Upsets in Birmingham

As the calendar moves ever closer to Rio--and for the United States, to Eugene in July--it becomes less about Records and Marks (Is that heresy for me to say??), and more about who's beating who, who's competing, who's injured, who's had a bad hair day!
The latest Diamond League meet--the just concluded Birmingham affair--told me one thing--No one is guaranteed Gold in Brazil in August!
No one!!

Both Caterine Ibarguen and Valerie Adams LOST!!
For Ibarguen, her 34 meet win streak in the Triple Jump ended in Birmingham!
Leading after her 47-9.25 in round 3, she was overtaken by Olga Rypakova's 6th round effort of 47-11.25!
(Keturah Orji--47-11 at the SEC's!!)
Olga Saladukha was 3rd with 47-3.

While not the same---as Adams is still on her way back from injury--it's always a shocker when she loses!
And this time, the winner not only beat Adams, but moved up on the A-T US list!!
Tia Brooks, having the best year of her career, got her best SP mark in the 4th round.
Adams tried, but her 5th round throw of 64-5 wasn't enough!!
Brooks's 64-8.75 moves her from 6th A-T US to 4th!!

Not exactly an upset, but definitely interesting, English Gardner beat Dafne Schippers in the 100, although their times of 11.02 and 11.09 were slow, as they had to fight a wind of 1.2!
Tianna Bartoletta took 3rd in 11.11.
They had earlier heat races, with Gardner's 11.02 leading the Q's.
Bartoletta and Desiree Henry had followed with 11.07's.
Schippers cruised in her heat--an 11.23.

David Rudisha showed he MIGHT be in London WR shape again!!
In a rip-roaring 600, Rudisha opened with 200's of 23.31 and 23.86 (47.17), then fell to 25.93, for a final time of 1:13.10.
He barely beat Pierre Ambroise Bosse, who finished in 1:13.21.
I don't keep OUTdoor 600 records or lists, so I opened my World's Greatest in Athletics book to see what I could find!
As of December 31, 2014, Rudisha and Bosse would rank 2nd and 4th A-T World.
Johnny Gray's 1:12.81 is the WR, dating from 1986.
Then there's a hand-timed 1:13.2 by John Kipkurgat, dating from 1974!
Rudisha breaks his own Birmingham Meet Record, as well as his National Record of Kenya.
Bosse gets the National Record of France!
Third--in a PR of 1:15.06--was Erik Sowinski!
That apparently ranks somewhere south of 10th A-T US on the OUTdoor list!
Joshua Ralph of Australia was 4th in 1:15.50.

Asbel Kiprop nabbed the Birmingham Meet Record with his runaway winning time in the 1500--3:29.33.
He won by almost 4 seconds!!
Abdelaati Iguider's 3:33.10 took 2nd, while Nick Willis ended 3rd in 3:34.29.

For Francine Niyonsaba, her 1:56.92 in the 800 set a Meet Record!
France's Renelle Lamote was 2nd in 1:58.01.
Melissa Bishop ran good in 3rd, a 1:58.48.
Lynsey Sharp also broke 2:00 with her 1:59.29 in 4th.
The 3 Americans ran okay--but JUST okay!
Chanelle Price's 2:00.80 nipped Ajee Wilson's 2:00.81 in 6th and 7th, while Laura Roesler's problems continue, her 2:01.54 back in 9th not boding well for Eugene!

Another Birmingham Meet Record fell in the Men's 3000SC, which saw another runaway victory!
Consesius Kipruto finished in 8:00.12, with PK Koech closest in 8:10.19.
Jairus Birech was well back in 5th with his 8:20.31.

Kendra Harrison ran against a wind of 0.3, her 12.46 getting the Meet Record!
She beat an All-Star field, with Brianna Rollins in 2nd with 12.57, Kristi Castlin in 3rd with 12.75, and Dawn Harper-Nelson's 12.78 taking 4th.
Sally Pearson had some problems (Don't know what happened!!), ending with a slow 13.25 in 7th!!

Good news from the Men's HJ!!
Mutaz Barshim broke out of a lengthy (over a year long!) dry spell, winning in a World leading 2.37, or 7-9.25!
He beat Erik Kynard's 7-8.50.

Kirani James ran an "average" 44.23 to take the 400, and get the Birmingham Meet Record!!
Isaac Makwala was well back in 44.97!

ALMOST getting a MR was Marquis Goodwin, whose 27-7.50 LJ beat Michael Hartfield's 27-2.50!
Angry about the new rule limiting the final 3 attempts in the LJ to the top 4 athletes after 3 rounds, Greg Rutherford missed the cut with his 26-9.75 in 5th!!
Did he purposely miss out, maybe to add emphasis to his protest?
Especially in front of his home crowd??

Andre De Grasse fought a wind of 1.5 to edge Alonzo Edward in the 200, 20.16 to 20.17.
Hot Ameer Webb cooled off a bit, just 5th in 20.62.

The Women's PV--missing several biggies (Isi, Suhr, Morris, Payne)--was one of the best events in Birmingham.
Yarisley Silva is all the way back, as her winning 15-10.50 beat a class field.
Ekaterina Stefanidi's 15-7.75 nipped Nicole Buchler, who had the same height.
Fabiana Murer broke her own Age 35 record with her 4th place mark of 15-5!
Wilma Murto got an OUTdoor PR with her 14-9.
Also going over 4.50 were Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou and Katie Nageotte!

Other Birmingham events included---
Cassandra Tate's 54.57 edging Elidh Doyle's 54.57 in the 400H!!
Georgeanne Moline came back from her recent hurdle stumbling disaster, running 54.63 in 3rd, beating Delilah Muhammad's 54.75.
Floria Guei's 50.84 was a mild upset in the 400 over Christine Day's 51.09.
AgeLESS Kim Collins beat the ageING Michael Rodgers, both running 10.11's in the 100.
Mihara Palameiko's JT of 215-6 easily beat Kathryn Mitchell's 209-9.
Piotr Malachowski threw the Discus 221-5, beating Robert Harting by an even 5 feet!
The Women's 5000 began with a 3 minute K, then slowed to 3:12's, with Vivian Cheruiyot thus walking to a 15:12.79 win.
Mercy Cherono's 15:12.85 took 2nd, with Genevieve LaCaze getting a PR of 15:27.13 in 6th, and 42 year old (Actually, she's 42 years and about 9 months old!!) Jo Pavey ending in 10th with her 15:47.64.
Last---and maybe in some degree LEAST!!--came Brit God Mo Farah in the 3000.
Wanting the British National Record---already his--he got it---barely!
His time of 7:32.62--based on the WGIA book list (as of December 31, 2014)--ranks just 65th best performer!!
My Top 24 World list ends at 7:29.00!
GOAT??
No way!!
BTW, 2nd was 11.59 seconds behind!!

Lots of great High School news--mostly from the California State and the Great Southwest Classic meets!

Leading the way in the Men's PV was a historic 2-man battle at the GSW.
Never before had two HS men gone over 18 feet in the same season!
And never before had they done so in the same MEET!!
Chris Nilsen, the OUTdoor HSR holder at 18-4.75, started jumping at 16-0, clearing on first attempt.
He also cleared on 1st tries at 16-6, 17-0, 17-6, and 18-0!!
He needed all 3 tries to get his winning height of 18-3.
Mondo Duplantis had gone over 18 INdoors, but had reached "just" 17-10 OUTdoors!
He began at 17-0, but needed all 3 attempts!
He got 17-6 on first try, then needed 2 for 18-0!
Mondo broke his own Soph Class record!
He moves from 14th A-T HS to 9th, tied with 1 other.
He becomes the 10th HS'er to go over 18 feet OUTdoors!
Nilsen missed his 3 tries at a new HSR height of 18-6.50!



Rachel Baxter won the Cal State PV with 14-2, then tried 3 times at a HSR height of 14-8!!
McKenna Caskey's 13-8 in 2nd makes her 23rd A-T HS, tied with 2 others.
Erika Malaspina also cleared 13-8, but it's not a PR.
At the GSW, Andrea Willis also didn't PR, but jumped 13-7.25 for the win.

Michael Norman had a solid Cal State meet.
He took the 200 (20.42) and 400 (45.77), then anchored his 4X400 Relay team with a 44.9 split!
Great Oak's Isaac Cortes blazed a 55.8 final 400 in a 4:04.62 1600, then ran 1:50.75 to take the 800!
Kaelin Roberts took the Women's 400 in 52.28, and anchored her 4X400 team, in a fast time, but I haven't seen any times given--just comments that it was FAST!
The Carson 4X100 squad ran a great 45.06, after a heat in 45.16!!
The GSW Men's 200 saw Frosh Tyrese Cooper take 3rd in 20.74, with Shamon Ehiemus's 20.56 the winner.
Cooper apparently jogged into the finish, but still ran 46.04 in the 400!!
Christine Aragon negative split her 800, running 63.8 and 62.3 for a 2:06.09.
Jamaican youngster Shiv Smalling blazed the 100 in a windy (3.0) 10.08, beating American Jace Comick's 10.09.
KaTia Seymour PR'ed by almost 5 tenths of a second (based on her 2015 best!) in the 100, as her 11.26 makes her 20th A-T HS, tied with 2 others.
She also won the 200, running 23.44 against a breeze of 0.1.
Tia Jones, a Freshman, continues to amaze!
Starting INdoors in the 60H, and continuing OUTdoors in the 100H, she's been shattering Frosh Class records left and right!!
Her latest DESTROYED the Frosh Class record--13.03!!
She moves from 10th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 3rd, also tied with 1 other.
Her time is faster than the Soph Class record, and actually LEADS all HS'ers in 2016!!
And Carson Dingler added a half inch to her PV PR of 13-8, her 13-8.50 moving her from 22nd A-T HS, tied with 2 others, to 19th, tied with 1 other!

There's going to be just 2 American Track League meets this year!
The first--held in Atlanta yesterday--saw a whole bunch of Meet Records broken!
If you recall, I consider ATL Meet Records as being from ALL the meets, not just ones at individual locales!!

In the Women's 800, Natoya Goule got a MR with her winning 1:59.38.
Both former Stanford Cardinal Justine Fedronic and US find of 2016 Chrishuna Williams got under 2:00 for the first time with their respective times of 1:59.86 and 1:59.89.
For Fedronic, this gets her a spot on the French Olympic team!!
Molly Ludlow was a good 4th in 2:00.44, while Charlene Lipsey and Kenia Sinclair also dipped under 2:01.

Ashley Spencer got another MR with her 400H PR of 54.51.
Phyllis Francis's 50.92 in the flat 400 also is an MR.
Steven Gardiner broke his own Meet Record with his 400 of 44.62.
Asefa Powell tied his own 100 MR with his 10.01 winner!
Rachel Johnson improved the 3000SC MR to 9:46.87.

Candice Hill opened her OUTdoor Professional career by doubling in the 100 and 200.
But her times of 11.42 and 23.12 did NOT get HS PRO records, both held by Kaylin Whitney!!

A couple of smallish distance-oriented meets produced some notable results!
The Furman Elite 1500 meet---which held nothing but two elite 1500's!!--saw a return to form by Morgan Uceny!
She outsprinted Canadian Nicole Sifuentes's PR of 4:03.97 with her best time since 2012--4:03.94--over 5 seconds better than her previous 2016 best, run INdoors!!
Third, in a miniscule PR of 4:04.46, came Heather Kampf, who showed she can run just as good on a track as she can in Road Miles!!
Amanda Eccleston also PR'ed, running 4:05.56.
Following in a fast trail were Hilary Stellingwerf (4:05.61), Alexa Efraimson (4:06.38, her best of 2016!), Sara Sutherland (4:06.43, smashing her PR by about 4 seconds!!), Steepler Stephanie Garcia (4:06.80), and Nikki Hamblin (4:07.18)!!
The Men's race was won by Colby Alexander in 3:37.32 over John Gregorek's 3:37.36!

At the Music City Distance Carnival, the best race was the Men's 600.
Charles Jock sprinted to the win, his 1:14.92 beating Caz Loxsom's 1:14.96.
Eliud Rutto took 3rd in a solid 1:15.40!
Tabor Stevens took the 3000SC with his 8:32.86.
Back a ways was a familiar name--Tony Famiglietti!!
In what he termed his last SC, he ran 8:56.62 in 6th place.
He hadn't raced in a few years!!
Sarah Vaughn's 4:11.39 beat Cory McGee's 4:12.35 in the 1500.
Elizabeth Graney won the Women's 3000SC with her 9:51.86.

Thomas Rohler threw the Javelin to a World leading 288-5.

Some exciting Road Race news!!

Shalane Flanagan and Amy Cragg DESTROYED their Half Marathon PR's at the San Diego Rock and Roll race!
After 5000, Flanagan had already established a sizable lead over her friend and training partner (as well as her Rio Marathon team ally!!), 16:30 to 16:44.
At 10K, the lead was 23 seconds, with Flanagan's 32:38 leading Cragg's 33:01.
At 10 Miles, it was Shalane by 57 seconds over Amy, 52:15 to 53:12.Their final 5K split's were over a minute apart--15:36 to 16:39!!
But their final times were great--Flanagan's 1:07:51 breaking her previous best by 40 seconds!
Hastings ended exactly 2 minutes behind, but her 69:51 broke her previous best by 1:28!!
(That's 1 minute and 28 seconds!!  LOL)
Scott Smith took the Men' race with 1:02:33.

In the all-Women's Freihofer's 5000 in Albany NY, Brianne Nelson's 15:46 prevailed over Sarah Hall's 15:56.

Sarah Brown gave birth in early March, her baby coming about 3 weeks early.
She'd trained until that day, then began again soon after, fully intending to run in the Trials 1500 about 4 months after giving birth!!
Well, she's listed as an entrant in the June 17th Harry Jerome Classic 1500!!
If she can pull this off---not just make it to the Trials starting line for the heats--but actually make the team for Rio---it will be sensational!!!
I'm rooting for her all the way!!

There's a TON of stuff coming up on this blog--health and energy allowing!!
PLANNED are the following--

Sometime before the meets begin, Previews of the NCAA and NBN!
I'll have one for each gender for both meets.
Then, separate reports (for Men and Women) for each meet ASAP after each meet ends!!

Later, I'll have a full report for the USATF Junior Trials, which will determine America's team for the World Juniors in Poland in July!

And then---the United States Olympic Trials!!
If you recall what I did for last year's OUTdoor World Championships in Beijing, then you can expect basically the same for this important 10 day meet!
I'll have Previews--based on Meet Record potential, but also focusing on the individual athlete's quest to become Olympians!!--for each gender!
Then, at 3 points DURING the meet, I'll have 3 (or 4) day reports---again one for each gender each time!!--covering EVERY event--the Qualifying rounds, the Heats, the Semi's, and the Finals!!
Then, post-meet, I'll wrap things up!!

Lots to look forward to!
Hopefully, the powers-that-be will ALLOW the very best team to be formed--and that means Boris Berian in the 800!!
BACK OFF, NIKE!!!!

See you VERY soon!!