For Blog Post 250.....

Yes, this is my 250th post since the first on December 9, 2013!
That's an average of one post every 3.3 days, give or take, or two per week!
Seems my posts have gotten longer, and this won't be any different!
I've been honest in my opinions, and as accurate in what I present as is humanly possible!
I still love doing it---probably more than ever---and will continue until I breathe my last!

With that last thought in mind, it's maybe ironic that one of the books I'm now reading is a new collection of "uncollected" Allen Ginsberg poems!
Its title is---"Wait Till I'm Dead"!!
He's been my favorite poet for decades, and this book keeps his reputation with me intact!

Now, on to this weekend's report!
Because I have so much, I'll be compressing a lot of it into "by event" listings!

The Texas Relays Women's Pole Vault represented maybe the best & worst T&F has to offer!
The entry list showed the names of the 3 American 16 footers--Jenn Suhr, Sandi Morris, and Demi Payne.
The circumstances that SHATTERED that dream are completely understandable and acceptable!
Nonetheless, the illusion of a GREAT contest came apart, one by one!

First, Morris tweeted she'd talked with her coach and regretfully was withdrawing, due to a change in plans!
Then, Suhr announced her ankle tightness was still bothering her, and she'd decide at the last minute whether to compete.
She didn't.
Then, Payne dislocated her thumb when a pole broke as she was  getting started!
(She says it was ugly, but she'll be fine!)
But enough GOOD news in the PV somewhat offset that rocky start!

Shawn Barber won the Men's event, his 19-4.75 getting the Texas Relays Meet Record.
Devin King might be finally realizing the potential he showed in HS!
Stuck in the 17-8 to 18-1 range, he broke out with a solid PR of 18-8.25!
This makes him 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 6 others!
Audie Wyatt was 2nd (This was in the Collegiate event, not the one with Barber!), also PR'ing with 18-6.50!.
Torben Laidig got over 18-4.50.
Joey Uhle also reached 18-4.50!

The Women's Collegiate Vault was--overall--better than the Open event!
But they also had some problems.
It was finally won by Jessie Johnson, with a 14-5.25.
She took 3 tries at 14-9!
In the Florida Relays, Diamara Plenell Cruz won with 14-5.25.
In another meet, Megan Clark added a half-inch to her OUTdoor PR, reaching 14-9.50.
She was 6th A-T Collegiate, but with 6 ties!
She's still 6th, but minus any ties!
In the TX Relays Vault, April Steiner-Bennett reached just 14-2.50.
However, I neglected to mention that her earlier 14-9 was the Age 35 record!

In HS action, Mondo Duplantis has done it again!
He got an OUTdoor PR, his 17-8.50 making him 14th A-T HS, tied with 3 others!
It's also the Soph Class record!
He missed 3 times at 18-1.
Rachel Baxter got over 13-6--not a PR--and Carson Dingler got up to 13-2.

Sticking to HS'ers for a minute, the  Women's 100H results did some revision to my DDD list!
My decision to make Tonea Marshall the INdoor AOY is seeming a good one, after her Texas performance!
Starting with a heat time of 13.26, which made her 13th A-T HS, she quickly (sic!) altered that!
Her final was a blazing 13.04 (1.2 wind), moving her to 4th A-T HS!
In 2nd was Brandee Johnson, whose 13.18 makes her 7th A-T HS, tied with 1 other.
Johnson doubled in the 300H, her 40.87 leading the nation so far!
It also makes her 15th A-T HS!
Norman Grimes ran the 300H in 36.33.
In the Florida race,  Chanel Brissett--from Pennsylvania--ran 13.19, making her 9th A-T HS!!
And it's just April 3rd!!

Eddie Lovett had a good early season 13.39 110H time in Florida, while David Oliver opened in Texas with 13.44.
Jackie Coward ran the 100H in 12.85.
Australian Michelle Jenneke won her Olympic Trials race in 12.93, an OG Qualifier!

The Throws had some mixed results.
Raven Saunders won her event, but with a poor 56 feet and change!
But Tripp Piperi's 71-0 and Jordan Geist's 71-9.25 were OUTdoor PR's!
Geist is now 12th A-T HS!
Knocked OFF my list was an oldie--Ron Semkiw's 70-1.75 from 1972!!
Piperi is now 18th A-T HS!
He also had a good DT, reaching 204-3.

Seems like yesterday that Curtis Thompson's shocking JT of 265-10 gave him the Collegiate Soph Class record!
Well, Ionnis Kyriazis took that away, the TX A&M Soph reaching 268-7!!
He's now 8th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!

AG Kruger opened with a HT of 241.3.
Shelbi Vaughan reached 192-9 in the DT.
A good Women's DT in Florida saw Paige Blackburn winning with her 199-10.
In 2nd was Florida State's Killian Knibb, her 195-4 not a PR!
Katelyn Daniels was 3rd with 190-4.
Tavis Bailey threw the Discus 212-1.
DeAnna Price had another solid Hammer effort, a non-PR 234-6.
And Mackenzie Little, a Stanford Frosh, threw the Javelin 183-4.
This brought her to within 4 inches of the Collegiate A-T Top 24!
And to within 3 feet of the Collegiate Frosh Class record!

Stanford's Invitational brought the usual number of good distance races, its specialty!
I succumbed, and bought a month of Flotrack, so I could watch the 12 hours of almost non-stop 5K's and 10K's and 3000SC's and 1500's, not to mention some DMR's!
Couldn't resist!
(I get a whole month, and they'll be livestreaming all of Mt SAC's distances too!! LOL)
Anyway, lots to report---and not all of it from Stanford!

In Florida's 4X800 Relays, Penn State's 7:19.98 beat Georgia's 7:20.03, with Brannon Kidder and Robby Creese running for the winners!
The Women's race saw the NJ-NY TC winning with 8:34.00, with Ashley Higginson part of the squad!
In the Texas meet, Donavan Brazier anchored the Texas A&M team to a time of 7:18.95!

Sticking to 800's, Florida had a deep Men's race.
Puerto Rico's Wesley Vazquez missed his 2014 PR (and National Record!) by just 0.11, running 1:44.75!
(Remember that Daniel Rudisha opened awhile back with 1:44.78!)
Andres Arroyo PR'ed in 2nd with 1:45.78.
He was followed by the 1:46.05 of Isaiah Harris, and the 1:46.42 of Kidder!
Vazquez got the Florida Relays Meet Record!
Chanelle Price won the Women's race in 2:01.72, beating Cory McGee's 2:02.73!
Collegian Ci'eira Brown ran 2:02.82 in 3rd!

Since it includes an 800 leg, I'll report Mississippi State's outstanding SMR time of 3:13.12!
I don't have an A-T list for this event, but the Collegiate Record is 3:12.13 by Arkansas in 2000!!
It's the Florida Relays Meet Record.
Brandon McBride reportedly anchored in 1:45!!
Second was Florida's 3:14.54, with Andres Arroyo anchoring in 1:47!
Ryan Clark ran one of the 200's!

Ashley Higginson, besides that 800 relay leg, won the 1500 in a good 4:12.81.
Another Steepler--Erin Teschuk--won a Stanford 1500 in 4:15.30, beating Kate Van Buskirk's 4:15.65!
Both women are Canadians!
Two other Stanford 1500's were taken by Claudia Saunders's 4:17.33, and Malika Waschmann's 4:16.53.
Both of them run for the Cardinal!
Henry Wynne took a good 1500 in 3:38.35, beating Craig Engels's 3:38.82.
In the Texas Relays, Jonah Koech won the Men's Mile with 4:00.82.
The Women's 1500 saw Dana Mecke's 4:15.93 beating the PR of Laura Roesler, her time being 4:18.17!
She laughed about having to run the longer race, saying she'll stick to the 800!
Cecilia Barowski of Princeton beat Canadian vet Jessica Smith in an 800, 2:02.62 to 2:02.97!

Mason Ferlic won a 3000SC in 8:33.95.
However, Hillary Bor's winning time at Stanford was 8:30.70, the World leader!
Zak Seddon took 2nd in 8:33.09!
Rylee Bowen, still just a 10th Grader, ran 6:53.34 in the 2000SC.
Rachel Johnson won the longer 3000SC in 9:55.16.
Paige Koube, from Harvard, chopped about 25 seconds from her PR, running a good 9:50.21.
She misses my Collegiate Top 24 by just 1.20 seconds!!
Mel Lawrence ran her first sub-10 time in 3 years, taking 2nd in 9:50.91!
She was fighting injuries!

Some good HS races come from Stanford!
Eduardo Herrera, who recently ran a 4:04+ Mile (See previous post!), doubled in a solid 3000 time of 8:15.01 and a Mile of 4:11.41.
His 3K time misses my HS Top 24 list by 1.74 seconds!
Second in the longer race was Brody Smith's 8:19.04!
Smith also doubled, running the Mile in 4:12.81.
Connor Dunne ran the year's fastest 800, time of 1:50.83.
In other meets, Infinite Tucker ran 300H in 37.16, while Elija Godwin ran the flat 400 in 46.82.
Emma Gracy Hurley ran a Two Mile (NOT 3200!!!) in 10:22.58, missing my DDD by 10 seconds!


I lived for 15 years (1973 to 1987, with some added time in the 90's) in Humboldt County CA, specifiically Arcata and Eureka!
(I ran my fastest Marathon at the 1978 Avenue of the Giants race, in 2:56:02!)
Anyway, the next town north of Arcata is McKinleyville!
So I was happy to see a McKinleyville girl--Morgan Coonfield-- win the 3000 in 9:44.43, and return to take 2nd in the Mile with a good 4:49.55!!
In a HS Distance Medley Relay, Fiona O'Keefe anchored her Davis team to a good time of 11:52.87!
First I'd heard of an O'Keefe race in 2016!

In the more "elite" Stanford events, Dominique Scott is finishing off her Collegiate career, and won a 5000 in 15:25.10, a PR!
She becomes 18th A-T Collegiate!
Kim Smith, coming back from injuries and giving birth, ran her first race in awhile, finishing in 15:32.77, a solid rust-buster for this 34 year old!
Knocked OFF my Collegiate DDD list (by Scott) was the venerable Shalane Flanagan, her 15:30.60 dating from 2003!!
Emma Bates finished way back in 15th, not even breaking 16 minutes!
In another section, Berkeley (UCB) Soph Bethan Knights broke 16 with her winning time of 15:52.91.
Remember, she holds the HSR in the OUTdoor Two Mile with her 9:53.54 from 2014!
Paul Chelimo took the fastest Men's race with his 13:36.10.
His last lap was 56.3!
The featured 10000's saw some good times.
Len Korir outkicked Shadrack Kipchirchir, 27:58.65 to 27:58.91.
Scott Fauble just missed the 28:00 OG Q time, coming in 3rd with his 28:00.45!!
In 5th, in his first track 10K, was German Fernandez, his time being 28:06.64!

Another Men's 10K saw the NCAA Division III record being broken, Ian LaMere's 28:38.63 doing the trick!
He's from Wisconsin-Platteville!
His splits were 14:32 and 14:06!!
Another solid performance--memories of Marielle Hall and Natosha Rogers abounding--came from Portland U's Lauren LaRocco!
Reportedly coming in with a 2015 PR in the 5000 of 17:38 (!), she split 16:54 (!!), then 16:21 (!!!), for a final winning time of 33:15.75!
She ran her final 1600 in 5:00!!
Watch for her!
Laura Thweatt--the 2:28:20 NYC Marathon rookie of 2015--won a tight duel with Alphine Bolton, winning on the last lap with 31:52.94.
Bolton's time was 31:54.20.
Tara Welling ran a PR in 3rd, 32:02.80!
Beth Potter and Fionnula McCormack followed a second or 3 back of Welling!
Then came two Collegians!
Harvard's Courtney Smith ran 32:08.32 to just edge Tennessee's Chelsea Blaase's 32:08.39!
They're now 8th and 9th A-T Collegiate!
Following them was another VERY special story--that of Stephanie Bruce!
She had her second child in less than 2 years (!!) just 6 months ago, yet ran an Olympic Games Q time of 32:14.42.
(The Q time is 32:15!)
She did this--pretty much solo for the final 4 laps!--by running her last 1600 in 5:04, and her final lap in 71!!
Knocked OFF my Collegiate DDD was Stephanie Herbst's 32:32.75 from 1986.
If you recall, that was the CR then, but what happened in that race provided the meat of Frank Murphy's outstanding book on female distance running--"The Silence of Great Distance"!
During the race, former CR holder (Herbst broke her record!) Kathy Ormsby left the track  (while battling with Herbst!), ran to a nearby bridge, and jumped off, becoming paralyzed for life!!
I STRONGLY recommend Murphy's book!! (See my post on "Culture"--one of my more popular posts!!)

Take a break, because there's much more!!
(Is this too long?  Should I have broken it up into two posts??)

Normally, the Texas Relays produce TONS of fast sprint times, most of them windy!
This time, the winds were fairly mild, and so were the times--relatively speaking!
Tavis Hester's 9.99 100 had a wind of 3.0.
Michelle Lee Ahye had a windy 11.13 100.
Natasha Hastings won the 200 in 22.84, but had an illegal wind of 2.7.
However, Morolake Akinosun caught a legal breeze of just 1.7, so her 11.07 leads the World!!
It's not a PR!
In a 4X100 Relay, Trinidad and Tobago's 43.06 beat a USA Red team's 43.16!
Jenna Prandini ran 3rd leg for the US, while new HS PRO Khalifa St Fort anchored for the winners!

Andre De Grasse anchored a Canada 4X100 Relay team's 38.11 World leader!
It's the Florida Relays Meet Record!
He also won a wind-aided 100 in 9.99 (wind of 3.3!).
LaShawn Merritt dipped down to the 200, winning in 20.23--legal wind!
Ahmed Ali, an Alabama Senior, ran 20.16 in another race, with his wind being the legal limit of 2.0.
It's the National Record of the Sudan!
And it's the World leader!!
Gabrielle Thomas, a Harvard Frosh, ran a legal 200 of 22.75.
In a very windy Florida race, (3.7!), Tiffany Townsend's 22.38 beat Veronica Campbell Brown's 22.46!
Shayla Sanders won a windy 100 in 11.15.
Sanders ran the 2nd leg (with Kyra Jefferson the anchor!) of Florida's 42.85 4X100 Relay winner!

Good 400's came from Ebony Eutsey (52.08 in Florida), Delilah Muhammed (52.64 at Stanford, beating beautifully-bedecked Fashion Diva Maggie Vessey's 54.80!), Robin Reynolds, and Kyra Jefferson (52.09 to 52.11 in Florida!)
The Men added a 45.43 (Florida Frosh Kunle Fasasi) and 45.56 (Mike Berry, in 2nd!) in Florida.
Good 4X400 Relays were run in Florida--Pure Athletics's 3:27.67 beating Canada's 3:30.92.
In the Collegiate race, Florida's 3:26.28 beat Kentucky's 3:28.45, South Carolina's 3:31.14, Tennessee's 3:31.29, and Harvard's 3:32.03!
(What's with Harvard suddenly having all these studs-- male and female??!!)
Anyway, Florida's time moves them from 8th A-T School to 5th!
Kentucky becomes School number 17 on my DDD!
Florida's Men won with a good time of 3:03.42.
A team called the Gainsville Elite ran 3:00.96!
In Texas, LSU's 3:01.83 beat Texas's 3:02.18!
The Texas Women won in 3:26.54--NOT a School record!!
Morolake Akinosun and Courtney Okolo ran legs, Okolo anchoring in a reported 49.9!!

In 4X200 Relays, Pure Athletics's 1:30.56 beat Star Athletics's 1:31.49.
Tori Bowie and Shaunae Miller ran for the winners!
The Canadian Men's squad won in a National Record time of 1:19.20!
Only the United States and Jamaica have run faster as National Teams!
Andre De Grasse ran lead-off!!

Teddy Tamgho returned with a rust-busting TJ of 54-6.75.
Chantel Malone's LJ was measured at 21-10.25.
Eleventh Grader Tara Davis (who crashed a hurdle in a 300H race--she's okay!!) TJ'ed an excellent 43-2--and had one or two other jumps around 43!!
She becomes 10th A-T HS!!
Rachel McCoy--who might not be in college now, but was with a JC in 2014--HJ'ed a solid 6-4, her previous PR being 6-2!
She'll turn 21 in August!
(She right now ranks Top 5 in the World, according to Tilastopaia!!)
Jarvis Gotch LJ'ed a good 27-0.50!!

The Multi's produced some good marks--and one sad shocker!
Trey Hardee DNF'ed the Texas Decathlon,  after pulling up in the opening 100!
He competed in 1 or 2 of the 10 events, then quit!
Harrison Williams took the event in 7842.
The Women's Heptathlon was a squeaker--with Taliyah Brooks edging Payton Stumbaugh, 5991 to 5985!!
They both missed my Collegiate Top 24 by a respective 12 and 18 points!!
Cedric Dubler took the Australian title with 8114 points, sending him to Rio!!

Finally (!!!!), two Road races to report!
In the Women's Half-Marathon race in Prague, Kenya's Violah Jepchumba blasted through her first 10K in 30:29--just a few seconds off the Road World Record!!--then continued a bit slower to finish in 1:05:51!
Her first 10K was split into 5000's of 15:05 and 15:24!!
In the Carlsbad 5000--run over a new course!!--Meseret Defar beat Kenyan newcomer Caroline Kipkurai, 15:02 to 15:13.
(Times may be wrong!  A few people said Defar's winner was 14:59!!)
Third was the Netherlands vet Susan Kuijken, in 15:28.
Taking 5th--but missing the Masters record of 15:48 by 5 seconds!--was Jen Rhines!
The Men's race saw another vet take 3rd, Bernard Lagat's 13:39 nipping his own 40 & over record by 2 seconds!!
The winner was Joshua Cheptegai's 13:24.
Wilson Too took 2nd in 13:29, while Hassan Mead ran 13:39 also, but was edged by Lagat!
Lawi Lalang's 13:58 took 7th!

And that does it for Blog Post Number 250!!
Onward to 500!!!