, which INCLUDES England!!
She's 3rd or 4th on the GB A-T list!

Forgot to mention that, in Lavillenie's earlier 19-9 meet, Shawn Barber jumped 19-4.75, and Sam Kendricks got up to 19-2!!

Konrad Bukowiecki upped his own Age 18 SP record, Putting 67-6.50!

National Championship meets produced some significant marks.
Julian Reus ran 60 meters in 6.52 for the National Record of Germany!
Also from Germany came Cindy Roleder's 60H PR of 7.88, and a 60 in 7.07 from Tatyana Pinto!

The GB Nationals gave the 60's to James Dasaolu (6.53) over Andy Robertson (6.54), and to the 7.10 for Asha Phillip!

In the Netherlands, Dafne Schippers took care of business, speeding a 7.03, only topped by her previous 7.00!!

The French Champs saw a 200 PR from Chris Lemaitre, time of 20.43.
But it misses my World DDD by 0.03 seconds!!
Also, Pascal Martinot-Legarde sped 60H in 7.47!

Hanging in there?
There's more!!

Dawit Seyaum sped a 1500 in the Boston Last Chance meet, her 4:00.28 giving her the Age 19 record!
She moves from 15th to 8th, A-T World!

A Mile was run in Boston too, and it was won by Sheila Reid's 4:27.57.
Second was Rachel Scheider's 4:28.50, good for 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other!
Third was Morgan Uceny's 4:29.08!

Also from Boston's meet, Dejen Gebremeskel ran the fastest 3000 of 2016, a 7:38.03!
And Asefa Powell popped up to race the 60 in 6.54!

A Last Chance meet held in Staten Island's Ocean Breeze facility saw some good marks!
Bingtian Su sped the 60 in 6.53.
Lalonde Gordon won the 200 in 20.76.
Robby Andrews took the 800 in 1:46.98.
Kyle Merber solo'ed to a 3000 in 7:50.41.
Colby Alexander ran the Mile in 3:57.74.
On the field, Priscilla Frederick HJ'ed 6-2.75.
The best mark came from Christina Epps, who TJ'ed 45-9.
She moves from 22nd A-T US to 7th, tied with 1 other!

The USATF Multis went to Curtis Beach's Heptathlon of 6075 points, and to Barbara Nwaba's Pentathlon score of 4415 points.
For Nwaba, that improves her PR by 9 points, but she remains 13th A-T US!
No PR for Beach!

The Tokyo Marathon was won by Feyisa Lelisa in 2:06:56, and Helen Kiprop's 2:21:27.
Third Woman was Edna Kiplagat, in 2:22:36.

After my post beating up on OT's again (See Saturday's post!), I hesitate to waste time and space reporting OT marks, however great they might be!
In fact, it's BECAUSE they're so good that I resent having to report them!
They mean absolutely NOTHING of importance to this blog or to my (or ANYONE's!!) Record Book!
That said, here's the best of those TIME WASTERS!!

Izaic Yorks beat Sean McGorty in a Seattle Mile, 3:53.89 to 3:53.95.
Erin Clark won the 3000 in 9:08.29.
Aisling Cuffe and Elise Cranny finished in 6th and 8th, respectively!
The Big 10, held on the Spire's OT, saw Erin Finn win the 5000 in 15:37.31.
Nick Gray took the 200 in 20.71.
Isaiah Harris took the 800 in 1:46.24.
Fast (but useless!) 600's came from Jermaine Griffith (1:16.02), Mitch Hechsel (1:16.21), Nate Rocse (1:16.29), and Daniel Kuhn (1:16.42).
The Big 12, held in Ames, Iowa, saw Courtney Okolo waste 51.06 seconds of her life in a 400.
Zack Bilderback did the same, consuming 45.27 of HIS life!
He also wasted 20.79 seconds in a 200.
Sam Watts did the exact same in that 200, also running 20.79!
Some OT Pentathlons came from the Big 10 (Jess Lehman's 4393 beating Georgia Ellenwood's 4392!), and the Mountain Pacific meet, held in Seattle, saw Amalie Iuel win easily, scoring  4444 points!
Also on Seattle's 307 meter OT, Oregon's Men ran their DMR in 9:29.89!
That Q'ed them for the NCAA's!
And THAT is NOT fair!!!

Last but not least, two interesting announcements!
Kerri Gallagher left Oiselle, and is now a Nike athlete!
And Alexi Pappas has stated she will be running for Greece, as she has dual citizenship!
Pappas will continue to live and train in Eugene, however!

And that--FINALLY!!--is a WRAP!!
See you all soon!

Explaining This Blog

From my first post--December 9, 2013--I've said I would have certain "rules" for inclusion (or EXclusion!) of Records and Marks in the blog.
They were stated simply & succinctly--
NO Oversize Track marks accepted!
NO 1600 & 3200 times accepted, or times converted from them!
TOTAL SEPARATION of the INdoor & OUTdoor seasons, with separate Records & separate Lists!

There were other things I mentioned, but the above were deemed most important.
A few weeks ago, this blog was "invaded" by a troll, who decided it was his purpose in life to argue the rules about "How old is too old" to set Class Records.
Long story short, I soon tired of his obnoxiousness, and deleted all his comments, then set up a "moderating" power to avoid future trolls (read: assholes!).

That said, he made me think about the very subject he attacked me with!
Actually, I've ALWAYS had some strong opinions about Age Records and Class Records.
For example, I don't do "Junior" or "Youth" or "Masters" records--I base my Age Records on an athlete's actual birthdate.
That allows, hypothetically, Athlete Z to break TWO Age Records in just 24 hours!
If he's born July 15th, he could set one Age Record on July 14th, and another (for an Age one year older) on the 15th!!
But Class Records abide by different criteria.

Most--and "most" must be the operative word!--most HS Frosh are 14 or 15 years old when they start school!
Thus, most of these same people graduate HS at either late in their 17th year, or in the first few months of their 18th year!
Rare is the person who is already 19 (or just a few short months away) when they begin their Senior year!

The "case" of Weini Kelati exposed the flaws in this rule!
She began school in the US when 17--almost 18!!--in September of 2014.
Thus, if allowed to be the "normal" student, she'd graduate when 20 and a half years old!!

T&FN has stated she is NOT eligible for HSR's or Class Records, though she can compete this spring---as a "HS Senior"--meaning it's her last year for HS competition!
In the future, she'll have to compete ONLY in open meets--unattached!!

But forget Kelati!
She's a VERY rare bird!!

As readers of this blog know, I DO list marks made by 19 year old HS'ers.
(Matthew Maton's marks from last year!)
But is it fair?
As I've stated over and over, can we really say Maton's 3:59 Mile at Age 19 was "equal to" Grant Fisher's, achieved when 17?

But this Age--Class factor doesn't just apply to HS'ers, or even College Frosh!
What about Collegians who stay in school 5--or even 6!--years?
Recently, Conor McCullough was allowed a SIXTH year of T&F eligibility!
Yes, he returned as a Collegiate "Senior" at Age 24!

Even worse is the example of Henry Rono.
T&F historians know the name well!
In 1978, when a College SOPH, he set still-standing Collegiate Records in the 3000SC and 5000 of 8:05.4 and 13:08.4.
He was then 26 years old!!

There are many other examples!
One has a different story than Rono did--who came to Washington State from Kenya.
Her name is Demi Payne.
She has OUTdoor eligibility at Stephen A Austin--as a Senior--and she turns 25 next September!
She took a year (or more?) off to have a child.
(In her return--in the 2015 INdoor season--she EXPLODED on the Collegiate Pole Vault scene like a Texas Twister!!  She in fact became WORLD Class!!)

But should her marks---She recently went over (and past!) the 16 foot barrier--TWICE!--be allowed to compete against your "average" Collegian--who is more likely, as a Senior, either 22 or JUST turned 23??

That is the ultimate question a T&F Record Book must decide!
For the immediate future, I will continue to include marks made by HS or Collegiate "elders"---but with an editorial comment attached!
I want my readers to know if someone has an Age advantage--even while I accept their marks for my Record Book (and this blog).
Same with HS'ers.

As for the "rules" mentioned earlier--about OT's & those 1600's & 3200's--I've repeated myself too many times to count!
(I've been as "obnoxious" as that troll!!)
But I found a GREAT article online earlier today, which STRENGTHENS my arguments, and I want to share some of its thoughts!
It's about OT's.

Here's the genesis of my discovery.
In recent weeks, there have been some amazing times run on OT's!
Allie Ostrander, a Boise State Freshman, ran a 5000 in 15:21+ on Seattle's 307 meter track--behind only Pro Kim Conley's 15:09+.
Today, 2 guys ran Miles in 3:53+ (!!) in the Dempsey!
Both are Collegians!
Historically, back in 2009, then-Jenny Barringer ran the fastest-ever INdoor Collegiate 5000--15:01.70--in Seattle!
Back to my genesis of thought.

I was reading (finally!!) the March issue of T&FN a few days ago!
In it is listed all the Records of T&F---using T&FN's idea of "absolute" Records!
Thus, under Women's Collegiate 5000 is Jenny's 15:01!!

Two things VERY wrong there!
That was an INdoor mark, and does NOT belong on what most readers will think is an OUTdoor record list---not really knowing, or understanding (!!) T&FN's concept of "Absolute" records!
Then, her mark was run on an OVERSIZE TRACK!!!

(There were several OTHER "errors" in that Records section I saw!!  But let's ignore those for now!  LOL)

So, upset by T&FN's "rules", I decided to investigate (aka "Google"!!  LOL), to see if I could find out WHAT the REAL rules are, regarding OT's.
(Another source of my anger is the heavy use of OT's to Qualify DMR teams for the NCAA meet!)

I found my answer immediately--in the guise of a GREAT article by "MichTrack.org"--or Michigan Track!
I don't know the date of the article--wasn't listed--but many of THEIR thoughts mirror my own!
To wit--

(paraphrased, in part)
OT's are easier to run fast times on.  It's physics.
Gentler turns & fewer of them.
(The) boom in 300 meter tracks is an American thing.  (I) don't know of any other country having any OT at this point.
NCAA Colleges control most quality T&F facilities in the US.
Football drives most college athletic spending decisions.
They build indoor training facilities that are huge--so 300 meter tracks fit well.

(continued)
NCAA Qualifying is the other part of the equation, and here's where it gets controversial. (THEIR words!--ed.)
The formula the NCAA uses is skewed--and even though the indexing is supposed to provide a level playing field for Qualifying, it actually favors OT's.
(The article was speaking toward the formula's created by the NCAA to equalize the differences between flat & banked tracks, and those of over 200 meters--OT's!)
Why else are college teams flocking to OT's for Q times?

(continued)
What you do with your school (club) records and your PR's is up to you.
On our MichTrack.org All-Time lists, OT marks are always listed by themselves!
If we mixed them in with our main lists, it would be unfair to (everyone) who ran on standard-sized tracks!

The article also stated IAAF rule 260.21(b)--
World Indoor Record tracks may not exceed 220 yards (201.2 meters).

It then said that USATF follows IAAF's rule!

In Norman Mailers great & revolutionary book "The Armies of the Night", he begins by quoting verbatim from a Time magazine article.!
He then says, in Mailer's inimitable way--Now we may leave Time in order to find out what happened.

Thus, I will dive into the Loony Bin lair of the Let's Run Forum (a fair mirror of Time, in its own way!), and quote a poster who called himself  "la la land".
Such magnificent irony!!  LOL

Anyway, it was in a thread begun February 14, 2010, and titled "OT's Aren't Fair!".
"La la land" wrote--

OT's have fewer turns.
Turns have wider radius's.
(They) reduce centrifugal forces significantly--allows the runner to run at higher speeds more efficiently.

Then "La la land" concluded---in Let's Run's own inimitable way--

Anyone who says otherwise is a liar and a scumbag!

With those words, I bid you adieu---until my next post!

P.S.  I forgot to mention that, in my Googling about OT rules, I found a LONG list of INdoor tracks in the United States--stating the track's measurements!
I mean, there were HUNDREDS listed--from Coast to Coast, in every state!!

I made a list of all the OT's.
Out of literally HUNDREDS of tracks listed, only 25 were of OT dimensions.
And they ranged from 215 meters (University of Maine Field House) to 442 meters (Utah Olympic Ice Arena).
However, most of the 25 were between the Air Force Academy's Cadet Field House's 268 meters and Notre Dame's 352 yards.

One simple question.
Why--with literally 100's of 200 meter tracks available in all 50 states--do schools bring their athletes to a HANDFUL of OT's to get Q times for Championship meets??

Just read MichTrack.org's excerpted article above for your answer!

Much More than More Millrose

You think Millrose started and stopped with those great Distance races detailed in yesterday's post?
HA!
Think again!
So let's begin with the "rest of" Millrose!

Where else but with the Women's Pole Vault?!
In a spectacular duel, Ekaterina Stefanidi won over Demi Payne, each jumping their highest ever--16-0.75, or 4.90!
Both starting at 14-9, Payne took 3 tries to get it, while the Greek nabbed it on her first!
Stefanidi cleared 15-1, while Payne passed to 15-5, which both made on 1st try!
Both then made 15-9 on their first.
And both took 2 tries to get their 4.90's.
So Stefanidi got the win, AND the National Record of Greece.
She moves from 13th A-T World, tied with 1 other, to 3rd, where she's now tied with--Demi Payne!
Payne remains 3rd A-T World, but is tied with Stefanidi.
She remains 2nd A-T US!!
Both will share the Millrose Meet Record!

This is the first time---INdoors or OUTdoors!!--that TWO women cleared 16 feet in the same meet!!

Sandi Morris took 3rd with 15-5, while Megan Clark reached 14-9, and Tori Pena & Mary Saxer each cleared 14-5.25.
BTW, both Payne and Stefanidi failed in their 3 attempts at 16-4.75 (5.00)!

Bralon Taplin took the 400 in 45.35, and got the Millrose Meet Record!
Lalonde Gordon was 2nd in 45.51.
Natasha Hastings easily won her 400, time of 51.66.

The shortest races all had interesting fields.

The Women's 60H was taken by versatile Janay DeLoach in 7.85.
The conquered included Brianna Rollins's 7.89 in 2nd and Jasmin Stowers in 3rd with 7.93.

The Men's 60H saw Omar McLeod come within 0.01 of his PR, his time of 7.46 beating--Ashton Eaton!!
Yes, Eaton took 2nd in an open 60H race, and his time of 7.53 was pretty fair too!!

Andre De Grasse's start needs work!
Behind--maybe 3rd or 4th!!--after 30 meters, he shifted into 5th gear, winning in 6.61 in his first Professional race!
Allyson Felix took the measure of Tianna Bartoletta and Jenna Prandini with her 60 winning time of 7.15.

Marquis Dendy took the LJ with 26-8.25, while Erik Kynard HJ'ed 7-6.50 to win also.
Gwen Berry took the WT with 79-8.25.

Finally (from Millrose), the TC Williams team took the HS 4X200 Relay in 1:27.29.
Why am I reporting this?
It tied their PR from earlier this season, and they are the 8th fastest team in history!
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the Lyles brothers ran 2nd (Noah) and 4th (Josephus) legs!!

Speaking of Noah Lyles, that provided a good segue to my next offering!
But we need to think OUTdoors for a minute!!

Yes, in an OUTdoor meet--in Florida--Tyrese Cooper broke TWO Freshman Class records!!
(I'll get to Lyles's connection in a sec!)

In the Louie Bing Invitational, and running under stadium lights last evening, Mr Cooper (born March 21, 2000) tripled--winning the 100 in 10.57 (legal wind!), the 200 (also legal wind) in 20.68, and the 400 in 46.43--I think!

The 200 time shatters the Frosh Class record, held by J-Mee Samuels since 2002, of 20.99!
Yep, he took 0.31 seconds off Samuels's mark!!
And here's the Noah Lyles connection!
Cooper's new Frosh Class record is FASTER than Lyles's SOPH Class record of 20.71 from 2014!!

In the 400, listed in the results as 46.43 (but listed on Mile Split as 46.34!!), he took down the 1985 record of William Reed, his 46.55.
(NOTE: I'll try to find out which time it is---46.43 or 46.34--ASAP.  But whichever it is, it broke the old Frosh Class record!!)

That makes FIVE Frosh Class records--INdoors and OUTdoors--that Cooper has either broken or tied!
6.78 in the 60 tied that record!
His 21.84 and 47.97 in the 200 and 400 are his alone!
And now the OUTdoor 200 and 400!
What's next??

A couple of notable VERY early season marks from the Female side in that meet--
Twanisha Terry ran a legal 200 in 23.85, while Symone Mason won the 400 in a solid 53.52.
Remember, all of these were OUTdoors!!

Staying OUTside for another sec, HS'er Tripp Piperi opened his OUTdoor season with a SP of 69-1 and a Discus Throw of 190-6!  This was in a Texas meet!

Okay, back INdoors, let's see what Glasgow produced.
One of the IAAF World tour meets, we expected much!
But as with the OUTdoor Diamond League meets, sometimes what's expected is far LESS than what we get!!
So it was in Glasgow!

In the "glass is half FULL" segment, we saw Shawn Barber return to form, as his 19-3.75 is the new Glasgow (Sainsbury--which has had different locales, including London and Birmingham!) Meet Record!
The old record?
None other than Sergey Bubka's 1998 result!

Dafne Schippers wasn't up to her recent 7.00 standard, but her 7.10 was enough to take the 60 from a CLASS field!
Elaine Thompson took 2nd, while teen phenom Ewe Swoboda was 3rd!
Michelle Lee-Ahye and Dina Asher-Smith were also in the field!

Melissa Bishop is on a PR (and Canada National Record-breaking) roll!
Her 2nd NR in a week saw her take the 800 in 2:00.19.
Hometown girl (She's Scottish!) Laura Muir was 2nd in 2:00.70.
Zuzana Hejnova--the 400H specialist!--ran 2:03.40 back in the pack!

Adam Kszczot took the Men's 800 in 1:46.23.
Abdelaati Iguider beat Ayanleh Souleiman's 3:36.30 in the 1500 with his winner of 3:34.94.
Nancy Chepkwemoi took a close 3000 in 8:49.06.
Five others were under 8:51!

In 7th was American Steepler Stephanie Garcia, her 8:53.20 ranking her 21st A-T US!

Kim Collins got yet another Age 39 record---his own, of course!--with his 60 winning time of 6.51.
Not starting was Trayvon Bromell--a tightness in his groin!

Lorraine Ugen and Shara Proctor had a good back-and-forth LJ battle, with Ugen prevailing--winning jump of 22-3.75!
Omar Craddock took the TJ in 55-6.50.

Chris Brown of the Bahamas broke his own Age 37 record in the 400--time of 46.80--although he finished in 4th place!
Pawel Maslak won in 46.02.

Kendra Harrison's 7.92 took the 60H from Nia Ali's 7.98 and Tiffany Porter's 7.99.

The Women's 1500 was a good race, with Sifan Hassan's 4:01.40 winning over Gudaf Tsegay's 4:01.81.
However, Tsegay's time broke the Age 19 record!
It also ranks her 14th A-T World!!

Mary Cain finished next to last--(!!)--in 4:13.55!
(You can check Let's Run's forum for a collection of their usual enlightening post-mortems!!  But wear a gas mask and a Kevlar vest!!  LOL)

In the "featured" event--the Men's 3000--the inimitable MoBot Farah won in his normal lackadaisical manner--jog, then kick--in 7:39.55!
Such incredible talent--and potential---WASTED in HS-level-tactical races!!
IMHO, definitely NOT the G.O.A.T.!!!

I've got lots more, so grab a snack, take a nap, then come back for the rest!

In a meet in Spain--just days after her 1 Mile WR of 4:13.31 (See my post about that one!)--Genzebe Dibaba solo'ed a 3000 in the 2nd fastest INdoor time ever--8:22.50!!
She got the Age 25 record for her effort!

Speaking of Genzebe, I have a CORRECTION to make!
I gave her 1500 split in that Mile WR as 3:56.27.
However, sources I've seen since say her split was 3:56.46.
It seems legit, so I'm taking that time as the record--or recordS)
In case you missed it, her 1500 time gave her the Stockholm Meet Record, and the Age 25 record!

As per normal recently, I have several good to great PV marks to report---other than those two 16 footers at Millrose!!

Renaud Lavillenie is in shape!!
His attempts at the WR height of 6.17 failed, but his 6.02 (19-9) jump didn't!
That's the World Leader in 2016!!

Finishing behind Renaud was the new National Record of Greece--a 19-2 by Kostas Filippidis!!

Another NR went to China's Li Ling, her mark being 15-5.
This was in the Asian Championships!

Kristin Hixson became America's 18th woman to top 15 feet INdoors---and the 4th (so far!!) this year!!
She now ranks 9th A-T US!

Tori Weeks finally PR'ed!
Her 14-5.25 gives her the 23rd A-T spot on the Collegiate list!!
She's tied there with 4 others!

Mike Arnold jumped 18-8.25.
Melissa Gergel reached 14-5.25.
Sydney Clute (A Collegian at Indiana) got up to 14-1.25.

Dani Bunch keeps getting better in the SP.
Her 61-11 (18.87) moves her from 16th to 13th on the A-T US list!

In that French meet (where Lavillenie got his 19-9 PV), Pascal Martinot-Legarde ran the 60H in a fast 7.49.

On the new Staten Island track, Brendon Rodney of Long Island University, Brooklyn ran the 200 in the World Leading time of 20.46.
It makes him 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others!

In the Asian Championships, Mutaz Barshim failed at 2.40, but won the meet with 2.35 (7-8.50).

Okawahemi Adekoya won the 400 in the Bahrain National Record time of 51.68.

Deon Lendore opened 2016 with a 400 in 45.56.
Kelly Ann-Baptiste ran the 60 in 7.20.

In OT action---some schools got their normal Championship Qualifying times in the DMR!!
(This should NOT be allowed!!!)

Anyway, some of the better ILLEGAL marks were (all on Notre Dame's 352 yard oval) Oklahoma State's 9:26.60, Washington's 9:27.19, Michigan's 9:27.67, Oklahoma's 9:27.70, and UCLA's 9:29.61.
(The Huskies couldn't use their OWN ILLEGAL track to get their Q??)

The Women's teams included Michigan (10:58.25), and Notre Dame (Of course!!) in 11:00.73.
One thing the latter race produced was a good 1600 duel between Michigan's Shannon Osika and ND's Molly Seidel!

Rebecca Tracy won the OT Mile in 4:32.71.

Finally (!!!), in the Olympic Trials race for the 50000 meters Walk, John Nunn made his 3rd Olympic team, Walking a Qualifying standard of 4:03:21.

In the Women's race---although there's no OG 50K for Women!--Erin Taylor-Walcott Walked a solid time of 4:44:26.
According to a USATF tweet I saw, she reached the 25K point in 2:16:41, so she apparently faded to a 2:27:45 final half!

And that is IT!!
For now!
Next weekend---just 4 days away!!--begin all the major Collegiate Conference action---plus whatever else is happening.
Watch for ALL the best results in this blog!!

Millrose Distances rewrite Lists

In a sensational series of races--ranging from the 800 to the 5000--my DDD lists (Top 24 Performers lists, INdoors) were rewritten, to a scope and depth maybe unheard of from one Invitational meet--ever!
I WAS planning to cover ALL of Millrose--AND Glasgow, plus whatever else went down in the past 2 days.
But so many incredible results came out of The Armory Middle and Long Distance events, that I've opted to do a post covering ONLY those races!

Molly Huddle watered down her intent to break the 5000 meters American Record in an interview yesterday.
But the RACE that developed instead perhaps made for better results overall.
(Many rabbited WR or AR attempts are reduced to ONE runner, and her or his record try--many of which result in failure!)

A rabbit led Huddle and Betsy Saina--as well as Huddle's 2015 WC nemesis, Emily Infeld!--with Marielle Hall, Abbey D'Agostino, and Shelby Houlihan also forming a tight 6-woman pack--through 3000 meters in about 9:01--too slow to seriously chase Shalane Flanagan's AR of 14:47.62.
Most were still together at 4K, with Houlihan and Abbey D falling back a few meters..

Huddle's not a sprint-kicker---she tends to run hard over several laps instead.
So when she began moving, it was no surprise that Saina and Infeld stayed close.
But in the final 800, it was Molly leading Betsy by a few hairs.
When Saina kicked, Huddle tried, but just couldn't power past her---although some lapped runners got in her way on the final lap---a HUGE NO-NO in the "ethics" of track racing!!
When lapped, you move out to the 2nd, or even 3rd lane--you don't force the leaders to run AROUND you!!
That said, the first NINE finishers all helped rewrite my lists!!

Saina's 14:57.18 winner ranks her 14th A-T World!
It's also the Millrose Meet Record!

Huddle's 14:57.31 makes her 15th A-T World!
She moves from 3rd to 2nd on the US list!

Infeld's time of 15:00.91 makes her 17th A-T World!
She's now 3rd A-T US!

Hall's 15:06.05 makes her 21st A-T World!
And she's now 4th A-T US!!

Houlihan's 15:06.22 is now 22nd A-T World, and she ranks 5th A-T US!

Abbey's 15:24.44 is an improvement on her Collegiate best of 15:28.11, and moves her from 13th A-T US to 11th.

Laura Thweatt's 15:35.24 makes her 16th A-T US.
Chelsea Sodaro's 15:36.73 makes her 18th A-T US.
And Liz Costello's 15:37.82 makes her 20th A-T US.
Finishing last (10th place!)--no PR--was Jordan Hasay, in 15:46.45!

Cut OFF my World list were--Uta Pippig, Zahra Ouaziz, Olga Yegarova, Marla Runyan, and Emily Sisson!
OFF my US list are--Gina Procaccio and---Jordan Hasay!!

To make my World Top 24 list now requires a time of 15:06.52---down (up??) from 15:13.72!!

The longest Men's race---the 3000---also cut a deep swath through my Record Book!

In a spirited final lap battle, Ryan Hill nipped past Hassan Mead at the tape, by a mere 0.03 seconds!

Hill's 7:38.82 got the Millrose Meet Record.
However, it wasn't a PR!

Mead's 7:38.85 moves him from 12th to 6th on the A-T US list!

Eric Jenkins kicked into 3rd, his 7:39.43 moving him all the way from 22nd A-T US to 8th!!

Evan Jager's 7:40.10 in 4th also wasn't a PR.
But Mo Ahmed's 7:40.11 JUST got Kevin Sullivan's National Record of Canada--by 0.06 seconds!

Ed Cheserek led at one point, but fell back some, still running a good time of 7:40.61.
So good, in fact, that he's now 2nd on the A-T Collegiate list!!

Kemoy Campbell's 7:40.79 broke his own National Record of Jamaica--by about 6 seconds!

Andy Bayer's 7:42.33 makes him 17th A-T US.
Lopez Lomong moves from 22nd A-T US to 20th with his time of 7:43.01.
Then came Cam Levins, Donn Cabral, and Trevor Dunbar, all in the 7:45 to 7:47 range.

I'll do the Women's 800 next, as there were actually FIVE Mile races, 4 of which produced list (and Record!) altering results!!

And what a race that 800 was!!
When Ajee Wilson took the lead, Brenda Martinez turned her wheels HARD---but didn't have enough track left to catch her---not that she would, IF!!!

The result showed Wilson with the win--and Meet Record--time of 2:00.09!
She moves from 13th A-T US to 11th, tied with Chanelle Price!

Brenda's 2:00.14--in her first-ever INdoor 800!!--gives her 13th spot on the A-T US list!

A VERY healthy Laura Roesler was next, time of 2:00.49!
She's now 15th A-T US!

Following the FORMER Oregon Duck was a CURRENT Quacker--Raevyn Rogers, who missed the Collegiate Record by just 0.15 seconds!!
Her 2:00.90 is now 2nd on the A-T Collegiate list.
She is 18th A-T United States!
And she gets the Collegiate Soph Class record too!!

Then came Lynsey Sharp's not bad 2:01.55, followed by a slower Phoebe Wright and Natoya Goule!

The Men's 800 was a good battle, but not too fast.
Duane Solomon edged Brannon Kidder by 0.07 seconds, 1:47.52 to 1:47.59.

Now let's look at the damage done by those Mile races!
There were 2 HS Miles--with everyone in them a HS student.
The Men's race saw a good RACE--but no list changes!
Isaac Coats's 4:09.87 nipped Noah Affolder by just 0.01.
Aidan Tooker took (sic!) 3rd, in 4:10.20.

The Women's HS race was a runaway for Kate Murphy, who negative split to a 4:41.84 Mile!
Her halves were about 2:24 and 2:17, with a final 400 of about 66!
She moves from 14th to 9th on the A-T HS list!
AND--she was timed at 1500 in 4:24.22, which makes her 8th A-T HS!!
Her final 109 meters was 17.62.

But it was the "Armory Elite" Mile which gave us the best HS time.
Would you believe Drew Hunter's SECOND High School Record in less than one month!
Not to mention his SECOND HSR at 1500 meters also!!

In a race won in 3:56.57 by Johnny Gregorek, Hunter ran smartly in mid-pack for the first three quarters.
Then--despite having a lingering cold--bashed out a solid kick to finish in the new HSR time of 3:57.81!
Enroute, he got the 1500 HSR too--time of 3:41.93!!
It's also the new Senior Class records for both, breaking his own records!!
Hunter's last 109 meters was a fast 15.88!

One other good result came from this Mile.
Thomas Awad, of Penn, passed through his 1500 in 3:41.53, which ranks him 22nd A-T Collegiate!

While Shannon Rowbury's American Record try ended over 4 seconds shy of her target, her 4:24.39 was enough for a clear victory over a quality (mostly!) American field!
She was timed at 4:07.30 at the 1500 enroute, also not a PR.

But apres moi le deluge!!
(Sorry for not having the proper accent marks!!  LOL)

Oiselle's Kerri Gallagher led the herd, her 4:26.18 Mile making her 7th A-T US.
Her 1500 time of 4:08:53 makes her 12th A-T US.
(NOTE:  Some 1500 times don't match the sequence of Mile times, as there was a lot of movement in the last 109 meters!  More on that in a bit!)

Amanda Eccleston produced another fast time, her 4:26.63 keeping her 9th A-T US.
However, her 1500 time of 4:09.12 makes her 16th A-T US!

Heather Kampf used her "Queen of the Road Mile" chops on The Armory's 200 meter banked oval, running a PR of 4:27.26, while hitting her 1500 split in 4:09.54.
The Mile gives her 12th spot on the A-T US list.
Her 1500 makes her 20th on that list!

Morgan Uceny ran her fastest INdoor Mile--a 4:27.99, which moves her from 24th A'T US to 15th!
Her 1500 time of 4:09.21 wasn't a PR.

An Irish-woman came next--In fact, Ciara Mageean is Ireland's new Mile record holder!!
Her time was 4:28.40--the first sub-4:30 by an Ireland female!
She missed her own NR at 1500 (4:08.66), passing that point in 4:09.01.

Katie Mackey and Alexa Efraimson were next--in 4:28.84 and 4:28.91,  respectively.
But both JUST missed my re-written US list by 0.13 and 0.20 seconds!!
However, Efraimson was way ahead of Mackey at 1500, so her 4:09.20 PR  makes her 18th A-T US!!
Mackey's 1500 time was 4:10.69.

The remaining 4 finishers weren't exactly slow!
Just when compared to the 8 women in front of them!!
Heather Wilson ran 4:30.80, with Dominique Scott (4:31.57), Leah O'Connor (4:31.83), and Erin Teschuk (4:34.58) trailing!!
Treniere Moser didn't finish!!

Their 1500 to Mile differentials were, in order of fastest--
Rowbury (17.09)
Eccleston (17.51)
Gallagher (17.65)
Kampf (17.72)
Mackey (18.15)
Uceny (18.78)
Mageean (19.39)
Efraimson (19.71)

Two notable women who got knocked OFF my US list were LeAnn Warren and Emily Infeld's older sister, Maggie Infeld!!

The Men's version of the Wanamaker Mile finished off the meet---and my Middle/Long Distance wholesale list revision with a BANG!!

And it was yet another final lap (Well, 400 meters, or TWO laps INdoors!!) RACE that left the sold-out crowd thrilled!
It was Nick Willis vs Matthew Centrowitz all the way, even though the rest of the runners didn't exactly roll over and play dead!

In the end, after an all-out sprint, Centro prevailed, 3:50.63 to 3:51.06!
Centro moves from 4th to 2nd on the A-T US list!
And he moves up 5 spots on the World list, from 9th to 4th!
His 1500 split time of 3:35.91 moves him from 6th to 4th on the A-T US list!
He also nailed Galen Rupp's (!) Age 26 record for the Mile.

Willis's Mile time broke his own New Zealand National Record.
AND he got the iconic Eamonn Coghlan's Age 32 record, dating from 1985!!
However, his 1500 split of 3:36.12 was shy of his NR!
Willis moves from 10th A-T World to 8th with his Mile!

While Chris O'Hare's 3:52.91 Mile is a slight PR, he remains 24th A-T World!

Robby Andrews's 3:53.16 Mile gives him 9th place on the US list, while his 1500 split of 3:38.09 makes him 11th A-T US.
Cory Leslie's 1500 and Mile times of 3:37.67 and 3:53.87 makes him 9th and 11th A-T US, respectively!
Garrett Heath's 1500 split of 3:38.48 moves him from 18th to 17th on the A-T US list.
But his Mile time of 3:55.10 wasn't a PR.
Cristian Soratos followed in 3:56.05 (with his 1500 in 3:40.47).

But Blake Haney's times of 3:40.09 and 3:56.36 made my Collegiate lists!
The 1500 ranks him 11th A-T Collegiate, while his Mile ranks him 17th on that list!

Centro's final 109 meters was decisive over Willis's, 14.72 to 14.94!
Andrews also had a fast finish, his 109 meters taking just 15.07!

OFF my US 1500 list is Jim Spivey, his 3:39.63 dating from 1987!

And that's a wrap on Millrose's running events longer than 400 meters!
I thought to include ALL of Millrose, but this post is too long already.
So--with regret and apologies--I'm going to make you wait till tomorrow--after the Olympic Trials for the 50000 meter Walks conclude!--to finish my report on this "Pre Classic" of INdoor meets, and to tell you what happened in Glasgow and other venues over the weekend!

It should be LESS than a full day---maybe 15 hours??--until my next Results post!
Hint--There's some GREAT stuff to report!!

See you soon!

Stockholm's WR Party

Not one.
Not even two!
THREE World Records in less than 2 hours!!
(And there could have been four!!)

Millrose and Glasgow, coming in 3 days, have their work cut out for them!
Those 2 venerable meets, even if they should get a WR between them, would still be two short of what Stockholm's XL Galan meet produced today!!

In order, then!

Ayanleh Souleiman's promise to break the 16 year old 1000 WR of Wilson Kipketer (2:14.96) seemed a tall order.
There had been others who had said the same thing, among them the legendary David Rudisha!
All had failed.
In a tweet yesterday, I put the odds of his chances at just 30-70.
I just felt the history of failed attempts would prevail.
I'm glad I'm not a betting man!

Paced by Bram Som through 600 meters in 1:19.44, Souleiman, normally a Miler, took the reins, and went through 800 in the mid-1:46's.
His last 200 of 28+ was enough to top Kipketer's mark by a healthy 0.76 seconds!!

Besides the WR, it's also the Djibouti National Record.
It's the Age 23 record.
It's the Stockholm Meet Record.
And he moves all the way from 15th A-T World to the Top!!

Second was The Netherlands Thijimen Kupers's 2:17.02.
It makes him 15th A-T World.

Elijah Manangoi ran 2:17.09 to rank 19th A-T World, tied with 1 other!

And Jakob Holusa's 2:18.27 is the new National Record of the Czech Republic!

The second WR was Abdelelah Haroun's 500 of 59.83!
But it wasn't the first Meet Record of the night!
That went to the "B" race winner--Mark English--who ran 1:00.93.

Other events were run, and then Haroun took to the track.
I'd placed his odds at 60-40, as I felt his faster OUTdoor 400 time than Brycen Spratling's would give him a good chance to get Spratling's record of 1:00.06.

In doing so, Haroun became the first to break a minute INdoors!
Second place time was 1:00.71.
I don't keep lists for the 500, but this obviously gives him Qatar's National Record, the Age 19 record, as well as Stockholm's Meet Record!

Third in line was the woman who, with her Mile record here today, now holds FIVE INdoor WR's!
They are the 1500, Mile, 3000, 2 Mile, and the 5000.
The only one in that range she doesn't hold is Gabriela Szabo's 5:30.53 for 2000 meters.
And considering she ran faster than that OUTdoors---twice!--she could take down that one too, if she chose!
(For the record, I gave her 100 to zero odds of breaking this record!  I mean, come on--we're talking Genzebe!!  LOL)

Splits were given at the finish line, so the extra 9+ meters were added to those split times.
Thus, her "quarter" splits (at 409, 809 and 1209 meters) were 63.59, 63.10, 64.08, and 62.54, for a WR time of 4:13.31.
She wanted FASTER!!
Her requested splits were to go through 1000 meters in 2:36.5.
Phoebe Wright had tweeted (paraphrased)--I hope an American paces her.  That would bring her so close to the American Record (at 1000 meters).WTF--!!

But it went a bit slower, so Dibaba's projected Mile time of 4:11 (!!) fell a bit short!
Oh woe is me!

For the Record!
World Record
National Record (of Ethiopia)
Meet Record (Stockholm)
Age Record (25)
And those are for the Mile!!

She was timed at 1500 enroute in 3:56.27.
She'd said she wanted BOTH WR's, but alas!
That said, the 1500 For the Record!
2nd fastest ever run INdoors (Her WR being Number One!)
Meet Record!
Age 25 Record!

Removed FROM my DDD was Jenny Simpson's PR of 4:25.91, the current Collegiate Record!!

Second was Gudaf Tsegay in 4:24.98, a full 11.67 seconds behind Dibaba!
But it got her the Age 19 record!
And it makes her 22nd A-T World, tied with 1 other!

All 3 athletes have one coach in common---Jama Aden!!

But Stockholm is a MAJOR meet on the INdoor circuit, and the other marks to come from there proved it.

Tim Nedow took the Men's Shot Put with a PR throw of 69-11.75.
It's the Stockholm Meet Record.

Lavern Spencer HJ'ed 6-4.75 to tie St Lucia's National Record.

Kainija Balta took the Women's LJ with a leap of 22-2.

Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou increased her own National Record of Greece in the PV by a quarter-inch, rising to 15-9.25.
She moves from 9th A-T World, tied with 2 others, to 8th, where she's tied with 1 other.

Fabiana Murer increased her Age 34 PR to 15-5.50, but of course, it was too late, as Jenn Suhr had raised it to 16-0 a few days ago.  (See my previous post!)

Lisa Gunnersson of Sweden nabbed the Age 16 record, Vaulting 14-8.75.
She went higher than Wilma Murta, who is the Age 17 record holder!!
Gunnersson was born August 20, 1999.

A meet in Ireland had some "names" produce some good marks.

Melissa Bishop's 800 time of 2:00.60 is the new National Record of Canada.
She won by a couple of seconds.
(A female commentator kept referring to how beautiful Bishop is, and how all the men would be watching because of THAT, and not for how talented she is!!  This from a woman---also quite attractive!!  LOL)

Two Americans took the top spots in a fast 60H.
Kristi Castlin beat Sharika Nelvis, 7.92 to 7.93.

Ruth Beitia's HJ winning height of 6-4.75 increased her own Age 36 record!

Shawn Barber took the Vault with 18-11, thrilling the sold-out crowd of about 2500.

Barbara Pierre sprinted 60 meters in 7.12 for the win.

Chris Brown's 400 of 46.96 wasn't the fastest (That went to Pawel Maslek's 46.06 in another heat!), but it did get him the Age 37 record!

Dawit Wolde won the Men's Mile in 3:54.02, the only runner to break 4:00.
But it got him Ethiopia's National Record!!

The Women's 1500 had Mary Cain in its field.
The race was won in 4:08 and change, with Cain improving her recent blow-up time of 4:20.73 (in Karlsruhe) by 7.28 seconds, running an okay 4:13.45.
She started good, near the front, but fell back to 6th, where she remained.
She had NO kick!!

She's on the entry list for Glasgow's 1500!!

I did another count of my 2016 DDD marks.
The previous count was done February 2nd.

World Men went from 2 to 10.
World Women jumped from 6 to 14.

US Men went from 3 to 13.
US Women went from 19 to 26.

Collegiate Men went from 8 to 17.
Collegiate Women went from 14 to 23.

HS Men went from 14 to 18.
And HS Women went from 14 to 18 also!

The Totals
Men went from 27 to 58!
Women went from 53 to 81.

The Grand total jumped from 80 to 139.

With the Collegiate Conferences and the NCAA meet ahead, the Collegiate count should soar!
Ditto with the High Schoolers, as they have their State meets and the Biggie, the NBIN!!

The US and the World, of course, have Millrose and Glasgow, the Asian Championships, the USATF, and the World Championships!!

300-plus looks VERY doable!!

Next post comes IMMEDIATELY following both of Saturday's HUGE meets!!
See you then!

Season Building Speed

"It's getting better all the time!", the Beatles sang!
The 2016 INdoor season is a perfect example.
Each week, more Records are broken, and more Marks make my All-Time lists!
With just 5 weeks left, that's as it should be!
So let's see what THIS weekend gave us!

Can't do better than a Collegiate Record in the Women's Shot Put!
Raven Saunders ain't done yet!
Even after breaking Tia Brooks's CR--reaching 63-1.25 (19.23)--Saunders, at 19, is just getting started!

In the Iowa State meet, she first got a PR of 62-5, then exploded out to the Record!
It's the new Age 19 record.
She gets her own Collegiate Soph Class record!
She moves from 3rd to 1st on the A-T Collegiate list.
And she moves from 12th to 5th on the A-T US list!
She's still 4 feet 5 inches shy of the World list, however!

As I did in a recent post, I'll sort out my TWELVE pages of notes by event group.
Staying with the Throws, Jordan Geist broke the HS Junior Class record for the SP, held by Nick Vena, with his toss of 72-8.75!
He moves from 5th to 3rd on the A-T HS list!

In the NB Boston meet, Kurt Roberts PR'ed at 70-9.25, becoming 21st A-T World, tied with 2 others!
He moves from 13th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 12th!

Way back in 2nd, Reese Hoffa's throw of 68-11.75 improves his own Age 38 record!

Ryan Crouser improved his SP to 69-9.75, and moves from 11th to 9th on the A-T Collegiate list!

Kaitlyn Long's WT of 73-0 gives her the Age 19 record!

Other good SP marks came from Jill Camarena-Williams, with her 59-2, and Brittany Smith, who hit 60-11.25.
AG Kruger blasted a WT toss out 77-7.25.
Colin Dunbar got a WT toss of 75-2.75.

Full-time sprinter Dafne Schippers sped the 60 in 7.00, upping the ante in what had been a "slow-moving" event so far!  (Pun intended!)
It tied Nelli Cooman for the National Record of The Netherlands!
(Cooman's mark dates from 1986!)
It also makes her 9th on the World DDD, tied with 2 others!
Maria Jose-TaLou (sp?) took 2nd in 7.06.
Schippers had run her heat in 7.04!

The Men also got their 2016 best, after self-invited Asefa Powell suddenly showed up at a Texas meet, asking if he could race the 60.
(Oh sure, we'll see what we can do!!  LOL)
Anyway, he sped both the heat and semi in 6.50, then 6.49, before DNS'ing the final!
The 6.49 is the Age 33 record!
But he misses the World list by 0.01, and the Jamaican National Record by 0.02 seconds!

In a European meet, Dimitri Bascou of France ran the 60H in 7.41, good for his National Record.
He's now 12th A-T World, tied with 3 others!
Orlando Ortega took 2nd in 7.51.

Hot (in the athletic sense!!) teen sprinter, Ewe Swoboda, got yet another PR.
Her 7.07 got the Age 18 record for 60 meters!
She broke her own National Record of Poland!
She misses my World DDD by 0.03 seconds!!

Tyrese Cooper, who already broke 2 HS Frosh Class records (21.84 in the 200, and 47.97 in the 400), added a third, dashing the 60 in a Class Record-tying 6.78!
A real triple threat!!

Some good 200's included Bryce Robinson's 20.69, Brandon Rodney's 20.52, Christian Coleman's 20.59 (edging Sam Watts's 20.60 at the Tyson Invite), and Felicia Brown's 22.81.

In the 60, in addition to Schippers et al, English Gardner ran 7.15, while Hannah Cunliffe improved to 7.20.
Cunliffe misses the Collegiate DDD by 0.02 seconds!
Cravont Charleston sped 6.69, making him 19th A-T HS, tied with 2 others!

"Odd" distances produced some VERY notable marks!
Natasha Hastings removed one Allyson Felix from the Record Book, speeding an American Record time of 36.25 in the 300 meters race in Boston!
It's the Boston Meet Record!
She's now 7th A-T World!
Jessica Beard was 2nd in 36.94!
Hastings's previous best was the 36.52 she ran in last year's NB meet!
Vernon Norwood took the Men's race in 32.70, with Mike Berry 2nd in 33.13.

Boris Berian continued his improvement curve from last year, running 600 meters in 1:15.51, for the Boston Meet Record.
He's now 5th on the World DDD!!
And he moves from 13th A-T US all the way to 2nd!!
Bershawn Jackson was far back in 2nd, time of 1:17.85.

Georgeanne Moline continues her love affair with the "odds", speeding the Don Kirby 600 in 1:26.70.
She moves from 6th to 5th on the US list.
More importantly, she shows up at 23rd on the A-T World list!!

Andy Wheating defeated Duane Solomon in the Boston 1000, 2:18.68 to 2:19.10.
Wheating is now 12th A-T US, while Solomon is 15th!

The Verticals---and yes, that's the HJ and the PV!!--kicked some ass this weekend!
The Italian Record Book continued to produce, as Gianmarco Tamberi became the sole National Record holder in the HJ, going over a bar set at 2.38, or 7-9.75!
He's 11th A-T World, tied with 6 others!

In the Russian Winter meet, Mariya Kuchina HJ'ed 6-6 (1.98) for the year's highest.
She was 1 inch from her 2014 PR!

Bradley Adkins leaped over 7-6, but missed the Collegiate DDD by a half-inch!

But, as per normal this year, it was the Vault where most of the damage was done!
Theagi da Silva Braz went over a bar of 5.93, or 19-5.50, for the National Record of Brazil!
He becomes 12th on the World list, tied with 2 others!
And he beat Renaud Lavillenie, who got over 19-2.75.

Emmanouil Kiralis nabbed the Age 16 record--which just recently became Mondo Duplantis's!!--going over 5.53, or 18-1.75!
Mondo has some work to do!!

The Women's Age 34 record got a good beating this weekend!
First, Fabiana Murer went over 15-1.50 for the record!
Then, in Boston, Jenn Suhr DESTROYED Murer's mark with her 16-0, or 4.88.
Jenn tried 3 times at an OVERALL (INdoor and OUTdoor) WR height of 5.07 (16-7.50), but didn't have the speed.
Ekaterina Stefanidi gave Suhr a bit of competition, going over 15-5.75.
Suhr turned 34 on February 5th!

Lexi (Alexis, excuse me!!) Weeks became Member Number 5 of the Collegiate 15 Foot Club, as she got over 15-1, breaking her own Collegiate Frosh Class record!!
It's also the Age 19 record, although Wilma Murta recently went over 15-5.50 at Age 17!
Weeks moves from 9th A-T Collegiate, tied with 5 others, to 3rd, where she's tied with 2 others.
She moves from 24th A-T US, tied with 2 others, all the way to 10th, tied with 5 others!
Sandi Morris won that Tyson meet Vault with an "average" (for her!!) 15-5.
Alysha Newman tied her PR of 14-9.
Annie Rhodes got up to 14-5.25, making her 23rd A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others!!
In the Don Kirby meet, Kristen Brown won with a height of 14-6.
Two Collegiate women followed--Jessie Johnson at 14-2, and Mackenzie Shell with a non-PR of 14 feet even!
(Low 14 footers for Collegians are almost "so what" status nowadays!!)

Emily Grove got a non-PR height of 14-9.
The Russian Winter meet saw Anzhelika Sidorova go over 15-5.50, beating Angelina Krasnova's 15-3.50!
(IMPORTANT NOTE!!  Yelena Isinbayeva will NOT be competing INdoors this year, wanting to recover from her recent injury.  She says it's okay, but she wants to rest it!)

Adam Bragg reached 18-6.50 in the Staten Island facility.
Andrea Willis improved her HS list standing, moving from 13th to 12th on the A-T HS list, going over 13-7.25!
April Steiner-Bennett and Dimara Planell Cruz both went over 14-5.25, but Cruz's mark got her 23rd A-T collegiate, tied with 3 others!
In the Boston Men's event, Sam Kendricks's 18-11 was dominant over Shawn Barber's 18-7.25.
Ashton Eaton, competing in a few events, tied his INdoor best of 5.40, or 17-8.50.
He missed 3 times at 18-2.50!!

Before we leave the Verticals, it should be noted that both Vashti Cunningham and Demi Payne got PR's at lesser heights on their way to their recent World Class marks of 6-4.75 and 16-0.
Cunningham's FIRST High School Record was actually 6-3.50, before her ultimate height!
Payne got PR's at 15-7.25, then 15-9.75, before SHE became the 16 Foot Club's newest member!!

Tired yet?
Should I have split this post into 2 parts?
Well, hang in there, we're "almost" done--HaHa!!

Meseret Defar has RETURNED!!
In a solo effort---Abbey D'Agostina finished 26 seconds later!!--the new Mommy ALMOST got her Boston Meet Record--a quality mark of 8:30.05 dating from ELEVEN YEARS ago!!--running 8:30.83, with negative splits of about 4:17 and 4:13!
She was lapping runners in the final 3 laps!!
It's the Age 32 record!
Abbey's time in 2nd was 8:56.77.
Laura Thweatt followed in 8:57.11
This was Thweatt's first track race since her NYC Marathon debut!!

The Men's 3000 was taken by Dejen Gebremeskel's 7:42.94.
Brett Robinson of Australia followed in 7:44.29, ahead of Lawi Lalang's 7:45.07.
The Men's Mile was again Nick Willis's, who won in 2016's fastest time, 3:53.27.

The Women ran the 1500 in Boston!
(Why not the Mile??)
And it was 19 year old Dawit Seyaum who taught her Elders a lesson or two, as she won in an Age 19 record time of 4:01.86.
But Brenda Martinez gave her a little scare, as she began pulling on her with about 600 to go, ending with an INdoor best of 4:04.58!
For Seyaum, besides the Age record, she became 14th A-T World!!
Martinez moves all the way from 20th to 3rd on the A-T US list!!
Also running good times were Oiselle's Kate Grace and Australia's Melissa Duncan!
Grace's 4:06.75 went past Duncan's 4:06.93 only on the final straight!!
For Grace, she moves from 17th to 8th A-T US!
For Duncan, it's even better, as she CRUSHED the Australian National INdoor record of 4:11 and change by over 4 seconds!!
Behind them came Violah Lagat's 4:11.08, Cory McGee's 4:11.49, and Alexa Efraimson's 4:12.06!!

The Boston  HS Men's Mile went to Jack Salisbury's 4:08.74.
He beat Aidan Tooker!
The Women's race saw Stephanie Jenks sprint past Sammy Watson at the tape, winning by 0.01 in a slow 4:47.48!

A fast Mile race saw Amanda Eccleston winning in 4:26.88, giving her 8th A-T US!!
Pushed OFF my DDD was one Suzy Favor Hamilton, who ran 4:29.65 back in 1997!
Elinor Purrier's 4:29.71 becomes 8th A-T Collegiate!
She misses the US Top 24 Performers list by 0.09 seconds!!

A Boston University meet saw Jessica O'Connell beat Ashley Higginson in a 3000, 8:56.59 to 9:02.77.
In the Ocean Breeze arena, Patrick Tiernan's 7:48.55 made him 15th A-T Collegiate!

Several marks deserve SOME mention, DESPITE being run on various Oversize Tracks, thus negating them for Records or Lists!!
Most egregious of these belong to Allie Ostrander, who won the Seattle 3000 in 8:54.27!
Canada's Gabrielle Stafford was 2nd in 8:54.87, while Steepler Shalaya Kipp followed in 9:00.92.
Ed Cheserek won the Seattle 5K in 13:35.86 over Pierce Murphy's 13:40.12.
Chelsea Blaase took the Women's race in 15:43.81 over Tessa Barrett's 15:46.08!
Grant Fisher took the 3000 in 7:50.06.
Matthew Maton was 15th (!!) in 7:59.13!!
On Ames, Iowa's OT, Elise Cranny returned to action, taking the Mile in 4:38.44.
Clayton Murphy won the 800 in 1:46.13.
Also in Iowa, and also an egregious loss to the EVIL OT Gods, Molly Seidel's 15:47.07 just beat Anna Rohrer's 15:47.78!
In the Men's 3K, Justyn Knight's 7:48.71 nipped Sean McGorty's 7:48.79.
Thomas Curtin's 13:37.10 edged Marc Scott's 13:37.34 over 5000 meters of Oversize Track!!

Back to LEGAL action!
Lynsey Sharp's temporary 2016 leader of 2:00.30 took the 800 from Anima Banks's PR of 2:03.41!
Banks misses the Collegiate DDD by a mere 0.03 seconds!!

In a fast Half-Marathon (OUTdoors, of course!!), Birghanu Legesse won in 1:00:40, while Cynthia Limo's 1:06:04 took the Women's race!

Morgan McDonald's 1500 time of 3:41.80 makes him 24th A-T Collegiate.
Renata Plis won a race in Europe, winning the 1500 in 4:07.38.
Joanna Jozwik took the 800 in a fast 2:00.12, beating Natalya Lupu's 2:00.36!

A couple of CORRECTIONS!
Chris O'Hare's winning time in that HSR Mile was 3:54.59, NOT 3:54.07, as my post stated!
And in that fast House of Track 3000, it was Tom Farrell whose 7:42.47 finished between Hassan Mead and Trevor Dunbar, NOT Cam Levins!
Levins finished further back, in 5th, running 7:46.51!

In the NB Boston meet, Brianna Rollins's 7.87 beat a WORLD Class field, headed by Nia Ali's 7.89, then followed by Janay DeLoach's 7.92, Lolo Jones's 7.99, Jasmin Stowers's 8.03, Dawn Harper-Nelson's 8.03, and Tiffany Porter's 8.04!!
DeLoach had earlier won the LJ with a 21-9 leap!

Sasha Wallace won the NM meet's 60H with 7.97!
She becomes 16th A-T Collegiate!
Braxton Canady's 60H time of 7.75 makes him 21st A-T HS, tied with 2 others!

The ISTAF meet in Berlin saw Alexandra Wester's 22-9.75 win over Shara Proctor's INdoor PR LJ of 22-8!
Brittney Reese won Iowa's LJ with a good 22-4.25.

Marquis Dendy LJ'ed 27-6 (after an earlier INdoor PR of 27-4.75!).
He moves from 14th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 9th!
And he moves from 19th A-T World to 16th, tied with 1 other!
His earlier 27-4.75 had moved him to those earlier places!!
Moved OFF my World DDD was Mike Conley's 27-3.25 from 1981!!

Keturah Orji got a good TJ mark of 45-2.50.
It's her best this year!
Eric Sloan's TJ of 55-10.50 makes him 14th A-T Collegiate!
Andrea Geubelle doubled in the Horizontals, with marks of 21-5.25 and 44-0.
Omar Craddock took the NB meet with a TJ of 55-2.25.

The Tallinn Multi's were won by Kai Kazmirik's 6111 in the Hept, and Claudia Rath's Pent score of 4688!

Good 400's went to Lalonde Gordon (46.05 in the Ocean Breeze), and Antonina Krivoshapka's 51.75 Russian Winter race!

Robby Andrews won the Ocean Breeze 800 in 1:47.50
And, last but not least (!!), the Tyson meet saw a fast Women's 4X400 Relay!
Texas defeated Southern Cal, 3:27.94 to 3:28.82.
For Texas, it's the Tyson Meet Record!
For USC, they move from 7th A-T School to 5th on the Collegiate list!
Kentucky also ran good, their 3:32.51 moving them from 18th A-T School to 16th!!

Hope you enjoyed my Olympic Trials Marathon Preview and Review posts!
Next week?
STOCKHOLM (Feb 17), GLASGOW and MILLROSE (Feb 20)---and much more!!
I expect to produce SEPARATE posts for these!

See you soon!!

Dramatic close to LA 26.2's

As I tweeted after it was over---"I'm exhausted, and I didn't run even one inch!"
If you watched the race on NBC, as I did, you saw a fairly predictable group of runners become the first 6 Americans to make the 2016 Olympic team!

Galen Rupp ran 2:11:14 to win easily.
Meb ran relaxed and smiling over the last 5K to make another OG team.
Jared Ward was the best of the rest, showing his recent Road Racing successes weren't a fluke.

Amy Cragg left her struggling training partner at 25 miles, and kicked hard for the win.
Des Linden finally got going toward the end, and sprinted into 2nd.
Shalane Flanagan struggled through, but took the final team spot.

But watching these 6 cross the finish line was so emotionally draining, I've yet to recover!
Before we get to that, let's review the races.

First, a personal note.
Yesterday, I saw a notice in my apartment building saying the electricity would be turned off today, starting at 7 a.m., so workers could lay pipe---or something!
Well, by 9:30, the power was still on!
Then, a minute later, OFF it went--including my computer!
I swore and not-so-silently urged them to hurry up!
Finally, about 30 minutes into the Men's race, and about 15 minutes into the Women's race, I got power again!
So I missed the first 10K or so of the Men's race, and the first 4K of the Women's race.
That said, here's what I found out!

A huge group of men--30 or more---jogged the first few miles at 5:05 or slower pace.
No real leaders.
A smaller group of women---maybe 15---also went out slowly, with Kellyn Taylor barely in front.

The LA heat scare came true, slowing the races to a strategic level.
Galen Rupp was lost in the crowd, about 15 meters back, but basically a common place for Salazar-trained runners to be early on.
Whereas, with the women, all the predicted leaders were at or near the front---Shalane Flanagan, Des Linden, Amy Cragg, Sara Hall, and Kara Goucher.

Tyler Pennel threw in a fast mile, but didn't break away, as Meb Keflizighi, Rupp, Dathan Ritzenhein, Luke Puskedra, and Ward were right there.

The Men reached 13.1 miles in 1:06:04.
(I might not have the exact times, as there were few graphics or leaderboards on NBC's coverage.)

The Women reached halfway in about 1:14:30.
Cragg and Flanagan ran side-by-side, and had moved into a small lead---maybe 20 meters---over Linden and Goucher, with Janet Bawcom also there.

Pennel was passed by Ward after the half, and he was followed closely by Meb.
The Cragg-Flanagan duo appeared to be on an easy tempo run, conversing throughout, pouring water over their bodies.
What was surprising was Linden holding back.
Goucher also started falling back, but Bawcom was soon dropped, so it was down to 4 women.

Meb decided he wanted to try to win, so took off as he did in Boston in 2014.
Rupp stayed near, with Ward dropping back.

Word came that Ritzenhein had dropped out.
(Other known DNF's were Ben Bruce and Diego Estrada, and Annie Bersagel and Alana Hadley!)

Finally, Rupp took off, but not explosively.
But when a guy has run 10000 on the track in 26:44, and can run the Mile in 3:50, an all-out sprint breakaway isn't necessary.
In fact, his final 3 or 4 miles were never faster than 4:50, and some over 5 minutes!

He negative split the race, closing with a last half of 1:05 and some small change.
He smiled and fist pumped as he broke the tape!

Meb was even happier, waving a small American flag, and waving to the cheering crowd!

Ward looked more tired,  but was thrilled to take the 3rd team spot!
Luke Puskedra took the ominous 4th spot, over a minute behind Ward.

By 24 miles, the "twins" were still together, both almost identically dressed (Both wore white caps!).
Remember what I wrote in my Preview post?
That I thought Flanagan would want to help Cragg make the team?
Well, it became the complete opposite of that!
At 24 miles, Cragg looked like she was jogging, while Flanagan looked exhausted, ready to possibly DNF!

Cragg, instead of taking off for the win, stayed by her friend's side, urging her forward.
Each time Shalane failed to move WITH her, Amy would fall back---almost stopping!!--continually giving her BFF a much-needed psychological boost!

Then, looking back, she saw Linden sprinting toward them, closing the gap with each stride.
After final words with Shalane, Cragg surged, and it was over.

She crossed the line in 2:28:27, with Linden following in 2:29:00.
Goucher periodically made headway toward Linden, but soon started slowing in the draining heat.
However, with a totally spent Flanagan, some thought Goucher might even catch her!
Nope.

Flanagan barely made it to the finish, then in Cragg's arms, dropped slowly to the ground, finally carried---yes, CARRIED!---to a wheelchair!!

What an incredibly dramatic image!!
This is what trying to make the Olympic team is all about!
Or SHOULD be about----athletes giving EVERYthing they have, not leaving one ounce of unspent energy or desire in their wake!

I cried,
I cried, not just because my fave, Kara Goucher, took that dreaded 4th, but because of the spirit and courage and total comaraderie shown between these athletes!

Meb and Rupp hugging at the line, fully respecting each other, and welcoming Ward into their embrace.

Cragg's and Flanagan's teamwork throughout the race, but especially in the final 5K, when it was obvious Flanagan was in big trouble!

And then that dramatic closing image---of Cragg struggling to hold up Shalane, as she dropped to the ground, then seeing Shalane being carried away, nothing left!!

I hope the Track and Field portion of the Trials offer the same!

Olympic Trials Marathon Preview

The first 6 members of TeamUSA for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games will be known between 12:15 p.m. and 12:55 p.m. Pacific Time tomorrow.
(Times given above are approximate, based on speed of races!  The Men's race begins at 10:06 a.m., while the Women's race begins at 10:22 a.m., Pacific Time!)
Before looking at tomorrow's races, let's take a quick peek at the "modern" history of the event.
Following are the Top 3 finishers for the Men beginning in 1972, and for EVERY Trials race run by the Women, as they began in 1984.

1972
MEN-----Kenny Moore (2:15:57), Frank Shorter (2:15:57), Jack Bachelor (2:20:30)
NOTE: Moore & Shorter finished holding hands crossing the line!

1976
MEN-----Frank Shorter (2:11:51), Bill Rodgers (2:11:58), Don Kardong (2:13:54)

1980
MEN-----Tony Sandoval (2:10:19)
NOTE: The OG were boycotted by the US, upon order of President Jimmy Carter!
Thus, I'm giving just the winner!

1984
MEN-----Pete Pfitzinger (2:11:43), Alberto Salazar (2:11:44), John Tuttle (2:11:50)
(SIX seconds separating the 1st three!)
WOMEN-Joan (Benoit) Samuelson (2:31:04), Julie Brown (2:31:41), Julie Isphording (2:32:26)
NOTE: Joanie had knee surgery 17 days before the race!!  Women did NOT yet have the 5000 or 10000 on the track in the OG!!

1988
MEN-----Mark Conover (2:12:26), Ed Eyestone (2:12:49), Pete Pfitzinger (2:13:09)
WOMEN--Margaret Groos (2:29:50), Nancy Ditz (2:30:14), Cathy O'Brien (2:30:18)
(O'Brien had set HSR of 2:34:24 four years earlier as Cathy Schiro!)

1992
MEN-----Steve Spence  (2:12:43), Ed Eyestone (2:12:51), Bob Kempainen (2:12:54)
WOMEN--Janis Klecker (2:30:12), Cathy O'Brien (2:30:26), Francie Larrieu (2:30:39)

1996
MEN-----Bob Kempainen (2:12:45), Mark Conover (2:13:05), Keith Brantly (2:13:22)
WOMEN--Jenny Spangler (2:29:59), Linda Somers (2:30:06), Anne Marie-Lauck (2:31:18)

2000
MEN-----Rod De Haven (2:15:30), Pete De La Cerda (2:16:18), Mark Coogan (2:17:04)
WOMEN--Christina Clark (2:33:31), Kristy Johnston (2:35:36), Anne Marie-Lauck (2:36:05)
NOTE: Hottest day & most difficult course??

2004
MEN-----Alan Culpepper (2:11:42), Meb Keflezighi (2:11:47), Dan Browne (2:12:02)
WOMEN--Colleen De Reuck (2:28:25), Deena Kastor (2:29:38), Jen Rhines (2:29:57)

2008
MEN-----Ryan Hall (2:09:02), Dathan Ritzenhein (2:11:07), Brian Sell (2:11:40)
WOMEN--Deena Kastor (2:29:35), Magdalena Lewy-Boulet (2:30:19), Blake Russell (2:32:40)
NOTE: Hall is the OT Marathon record holder!

2012
MEN-----Meb Keflizighi (2:09:08), Ryan Hall (2:09:30), Abdi Abdirahman (2:09:47)
WOMEN--Shalane Flanagan (2:25:38), Des (Davila) Linden (2:25:55), Kara Goucher (2:26:06)
NOTE: Flanagan is the OT Marathon record holder!

Except for 1972 and 2000, the Men's winning times were sub-2:13.
Only the last 2 races were sub-2:10.

For the Women, 5 of their 8 races were sub-2:30.
But just 2 of those were sub-2:29, and just 2012 was sub 2:26!

So what does this history say about tomorrow's races?
That heat and the toughness of the course determines the speed?
That most OT Marathon races are somewhat tactical?
That most OT Marathon races are NOT runaways?

The weather is supposed to be rather warm tomorrow!
At race start, temps should be around 60.
At the end, the temps will be close to 80!!

The course is said to be flat, but it has MANY turns!
It starts with a 2.2 mile stretch, then segues onto a 6 mile loop, which \will be run 4 times!

Several runners have withdrawn from the race, for various reasons.
Ryan Hall & Matt Tegenkamp (retirement)
Aaron Braun, Chris Derrick, Abdi Abdirahman, and Ryan Vail (injury/lack of training)
Sarah Crouch (unknown)
Lauren Kleppin and Deena Kastor (injury)

So who's gonna win, and make the team?
Who will be the FOURTH placer??
Following are my predictions!

MEN
GALEN RUPP----------The odds-on favorite, and the biggest gamble?  Good enough to run 2:05 against World Class competition in Berlin or London.  But this is his first 26.2 race.  He says he's ready!  But he intends to race the 3000 at USATF and the WC, both in Portland, just 4 weeks after this race!  Also, if he makes the team in the 10000 (and the 5000??), will he give up his Marathon spot to the 4th place finisher??

LUKE PUSKEDRA------Ran 2:10:24 in Chicago last fall!  He says he's ready too!  Can he duplicate his Chicago race here?  In interviews, seems very mature and relaxed.

SAM CHELANGA---Has raced close to Rupp on the track!  Has been winning some road races.  Just became a citizen last year!

MEB KEFLIZIGHI---The Veteran of Veterans!  Won Boston in 2014!  Can handle any type of course.  Probably most popular Marathoner around!  But he's 40 now!  When they break away at 4:38 to 4:42 pace, can he stay with them?

DATHAN RITZENHEIN--Fourth in 2012, just 8 seconds from making the team, he might be the most motivated!!  Yes, he made the team before, but he's had injury problems, and has changed locations, leaving the NOP group to return to Michigan to train!  Has great track speed, but not much of note recently!

There's numerous men who, on a perfect day, could break through to be competitive with the lead group!
They include Nick Arcianaga, Scott Bauhs, Shadrack Biwott, Ben Bruce, Fernando Cabada, Bobby Curtis, Diego Estrada, Brett Gotcher, Elkanah Kibet, Matt Llano, Tyler McCandless, Tyler Pennel, Sean Quigley, Jake Riley, Jared Ward, and Jeff Eggleston.

WOMEN
SHALANE FLANAGAN--The clear favorite of most "experts"!  She admits to having some minor physical problems during her early build-up to this race, but seems to be in great shape now.  Has the best track speed of anyone here!  Prefers running hard from the gun!  Led Boston in 2014 for over half the race!  Started training with Amy Cragg in recent weeks!  Might want to help Cragg make the team!

DESIREE LINDEN---Formerly Davila!  Led much of Boston last year!  Tough runner.  Almost won 2011 Boston with 2:22:38 PR!  Says she wants to WIN this race, not just make the team!  She's never won a major race before!  Is consistently fast in her Marathons.  Could be best suited for the warm temps!

KARA GOUCHER--Probably the woman most WANT to make the team.  The clear sentimental favorite.  Will have massive Oiselle cheering section in LA (and online)!  Has run two 1:11 Half-Marathons recently, winning both!  She's 37, but seems ready to return to sub-2:30 range!

AMY CRAGG---Formerly Hastings.  Has run exact same time of 2:27:03 twice in recent years!  Like Ritzenhein, might have the strongest motivation, as she was also 4th in the 2012 race!  As noted earlier, has been training recently with Flanagan, and they might run together through most of the race!  Like Goucher, she's married to a former star Collegiate and Pro runner!

SARA HALL--With husband Ryan newly retired (but coaching her!), she could leave the Hall name imprint on this race!  Ran the fastest recent Half--a 1:10:07.  Brought her Marathon PR from 2:48 to 2:31 last year!
Has been very good in the Steeplechase and Cross Country.

As with the Men, there's many Women lying under the radar, who could surprise on race day!
They include Janet Cherebon-Bawcom, Serena Burla, Annie Bersagel, Kellyn Taylor, Adrianna Nelson, Jennifer Bergman, Addie Bracy, Ashley Brasovan, Caitlin Comfort, Heather Lieberg, Becky Wade, Renee Metivier-Baillie, Meghan Peyton, Clara Santucci, and Hilary Dionne.

Two "Age Group" runners will be fascinating to watch.
Colleen De Reuck is nearing 52 years of age!
And Alana Hadley is 19.

NBC is going to have the entire race televised!

Not sure whether I'll do a separate post for these races tomorrow.
There's several good T&F meets happening this weekend, including the NB Boston gala on Sunday!
But I'll have the results no later than Sunday afternoon!!

Record-Smashing Weekend

With FOUR High School Records broken, and with a MASSIVE array of Top-Grade Pole Vault marks, and with TONS of other VERY interesting marks & developments--this past 48 hours or so has been simply AMAZING!!
Especially when you consider it's still just February 7th, and we have SIX WEEKS to go this INdoor season!!
So why don't I shut up, and start reporting what I have!

Drew Hunter took down Alan Webb's HSR's in the Mile and 1500, running 3:42.83 at 1500 enroute to his Mile of 3:58.25.
With a better kick than Webb had in 2001, Hunter was "just" 0.44 seconds faster than Webb at 1500, but then his sprint took him to a 1.61 improvement of Webb's Mile time!
His 440 yard splits were 59.6, 60.2, 60.9, and 57.6.
His 880's were 1:59.8 and 1:58.5.

Like Webb in his OUTdoor HSR (also 2001), Hunter stayed back--in 8th or so--until the 3rd quarter, when he began to move up on the lead group of 6 or 7 Pro's and Collegians, including the winner Chris O'Hare (3:54.07).
He passed a couple of them in the last 200!
And guess what?
He thinks he can run much faster---and is entered in the Millrose Wanamaker Mile!!

Oh yes, besides the HSR's, he also gets both (1500 & Mile) Senior Class records!

Vashti Cunningham had some decent competition too in her quest for the HSR in the HJ.
Already owning the OUTdoor HSR , she finally took care of its INdoor sister, clearing a bar set at 1.95, or 6-4.75.
Also clearing 6.4.75 was one Chaunte Lowe, who seems ALL the way back from giving birth!
And Liz Patterson wasn't any slouch in 3rd, clearing 6-3.50!
Cunningham won the event on fewer misses!

So Lisa Bernhagen's legendary 32 year old HSR of 6-3 from 1984 is--GONE!!
As is her Senior Class record!!
If Vashti were a Collegian, she'd be 8th A-T!!
As it is, she's now 13th A-T US, tied with 4 others!!

The 4th HSR of this STUPENDOUS weekend of Record-smashing activity goes to---of course!!---Mondo Duplantis!!
As I tell you this, please remember this KID is still just 16 years old, and is only a HS Sophomore!!
The new INdoor HSR is now 18-0.50!!
That's right--he's the FIRST person to clear 18 feet INdoors while in HS!
He cleared 5.20, 5.30, and 5.45 (17-10.50) on first tries!
His 5.50 clearance was on his 3rd attempt!
He stopped there.

The 17-10.50 clearance moved him from 9th A-T HS, tied with 2 others, to 3rd.
The next height took him from 3rd to 1st!

He broke his own Soph Class record.
And according to sources, his mark is the WORLD Age 16 record, beating a mark set by Raphael Holzdeppe!!

The above are the 4 HSR's.
But Mondo's record wasn't the ONLY sky-grazing (or is that ROOF-grazing, as these were all attained INdoors?  LOL) PV mark.

Demi Payne is now a certified member of the SIXTEEN FOOT Club!!
She cleared exactly that height (4.88) on her 1st attempt, after clearing 4.45 on her 2nd, then passing to 4.65, where she made it on her first, then to 4.76 (2nd), and finally to 16-0!!

Payne moves from 3rd A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 2nd.
And she moves from 14th A-T World, tied with 1 other, into 3rd!!
Only Jenn Suhr and Yelena Isinbayeva are ahead of her INdoors!!

Speaking of Isi, she withdrew from the Volgograd meet when she felt an old injury flare up while warming up.
Her appearance at the Russian Winter meet appears possible, however!
(She's stated she was ready for a World Record!!)

In Payne's event, 2nd went to Melinda Withrow's 14-9, while Tori Pena was 3rd with 14-5.25, and Kristin Brown reached 14-1.25!

Demi's former Collegiate arch-rival did pretty good too, especially considering it came in an UNPLANNED meet!!
Sandi Morris decided to compete at the last minute, but got a PR from her efforts, reaching 15-9, or 4.80.
This moves her from 5th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 4th.
And she moves from 19th A-T World, tied with 3 others, all the way to 9th, tied with 2 others!
She took 3 attempts at 16-0!!

And Ms Suhr?
Trying something "new" (!!), she No-Heighted at her opening bar of 4.72!!

Megan Clark is now a 15-footer!
Well, 15-1, to be exact!!
She moves from 8th A-T Collegiate, tied with 5 others, to 3rd, tied with 1 other.
And she moves from 23rd A-T US, tied with 3 others, up to 11th, where she's tied with 4 others!

Alysha Newman, a Canadian, was 2nd with 14-9, becoming 9th A-T Collegiate, tied with 5 others!

Others with good PV marks included--
Leslie Brost, with 14-6.25
Jake Blankenship, with 18-9.25
Ekaterina Stefanidi, at 15-5.75.
(She missed her 3 tries at 4.84, or 15-10.50!)
Katie Nageotte, with 14-5.25
Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou reached 15-7.25
Mary Saxer got over 15-1
Kristin Hixson reached 14-5.25
Finally (!!), Renaud Lavillenie shakily got over a Karlsruhe Meet Record height of 19-4.75
He beat both Shawn Barber and Holzdeppe!

Sammy Watson had a pretty fair day at The Armory Invitational!
She first ran 2:45.32 over 1000 meters, thus gently brushing past Kate Murphy's recent 2:45.36, and becoming HS's 2nd fastest INdoors!
(She said she can run 2:40!!)
It's the Junior Class record, and moves her from 8th A-T HS to 2nd!
She returned to run 600 meters in 1:30.08, which makes her 7th A-T HS!!

Brian Herron ran what would have been the new Frosh Class 400 record--47.39---except that he used Vanderbilt's 300 meter OT to do so!!

There's so MUCH to report, that I'm going to just list ALL the remaining DDD list-making marks, with little commentary.
I'll try to place them into "groups", like sprints, jumps, etc.

Kim Collins sprinted 60 meters in 6.53, getting the Age 39 record!!
Orlando Ortega ran 60H in 7.49, getting Spain's National Record!
Vernon Norwood ran 200 meters in 20.93.
Aries Merritt returned just 5 months after having a kidney transplant, and ran his heat, semi, and final 60H races in 7.77, 7.65, and 7.60!!
Bryce Robinson sprinted 200 meters in 20.63, while Ashley Spencer ran it in 23.19.
Kendra Harrison ran the fastest 60H of 2016, a 7.82.
This moves her from 9th A-T US, tied with 3 others, to 7th, tied with 2 others!
She also becomes 21st A-T World, but tied with 7 others!!
In Karlsruhe, Mike Rodgers took over the World 60 lead, gunning a 6.52.
In a great race, Dafne Schippers's 7.08 (She ran a 7.07 heat!) took down Barbara Pierre's 7.09 and Dina Asher-Smith's 7.11.
(On Twitter, Dina put up a photo of the 7-Eleven store's famous sign to indicate what she'd run!!  Funny!)
Cindy Ofili ran 60H in a fast 7.87.
In a New Mexico meet, Lolo Jones WON a 60H race in 7.95, her fastest post-surgery!
She beat the 7.97 of Janay DeLoach, and the 8.02 of Queen Harrison!!
Jones had run her heat and semi in 8.12 and 8.01, while DeLoach did 7.99 (heat!) and 8.02, and Queen did 8.02 and 8.07 in her prelims!
Christian Coleman ran 6.54 for the flat 60, becoming 17th A-T Collegiate, tied with ELEVEN others!!
Michelle Lee-Ahye continues running fast 60's, adding a 7.18 to her growing list of sub-7.20's!
Devin Jenkins sped a 20.58 over one lap!
Trayvon Bromell ran 6.64 for 60, but added a 20.64 in the 200!
A couple of female HS'ers ran some good times in an Idaho meet.
Lauren Rain Williams, now a Junior, ran 7.48 and 23.48 for 60 and 200, while Zaria Francis, a Senior,  ran 7.40 and 24.10.
Lauren's 200 was just 0.09 seconds off her PR from last year!
Yunier Perez ran 60 meters in 6.53.
Ewe Swoboda continues to run fast, adding a 60 in 7.15.
Alina Talay ran 60H in 7.97!!
In the House of Track's 4th meet, Allyson Felix's 7.24 took down English Gardner's 7.25, and Jenna Prandini's 7.27.
In 4th was Kim Duncan, with 7.39!!
In the heats, Gardner ran 7.22, while Prandini ran another 7.27, and Felix eased through in 7.32.
Felix later ran a leg on a pick-up 4X400 Relay team, hitting 53.2.
In open 400's, Courtney Okolo and Ashley Spencer ran the World's 2 leading times of the year--51.16 for Okolo, and 51.56 for Spencer.
Okolo's time was just 0.04 seconds from her PR, while Spencer's time was 0.01 away from her's!
And Deon Lendore had a rust-buster of 46.00.
In a 4X400 Relay, Southern Cal's Women ran a good 3:31.48!

See what I'm saying?
That's just the Sprint events for this one 48 hour period!!!

Well, let's see what damage was done in the Middle-Distance events--from the 500 through the Mile---excluding Drew Hunter's earlier-reported HSR's!!

The most "damage" was probably done to Mary Cain-s once-oh-so-promising career!!
In a surprising development---especially after her slow 9:23 for 3000 recently!--Cain's name showed up on the Karlsruhe 1500 entry list---with no trumpet-blaring media circus announcement of same!
She shoulda stayed home--and maybe run in the Armory Invite meet instead!
Save the time and expense!
Anyway, in a race won by Axumawit Embaye in 4:08 and change, Cain went to last at the gun, and remained there throughout.
Well, ALMOST last, as her 9th place finish in 4:20.73 was better than just 1 other!
I hope she recovers---from whatever's troubling her---both physically AND mentally!!

Well, on to the marks I spoke of.
Georgeanne Moline seems to like the INdoor 500!!
Remember her 1:08.84 from last year??
Well, this time she ran "just" 1:09.44, but winning easily!
In a separate heat, Sage Watson ran the same distance in 1:10.52.
Michael Cherry whipped around the track 3 times, his 1:17.17 over 600 meters making him 11th A-T Collegiate!
Cyril Grayson's 1:17.68 misses my Collegiate DDD by a "serious" 0.01 seconds!!
BTW, Cherry missed my US Top 24 Performers list by 0.04!
Sam Bransky ran the 600 in 1:17.38, becoming 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!
Sabrina Southerland ran 800 in 2:03.10, making her 15th A-T Collegiate!
Isaiah Harris, a Frosh at Penn State, ran the 800 in a quick 1:47.31.
Donovan Brazier followed up his 1:45.83 shocker with a still-decent time of 1:47.80!
Remember that he's a Frosh!
Adam Kszczot won the Karlsruhe 800 in 1:45.96.
There were some good times run on Oversize Tracks in this category.
Will Traubel (sp?) ran an OT 600 in 1:17.53.
Titania Markland and Nicole Choquette did the same, hitting times of 1:28.51 and 1:29.57.
These were on Notre Dame's 352 yard monster!
In a fast Mile---but also on Notre Dame's OT!--Nicole Sifuentes won in 4:30.50 over Leah O'Connor's 4:32.76.
Oiselle's Rebecca Tracy followed in 4:34.23, while Michigan's Shannon Osika ran 4:34.34.
On legal ovals, Laura Thweatt had a good double, beginning with a Mile in 4:41.50.
She followed that with a 3000 in 9:09.49!
In the House of Track meet, NOP's Treniere Moser took the 800 in 2:02.75.
A good Men's 1500 saw Eric Jenkins run 3:42.32 to beat Paul Chelimo (3:42.49) and Ben Blankenship (3:42.95)!
Angel Piccirillo won a Mile in 4:36.40.
She's now a Senior at Villanova!
Imagine it's the Penn Relays, and it's the Collegiate Men's 4X1Mile Relay.
Now remember what happened at 2015's version.
(Ed Cheserek and Jordan Williamz playing footsy, thus throwing away a PERFECT chance at the OUTdoor 4X1Mile Relay record!!)
Well, in a weekend race---on a legal track!!--4 Georgetown runners ran between 3:57.4 and 3:58.4--taking the first 4 places, of course!
Their times added to a potential 4X1Mile Relay time of about 15:52.0!!!
Let's hope these dudes use their feet to KICK ASS at Penn, instead of playing footsy!!
BTW, their names are Ahmed Bile (son of Abdi!!), Cole Williams, Amos Bartelmayo, and Michael Lederhome!

Finally (again!!), in an IAAF announcement, Ayanleh Souleiman and Abdelelah Haroun said they will join Genzebe Dibaba in WR attempts at Stockholm's XL Galan meet.
Souleiman will go after the 1000 mark of 2:14.96, while Haroun will chase the 500 WR of 1:00.06.
Dibaba, of course, has already said she wants the Mile WR of 4:17.14.
Imagine if ALL THREE succeed!!

The "long" distances (3000 meters is LONG??) didn't offer much in quantity, but did have a bit of quality.

The USATF Cross Country races in Bend, Oregon were won by Craig Lutz in 31:42 and Mattie Suver in 36:38.
Times were slowed by windy weather and a muddy and tough course!
A good 3000 race happened at the House of Track affair.
Matthew Centrowitz moved up in distance, outlasting Hassan Mead's final push, 7:40.74 to 7:40.96.
Centro's time makes him 11th A-T US.
Mead's time moves him from 20th to 12th on the A-T US list!
Trevor Dunbar ran 7:43.33 to become 18th A-T US.
Cam Levins ran a non-PR in the 7:42's!
Alexi Pappas out-duelled former-NOP member Tara (Erdman) Welling, 9:05.12 to a 9:09 for Welling.
There was also a good 3K race at The Armory Invitational!
Marielle Hall won over Sheila Reid, 8:54.70 to 8:56.50.
Heather Kampf, best known as the "Queen of the Road Mile", finished 3rd in her self-named "virgin" 3000, timed in a solid 8:58.34!!
Amanda Eccleston followed in 8:59.69, while Jordan Hasay trailed in 9:03.47!!
On Notre Dame's evil OT oval (say that fast--it's tricky!  LOL), Molly Seidel ran 3000 in 8:57.10.
She beat Michigan's Erin Finn, who ran 9:01.25!

I know this is a LONGGGG one already, but I'm almost finished!!
(I'd thought of putting all the PV activity in a separate post, but I'd been there and done that, soooooo!!)
Anyway, here's the Field events (minus the already-reported PV stuff, and Vashti's HJ record!), and some Multi's stuff to finish things off!
Two Italians--Marco Fassinotti and Gianmarco Tamberi--now share their National Record in the HJ, both jumping 7-8.50, or 2.35--the highest of the year!
Both miss my World DDD by a quarter-inch!!
Kamila Licwinko reached 1.97, or 6-5.50.
Ruth Beitia tied her own Age 36 record of 6-4.25.
Keturah Orji TJ'ed a fair distance of 44-2.50.
(Where's that hoped-for 47 footer??)
In the New Mexico meet, Greg Rutherford showed up, and took away the National Record of Great Britain, LJ'ing 27-1.25, or 8.28!
But he missed my World DDD by about 2 inches!!
Brittney Reese out-leaped Janay DeLoach, 21-5.50 to 21-4.75.
Jonathan Addison LJ'ed 26-9.75, making him 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 3 others.

Raven Saunders had a mixed week---though "mixed" for her equates to FANTASTIC for almost anybody else!
She Super-PR'ed in the Weight Throw, surpassing her recent previous best by about 2 feet (!!), getting the same mark as the winner (winner determined by 2nd best mark in the series!), 68-2.25!
That said, she fell off in the SP, getting "just" 59-5.50!
Jeneva Stevens had a good double, throwing the Shot 60-0.50, and the Weight 77-11.
Gwen Berry reached 80-5 (24.51) in the WT, while DeAnna Price got 71-1.25.
Berry bettered her own Age 26 record!
Jessica Ramsey threw the Shot 58-8.50.
Konrad Bukowiecki got his own Age 18 record in the SP, hitting 67-6.25!!
On the US HS level, Jill Shippee's WT of 60-4.75 makes her 11th A-T HS!
Rudy Winkler reached 74-10.50 in the WT, making him 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other.
He missed the US DDD by 7.25 inches!

In Multi's activity, two more Women got good Pentathlon totals.
Annie Kunz scored 4363 points, making her 18th A-T Collegiate, and 19th A-T US!!
Makebe Alcide's 4380 pointer wasn't a PR, but was solid nonetheless.
And Curtis Beach scored 5839 points in the Heptathlon.
But he wasn't done!
Just minutes after finishing the Hept 1000, he ran the open 800 in 1:53.11.
A Day in the Life!
Japheth Cato scored the win with his 5964 total, while Bilal Abdullah also beat Beach with his 5891.

On a sad note concerning the Multi's, Jessica Ennis-Hill said a flare-up of an achilles injury is causing her to NOT compete INdoors this season---hoping to get healthy for Rio!

Let me close by repeating my NOTE I added to my last post---about which meets comprise the IAAF World Tour.
They are the just-completed Karlsruhe meet, the NB Boston, Stockholm, and Glasgow.
I'd said that Berlin's meet was also an IAAF World Tour meet.
It's NOT!!

Thank you for hanging in there!
Next up will be--barring the unforeseen!--my Preview of the Olympic Trials Marathon races!
Probably the day before!
I MIGHT have a mid-week post---but only IF I find enough marks to warrant it!

See you soon!