My mind is like a hoarder's house!
Cluttered to the nth, and needing a Yard Sale to rid it of its excess baggage!
So Come one, Come all--everything here is FREE!!
Age Records
But closer to the core, CLASS Records!
One of my personal favorite sections of my T&F Record Book is my Class Records.
This means the best ever from the 9th Grade in HS to one's Senior year of College!
(I keep these in my Miscellaneous folder, for what that's worth! LOL)
For the most part, Class Records are fairly straightforward.
A student (athlete) starts HS, goes 4 years, then becomes a college student (athlete) for 4 more years.
Yes, several athletes will redshirt (sit out) a year--normally their Freshman year--while they adjust to College life and Collegiate T&F training (& heavier throwing implements, higher hurdle heights, etc).
They still have all 4 years of eligibility!.
Normal Ages for HS'ers are from 14 through 18.
Some don't begin until they're 15, and graduation might come AFTER they've turned 19--but usually only by 1 to 4 months!
Basically the same with Collegiates!
If they begin at 18--and redshirt 1 year--they will graduate at Age 22.
Occasionally, they will be a few months past their 23rd birthday.
The problem (for me, and Class Record keepers in general) are the outliers--the ones who stretch their College careers PAST the 5th year!
These athletes tend to be in the high-23's, and several are 24, 25, even 26!!
(The latter is rare. The best known example was Henry Rono, who shattered several CR's in 1978, when still a Washington State Senior at Age 26!)
But this year, Demi Payne is ending her Collegiate OUTdoor eligibility at Age 24.
When she competes at the NCAA meet, she'll be 24 years and 8+ months old!
The question becomes--Is it fair to have one almost 25 compete against athletes early-23 or 22 years old?
(A very few might even still be just 21--although high-end 21.)
I say NO!!
BUT the "official" record keepers---in this case, the NCAA and Track and Field News--say it's okay.
(The NCAA gave Conor McCullough a 6th year of eligibility in 2015!)
On the HS level, the recent outlier has been Weini Kelati.
T&FN took care of that, saying she would NOT be eligible to break HSR's (or Class Records!) in 2016, but would be included on lists!!
I VERY reluctantly agreed with T&FN on the latter!
And while I included McCullough's 2015 marks on my Collegiate DDD, and will include anything Payne does this year--I do so reluctantly as well!
There should be a LIMIT to the Age of a HS Senior and a College Senior!
No one past Age 19 years and 6 months as of August 31st of their Senior year should be either listed or eligible for Records---of ANY KIND!!
I say August 31st, as HS Seniors can set HSR's and make HS lists up to that date, as long as they're not yet competing for their College team!
As for College Seniors, no one OLDER THAN 23 (as of the NCAA Championship meet of their Senior year!) should be either listed or eligible for Collegiate Records--especially Senior Class Records!!
That said, I will continue to honor all marks that T&FN does!
But I will mention their Age when doing so, if I feel they're "too old"!!
Here's some "odd" trivia about Class Records!
Did you know that Ed Cheserek holds the HS Soph Class record in the 3000SC??
He ran 9:00.11 in the 10th Grade!!
(What could he run now??!!)
The 10.98 run by then-amateur Candace Hill last year is the Soph Class record!
But no Class Record is faster until you reach the Collegiate Junior Class record, which is 10.92!!
Mary Cain's amateur 800 HSR of 1:59.51 as a Junior isn't bettered until the Collegiate Junior Class
As for her 4:04.62 in the 1500, no one tops that until the College Senior class!!
Vashti Cunningham holds all 4 HS Class Records in the HJ!!
This is for OUTdoors, of course!
If you remember, she jumped 6-4.25 just before turning Pro, thus completing her hold of the HS HJ Class Records!
Kendell Williams might be on her way to holding all EIGHT Class Records in the Heptathlon!!
She holds all 4 HS records in the event, and the Collegiate Frosh and Soph Class Records--so far!
This year, she needs to beat Akela Jones to keep the streak going--and score at least 6391 points!
Are there any events where the progression of marks gets better each year--from the HS Frosh Class record to the Collegiate Senior Class record?
Yes!!
But it's rare!
On the Men's side, only the Long Jump meets that requirement!!
But the Women do it in THREE events--the 10000, the 3000SC, and the Pole Vault!
In the latter event--the most often competed in--the progression goes like this (starting at HS Frosh)--
13-3 to 13-8 to 14-2 to 14-7.50 to 14-10 to 15-0 to 15-1.50 to 15-5.75.
I have a STRONG feeling that won't last out the the next few months!!
We speak often--at least in the past 2 or 3 years--of the year being the "Year of----name the event".
In 2014, for the Men, it was the "Year of the HJ".
In 2015, for the Women, it became the "Year of the PV".
What about THIS year??
And how is it measured?
For me--and this blog--I suggest it should be the event which, by year's end, has the most 2016 marks on one of my DDD's, or Top 24 A-T Performers lists!
Using that, here's the CURRENT top candidates for "Year of---"!
For HS Men, so far, it's the Shot Put, with 3 marks from 2016!
The PV has 1, while all others have none!!
For Collegiate Men, the Javelin Throw leads with 2.
The 800, 110H, PV, DT, HT, Decathlon, and 4X400 Relay have 1 each, while all the rest have zip!
For US Men, the 200 leads with 2.
The DT, JT, and HT have 1 apiece, while all the other events have none!
For the World Men, the Marathon leads with 2.
The 200 has 1.
All others have ZERO!!
For HS Women, it's the Pole Vault, with 4.
The Hammer throw has 3.
The 1500, TJ, and JT have 1 each, while all the others strike out!
For Collegiate Women, the PV matches the HS'ers with 4!
The 10000, 3000SC, and the 4X400 Relay have 2 apiece.
The 100, 5000, HJ, SP, DT, JT, HT, and the 4X100 Relay have 1 each.
All others---none!
For US Women, the PV ALSO leads in a big way with 4!!
With 1 each are the 400, 100H, SP, JT, and the HT.
All others have none!
The World Women are led---sic!!--by the PV!!
There's 3 already from 2016 on that list!
The Marathon has 2.
The 100H gets 1.
All the others--zip!!
Speaking of Age Records (which I was a LONG time ago!!), following are the Oldest an athlete has been to achieve a mark--the marks selected by me!
This is for OUTdoors only!
(I'll list the time/distance/height--not the event--in their usual order, then give the athletes name and his/her Age.)
The marks given should be seen as "under" or "sub" that mark!!
9.90 (Justin Gatlin at 33) 10.90 (Merlene Ottey at 37)
20.00 (Floyd Heard at 34) 22.00 (Ottey at 35)
44.00 (Michael Johnson at 33) 50.00 (Jarmila Kratochvilova at 33)
1:43.00 (Johnny Gray at 32) 1:58.00 (Jearl Miles-Clark at 37)
3:30.00 (Mo Farah at 32) 3:58.00 (Maracica Puica at 35)
3:50.00 (Mike Boit at 32) 4:30.00 (Puica at 35)
7:30.00 (Bernard Lagat at 35) 8:30.00 (Edith Masai at 39)
8:10.00 (Farah at 31) 9:20.00 (Regina Jacobs at 35)
12:50.00 (Brahim Lahlafi at 32) 14:30.00 (Liliya Shobukhova at 30)
27:00.00 (Haile Gebrselassie at 35) 30:20.00 (Berhane Adere at 30)
2:05:00 (Geb at 35) 2:20:00 (Irina Mikitenko at 36)
8:00.00 (Ezekiel Kemboi at 31) 9:20.00 (Marta Dominguez at 34)
13.00 (Allen Johnson at 35) 12.50 (Gail Devers at 36--She ran 12.50 exactly at 37!)
48.00 Felix Sanchez at 34) 53.00 (Marina Styepanova at 36)
7-9 (Stefan Holm at 32) 6-7 (Inga Babakova at 36)
28-0 (Larry Myricks at 33) 23-0 Jackie Joyner-Kersee at 34)
59-0 (Jonathan Edwards at 32) 50-0 (Francoise Mbango at 32)
19-6 (Sergey Bubka at 33) 16-0 (Yelena Isinbayeva at 31)
70-0 (Brian Oldfield at 40) 70-0 (Larisa Pelechenko at 36)
230-0 (Virgilius Alekna at 40) 230-0 (Zdenka Silhava at 34)
300-0 (Jan Zelezny at 35) 230-0 (Barbara Spotakova at 30)
270-0 (Igor Astapovich at 37) 250-0 (Anita Wlodarczyk at 30)
8500 (Dan O'Brien at 32) 6500 (JJK at 36)
My final subject are the HS 10000's--for both Men and Women!
The Men's HS Top 24 Performers list has just 12 marks of under 30:00!!
The slowest mark (24th place) is 30:30.2.
But even worse, only 5 marks date from this century--from 2002 to 2012.
The other 19 are from 1964 (!!) through 1985!!
That's right--there are NO Men's 10K marks on my list from between 1986 and 2001!!
The Women's list shows a WORSE trend, if that can be believed!
Their slowest mark (again, 24th A-T HS) is a ridiculous 36:19.84!!
There are just 7 Women who have run faster than 35:00 in HS!!
As with the Men, the 21st Century SUCKS!!
Just 4 marks date from this century!
One each in 2002 and 2005, then 2 in 2012!
All the others are 1996 or earlier!
What can be done?
What SHOULD be done--to rectify this??
I URGE someone like Flotrack, or Mile Split, or just some innovative Guy or Gal--or some Meet Director (Brooks PR, NBN, even the Pre Classic!!) to put on a track 10000--one each for Men and Women.
They should invite the Top 20 to 30 distance runners from each gender to the event!
All the best--from the top 1500/Milers, to the distance (3000 on up!) specialists--and tell them to leave nothing behind---except some blood, sweat, and tears!!
I guarantee that BOTH Top 24's would be DRASTICALLY revised!!
With just ONE race each!!
Well, that's all I have!
(Time to break out the champagne, bells and whistles!! LOL)
See you soon--with hopefully TONS of good marks from this weekend!
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