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!