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!!