Weather subdues Relay meets

What coulda been and shoulda been--wasn't!
The historic Penn and Drake Relays were held back and slowed down by steady rain and wind.
Not completely, but enough to move both to the level of "comparatively average".

But this sport is nothing if not one that learns to adjust to whatever is thrown at it.
When the "expected" falls short, the "back-up gang" moves in to take its place!

And that's what people like Gwen Berry, Tyrese Cooper, Brandon McBride--and Michael Slagowski did these past couple of days!
But let's return to the puddled tracks and fields of the Penn and Drake affairs first!

Kirani James has LaShawn Merritt's number--at least at the Drake Relays.
He sloshed his way around the oval one time in 44.08, leaving Merritt's 44.22 in his wake.
He broke his own Meet Record, but it wasn't the fastest April 400 ever.
Michael Johnson's 43.75 on April 19, 1997 in Waco is the best April 400!
Bralon Taplin took 3rd in 44.92.
One other record to fall was the Age 37 mark, which Chris Brown took possession of with his 45.82.
This makes him the oldest sub-46 man on record!

Jenny Simpson sprinted past @FastK8, as 1:59 woman Kate Grace calls herself on Twitter, to win the 1500 in 4:06.44.
Grace--of Oiselle--ran a good 4:07.15, while Blue Mile Road winner--in 4:37--Heather Kampf was 3rd in 4:07.26.
Much further back--in 8th and 9th--were Mary Cain (4:12.62) and Brenda Martinez (4:14.21).
Neither had a good kick, finishing with 67 second laps, while Simpson and Grace were in the 61 & 62 second kick range!

Tia Brooks tied her PR (from just a few days earlier!) with her 63-6.75 winner over Michelle Carter's 61-5.
It gave her the Meet Record!
And it moves her from 9th A-T US to 6th!

The Drake PV's and HJ's were moved INdoors because of the weather!
Sandi Morris won with an average (for her!) 15-5, but then attempted the startling height of 5.04, or 16-6.50!
She missed her 3 tries, but to pass all the interim heights, and go from 15-5 to more than a foot higher is---well, risky!
Katerina Stefanidi got over 15-1, while both Katie Nageotte and Mary Saxer reached 14-9.
None of them bettered their INdoor PR's!

LaVern Spencer matched her's, however, with her 6-4.75, with Vashti Cunningham finishing 3rd with just 6-0.75!
Annie Rhodes matched her INdoor best--14-5.25--from earlier this year!
The Men's Vault was held OUTdoors--during a rare dry spell--with Shawn Barber winning easily with 18-8.75.

Some good Hurdles results happened DESPITE the rain!
Omar McLeod won the 110H in 13.08 over David Oliver's 13.31.
In 5th came the first OUTdoor race for new kidney owner Aries Merritt, his 13.61 a promising start to his Rio hopes!
The Women's 100H saw all 8 runners go under 13 seconds!
DURING a rainstorm (!!), Kendra Harrison beat back the World Class field with her 12.56, with Kristi Castlin (12.62), Brianna Rollins (12.65), Nia Ali (12.77), Jasmin Stowers (12.81), and Queen Harrison (12.87) the fastest runners-up!

But maybe the most interesting race of the meet was the Mixed Shuttle Hurdles Relay!
They alternated Men and Women, with all of them running the 110's (the women's heights adjusted, of course!).
Times aren't really important, but get a load of these line-ups!!
Team Blue's 54.42 winner had Kristi Castlin, Spencer Adams, Nia Ali, and Eddie Lovett!
Team Red (Jasmin Stowers, Hansle Parchment, Jackie Coward, and Aries Merritt) was 2nd in 54.77.
Third in 54.89 came Team Green's Kendra Harrison, Aleec Harris, Brianna Rollins, and Omar McLeod!
DQ'ed was Team White's 4-some of Janay DeLoach, Andrew Riley, Queen Harrison, and David Oliver!

Penn's contributions came mainly from HS'ers!!
Oh, you had those "USA vs the World" races, but when all was said and done---and you can blame PART of it on the weather!--their efforts were brought to heel by the "kids"!

Jordan Geist continued his outstanding season (both INdoors and OUT!!) by PR'ing with a SP mark of 73-0.75!
This is the Junior Class Record!!
And it moves him from 12th A-T HS to 7th!

The Collegiate Women's DMR was dominated by the anchors of Katrina Coogan and Kaela Edwards.
But their 4:40+ 1600's were outrun by HS Junior (!!) Kate Murphy's 4:37.65, which brought her Lake Braddock (VA) team to about the 12th or 13th fastest time--11:36.52.
(I don't keep lists for this event for HS'ers!)
Her final lap was about 66!
Another spectacular anchor was run by Drew Hunter, whose 4:00.1 1600 barely eked out the DMR win for his team!!

19 year old HS'er Weini Kelati won the 3000 in 9:19.91, which makes her 17th A-T HS.
Knocked OFF my list was Alexa Efraimson's 9:23.24 from 2014!

In other HS news--in drier weather, I presume!--
Tyrese Cooper shattered his own Frosh Class 400 record with his great 45.94!
He broke it by 0.49 seconds!!
Ja'Mari Ward doubled in the LJ and TJ, the latter mark of 53-7.50 making him 5th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
He fell just 2 inches shy of the LJ DDD with his 25-6.75.
Mondo Duplantis raised his own Soph Class record in the PV to 17-9.
He moves up 1 place, from 14th, tied with 3 others, to 13th, tied with 1 other, on the HS list!
American Fork's Men ran possibly the 4th best 4X1600 Relay time of 17:01.26.
Elena Bruckner threw the Shot 53.7, making her 8th A-T HS!
Alyssa Wilson raised her OUTdoor best to 53-4.75, which makes her 10th A-T HS!
Anna Cockrell ran a non-PR 400H time of 57.38.

Last but not least, recent 1:48.70 800 man Michael Slagowski (See an earlier post!!) became yet ANOTHER HS sub-4:00 Miler, gunning a great 3:59.54 solo run at the Nike Jesuit Twilight Relay meet in Portland!
I believe he was timed enroute at 1500 meters, but I haven't been able to find out the time yet!
I'm working on it, however!
His Mile time makes him 6th A-T HS!

I mentioned some names at the onset!
Already covered were Cooper and Slagowski!

Gwen Berry has had a good week.
A few days ago, she threw the Hammer 240-4, a good early season mark.
But she topped that--and her PR--by exploding out to 246-5 (75.11), moving her from 5th to 2nd A-T US!
She also reached the World list, becoming 21st A-T World!
She had a back-up throw of 241-8.
Jeneva Stevens took 2nd with 230-6.

Brandon McBride basically time-trialed an 800 time of 1:44.63, as 2nd was about 9 seconds behind!
This makes him 3rd A-T Collegiate!
And it gives him the Senior Class record!
That record was held by Mark Everett, dating back to 1990!
He's just 0.08 from the Collegiate Record!

Jenn Suhr had tweeted about still being bothered by ankle tightness.
But that didn't seem to hurt her at the LSU meet, where she began with a 3rd try clearance at 4.62, then made her winning height of 15-9.75 on 1st try, before missing 3 times at 16-2.50!!
Kaitlyn Petrillose took 2nd with a good 14-6.
It's one of her better recent marks!
BTW, unbeknownst to me, she's apparently a Professional now, despite her affiliation at this meet still being Texas!
But T&FN tweeted that she did, indeed, go Pro!
She's a Senior, so becomes ineligible for the NCAA!

Adam Nelson is apparently in comeback mode at Age 40, reaching a SP mark of 67-2.25.
Raven Saunders had an average (for her!!) SP mark of 60-1.75.
She added okay marks in the DT and HT!

That LSU meet offered a bunch of solid marks.
Quenesha Burks LJ'ed 22-2.25.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn rode a 2.1 wind to a 100H time of 12.73.
She's a Kentucky Frosh!
Aaron Brown took a 3.1 wind to run 9.95 in the 100.
Athletics Canada--without Andre DeGrasse--ran a 4X100 Relay time of 38.92, beating LSU's 38.93!
The LSU Women just edged Texas A&M, by 0.001, with both getting 43.20's!
Kentucky and Florida followed in 43.33 and 43.37!
Shelbi Vaughan threw the Discus 196-1.
Damon Forbes LJ'ed 26-9.75.
Lexi Weeks PV'ed 14-11 to beat Alyssa Newman's 14-9.
Alex Anankwah's 800 time of 1:46.62 beat Donavan Brazier's 1:47.33.
Shamier Little took the 400H in 55.14 over the 55.20 of Kish Seymour!
Kyra Jefferson ran the 200 in 22.79.

But the best mark was Taylor Ellis-Watson's 400 winner of 50.78.
It beat Claudia Francis's 51.55, and makes her 20th A-T Collegiate!

A Hinds CC athlete--Keitavious Walter--won a 200 in 20.57.
He also anchored his 4X100 Relay team to a 39.53.
He's just a Frosh!

DJ Smith became the US leader in the HJ with his 7-6.
He's a 2014 graduate from Auburn!
Noah Martin became the HJ's HS leader with his 7-3.
His best last year was 6-11.
Maya Evans LJ'ed 20-6.75 to become the HS leader.
Whitney Ashley's 212-0 DT misses her PR by 7 inches!
Sydney McLaughlin ran her initial OUTdoor 400H in 58.43!
Carolina Carmichael PV'ed 14-6.75.
Amber Hughes, a Tennessee Junior, TJ'ed 44-2.

More from Penn
Penn State's Men's 4X800 Relay team ran 7:17.17.
Kaela Edwards anchored her 4X800 Relay team's 8:26.34 2nd place with a reported 2:00.83!!

DeAnna Price keeps getting better in the HT!
Her latest went 238-5.
It moves her from 3rd to 2nd on the A-T Collegiate list!
And she moves from 8th to 7th on the A-T US list!
Jillian Weir's HT reached 226-5 in a separate meet, as it beat the PR of Shelby Ashe's 216-8.
Keturah Orji only LJ'ed, but her 21-6 was a winner!
Second was new Georgia Bulldog Kate Hall, who competed unattached, reaching 21-2.
(Hall also ran the 100 in 11.57!)
Cejhae Greene's 10.01 beat Kendell Williams's 10.06.
The wind was reportedly 0.0!
(BTW, that's the MALE KW!!)
Jessie Johnson PR'ed in the PV with her 14-6.25.
She misses the Collegiate DDD by one-half inch!

Before I close--till tomorrow's Payton Jordan post!!--a few corrections and omissions to take care of.

Fredric Dacres is from Jamaica!
So his recent 223-2 DT is their National Record!

That 42.22 time I said was by Dafne Schippers & her Netherlands squad was NOT!
Yes, Schippers ran 2nd leg, but it was a mixed team, with American Tianna Bartoletta on anchor!!
So the Netherlands NR remains their 42.32. from last year!

I said that then-26 year old Henry Rono was a Senior at WSU in 1978!
Nope, he was a SOPH!!!
He still holds the SOPH Class records in the 3000SC and 5000!!

One more item.
The USATF Half-Marathon Championship race was held yesterday.
Christo Landry's 1:02:52 beat Scott Fauble's 1:03:06 and Scott Bauhs's 1:03::15.
The Women's race was won by comebacking Tara (Erdmann) Welling's 1:10:25.
Des Linden took 2nd in 1:11:06--not bad just 2 months after the OT Marathon!
Brianne Nelson was 3rd in 1:11:24.

The PJ fields are--for the most part!--LOADED!
So my next post SHOULD have a plethora of solid marks to report!
See you then!