If you read a recent post, you know my title is taken from a frequent exclamation attached to photos of athletes (on Twitter) from the just concluded 6 day World Junior Championships (Under 20 version!) held in---Bydgoszcz, Poland!
And yes, this meet DID deserve exclamations!
We saw 10 Meet Records broken (5 for each gender!), as well as many "lesser" records.
But most importantly, we saw a group of athletes who performed at "Olympian" levels while still teenagers--something that seems a lot more prevalent in this decade!
While Americans dominated--this was truly a WORLDwide display of massive youthful talent!
And perhaps none were more "massive" than that shown by Poland's own young hero, Konrad Bukowiecki!
He shattered his own Meet Record in the 6 kg SP, exploding out to 76-7, or 23.34!
He also had a throw of 73-8.75, which initially broke the MR!
Bronson Osborn was the top American, taking the Bronze with his 69-9.50!
Tripp Piperi was 5th, a good showing for the American pair!
BTW, now might be a good time to explain an error I made in my Preview posts!
In some events, I'd said there were 3 Americans competing (and potentially medaling!).
But nations were limited to two per event!
Going off the early provisional entry lists, I'd mistakenly included "alternates" in my predictions.
Best example was in the Men's SP, where I said Jordan Geist might join either Mr Piperi or Mr Osborn on the podium--along with Bukowiecki!
Geist didn't compete!
This happened in several of my event Predictions!
Bukowiecki--who is much bigger than photos I'd seen made him appear--wasn't as proficient in the Discus, his throw of 195-10 taking 5th behind winner Mohamed Mooaz's 208-9!
The Multi's saw some excellent marks.
Germany's Niklos Kaul took the "Junior" Decathlon, his 8162 adding 27 points to the old Meet Record, and about 400 points to his old PR!
Maksim Andraloits was 2nd with 8046 points.
America's Cale Wagner scored 7510 in 8th!
The HSR reign of Kendell Williams ALMOST came to an end in the Heptathlon!
"Almost" meaning ONE point shy!!!
Emma Fitzgerald, concluding a tremendous Senior year of HS, scored 5577 points, just 1 point removed from Williams's HSR!
Behind after 5 events, she whipped out a good JT, setting her up to needing an 800 of 2:25.10 to get the record!
But she fell 0.15 seconds short!
Still, her mark DOES take Williams's Senior Class record from her!!
And she moves from 6th A-T HS to 2nd!
The winner?
Sarah Lagger of Austria scored 5960 points, beating the 5925 of Adriana Rodriguez!
In the "Boys are Men" category falls India's Neeraj Chopra.
His winning Javelin Throw of 283-9 set the MR, as well as the Age 18 record.
In fact, it's better than the Age 19 record also!
He becomes the new National Record holder of India!!
His mark falls just over 6 feet short of making my World DDD!!
South Africa's Johan Grobler finished almost 20 feet behind in 2nd!!
Both Pole Vaults came through with big marks and surprise winners!
For the Women, favored Wilma Murto ended after making 14-5.25, which gave her the Bronze.
Robelys Peinado matched her height, but took the Silver.
Winning was Switzerland's Angelica Moser, her 14-11 getting the Meet Record!
Carson Dingler PR'ed at 13-11.25 in 5th, ahead of teammate Rachel Baxter and youthful phenom Lisa Gunnarson, both reaching just 13-5.25.
For Dingler, she moves from 13th A-T HS to 11th, tied with 1 other!
The Men's PV was--LOADED!
Adam Hague, Chris Nilsen, Mondo Duplantis, all established 18-footers, holding various records of one sort or another!
So when HSR holder Nilsen went out after 17-6.50, about 10 inches short of his PR, things got interesting.
Then Hague was gone after 17-8.50, as well as Emmanouil Karilis, the Greek equivalent of Duplantis!
Speaking of whom, the US High Schooler, competing for Sweden, was gone after 17-10.50.
That left Austria's Kurtis Marschall, and America's Deakin Volz, son of the man who "invented" the "Volzing" technique many years ago, where the Vaulter hand-maneuvers a jiggly bar back onto the pegs as he soars over!
At 18-2.50, Marschall cleared, while Volz missed his first try, then passed to the next height!
Volz made that on his 2nd attempt (3rd, if you include his miss at 18-0.50!), his first-ever 18 footer!!
When Marschall missed his 3 attempts at 18-4.50, and Volz cleared on his 2nd, the shock winner was---well, shocked!!
But he brought himself together, and cleared a HIGHER height, the winning 18-6.50!
(It even amazed the leading PV geek, Becca Peter, aka PoleVaultPower on Twitter!!)
The Hurdles--all 4 events--came through with some great results!
Winning as expected in the Men's 400H, Jamaica's Jaheel Hyde cruised to a 49.03 to beat Sydney McLaughlin's older brother Taylor's PR of 49.45!
Kyron McMaster also got under 50 with his 49.56 in 3rd!
The Women's 400H went to Anna Cockrell, who, if not for Sydney's other-worldly HSR's of 54.46 and 54.15, would have TIED the old HSR of Leslie Maxie, which I saw run in person in 1984!!
As it was, her time of 55.20 DID tie Maxie's mark, but got her "just" the Senior Class record!!
McLaughlin is only a Junior, and could turn Pro before she gets a chance to take the new Senior Class record away from Cockrell!!
Cockrell moves from 4th A-T HS to 2nd, where she's tied with Maxie!
Jamaica's Shannon Kalawan was a far-back 2nd in 56.54!
Marcus Krah took the 110H in 13.25, tying his PR.
He remains 3rd A-T HS!
Krah's US-mate Ameer Lattin took 2nd in 13.30.
As for the Women's 100H--WHOA!!!
The heats were fast!
Oluwatobiloba Amusan (Can we shorten that to Oluwa, please?? LOL) ran 12.99.
Tia Jones ran 13.09, while Alexis Duncan PR'ed with her 13.02, which moved her to 6th A-T HS!
Elvira Herman ran 12.97.
In the final, Herman won it with the Meet Record time of 12.85!
But a shock 2nd was Jamaica's Rushelle Burton, whose 12.87 is the new Age 18 record, breaking Kristi Castlin's mark of 12.91 from 2007!
HS Frosh Tia Jones, aka the HSR holder at 12.84, took 3rd in 12.89, only her 2nd time under 13 seconds!!
A great come-through performance for this amazing young lady!!
Following Jones came her teammate, Alexis Duncan, who broke 13 for the FIRST time, her 12.93 moving her from 6th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 3rd!!
The endless assembly line of American 100H women continues unabated!!
Aluwa (sic!) Amusan also got a sub-13, her 12.95 taking just 5th!!
Alicia Barrett of Great Britain was 6th in 13.15!!
The distances produced some surprisingly fast times!!
(Most Championship distance races are run "strategically"!)
The 3000 meter Steeplechases went to Amos Kirui's 8:20.43 and Celliphine Chespol's 9:25.15.
After a 2:51 first K, the Men's pace picked up, with Kirui outlasting Yemane Haileselassie's 8:22.67, Getnet Wale's 8:22.83, and Vincent Rutto's 8:22.84.
America's Kai Benedict PR'ed with 8:49.13 in 14th!!
Chespol's time is the new Meet Record!
She's just 17!!
Tigist Getnet, Age 19, took 2nd in 9:34.08.
Selemon Baraga of Ethiopia won the Men's 5K in 13:21.21 over Djamal Direh of Djibouti, his time being 13:21.50.
Wesley Ledama of Kenya was 3rd in 13:23.34.
The Women's race went to Kalkidan Fentie's 15:29.64.
Emmaculate Chepkirui ran 15:31.12 to take 2nd over Bontu Rebitu's 15:31.93.
After temporarily leading (3000 in 9:34), Anna Rohrer faded to 15:49.42 in 11th!
The 10000 meter Walks (on the track!) went to China's Zhenxia Ma in 45:18.45, and Great Britain's Callum Wilkinson's 40:41.62.
He negative split the race, with 5K's of 21:11 and 19:30!!
Americans went 1-2 in the Women's 800, with Sammy Watson's negative split 2:04.52 prevailing over Aaliyah Miller's 2:05:06.
Miller had been boxed in coming off the final curve, and had to get clear, then sprint hard to take the Silver!
Kipyegon Bett also negative split his 800, winning in 1:44.95, 400's of 52.98 and 51.97!!
Willy Tarbei's 1:45.50 was 2nd.
The US's Brian Bell finished 7th in 1:47.68.
The Men's 1500 was a "walk in the park"---almost literally!--for Kumari Taki, his 3:48.63 being the winning time!
The Men's 10000 gave us a Meet Record!!
Rodgers Kwemoi's 27:25.23 is the new mark, while Aron Kifle was 2nd in 27:26.20, with Jacob Kiplimo nipping his heels with his 27:26.68 in 3rd!
Splits were 13:48 and 13:37.
The Women's 1500 showed Alexa Efraimson with the fastest seed time!
After diminutive Brit Bobby Clay took the field through 800 in 2:14.96, with Efraimson on her shoulder, the African pair of Adanech Anbesa and Fantu Worku took over, with Efraimson attempting to follow.
But as happened in the 2014 race in Eugene, she'd given too much too early, and faded behind teammate Christine Aragon, whose PR of 4:08.71 took Bronze--the first-ever US Women's medal in the 1500!!
It also breaks her own Senior Class record, although she remains 4th A-T HS!!
Anbesa outkicked Worku for the win, 4:08.07 to 4:08.43.
Efraimson was 5th in 4:10.23, while Clay fell off to 7th, her time being 4:13.09!
The 3000 was even better!!
Tall German find Konstanze Klosterhalfen led most of the early race., with a group of 4 or 5 close behind.
They included Katie Rainsberger and Kate Murphy of the US, although Murphy soon drifted off.
When the pace surged into the high-60's (from its earlier 72's and 73's), Rainsberger too fell back.
When the dust had settled, it was Beyenu Degefa's 8:41.76 cutting the tape, destroying the old Meet Record in the process!!
BTW, that old mark belonged to one of those infamous Chinese gals--Zhang Linli's 1992 record!
Dalila Gosa outsprinted Klosterhalfen for the Silver, 8:46.42 to 8:46.74!
Rainsberger held on sufficiently to take 7th in the HSR time of 9:00.62.
Let me clarify!
The old OUTdoor HSR was Lynn Bjorklund's 9:08.6 from 1975!!
When Mary Cain ran 9:02.10 on Seattle's Oversize INdoor track, T&FN said she'd broken Bjorklund's record, noting the circumstances!!
Then Cain ran a legal 9:04.51, also INdoors.
Alexa Efraimson followed a year later with her 9:00.16, also on Seattle's OT!!
Finally, after turning Pro, Cain won the WJC of 2014 with her 8:58.58, again being deemed the HSR holder, or at least the fastest-ever HS'er, even though her Professional status prevented her from legally setting HSR's!!
Soooooo.....along comes Ms Rainsberger's 9:00.62.
Guess what, folks?
Those other times--for all the reasons stated--did NOT remove Bjorklund's name from the Record book!!!
Rainsberger's time DID!!
Murphy finished a creditable 12th in 9:17.01.
Besides the HSR, she also removes Bjorklund's Senior Class record, and moves her from 3rd to 1st on the A-T HS list!!
The sprints were good, but not quite as fast as predicted!
In the Women's 100 heats, Ewe Swoboda ran a windy (2.7) 11.10, while surprising Brit Imani-Lara Lansiquot ran a legal 11.17.
The final went to HS Pro Candace Hill's 11.07, her 2nd fastest-ever time!!
It's the new Meet Record.
It breaks her own HS Pro record, as well as her own HS Pro Junior Class record!!
Swoboda took 2nd, her 11.12 being legal, wind of 0.9.
Another HS Pro, Khalifa St Fort, who runs for Trinidad and Tobago, was 3rd in 11.17.
The Men's 100 went to Noah Lyles's 10.17, with Italy's Filippo Tortu in 2nd with 10.24.
The Women's 200 was won by Bahrain's Edidiong Odiong in 22.84, wind of 0.6.
Evelyn Rivera was 2nd in 23.21, while America's Taylor Bennett was 5th in 23.50.
Michael Norman got the Men's 200 Meet Record with his 20.17 winner!
The 400's had some interesting results.
A Men's 400 heat was "won" by Babaloki Thebe's fast 44.67!
Then he was DQ'ed--lane violation!!
That time was just 0.01 seconds off the MR!!
In the final, Abdelalah Haroun's 44.81 was dominant over the US's Wil London's 45.27.
The Women, though, had a great race!
Lynna Irby was the slight favorite, but you never underestimate those Jamaicans!!
Tiffany James of that island nation was the winner, her 51.32 edging out Irby's PR of 51.39!
Irby moves from 11th A-T HS to 7th!!
Field events--besides those already reported--included--
Bence Halasz taking the Men's Hammer Throw with 265-6, with Adam Kelly taking 8th with his 240 even!
Kristina Rakocevic won the Women's DT with 184-11.
The Women's Javelin was won with a throw of 188-11 by home-nation girl Klaudia Maruszewska!!
Ting Chen gave China a Gold by winning the Women's TJ with her 45-5.25.
Bria Matthews took 4th with her slightly windy (2.1) mark of 44-3.25.
The Men's TJ went to heavily favored Lazaro Martinez of Cuba, his winner measuring 55-11.75!
Yanis David won the Women's LJ, with her 21-0.75 prevailing over Sophie Weissenberg's 21-0!
The Women's HJ went to the 6-3.25 of Michaela Hruba of the Czech Republic, with Ximena Esquival's 6-2.25 in 2nd.
Nicole Greene finished 5th with an even 6 feet.
Cuba's Luis Zayas took the Men's HJ with 7-5.25.
Darius Corbin of the US had a PR day, his 7-4.50 finishing in the Silver position!
He's now 8th A-T HS, tied with 5 others!
Knocked OFF my HS list was oldie Brian Tietjens's 7-3.50, dating from 1981!!
Alina Kenzel took the Women's SP with her 57-8.25.
In 3rd came HS Junior Alyssa Wilson's non-PR of 53-7.
In the Men's LJ Qualifying round, JaMari Ward leapt out to 26-1.50.
This moved him from 23rd A-T HS, tied with 2 others, all the way to 8th, tied with 1 other!!
But he couldn't reproduce that distance in the final, his 25-2.50 taking only 6th!
The winner--with 26-3--was Maykal Maaso!!
Finally---yes, finally!! (Sorry for the length!!)--the Relays!
Where the United States held onto the batons in all 4 races--winning them all!!
Lynna Irby opened the Women's 4X400 with a blazing 51.29 (0.10 faster than her open race PR!!).
400H winner Anna Cockrell had the 2nd leg, while 800 winner Sammy Watson held forth on the anchor, bringing the US home in 3:29.11.
Jamaica was in the mix for awhile, but fell off to a 3:31.01 finishing time, which held off Canada's 3:32.25!
Running without either Noah Lyles or Michael Norman, the US still won the Men's 4X400, time of 3:02.39!
(Imagine what time they'd have run WITH that pair!!)
Botswana took the Silver with their 3:02.81, after having temporarily led the early parts of the race!!
Jamaica was a well-back 3rd in 3:04.83.
The Men's 4X100--WITH Norman opening, and Lyles closing--won it in 38.93 over Japan's 39.01.
Germany and Jamaica were both given times of 39.13, but Germany's prevailed!
The US Women--with Tia Jones starting, and Candace Hill finishing--won easily, their time being 43.69.
France followed in 44.05, with Germany next in 44.18.
I'm sure you've heard this already, but the Lyles brothers--Noah and Josephus--announced they have signed multi-year deals with Adidas---thus erasing their earlier announcement that they'd both be competing for Florida next year!!
Sorry, Gators!!
Friends, that is a WRAP!!!
See you--- day a ???---with my next post---when whatever subject, or set of new results--slaps me in the face first!!
Sunday, July 24, 2016
WR & 2 AR's top Pro Action
World Records have become scarce commodities in T&F in recent years.
Especially ones that break marks made 28 years ago!
But when Kendra (Keni) Harrison ran the 100H in 12.24 at the Prefontaine Classic, World Record chatter became rampant!
Then she failed to make TeamUSA for Rio!
Would she end her season?
Or reach out for redemption?
In the 2-day London Diamond League meet, she simply broke the World Record, set by Yordanka Donkova in 1988 at 12.21.
She faced a field that included the entire Rio US 100H squad.
Her start was good, but she didn't take the lead until the 3rd or 4th hurdle.
Increasing it all the way to the tape, her 12.20 beat her nearest foe by 0.37 seconds, and that was Brianna Rollins, whose 12:26 in 2013 caused equal amounts of WR talk!!
She dipped at the line, so the photo-timer didn't catch her time, but caught Rollins's 12.57 instead!
Instant commentary was that it sure LOOKED faster than that!
And it was!
It's the WR, the American Record (breaking her own mark!), the London DL Meet Record, and the Age 23 record.
She remains 1st American.
And she moves from 2nd A-T World to 1st!
Kristi Castlin's 12.59 followed Rollins, with Nia Ali in 4th with 12.63.
Times of mere mortals!!
(BTW, her heat time was 12.40, which had initially broken the Meet Record!! And Jessica Ennis-Hill ran a solid 12.76 in a heat!)
Much more to report from LondonTown, but let's move to Houston Texas, where a relatively minor meet was held at Rice University!
The American Track League held its 2nd (and final) meet of 2016, with all its "entertainment"---cheerleaders, music, beer, fans just feet away from the action, with instant mingling post-event!
And an American Record by the snake-loving, humorous, and strikingly beautiful Arkansas alum, Sandi Morris!!
Entering the 5-person PV--after Morgann LeLeux & 2 others NH'ed, and the only other with a mark went out after 14-3.25--Morris made that height, plus 14-9, 15-1, and 15-5 on initial tries.
It took two to make 15-9.
Then, lifting her pole, she sped down the raised runway, the crowd gasping as she cleared cleanly at 16-2, or 4.93!!
Screaming over and over as she fell to the pit, she jumped up and screamed some more, the new American Record holder, and now 2nd on the A-T World list to Yelena Isinbayeva!!
It's also the ATL Meet Record, and the Age 24 record--beating an Isi mark from 2006!!
She moves from 2nd A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 1st.
And she moves from 8th A-T World, tied with 3 others, to 2nd!!
Her 3 tries at 16-7.50 (5.07) missed.
This time.
In one of the best DL meets, with many standout performances, few were more loudly applauded by the British crowd than Laura Muir's 1500 National Record-breaking time of 3:57.49!!
This took down "Dame" Kelly Holmes's mark from the 2004 OG's!
It misses my World Top 24 Performers list by 0.95 seconds!
Ten women broke 4:04, with just 1 calling Africa her home!!
Sifan Hassan was 2nd in 4:00.87, being outkicked by Muir's 61 second final 400!!
Meraf Bahta, Laura Weightman, and Axumawit Embaye were next.
Then came US Trials 4th placer (by a few diving hairs!) Amanda Eccleston, running her second PR time in just a few days, her 4:03.25 finally getting her on the A-T US list, in 17th place!!
In 10th came Morgan Uceny's 4:03.96!
Pushed OFF my US list was Cindy Bremser's 4:04.09, from 1985!
Another London crowd fave was Mo Farah, who got his wheels turning with 2 laps to go, ending with a sub-2:00 800 in one of his rare sub-13:00 5000's, his 12:59.29 beating a class field by over 15 seconds!!
Bernard Lagat, a year older than when he shattered the Age 40 & Over record with his 13:14.97, cut 0.01 from his own mark, for the new Age standard!!
Ryan Hill and Ben True were less than 2 seconds back, in 5th & 6th!
British female sprinters have been coming on of late, and that solidified in a new National Record for their 4X100 Relay team, time of 41.81.
It's also a Meet Record, and moves them from 11th A-T Nation to 6th!
The British Men fielded TWO teams, their A squad's 37.78 nipping their B team's 37.81!
Canada took 3rd with 38.17!
In the Women's 400, Shaunae Miller nabbed a PR, her time of 49.55 missing my A-T World list by 0.27 seconds!!
Stephanie McPherson was far back, running 50.40!
Renaud Lavillenie and Ekaterina Stefanidi took the PV's, with respective marks of 19-4.25 and 15-9.
Sam Kendricks took 2nd to Renaud with his 19-1.50, while Yarisley Silva was 2nd to the Greek with her 15-5.75!
Eliza McCartney took 3rd with 15-1.75, while Kristen Brown's 14-10 missed my US DDD by 1 inch!!
Sandra Perkovic got the Meet Record with her Discus Throw of 229-5!!
Dani Samuels was far behind with her 210-4.
The sprints had BIG names--though their times were--at least for them!---average!
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce won her 100 heat in 11.03, beating Christiana Williams's 11.05.
Marie Josee Ta Lou took the other heat in 10.96, with Michelle Lee Ahye 2nd in 11.03, and Dina Asher-Smith next in 11.07.
Ta Lou matched her heat time in the final, with Ahye improving to 10.99 in 2nd, and SAFP next in 11.06!!
Jimmy Vicaut won his 100 heat in 9.96, but a headwind slowed the final.
After being driven in on his Bolt-mobile, Usain Da Man took the 200 in 19.89.
While "slow" by his standards, it marked his return to action after DNS'ing the Jamaican Trials, and being allowed to prove his fitness in London!!
He did.
(Alonzo Edward was 2nd in 20.04, with Adam Gemili 3rd in 20.07!)
Dafne Schippers, looking in GREAT shape, strode her 200 in 22.13, easily beating Tiffany Townsend's 22.63!
Kaylin Whitney--who might have done better had she chosen to try for the World Junior's instead of facing top Pro's like Schippers--was 7th in 23.12.
Ruth Beitia took the HJ with a good 6-6, missing the Age 37 record by just 0.25 inches!!
Katarina Johnson-Thompson--aka KJT--was 2nd with 6-4.75, a PR!
She also took the LJ with a solid 22-4.75, beating Shara Proctor's 22-3.75!!
Andrew Pozzi ran his 110H heat in 13.19, a PR.
The final was slower!
Kerron Clement took the one-lap Hurdles in 48.40, beating Javier Culson's 48.63!
Delilah Muhammad's 53.90 took the Women's 400H, with Sara Petersen running 54.33, and Shamier Little back in 6th with her 55.01.
Joe Kovacs won the SP with his 72-2.75.
Tom Walsh's 70-8 beat David Storl's 70-2.25 for 2nd, with US Olympian Darrell Hill next with 69-8.25!
Jakub Vadlejch's 281-3 took the Javelin Throw.
Christian Taylor got the longest TJ of 2016, his 58-4 nabbing the Meet Record!!
Canadian Brandon McBride's PR of 1:43.95 barely lost to Pierre Ambroise-Bosse's 1:43.88 in the 800!
GB's Shelayna Oskan-Clarke took the Women's race, her 1:59.46 beating Lynsey Sharp's 1:59.54, and the revived Molly Ludlow's 1:59.56!!
The Women's 3000SC became "tactical" after the rabbit led them through a K in 3:01.
Habiba Ghribi's 9:21.35 prevailed over Stephanie Garcia's 9:26.26.
In 4th--with a PR of 9:31.75--came Aisha Praught.
Next was Shalaya Kipp--whose knee met a hurdle straight on--in 9:34.12.
She was left with a reddened kneecap, and some anger at the barrier!!
Silas Kiplagat took a Mile "walk", his time being 3:53.04!
Leo Manzano had one of "his days"--ending in 11th in 4:01.61.
In the Eberstadt, Germany HJ's, Derek Drouin won the Men's with 7-9.75, while Marie Laurence-Jungfleisch took the Women's with her 6-6.75!
In an unknown meet, Lisa Ryzih PV'ed 15-6.25, making her 22nd A-T World, tied with 1 other!
At the Morton Games, in Dublin, Ireland, Katie Mackey continued her strong summer, winning the Mile in 4:25.48.
This makes her 12th A-T US!!
Heather Kampf took 2nd in 4:27.33, making her 22nd A-T US!
(It was a bit surprising to me that she wasn't already ON my list--but I guess she runs most of her Mile races on Roads and INdoor tracks!!)
Cory McGee's 4:28.55 misses my US list by 0.94 seconds!
Stephanie Schappert ran 4:30.07, while Aisling Cuffe was 9th in 4:36.23!
(What was SHE doing in Europe?? I believe she graduated from Stanford, but I haven't heard anything about her turning Pro!! Does she have XC eligibility left?? I'll see what I can find out!!)
BTW, two women of note were axed FROM my US list!!
Gone are a pair of Amy's--Rudolph's 4:27.66 from 1999, and Wickus's 4:27.68 from 1997!!
John Gregorek took the Men's Mile in 3:55.57, with Kyle Merber and Colby Alexander close behind, both under 3:56 also!
Eleven broke 4 minutes!
Stephen Mozia continues to raise his National Record of Nigeria in the SP, his latest reaching 68-3.75!!
An earlier meet in Hungary saw some good results!
Akani Simbine is proving his sprint talents outside of South Africa!
His 9.89 broke his own National Record, as he beat Asefa Powell's 9.92, a wind of 1.9 providing some help.
But Simbine misses my World list by 0.02 seconds!!
He also took the 200, his 20.16 beating Isiah Young's 20.24.
Kirani James easily took the measure of Tony McQuay, 44.60 to 45.08.
Blessing Okagbare won a windy (2.6) 100 in 10.92.
Veronica Campbell-Brown's 22.52 took the 200.
Kaylin Whitney had a good race in 4th, 22.85!
Molly Ludlow's 1:59.99 lost only to Francine Niyonsaba's 1:59.84 in the 800.
David Rudisha showed good fitness, winning the Men's race in 1:43.35, with Jonathan Kitilit next in 1:44.16.
Erik Sowinski was 4th in 1:45.44.
Donald Thomas showed a big return to form, winning the HJ with 7-9.25.
This ties the Age 32 record!!
Bogdan Bondarenko took 2nd with his 7-8.50!
In throwing events, Pawel Fajdek took the HT with his 266-1.
Zoltan Kovago's 220-3 took the Discus Throw from Daniel Stoll's 219-7.
And Valerie Adams appears to be MOST of the way back to form, winning the SP with her best "comeback" throw of 66-3!!
Christine Schwanitz took 2nd with 66-1, HER best of the year!!
Michelle Carter threw 64-2.50, while Anita Marton reached a PR of 63-11.50!!
(Must mean some "big meet" is just around the bend!! LOL)
To close this post, I'll return to Houston and the ATL meet!
Jenna Prandini double-dipped, winning the 100 in 11.21, and the 200 in 22.42.
Both marks beat the Meet Records--held by VCB!!
Phyllis Francis took 2nd in the 200, time of 22.50.
Wallace Spearmon broke his own MR with his 200 time of 20.31.
Andre De Grasse beat the Super Vet Asefa Powell in the 100, 10.02 to 10.08, fighting a bit of wind!
Cy Hostetler took the Javelin, throwing 265-3.
It's also a Meet Record!
Sharika Nelvis took the 100H in 12.83.
The Men's 400H had an interesting participant!!
Remember 2014, when Decathlete Ashton Eaton ran a bunch of 400H's, with a best of 48.69?
Well, this time, Curtis Beach took a turn, finishing 3rd to Jeshua Anderson's 49.48, with his 49.87!
I'm pretty sure that's a PR.
I've never heard of his running that event before!!
(BTW, Mr Eaton ran the flat 400 in one of his fastest times--45.63. He also threw the Javelin. His wife, Brianne Thiesen-Eaton, ran the 100H in 13.04. Ashton also took a short turn in the ESPN TV booth, commentating on---his wife's race!! LOL)
A featured race was supposed to be the 1000, pitting 800 specialist Clay Murphy against 1500 man Matthew Centrowitz.
Jogging past 400 in 56, it became a MoBot affair, ending with a little last straight sprint, with Murphy holding off Centro, 2:20.12 to 2:20.20!!
The Women's 800 saw Natoya Goule take the lead after the rabbit left, but Ajee Wilson opened up in the final 100, prevailing 1:59.98 to 2:00.33.
McKayla Fricker was 3rd in 2:01.29.
In the best race of the evening, Courtney Okolo ran the 300 in 35.74.
I believe--though I'm not 100% certain--this makes her 6th A-T World, and 2nd A-T US!!
My "World's Greatest in Athletics" book (See my review of this great book in an older post!!) includes separate lists of hand-timed marks, as well as "enroute" marks. I did NOT include those in my calculations!!)
It's a Meet Record!
Kendell Baisden was a good 2nd, running 36.39.
I believe that makes her either 7th or 8th A-T US!!
The World Junior Championships---the Under 20 version!!--concludes later today!
I already have several pages of some excellent results, ready to post!
The meet ends today with 8 more finals!!
At its conclusion, I'll post another litany of results--entirely from that 6 day meet!!
See you then!
Especially ones that break marks made 28 years ago!
But when Kendra (Keni) Harrison ran the 100H in 12.24 at the Prefontaine Classic, World Record chatter became rampant!
Then she failed to make TeamUSA for Rio!
Would she end her season?
Or reach out for redemption?
In the 2-day London Diamond League meet, she simply broke the World Record, set by Yordanka Donkova in 1988 at 12.21.
She faced a field that included the entire Rio US 100H squad.
Her start was good, but she didn't take the lead until the 3rd or 4th hurdle.
Increasing it all the way to the tape, her 12.20 beat her nearest foe by 0.37 seconds, and that was Brianna Rollins, whose 12:26 in 2013 caused equal amounts of WR talk!!
She dipped at the line, so the photo-timer didn't catch her time, but caught Rollins's 12.57 instead!
Instant commentary was that it sure LOOKED faster than that!
And it was!
It's the WR, the American Record (breaking her own mark!), the London DL Meet Record, and the Age 23 record.
She remains 1st American.
And she moves from 2nd A-T World to 1st!
Kristi Castlin's 12.59 followed Rollins, with Nia Ali in 4th with 12.63.
Times of mere mortals!!
(BTW, her heat time was 12.40, which had initially broken the Meet Record!! And Jessica Ennis-Hill ran a solid 12.76 in a heat!)
Much more to report from LondonTown, but let's move to Houston Texas, where a relatively minor meet was held at Rice University!
The American Track League held its 2nd (and final) meet of 2016, with all its "entertainment"---cheerleaders, music, beer, fans just feet away from the action, with instant mingling post-event!
And an American Record by the snake-loving, humorous, and strikingly beautiful Arkansas alum, Sandi Morris!!
Entering the 5-person PV--after Morgann LeLeux & 2 others NH'ed, and the only other with a mark went out after 14-3.25--Morris made that height, plus 14-9, 15-1, and 15-5 on initial tries.
It took two to make 15-9.
Then, lifting her pole, she sped down the raised runway, the crowd gasping as she cleared cleanly at 16-2, or 4.93!!
Screaming over and over as she fell to the pit, she jumped up and screamed some more, the new American Record holder, and now 2nd on the A-T World list to Yelena Isinbayeva!!
It's also the ATL Meet Record, and the Age 24 record--beating an Isi mark from 2006!!
She moves from 2nd A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 1st.
And she moves from 8th A-T World, tied with 3 others, to 2nd!!
Her 3 tries at 16-7.50 (5.07) missed.
This time.
In one of the best DL meets, with many standout performances, few were more loudly applauded by the British crowd than Laura Muir's 1500 National Record-breaking time of 3:57.49!!
This took down "Dame" Kelly Holmes's mark from the 2004 OG's!
It misses my World Top 24 Performers list by 0.95 seconds!
Ten women broke 4:04, with just 1 calling Africa her home!!
Sifan Hassan was 2nd in 4:00.87, being outkicked by Muir's 61 second final 400!!
Meraf Bahta, Laura Weightman, and Axumawit Embaye were next.
Then came US Trials 4th placer (by a few diving hairs!) Amanda Eccleston, running her second PR time in just a few days, her 4:03.25 finally getting her on the A-T US list, in 17th place!!
In 10th came Morgan Uceny's 4:03.96!
Pushed OFF my US list was Cindy Bremser's 4:04.09, from 1985!
Another London crowd fave was Mo Farah, who got his wheels turning with 2 laps to go, ending with a sub-2:00 800 in one of his rare sub-13:00 5000's, his 12:59.29 beating a class field by over 15 seconds!!
Bernard Lagat, a year older than when he shattered the Age 40 & Over record with his 13:14.97, cut 0.01 from his own mark, for the new Age standard!!
Ryan Hill and Ben True were less than 2 seconds back, in 5th & 6th!
British female sprinters have been coming on of late, and that solidified in a new National Record for their 4X100 Relay team, time of 41.81.
It's also a Meet Record, and moves them from 11th A-T Nation to 6th!
The British Men fielded TWO teams, their A squad's 37.78 nipping their B team's 37.81!
Canada took 3rd with 38.17!
In the Women's 400, Shaunae Miller nabbed a PR, her time of 49.55 missing my A-T World list by 0.27 seconds!!
Stephanie McPherson was far back, running 50.40!
Renaud Lavillenie and Ekaterina Stefanidi took the PV's, with respective marks of 19-4.25 and 15-9.
Sam Kendricks took 2nd to Renaud with his 19-1.50, while Yarisley Silva was 2nd to the Greek with her 15-5.75!
Eliza McCartney took 3rd with 15-1.75, while Kristen Brown's 14-10 missed my US DDD by 1 inch!!
Sandra Perkovic got the Meet Record with her Discus Throw of 229-5!!
Dani Samuels was far behind with her 210-4.
The sprints had BIG names--though their times were--at least for them!---average!
Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce won her 100 heat in 11.03, beating Christiana Williams's 11.05.
Marie Josee Ta Lou took the other heat in 10.96, with Michelle Lee Ahye 2nd in 11.03, and Dina Asher-Smith next in 11.07.
Ta Lou matched her heat time in the final, with Ahye improving to 10.99 in 2nd, and SAFP next in 11.06!!
Jimmy Vicaut won his 100 heat in 9.96, but a headwind slowed the final.
After being driven in on his Bolt-mobile, Usain Da Man took the 200 in 19.89.
While "slow" by his standards, it marked his return to action after DNS'ing the Jamaican Trials, and being allowed to prove his fitness in London!!
He did.
(Alonzo Edward was 2nd in 20.04, with Adam Gemili 3rd in 20.07!)
Dafne Schippers, looking in GREAT shape, strode her 200 in 22.13, easily beating Tiffany Townsend's 22.63!
Kaylin Whitney--who might have done better had she chosen to try for the World Junior's instead of facing top Pro's like Schippers--was 7th in 23.12.
Ruth Beitia took the HJ with a good 6-6, missing the Age 37 record by just 0.25 inches!!
Katarina Johnson-Thompson--aka KJT--was 2nd with 6-4.75, a PR!
She also took the LJ with a solid 22-4.75, beating Shara Proctor's 22-3.75!!
Andrew Pozzi ran his 110H heat in 13.19, a PR.
The final was slower!
Kerron Clement took the one-lap Hurdles in 48.40, beating Javier Culson's 48.63!
Delilah Muhammad's 53.90 took the Women's 400H, with Sara Petersen running 54.33, and Shamier Little back in 6th with her 55.01.
Joe Kovacs won the SP with his 72-2.75.
Tom Walsh's 70-8 beat David Storl's 70-2.25 for 2nd, with US Olympian Darrell Hill next with 69-8.25!
Jakub Vadlejch's 281-3 took the Javelin Throw.
Christian Taylor got the longest TJ of 2016, his 58-4 nabbing the Meet Record!!
Canadian Brandon McBride's PR of 1:43.95 barely lost to Pierre Ambroise-Bosse's 1:43.88 in the 800!
GB's Shelayna Oskan-Clarke took the Women's race, her 1:59.46 beating Lynsey Sharp's 1:59.54, and the revived Molly Ludlow's 1:59.56!!
The Women's 3000SC became "tactical" after the rabbit led them through a K in 3:01.
Habiba Ghribi's 9:21.35 prevailed over Stephanie Garcia's 9:26.26.
In 4th--with a PR of 9:31.75--came Aisha Praught.
Next was Shalaya Kipp--whose knee met a hurdle straight on--in 9:34.12.
She was left with a reddened kneecap, and some anger at the barrier!!
Silas Kiplagat took a Mile "walk", his time being 3:53.04!
Leo Manzano had one of "his days"--ending in 11th in 4:01.61.
In the Eberstadt, Germany HJ's, Derek Drouin won the Men's with 7-9.75, while Marie Laurence-Jungfleisch took the Women's with her 6-6.75!
In an unknown meet, Lisa Ryzih PV'ed 15-6.25, making her 22nd A-T World, tied with 1 other!
At the Morton Games, in Dublin, Ireland, Katie Mackey continued her strong summer, winning the Mile in 4:25.48.
This makes her 12th A-T US!!
Heather Kampf took 2nd in 4:27.33, making her 22nd A-T US!
(It was a bit surprising to me that she wasn't already ON my list--but I guess she runs most of her Mile races on Roads and INdoor tracks!!)
Cory McGee's 4:28.55 misses my US list by 0.94 seconds!
Stephanie Schappert ran 4:30.07, while Aisling Cuffe was 9th in 4:36.23!
(What was SHE doing in Europe?? I believe she graduated from Stanford, but I haven't heard anything about her turning Pro!! Does she have XC eligibility left?? I'll see what I can find out!!)
BTW, two women of note were axed FROM my US list!!
Gone are a pair of Amy's--Rudolph's 4:27.66 from 1999, and Wickus's 4:27.68 from 1997!!
John Gregorek took the Men's Mile in 3:55.57, with Kyle Merber and Colby Alexander close behind, both under 3:56 also!
Eleven broke 4 minutes!
Stephen Mozia continues to raise his National Record of Nigeria in the SP, his latest reaching 68-3.75!!
An earlier meet in Hungary saw some good results!
Akani Simbine is proving his sprint talents outside of South Africa!
His 9.89 broke his own National Record, as he beat Asefa Powell's 9.92, a wind of 1.9 providing some help.
But Simbine misses my World list by 0.02 seconds!!
He also took the 200, his 20.16 beating Isiah Young's 20.24.
Kirani James easily took the measure of Tony McQuay, 44.60 to 45.08.
Blessing Okagbare won a windy (2.6) 100 in 10.92.
Veronica Campbell-Brown's 22.52 took the 200.
Kaylin Whitney had a good race in 4th, 22.85!
Molly Ludlow's 1:59.99 lost only to Francine Niyonsaba's 1:59.84 in the 800.
David Rudisha showed good fitness, winning the Men's race in 1:43.35, with Jonathan Kitilit next in 1:44.16.
Erik Sowinski was 4th in 1:45.44.
Donald Thomas showed a big return to form, winning the HJ with 7-9.25.
This ties the Age 32 record!!
Bogdan Bondarenko took 2nd with his 7-8.50!
In throwing events, Pawel Fajdek took the HT with his 266-1.
Zoltan Kovago's 220-3 took the Discus Throw from Daniel Stoll's 219-7.
And Valerie Adams appears to be MOST of the way back to form, winning the SP with her best "comeback" throw of 66-3!!
Christine Schwanitz took 2nd with 66-1, HER best of the year!!
Michelle Carter threw 64-2.50, while Anita Marton reached a PR of 63-11.50!!
(Must mean some "big meet" is just around the bend!! LOL)
To close this post, I'll return to Houston and the ATL meet!
Jenna Prandini double-dipped, winning the 100 in 11.21, and the 200 in 22.42.
Both marks beat the Meet Records--held by VCB!!
Phyllis Francis took 2nd in the 200, time of 22.50.
Wallace Spearmon broke his own MR with his 200 time of 20.31.
Andre De Grasse beat the Super Vet Asefa Powell in the 100, 10.02 to 10.08, fighting a bit of wind!
Cy Hostetler took the Javelin, throwing 265-3.
It's also a Meet Record!
Sharika Nelvis took the 100H in 12.83.
The Men's 400H had an interesting participant!!
Remember 2014, when Decathlete Ashton Eaton ran a bunch of 400H's, with a best of 48.69?
Well, this time, Curtis Beach took a turn, finishing 3rd to Jeshua Anderson's 49.48, with his 49.87!
I'm pretty sure that's a PR.
I've never heard of his running that event before!!
(BTW, Mr Eaton ran the flat 400 in one of his fastest times--45.63. He also threw the Javelin. His wife, Brianne Thiesen-Eaton, ran the 100H in 13.04. Ashton also took a short turn in the ESPN TV booth, commentating on---his wife's race!! LOL)
A featured race was supposed to be the 1000, pitting 800 specialist Clay Murphy against 1500 man Matthew Centrowitz.
Jogging past 400 in 56, it became a MoBot affair, ending with a little last straight sprint, with Murphy holding off Centro, 2:20.12 to 2:20.20!!
The Women's 800 saw Natoya Goule take the lead after the rabbit left, but Ajee Wilson opened up in the final 100, prevailing 1:59.98 to 2:00.33.
McKayla Fricker was 3rd in 2:01.29.
In the best race of the evening, Courtney Okolo ran the 300 in 35.74.
I believe--though I'm not 100% certain--this makes her 6th A-T World, and 2nd A-T US!!
My "World's Greatest in Athletics" book (See my review of this great book in an older post!!) includes separate lists of hand-timed marks, as well as "enroute" marks. I did NOT include those in my calculations!!)
It's a Meet Record!
Kendell Baisden was a good 2nd, running 36.39.
I believe that makes her either 7th or 8th A-T US!!
The World Junior Championships---the Under 20 version!!--concludes later today!
I already have several pages of some excellent results, ready to post!
The meet ends today with 8 more finals!!
At its conclusion, I'll post another litany of results--entirely from that 6 day meet!!
See you then!
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
WJC's Meet Record Predictions--Women
Same format as in the Men's.
Events presented in "normal" order, with the MR given, then my odds for it being broken, and adding some names to watch.
Unlike the Men's, however, all of the Women's Throws, as well as the 100H's, use International Professional weights and height!
(Wish the Men's would too!!)
One small caveat--the meet will have begun BEFORE this gets posted!
But I promise you I will NOT cheat, by peeking at any results coming in, PRIOR to posting!
(I may do some editing later, however, to correct any misspelling of names I made!! LOL)
And away we go, Ladies!
100 (11.12) Wind can prevent a record from falling, but this one has a pretty good chance of getting whacked! We have 10.98 girl Candace Hill here. Only problem is, she hasn't come close to sub-11 since she ran that a year ago!! But Hill's not the only solid contender here. Watch for Sweden's Ewe Swoboda, and Trinidad & Tobagos's Khalifa St Fort!! Also look for Colombia's Evelin Rivers, and Jayla Kirkland, Hill's teammate! 80-20 odds!
200 (22.53) Irene Ekelund is the best here, but not far removed are Khalifa St Fort, Sada Williams of Barbados, as well as two Americans, Taylor Bennett and Jayla Kirkland. Two long shots are Bahrain's Edidiong Odiong, and Nigeria's Mercy Ntia-Odong. 40-60 odds.
400 (50.50) The MR is 50.50, but this gets ZERO odds of going down! Best bets to medal are Jamaica's Junelle Bromfield and Tiffany James, as well as America's Lynna Irby.
800 (2:00.06) Believe it or not, the two Americans have a chance to go 1-2!! Sammy Watson and Aaliyah Miller have PR's just under 2:03, so the MR should be safe. 10-90! That said, both could improve their HS positions!! Watch too for Canada's Victoria Tachinski, and Esther Chebet of Uganda. Third American, with a 2:03.43 PR, is Ruby Stauber!
1500 (4:04.96) Faith Kipyegon set this MR in 2012, and we all know how GREAT she's become since! Well, with a PR of 4:03.39, and good 800 wheels, Alexa Efraimson actually has a shot at Kipyegon's mark!! But given the normal way these races are run, it would take a fast early pace, plus a kick-ass kick for it to fall! 70-30 odds, and that's probably WAY too high!! Ethiopia has a solid pair, in Adanech Anbesa and Fantu Worku. Watch for fast-rising Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany! There's also Bobby Clay, who seems to have been a junior for decades!! Other Americans are Christine Aragon and Rachel McArthur!
3000 (8:46.86) No real studs here--at least not in the mid-8:40's class! Datila Gosa of Bahrain is maybe the best here, but watch for America's Kate Murphy. She has a 1500 best of 4:07.21, with the potential for more, so should be capable of a sub-8:50---IF she's pushed, and IF she's confident of sticking with that kind of pace!! Watch for Kenya's Sheila Chelangat, Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen (doubling here!), as well as Murphy's US teammates, Katie Rainsberger and Destiny Collins! The US team have all had long HS seasons, so might be tired! Less than 10% chance of the MR falling.
5000 (15:08.06) Less than 10% chance here too!! Datila Gosa and Bantu Rebitu of Bahrain are good, But American Anna Rohrer might be AS good!! If she's in sub-15:30 shape, this could be a great race!
10000 (32:29.90) No, this distance isn't available here---for Women!! SEXIST!!!!! Too bad! The HSR needs a good clobbering!! The listed MR is by the slightly controversial Wang Junxia, who is the World Record holder at 29:31.78!!
3000SC (9:31.36) 90-10 odds!!! Why? Tigist Getnet of Bahrain, Peruth Chemutai of Uganda, and Celliphine Chespol of Kenya--that's why! Devin Clark of the US might dip under 9:50!
10000 Walk (42:47.25) As with the Men's Walk, there's no real MR challenger here, as there was in 2014! ZERO chance! China has Zhenxia Ma, while Finland counters with Taiki Nummi, and Italy sends Noemi Stella. Watch also for Valeria Ontuna!
100H (12.89) Amazingly, the top candidate to break this MR is a HS Freshman!! Her name is Tia Jones, and she won't be 16 until September!! She ran the HSR (!!) time of 12.84, her first turn at sub-13!! But there's someone a bit faster here! Oluwatobiloba Amusan (!!) of Nigeria has a PR of 12.83. Jones's youth could work FOR her---or against her! We'll see! The Bahamas has Elvira Herman, while the US adds Alexis Duncan and Anna Cockrell. 70-30.
400H (54.70) DARN!!! Sydney McLaughlin, holder of every imaginable record for teens in this event, has selected to concentrate on Rio, not here!! I mean, what's in Rio, anyway?? LOL That said, this MR now has steel wall protection for another 2 years!! But the Americans still look to have the 2 best bets for Gold in Anna Cockrell and Brandee Johnson. Cockrell has the speed to go much faster than her 55.89 PR! Watch for Jamaica's Shannon Kalawan!
HJ (6-6.75, or 2.00) Without Vashti Cunningham here, this MR gets ZERO odds!! But look for Yuliya Levchenko of Ukraine, Michaela Hruba of the Czech Republic, and Lada Pejchalova, also from the Czech Republic! Nicole Greene has been stuck at the 6-1 level for years, it seems! Due to break out!!
LJ (22-4.50, or 6.82) Zero odds here too! Germany has Sophie Weissenberg, while France gives us Yanis David. Also look for Hannie Maudens. The US duo is Bria Matthews and Samaiyah Samuels.
TJ (47-11.75, or 14.62) This MR is solid until 2018 also! Cuba has the best one here, name of Davisleidis Velazco. France's Yanis David is doubling here, as is America's Bria Matthews. Mariya Ovchinnikova of Kazakhstan is one to watch. The US's Tara Davis has possibilities.
PV (14-9, or 4.50) As with the Men, this may have the best field---of a field event!! HaHa! Wilma Murto is a genuine phenom, and should be the favorite here. The odds are 90-10!! If Murto wants company, she'll almost certainly get it when Australia's Nina Kennedy goes to work. Then there's a NEW phenom, name of Lisa Gunnarson!! Angelica Moser of Switzerland, and Robeilya Peinado might offer a slight challenge, as might the Americans, Rachel Baxter and Carson Dingler.
SP (61-6.75, or 18.76) ZERO!! Alina Kenzel of Germany has the best mark, 57-4. Maria Orozco of Mexico is solid. America offers HSR threat Alyssa Wilson, plus good back-up with Nickolette Dunbar and Elena Bruckner!
DT (223-11, or 68.25) Forget this MR--until the 22nd century!! But Montenegro, of all places, offers the best here! Her name is Kristina Rakocevic. Rabcelys Pesnado of Venezuela is also one to watch, as well Moldovan Alexandra Emilianov. The US has a doubler in Elena Bruckner, as well as Kiana Phelps!
JT (206-8, or 63.00) I'll give this one 10-90 odds, as this event is probably the least predictable of the throws! Japan offers Haruka Kitaguchi, while Turkey has Eda Tugsuz. Watch too for Fabienne Schonig of Germany.
HT (231-8, or 70.62) 10-90 here also! Best here seems to be Cuba's Ayamey Medina. But Beatrice Llano of Norway, and Viktoriya Holda of Ukraine could challenge. The Americans are good--for America! They are Joy McArthur and Haley Showalter-Stevens. (Has Showalter married recently? Last time I saw her name, the "Stevens" part wasn't there!!)
Heptathlon (6470) Z-E-R-O!!! Sarah Lagger of Austria has the best score, with a PR of 5776 points!! Hanna Maudens of Belgium, and Karin Strametz, also of Austria, are others to watch. Interesting to see if Emma Fitzgerald can add 115 points to her PR to break the HSR!!
4X100 Relay (43.40) Same as with the Men, Relay records at this level are tough to predict! That said, the US and Jamaica always get an A for effort--or something like that!! Watch for Trinidad and Tobago, which will certainly include Khalifa St Fort! With Candace Hill, however, the US is given 90-10 odds of breaking this MR!
4X400 Relay (3:27.60) The US has just 1 real standout 400 girl here, in Lynna Irby. But again, the US almost always produces solid marks, so the MR is given 70-30 odds! Watch for Jamaica here too!
Enjoy the meet, folks!
I'll be back with a FULL DETAILED report after the final event ends!!
P.S. As noted earlier, I'll also be back SOON with the CORRECT spellings of all the names I goofed on!!
Events presented in "normal" order, with the MR given, then my odds for it being broken, and adding some names to watch.
Unlike the Men's, however, all of the Women's Throws, as well as the 100H's, use International Professional weights and height!
(Wish the Men's would too!!)
One small caveat--the meet will have begun BEFORE this gets posted!
But I promise you I will NOT cheat, by peeking at any results coming in, PRIOR to posting!
(I may do some editing later, however, to correct any misspelling of names I made!! LOL)
And away we go, Ladies!
100 (11.12) Wind can prevent a record from falling, but this one has a pretty good chance of getting whacked! We have 10.98 girl Candace Hill here. Only problem is, she hasn't come close to sub-11 since she ran that a year ago!! But Hill's not the only solid contender here. Watch for Sweden's Ewe Swoboda, and Trinidad & Tobagos's Khalifa St Fort!! Also look for Colombia's Evelin Rivers, and Jayla Kirkland, Hill's teammate! 80-20 odds!
200 (22.53) Irene Ekelund is the best here, but not far removed are Khalifa St Fort, Sada Williams of Barbados, as well as two Americans, Taylor Bennett and Jayla Kirkland. Two long shots are Bahrain's Edidiong Odiong, and Nigeria's Mercy Ntia-Odong. 40-60 odds.
400 (50.50) The MR is 50.50, but this gets ZERO odds of going down! Best bets to medal are Jamaica's Junelle Bromfield and Tiffany James, as well as America's Lynna Irby.
800 (2:00.06) Believe it or not, the two Americans have a chance to go 1-2!! Sammy Watson and Aaliyah Miller have PR's just under 2:03, so the MR should be safe. 10-90! That said, both could improve their HS positions!! Watch too for Canada's Victoria Tachinski, and Esther Chebet of Uganda. Third American, with a 2:03.43 PR, is Ruby Stauber!
1500 (4:04.96) Faith Kipyegon set this MR in 2012, and we all know how GREAT she's become since! Well, with a PR of 4:03.39, and good 800 wheels, Alexa Efraimson actually has a shot at Kipyegon's mark!! But given the normal way these races are run, it would take a fast early pace, plus a kick-ass kick for it to fall! 70-30 odds, and that's probably WAY too high!! Ethiopia has a solid pair, in Adanech Anbesa and Fantu Worku. Watch for fast-rising Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany! There's also Bobby Clay, who seems to have been a junior for decades!! Other Americans are Christine Aragon and Rachel McArthur!
3000 (8:46.86) No real studs here--at least not in the mid-8:40's class! Datila Gosa of Bahrain is maybe the best here, but watch for America's Kate Murphy. She has a 1500 best of 4:07.21, with the potential for more, so should be capable of a sub-8:50---IF she's pushed, and IF she's confident of sticking with that kind of pace!! Watch for Kenya's Sheila Chelangat, Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen (doubling here!), as well as Murphy's US teammates, Katie Rainsberger and Destiny Collins! The US team have all had long HS seasons, so might be tired! Less than 10% chance of the MR falling.
5000 (15:08.06) Less than 10% chance here too!! Datila Gosa and Bantu Rebitu of Bahrain are good, But American Anna Rohrer might be AS good!! If she's in sub-15:30 shape, this could be a great race!
10000 (32:29.90) No, this distance isn't available here---for Women!! SEXIST!!!!! Too bad! The HSR needs a good clobbering!! The listed MR is by the slightly controversial Wang Junxia, who is the World Record holder at 29:31.78!!
3000SC (9:31.36) 90-10 odds!!! Why? Tigist Getnet of Bahrain, Peruth Chemutai of Uganda, and Celliphine Chespol of Kenya--that's why! Devin Clark of the US might dip under 9:50!
10000 Walk (42:47.25) As with the Men's Walk, there's no real MR challenger here, as there was in 2014! ZERO chance! China has Zhenxia Ma, while Finland counters with Taiki Nummi, and Italy sends Noemi Stella. Watch also for Valeria Ontuna!
100H (12.89) Amazingly, the top candidate to break this MR is a HS Freshman!! Her name is Tia Jones, and she won't be 16 until September!! She ran the HSR (!!) time of 12.84, her first turn at sub-13!! But there's someone a bit faster here! Oluwatobiloba Amusan (!!) of Nigeria has a PR of 12.83. Jones's youth could work FOR her---or against her! We'll see! The Bahamas has Elvira Herman, while the US adds Alexis Duncan and Anna Cockrell. 70-30.
400H (54.70) DARN!!! Sydney McLaughlin, holder of every imaginable record for teens in this event, has selected to concentrate on Rio, not here!! I mean, what's in Rio, anyway?? LOL That said, this MR now has steel wall protection for another 2 years!! But the Americans still look to have the 2 best bets for Gold in Anna Cockrell and Brandee Johnson. Cockrell has the speed to go much faster than her 55.89 PR! Watch for Jamaica's Shannon Kalawan!
HJ (6-6.75, or 2.00) Without Vashti Cunningham here, this MR gets ZERO odds!! But look for Yuliya Levchenko of Ukraine, Michaela Hruba of the Czech Republic, and Lada Pejchalova, also from the Czech Republic! Nicole Greene has been stuck at the 6-1 level for years, it seems! Due to break out!!
LJ (22-4.50, or 6.82) Zero odds here too! Germany has Sophie Weissenberg, while France gives us Yanis David. Also look for Hannie Maudens. The US duo is Bria Matthews and Samaiyah Samuels.
TJ (47-11.75, or 14.62) This MR is solid until 2018 also! Cuba has the best one here, name of Davisleidis Velazco. France's Yanis David is doubling here, as is America's Bria Matthews. Mariya Ovchinnikova of Kazakhstan is one to watch. The US's Tara Davis has possibilities.
PV (14-9, or 4.50) As with the Men, this may have the best field---of a field event!! HaHa! Wilma Murto is a genuine phenom, and should be the favorite here. The odds are 90-10!! If Murto wants company, she'll almost certainly get it when Australia's Nina Kennedy goes to work. Then there's a NEW phenom, name of Lisa Gunnarson!! Angelica Moser of Switzerland, and Robeilya Peinado might offer a slight challenge, as might the Americans, Rachel Baxter and Carson Dingler.
SP (61-6.75, or 18.76) ZERO!! Alina Kenzel of Germany has the best mark, 57-4. Maria Orozco of Mexico is solid. America offers HSR threat Alyssa Wilson, plus good back-up with Nickolette Dunbar and Elena Bruckner!
DT (223-11, or 68.25) Forget this MR--until the 22nd century!! But Montenegro, of all places, offers the best here! Her name is Kristina Rakocevic. Rabcelys Pesnado of Venezuela is also one to watch, as well Moldovan Alexandra Emilianov. The US has a doubler in Elena Bruckner, as well as Kiana Phelps!
JT (206-8, or 63.00) I'll give this one 10-90 odds, as this event is probably the least predictable of the throws! Japan offers Haruka Kitaguchi, while Turkey has Eda Tugsuz. Watch too for Fabienne Schonig of Germany.
HT (231-8, or 70.62) 10-90 here also! Best here seems to be Cuba's Ayamey Medina. But Beatrice Llano of Norway, and Viktoriya Holda of Ukraine could challenge. The Americans are good--for America! They are Joy McArthur and Haley Showalter-Stevens. (Has Showalter married recently? Last time I saw her name, the "Stevens" part wasn't there!!)
Heptathlon (6470) Z-E-R-O!!! Sarah Lagger of Austria has the best score, with a PR of 5776 points!! Hanna Maudens of Belgium, and Karin Strametz, also of Austria, are others to watch. Interesting to see if Emma Fitzgerald can add 115 points to her PR to break the HSR!!
4X100 Relay (43.40) Same as with the Men, Relay records at this level are tough to predict! That said, the US and Jamaica always get an A for effort--or something like that!! Watch for Trinidad and Tobago, which will certainly include Khalifa St Fort! With Candace Hill, however, the US is given 90-10 odds of breaking this MR!
4X400 Relay (3:27.60) The US has just 1 real standout 400 girl here, in Lynna Irby. But again, the US almost always produces solid marks, so the MR is given 70-30 odds! Watch for Jamaica here too!
Enjoy the meet, folks!
I'll be back with a FULL DETAILED report after the final event ends!!
P.S. As noted earlier, I'll also be back SOON with the CORRECT spellings of all the names I goofed on!!
Monday, July 18, 2016
WJC's Meet Record Predictions--Men
Did you know the name of the World Junior Championships has been changed?
Yeah, neither did I!
It's now called the WJC--Under 20 Champs!!
(As opposed to the Under 23 version!)
Nothing's changed from previous versions--except the name!!
Whatever.
One more thing--it's taking place in Bydgoszcz, Poland--and that's the LAST time in this post you'll see me spelling that name!! LOL
As for the Predictions, I'll give the odds of a MR being broken.
The presentation will differ here.
I'm giving the events in their usual order, not in sections of Best (or Worst) Odds, as I did in 2014!
I'll have separate posts for each gender!
This one is for the Men!
Two more things---
1. The meet is in Poland, not the United States, so American interest might not be as high.
2. The Olympics! In 2014, this meet had no really major meets to contend with. Not the case here, with Rio's T&F action just over 3 weeks away!
BUT--there ARE some great athletes here, and some HOT events--so let's get to it!
Men
100 (10.05) Odds are 40-60. Normally, the fastest PR is rated highest to win. Not here! While Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Mohammed has run 10.04, expect Noah Lyles to probably win! If you saw him at the US Trials, you'd know why! Jamaica's Nigel Ellis and Filippo Tortu of Italy are others to watch.
BTW, Lyles turned 19 today!!
200 (20.28) 90-10!! Michael Norman!! Only excessive wind, an injury or False Start will prevent this MR from falling! While Lyles is apparently not doubling (according to the provisional entry lists of July 16th!), Norman has all it takes to cut this record to pieces! Watch for Baboloki Thebe of Botswana, and Nigel Ellis of Jamaica. Also look for South Africa's Clarence Munyal.
400 (44.66) 60-40. Abdelalah Haroun of Qatar, and Baboloki Thebe have run in the low 44's. Can they do that here? Jamaica's Chris Taylor, as well as the two Americans (Wil London and Kahmari Montgomery), are a second slower! Is Thebe really doubling?
800 (1:43.79) ZERO!! You never NOT expect a Kenyan to make BIG drops in time when things get serious! Nonetheless, Kenya has sent Willy Tarbei's 1:44.51 and Kipyegon Bett's 1:44.55 to challenge! Watch for Morocco's Mostafa Smaili! Carlton Orange is the US best!
1500 (3:35.53) 20-80 I'd give this better odds, except for one thing---this is a Championship distance race! Enough said?? (Think jog & kick!) That said, the Kenyans (Kumari Taki and Anthony Kiptoo) have PR's of sub-3:37's! Djibouti's Mohamed Ibrahim's 3:37.08 is close! The youngest of the Norwegian Ingebrigtsen clan--Jakob--is here. Best American is Austin Tamagno, who might dip under 3:42!!
5000 (13:08.57) NOPE!! The fastest guy is Eritrea's Aron Kofle, but he probably can't do it alone! Moses Koech also has a sub-13:20 time, so he should offer some help. Nonetheless, the MR is secure! The US pair won't be anywhere near!!
10000 (27:30.85) 40-60) Aron Kofle is in this also, and this event is before the 5K, so he might gun it! He's run 27:27! Rodgers Kasemoi has a 27:42, so might challenge. Forget the Americans, who have yet to break 30!!
3000SC (8:06.10) Some of these MR's are amazing, and this is one of those!! So--it ain't going down!! The winner should come from among Yemena Haileselassie of Eritrea, Kenya's Vincent Rutto or Amos Kirui, or Djibouti's Mohamed Ibrahim, who's running the 1500 also! Again, forget the US team!!
10000 Walk (39:27.10) Unlike 2014, where this MR was set, no one is even close here!! ZERO!! That is, unless Spain's Manuel Bermudez improves his PR by a full minute!! Watch for Mexico's Noel Ali Chama and Great Britain's Callum Wilkinson.
110H (12.99) This is the 39 inch hurdle version! And there's no one even remotely in range of 13 flat!! Again, ZERO!! But the Americans MIGHT sweep this one! (Yeah, right!!) Marcus Krah, Amere Lattin, and Grant Holloway are the US trio, but watch for Australia's Nicholas Andrews, and James Weaver of Great Britain to crash the US party!
400H (48.51) 50-50! Jamaica's Jaheel Hyde is here!! His best is "just" 48.81, but my guess is he's very close to being the next GREAT 400H man--maybe a year away from going sub-48!! Taylor McLaughlin of the US has the DNA, but isn't yet in Hyde's park (pun intended!!). Mikael De Jesus might surprise.
HJ (7-9.25, or 2.37) No MR here either!! No one's PR over even 7-5!! Ones to watch are Yuji Hiramatsu (Japan), Jah Nhai Perinchief (Bermuda), Oleksandr Baranniko (Ukraine), and Luis Zayso (Cuba). Best of the US is Darrius Corbin.
LJ (26-11, or 8.20) 40-60 odds! We have Cuba's Maykel Masso, with a 27-2 PR! Greece has Mittiadis Tentaglou, and there's another Cuban, Juan Echevaria, both worth a look. The US pair are JaMari Ward and Harrison Schrage.
TJ (56-2.50, or 17.13) Cuba's Lazaro Martinez was a real find as a 16 year old a couple of years back. But haven't heard as much from him since! If he's on, this record is gone! But I'm playing it safe, so my odds are just 20-80!! Azerbaijan's Nazim Babayev could challenge, as could the other Cuban, Cristian Napoles. JaMari Ward is the top American.
PV (18-8.75, or 5.71) While no one is within 4 inches of it, I'm giving this MR 40-60 odds of falling! Probably the best field event, it has Adam Hague of Great Britain, as well as Chris Nilsen and Mondo Duplantis of the US! Watch also for Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Jake Wooten, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, as well as the 3rd American, Deakin Volz!
Except for the JT, the other 3 throws use the "junior" weights, of which this blog & Record Book doesn't care about!! Nonetheless, I'll present brief previews of each!
SP (72-10 for 6kg) Konrad Bukowiecki! He wins! Romania's Andrei Touder is good, as are the US 3-some of Jordan Geist, Tripp Piperi, and Bronson Osborn! Just out of Buko's league!! 100-0!!
DT (220-10 for 1.75kg) The Big Guy (See SP!) is here too, but not as talented in this event! Better might be Clemens Prufer of Germany, who has a PR of 217-10. His teammate is Martin Howe. Sweden has Jakof Gardenkrens.
HT (280-9 for 6kg) Bence Halasz of Hungary is the best here, but far from the MR. Finland has Aleksi Jaakkola, while Egypt sends Ahmed Ismail, and Ukraine offers Hbib Piskunov. Bobby Colantonio and Adam Kelly are a good US duo!
JT (272-5, or 83.04) This is the Pro size Adult Javelin!! FYI Odds here are 30-70, as Neeraj Chopra of India has a PR of 268 and change! Watch for Turkey's Emin Oncal.
Decathlon (8135, with "junior" weights & hurdle height) No one in this field has a score over 8000, so I'm giving this one 10-90 odds! Germany has Jan Ruhrmann, who has the best mark! Santiago Ford of Cuba, and Niklas Kaul of Germany are also in the 7900's! Watch for the American, Cale Wagner, to get closer to 8000--but not THAT close!!
4X100 Relay (38.66) It's more difficult to predict the Relays in Junior or HS meets, not being as familiar with anyone but the major stars--if there are any on anyone's team!! That said, the US and Jamaica are always in for a solid tussle. In 2014, US teams came VERY close to the MR's, but both stayed alive. But I'll give this one 70-30 odds. The US should have both Michael Norman and Noah Lyles! If so, the odds get a bit better!!
4X400 Relay (3:01.09) Same analysis applies here as for the shorter Relay! (See above!) Again, watch the US and Jamaica. Will Norman run here too?? If so, he might be pretty tired!! But I'll turn the short relay's odds around, from 70-30 to 30-70!!
I'll have the Women's predictions up in a couple of hours!
Yeah, neither did I!
It's now called the WJC--Under 20 Champs!!
(As opposed to the Under 23 version!)
Nothing's changed from previous versions--except the name!!
Whatever.
One more thing--it's taking place in Bydgoszcz, Poland--and that's the LAST time in this post you'll see me spelling that name!! LOL
As for the Predictions, I'll give the odds of a MR being broken.
The presentation will differ here.
I'm giving the events in their usual order, not in sections of Best (or Worst) Odds, as I did in 2014!
I'll have separate posts for each gender!
This one is for the Men!
Two more things---
1. The meet is in Poland, not the United States, so American interest might not be as high.
2. The Olympics! In 2014, this meet had no really major meets to contend with. Not the case here, with Rio's T&F action just over 3 weeks away!
BUT--there ARE some great athletes here, and some HOT events--so let's get to it!
Men
100 (10.05) Odds are 40-60. Normally, the fastest PR is rated highest to win. Not here! While Saudi Arabia's Abdullah Mohammed has run 10.04, expect Noah Lyles to probably win! If you saw him at the US Trials, you'd know why! Jamaica's Nigel Ellis and Filippo Tortu of Italy are others to watch.
BTW, Lyles turned 19 today!!
200 (20.28) 90-10!! Michael Norman!! Only excessive wind, an injury or False Start will prevent this MR from falling! While Lyles is apparently not doubling (according to the provisional entry lists of July 16th!), Norman has all it takes to cut this record to pieces! Watch for Baboloki Thebe of Botswana, and Nigel Ellis of Jamaica. Also look for South Africa's Clarence Munyal.
400 (44.66) 60-40. Abdelalah Haroun of Qatar, and Baboloki Thebe have run in the low 44's. Can they do that here? Jamaica's Chris Taylor, as well as the two Americans (Wil London and Kahmari Montgomery), are a second slower! Is Thebe really doubling?
800 (1:43.79) ZERO!! You never NOT expect a Kenyan to make BIG drops in time when things get serious! Nonetheless, Kenya has sent Willy Tarbei's 1:44.51 and Kipyegon Bett's 1:44.55 to challenge! Watch for Morocco's Mostafa Smaili! Carlton Orange is the US best!
1500 (3:35.53) 20-80 I'd give this better odds, except for one thing---this is a Championship distance race! Enough said?? (Think jog & kick!) That said, the Kenyans (Kumari Taki and Anthony Kiptoo) have PR's of sub-3:37's! Djibouti's Mohamed Ibrahim's 3:37.08 is close! The youngest of the Norwegian Ingebrigtsen clan--Jakob--is here. Best American is Austin Tamagno, who might dip under 3:42!!
5000 (13:08.57) NOPE!! The fastest guy is Eritrea's Aron Kofle, but he probably can't do it alone! Moses Koech also has a sub-13:20 time, so he should offer some help. Nonetheless, the MR is secure! The US pair won't be anywhere near!!
10000 (27:30.85) 40-60) Aron Kofle is in this also, and this event is before the 5K, so he might gun it! He's run 27:27! Rodgers Kasemoi has a 27:42, so might challenge. Forget the Americans, who have yet to break 30!!
3000SC (8:06.10) Some of these MR's are amazing, and this is one of those!! So--it ain't going down!! The winner should come from among Yemena Haileselassie of Eritrea, Kenya's Vincent Rutto or Amos Kirui, or Djibouti's Mohamed Ibrahim, who's running the 1500 also! Again, forget the US team!!
10000 Walk (39:27.10) Unlike 2014, where this MR was set, no one is even close here!! ZERO!! That is, unless Spain's Manuel Bermudez improves his PR by a full minute!! Watch for Mexico's Noel Ali Chama and Great Britain's Callum Wilkinson.
110H (12.99) This is the 39 inch hurdle version! And there's no one even remotely in range of 13 flat!! Again, ZERO!! But the Americans MIGHT sweep this one! (Yeah, right!!) Marcus Krah, Amere Lattin, and Grant Holloway are the US trio, but watch for Australia's Nicholas Andrews, and James Weaver of Great Britain to crash the US party!
400H (48.51) 50-50! Jamaica's Jaheel Hyde is here!! His best is "just" 48.81, but my guess is he's very close to being the next GREAT 400H man--maybe a year away from going sub-48!! Taylor McLaughlin of the US has the DNA, but isn't yet in Hyde's park (pun intended!!). Mikael De Jesus might surprise.
HJ (7-9.25, or 2.37) No MR here either!! No one's PR over even 7-5!! Ones to watch are Yuji Hiramatsu (Japan), Jah Nhai Perinchief (Bermuda), Oleksandr Baranniko (Ukraine), and Luis Zayso (Cuba). Best of the US is Darrius Corbin.
LJ (26-11, or 8.20) 40-60 odds! We have Cuba's Maykel Masso, with a 27-2 PR! Greece has Mittiadis Tentaglou, and there's another Cuban, Juan Echevaria, both worth a look. The US pair are JaMari Ward and Harrison Schrage.
TJ (56-2.50, or 17.13) Cuba's Lazaro Martinez was a real find as a 16 year old a couple of years back. But haven't heard as much from him since! If he's on, this record is gone! But I'm playing it safe, so my odds are just 20-80!! Azerbaijan's Nazim Babayev could challenge, as could the other Cuban, Cristian Napoles. JaMari Ward is the top American.
PV (18-8.75, or 5.71) While no one is within 4 inches of it, I'm giving this MR 40-60 odds of falling! Probably the best field event, it has Adam Hague of Great Britain, as well as Chris Nilsen and Mondo Duplantis of the US! Watch also for Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, Jake Wooten, Kurtis Marschall of Australia, as well as the 3rd American, Deakin Volz!
Except for the JT, the other 3 throws use the "junior" weights, of which this blog & Record Book doesn't care about!! Nonetheless, I'll present brief previews of each!
SP (72-10 for 6kg) Konrad Bukowiecki! He wins! Romania's Andrei Touder is good, as are the US 3-some of Jordan Geist, Tripp Piperi, and Bronson Osborn! Just out of Buko's league!! 100-0!!
DT (220-10 for 1.75kg) The Big Guy (See SP!) is here too, but not as talented in this event! Better might be Clemens Prufer of Germany, who has a PR of 217-10. His teammate is Martin Howe. Sweden has Jakof Gardenkrens.
HT (280-9 for 6kg) Bence Halasz of Hungary is the best here, but far from the MR. Finland has Aleksi Jaakkola, while Egypt sends Ahmed Ismail, and Ukraine offers Hbib Piskunov. Bobby Colantonio and Adam Kelly are a good US duo!
JT (272-5, or 83.04) This is the Pro size Adult Javelin!! FYI Odds here are 30-70, as Neeraj Chopra of India has a PR of 268 and change! Watch for Turkey's Emin Oncal.
Decathlon (8135, with "junior" weights & hurdle height) No one in this field has a score over 8000, so I'm giving this one 10-90 odds! Germany has Jan Ruhrmann, who has the best mark! Santiago Ford of Cuba, and Niklas Kaul of Germany are also in the 7900's! Watch for the American, Cale Wagner, to get closer to 8000--but not THAT close!!
4X100 Relay (38.66) It's more difficult to predict the Relays in Junior or HS meets, not being as familiar with anyone but the major stars--if there are any on anyone's team!! That said, the US and Jamaica are always in for a solid tussle. In 2014, US teams came VERY close to the MR's, but both stayed alive. But I'll give this one 70-30 odds. The US should have both Michael Norman and Noah Lyles! If so, the odds get a bit better!!
4X400 Relay (3:01.09) Same analysis applies here as for the shorter Relay! (See above!) Again, watch the US and Jamaica. Will Norman run here too?? If so, he might be pretty tired!! But I'll turn the short relay's odds around, from 70-30 to 30-70!!
I'll have the Women's predictions up in a couple of hours!
Sunday, July 17, 2016
From Across This Little Orb
As ever, I need to explain my title!
This post was GOING to be mostly about the Monaco DL.
And I will detail the results from there.
But Monaco will have to share this space with results from several other meets, from, as the title states, all "across this little orb", aka Planet Earth!
Not least of which are two "majors", the European Championships and the NACAC Under 23 Championships!
Well, lots to report, so onward!
The Euros are always good for large amounts of National Record revisions, and this version, held in Amsterdam from July 6-10, was no different.
For me, the best mark set NO records, and made NO lists!
In fact, Jo Pavey didn't even win her race, the 10000!
But her 31:34.61 came within 3 seconds of my "Age 40 & over" record, held by then-40 year old Edith Masai, her 31:31.18 from 2007.
Pavey is 42 & 10 months!!
BTW, American Greek Alexi Pappas, age 26, was 11th, in 32:27 and change!
In other Euros action---
Anouk Vetter's Heptathlon winning score of 6626 breaks the National Record of the Netherlands, held by one Dafne Schippers, her 6545 dating from 2014!
Also scoring an NR was Ivana Dadic's 6408.
She's Austrian!
Schippers ran 2nd leg on her nation's 42.04 winner in the 4X100 Relay!
This is a National Record, and moves the Netherlands from 13th A-T Nation to 8th, tied with one other!
Great Britain took 2nd in 42.45.
In the heats, Switzerland got an NR with their 42.87.
They move up 1 spot on the A-T Nation list, from 20th to 19th!
Schippers also easily took the 100, timed in 10.90.
Ekaterina Stefanidi got the Meet Record with her PV clearance at 15-9.25!
Lisa Ryzih was 2nd with 15-5, while Angelica Bengtsson was 3rd with 15-3.
Lisa Gunnarson reached 14-9.
She's still just 16 years old!!
Tatsiana Khaladovich threw the Javelin 217-8 to win, as well as get the National Record of Belarus!
It also makes her 21st A-T World!!
The Women's 3000SC was won in a non-PR 9:18.85 by Germany's Gesa Krause.
But it was Luiza Gega's 9:28.52 that gave her Albania's new National Record!
Patricia Mamona Triple Jumped 47-10, giving her the National Record of Portugal!
In non-record action, Ruth Beitia HJ'ed 6-6, while Sandra Perkovic had a Discus Throw of 229-6.
Pawel Fajdek and Anita Wlodarczyk took the Hammer Throws, with respective marks of 265-6 and 263-4.
Anita's 5 fair throws went at least 260-5!!
The Walks have come to Africa!!
Getting National Records for Kenya were Samuel Gathimba (1:19: 24) and Grace Njue (1:30:43)!!
Yehualya Belete got the NR of Ethiopia in the 20K Walk also!
They hold Half-Marathons at the Euros!
Tadesesse Abraham (?) won the Men's race in 1:02:03, while Sara Moreira won the Women's race in 1:10:19!
David Storl, not surprisingly, won the SP with a toss of 69-11.
In Qualifying, Antti Ruskanen threw the Javelin 289-5!
The 4X100 Relay was won in 38.17 by Great Britain.
France took 2nd in 38.38.
Belgium and Great Britain took the Men's and Women's 4X400 Relays in, respectively, 3:01.10 (over Poland's 3:01.18!) and 3:25.05.
The NACAC-U23 meet was loaded with top Americans, most of whom performed well.
Thirteen Meet Records were broken in this every-2nd-year meet, 6 by Americans!
Raven Saunders won the SP with 60-8.
Quanesha Burks took the Long Jump, though her winning mark of 22-1.50 was shared by Akela Jones, the places decided by 2nd best jumps!
Megan Clark won the PV, reaching 14-5.25.
But she just tied Sandi Morris's (!!) MR from 2014!!
Shelbi Vaughn's 187-8 throw won the Discus!
The US 4X100 team took the Women's race in 42.93.
Chelsea Blaase had no problem winning the 10000, jogging a MR of 35:30.87.
Jones took down the High Jump MR, going over 6-3.25.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn's 12.78 got the 100H MR.
Chrisann Gordon of Jamaica got the 400 MR with 51.02.
Yulanmis Aguilar won the JT with her MR of 187-4.
Lineydis Ventia took the 800 in the MR time of 2:02.02.
Raevyn Rogers was just 4th in 2:04.78, while Olivia Baker was 6th, about 4 seconds behind Rogers!!
Diego Del Real's 244-7 got the Hammer Throw Meet Record, and he got the scalp of American Olympian Rudy Winkler!!
Yeheria Miranda got the Women's MR in the 10K Walk, her time being 49:24.70!
In non-record action, Curtis Thompson won the Javelin with his 260-1.
Canada's Jenna Westaway, who took 2nd in the 800 with 2:03.90, won the 1500 over Mary Cain, 4:16.03 to 4:16.86!!
The 4X400 Relays were both won by US teams, the Men in 3:00.89, Michael Cherry on anchor, and the Women in 3:28.45, with Shakima Wimbley anchoring, and Jaide Stepter taking the 2nd leg!
Various other meets saw the following--
Shi Yukao LJ'ed 27-2.75 for a new Age 17 record!!
Michael Torneus nabbed the National Record of Sweden with his 27-8.75!
It misses my World list by less than 2 inches!
The Canadian Championships saw Andre De Grasse win the 100 in 9.99 (-0.1).
Brendon Rodney sped the 200 in 19.96.
De Grasse took 3rd in 20.32!!
Wind was 1.1.
1000 meter races were run--somewhere!!--and for this rarely run distance, saw World leading times of 2:36.04 by Louisa Lindh, and Mohamed Hamada's 2:17.66.
Second for the Men was Johan Rogostadt's 2:17.67.
For Lindh, it's the National Record of Sweden!!
Tirunesh Dibaba won a 5000 in 14:41.73!!
Alide Nawuwuna (??) took a 10000 in 30:26.94.
(Not sure if I already posted the latter mark!!)
In the French Championships, Renaud Lavillenie won the PV, clearing 19-6.25.
Jimmy Vicaut took the 100 in 9.88 (1.9), after a heat of 9.94.
Shawn Barber PV'ed 19-4.25.
Gianmarco Tamberi HJ'ed 7-8.75.
Wayde Van Niekerk sprinted 200 in 20.02, with the wind at 1.8.
In the Track Town Classic--in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, NOT Eugene OR USA!!--Melissa Bishop broke her own National Record of Canada, winning by more than 4 seconds with her 1:57.43.
McKayla Fricker was 2nd in 2:01.71, while shock American Olympian Chrishuna Williams took 3rd in 2:02.41.
Duane Solomon found some redemption with his 800 win in 1:45.51.
Andre De Grasse and Shaunae Miller took the 200's, in 20.20 and 22.38, respectively.
Arman Hall won the 400 in 45.05, while Jeremy Wariner was 3rd in 45.51.
Courtney Okolo ran 50.47 in the 400 to beat Fran McCorory's 50.83!
The now retired-to-make-movies-and-act, now not-so-retired Johnny Dutch took the 400H in 49.02!!
Belgium's Heusden-Zolder meet normally finds several American middle distance runners chasing OG or WC qualifying marks.
But this year, the Q period for Rio is finished!
But the US crowd still showed up!
While Ayanleh Souleiman crushed a 3:31.68 to easily beat Hillary Ngetich's 3:32.97, 7th placer Ryan Hill got a big PR of 3:35.59 in the 1500!!
In the Women's race, Cory McGee and Rachel Schneider were only 6th & 7th, but ran good times of 4:07.34 and 4:07.84.
McGee was actually leading through the final curve, but several passed her on the final straight!!
The Women's 5000 was won by Renata Plis in 15:23.19, over new British star Jess Andrews's 15:24.02.
But 3 Americans comported themselves well.
In 4th was Lauren Paquette's 15:28.40.
Sammy Silva was 6th in 15:29.85.
And Aisling Cuffe finished 8th in 15:36.12.
Albert Rop took the Men's 5000 in 13:09.08.
In Padua, Italy, Amanda Eccleston--who barely lost an Olympic spot to Brenda Martinez in a thrilling track-splatting finish at the US Trials--ran a PR of 4:04.88, missing the US list by 0.79 seconds!!
Heather Kampf took 2nd in 4:05.31.
Not bad for Eccleston's International debut!!
Stephanie McPherson won the 400 in 50.98.
In the Men's 1500, four Americans took the top 4 places, with the best being Erich Avila's winner of 3:36.37, a PR, and Kyle Merber's 3:37.35.
Someone who goes by the acronym of SAFP took the 100 in 11.25 from Jeneba Tarmoh's 11.47.
(SAFP is alias Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, as if you didn't already know!!)
Marks from meets I've forgotten the names of included--
Letsenet Gidey's 14:45.63 in the 5000.
The Ethiopian is supposedly a teenager, though don't know her exact age.
Ayanleh Souleiman won an 800 in 1:44.06.
Genzebe Dibaba took a 1500 in a quick 3:59.83.
Well, "quick" for mere mortals, anyway!! LOL
Ghana ran a 4X100 Relay in 42.67, becoming the 18th best Nation!!
Vera Rebryk's 220-9 Javelin Throw moves her from 15th A-T World to 12th, where she's tied with 1 other!
Christie Hussong's JT of 217-10 moves her from 22nd A-T World, tied with 1 other, to 20th!
And Mondo Duplantis broke his own Age 16 and Soph Class records with his 18-1 PV!!
He moves from 9th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 7th!
I now move on to the Monaco Diamond League meet.
I saved it for last for two VERY distinctive reasons.
One, because as far as DL's go, this one was NOT one of the best!
Two, for possibly ONE of the very reasons it didn't hold up well.
Just a day before the meet, an insane terrorist drove a truck through joyous crowds celebrating France's Bastille Day in nearby Nice, France, killing over 80 people, and injuring many more!
For awhile, there was some question whether the meet might be cancelled or postponed.
The Cote D'Azur airport, the airport used by most people coming to Monaco, was under heavy security, as were roads surrounding Monaco.
Finally, it was announced the meet would go on as scheduled, but without the "extras".
Under a veil of sadness and loss, the athletes performed as well as could be expected.
Here's what happened, limited to meet results only!
Gianmarco Tamberi won the HJ with a leap of 7-10, breaking his own National Record of Italy.
However, on his 2nd attempt at 2.41 (7-10.75), he badly hurt his ankle, causing him to be taken off the field on a stretcher, his Rio hopes shattered, and his 2016 season ended!
Bogdan Bondarenko took 2nd with a jump of 7-9.25.
Consesius Kipruto took the 3000SC in 8:08.11 over PK Koech's 8:08.32 and Barnabas Kipyego's 8:09.13.
In 6th was Andy Bayer's PR of 8:17.39.
But he remains 17th A-T US!
Ron Kwemoi's 3:30.49 overtook the fading Asbel Kiprop, whose 3:32.03 wound up just 6th, behind Mo Farah's 5th place mark of 3:31.74.
Elijah Manangoi, Taoufik Makhloufi, and Abdelaati Iguider filled in the space between Kwemoi and Farah!
Jakub Holusa's 3:33.36 became the National Record of the Czech Republic!
Caterine Ibarguen's TJ of 49-1 handled Yulimar Rojas's 48-0.50 with ease!
Tatsiana Khaladovich's 215-3 JT missed my World DDD by 4 inches.
(She later got on the list. See above!)
Alonzo Edward ran the 200 in 20.10 to beat Chris Lemaitre's 20.24.
Damian Forbes took the LJ with 27-0, while Piotr Malachowski won the DT with 215-1.
Nicholas Kipkoech won the 800 in 1:44.47 over Alfred Kipketer's 1:44.49, and Adam Kszczot's 1:44.59.
Elidh Doyle PR'ed in the 400H, her winning time being 54.09.
Cassandra Tate took 2nd in 54.63, while the beleaguered Shamier Little continued her fall, placing just 5th in 55.73.
Ashley Spencer did even worse, finishing 8th in 56.46!
Ekaterina Stefanidi won the PV with 15-9.25.
She took 3 tries at 16-2!!
Yarisley Silva was 2nd with 15-5.50, while Fabiana Murer and Holly Bradshaw got over 15-3's.
Eliza McCartney could clear just 14-11.
Dafne Schippers controlled the 100, her 10.94 looking easy.
VCB, aka Veronica Campbell-Brown, was a far back 2nd in 11.12, while Tianna Bartoletta was 5th in 11.21.
Valerie Adams seems back in the game, as she won the SP with her 65-9.50, beating the 65-0 of Christine Schwanitz.
Americans Michelle Carter and Tia Brooks did okay, with Carter hitting 64-3, and Brooks reaching 62-9.25.
Wayde Van Niekerk's 44.12 won the 400 over Michael Cedeno's 44.34, Bralon Taplin's 44.38, and Tony McQuay's 44.79.
Orlando Ortego won the 110H in 13.04, breaking his own National Record of Spain!!
Dimitri Bascou was 2nd in 13.12, while Pascal Martinot-Lagarde ran 13.17.
The Women's 3000 saw Helen Obiri sprinting a 60.97 final lap, to win in 8:24.27 over Mercy Cherono's 8:27.25, and Janet Kisa's 8:28.33.
Further back, but getting good PR's, were Katie Mackey in 8:46.58, and new Pro Dominique Scott in 8:46.65.
Gabe Grunewald dipped under 9:00 in 10th.
Then there was the Women's 800.
Let's just say that 3 PEOPLE finished in the first 3 places.
I won't reveal their times, as none of them should be included in WOMEN's races of whatever distance!!
(I'll have more to say on this in a future post!!)
That said, the first time I care about belongs to Eunice Sum, as she ran 1:57.47.
But finishing just behind her was US Olympic Trials 4th placer Molly Ludlow.
Her one full second PR of 1:57.68 moves her up 15 places (!!) on the A-T US list, from 22nd to 7th!!
Her time is the fastest by a US woman this year!!
Lynsey Sharp ran a--heh--sharp 1:57.75, while Angelika Cichocko--much-improved--ran 1:58.97.
Look for my World Junior Championships Preview, sometime before the meet begins in Bydgoszcz, Poland on July 19th, going through the 24th!
One final note, although I'm pretty sure you already know about it.
Drew Hunter turned Pro, thus dropping from the University of Oregon.
Apparently, he will take a year off to acclimate to being a Professional, then start college somewhere!
He signed with Adidas, in a multi-year contract!!
See you soon!
This post was GOING to be mostly about the Monaco DL.
And I will detail the results from there.
But Monaco will have to share this space with results from several other meets, from, as the title states, all "across this little orb", aka Planet Earth!
Not least of which are two "majors", the European Championships and the NACAC Under 23 Championships!
Well, lots to report, so onward!
The Euros are always good for large amounts of National Record revisions, and this version, held in Amsterdam from July 6-10, was no different.
For me, the best mark set NO records, and made NO lists!
In fact, Jo Pavey didn't even win her race, the 10000!
But her 31:34.61 came within 3 seconds of my "Age 40 & over" record, held by then-40 year old Edith Masai, her 31:31.18 from 2007.
Pavey is 42 & 10 months!!
BTW, American Greek Alexi Pappas, age 26, was 11th, in 32:27 and change!
In other Euros action---
Anouk Vetter's Heptathlon winning score of 6626 breaks the National Record of the Netherlands, held by one Dafne Schippers, her 6545 dating from 2014!
Also scoring an NR was Ivana Dadic's 6408.
She's Austrian!
Schippers ran 2nd leg on her nation's 42.04 winner in the 4X100 Relay!
This is a National Record, and moves the Netherlands from 13th A-T Nation to 8th, tied with one other!
Great Britain took 2nd in 42.45.
In the heats, Switzerland got an NR with their 42.87.
They move up 1 spot on the A-T Nation list, from 20th to 19th!
Schippers also easily took the 100, timed in 10.90.
Ekaterina Stefanidi got the Meet Record with her PV clearance at 15-9.25!
Lisa Ryzih was 2nd with 15-5, while Angelica Bengtsson was 3rd with 15-3.
Lisa Gunnarson reached 14-9.
She's still just 16 years old!!
Tatsiana Khaladovich threw the Javelin 217-8 to win, as well as get the National Record of Belarus!
It also makes her 21st A-T World!!
The Women's 3000SC was won in a non-PR 9:18.85 by Germany's Gesa Krause.
But it was Luiza Gega's 9:28.52 that gave her Albania's new National Record!
Patricia Mamona Triple Jumped 47-10, giving her the National Record of Portugal!
In non-record action, Ruth Beitia HJ'ed 6-6, while Sandra Perkovic had a Discus Throw of 229-6.
Pawel Fajdek and Anita Wlodarczyk took the Hammer Throws, with respective marks of 265-6 and 263-4.
Anita's 5 fair throws went at least 260-5!!
The Walks have come to Africa!!
Getting National Records for Kenya were Samuel Gathimba (1:19: 24) and Grace Njue (1:30:43)!!
Yehualya Belete got the NR of Ethiopia in the 20K Walk also!
They hold Half-Marathons at the Euros!
Tadesesse Abraham (?) won the Men's race in 1:02:03, while Sara Moreira won the Women's race in 1:10:19!
David Storl, not surprisingly, won the SP with a toss of 69-11.
In Qualifying, Antti Ruskanen threw the Javelin 289-5!
The 4X100 Relay was won in 38.17 by Great Britain.
France took 2nd in 38.38.
Belgium and Great Britain took the Men's and Women's 4X400 Relays in, respectively, 3:01.10 (over Poland's 3:01.18!) and 3:25.05.
The NACAC-U23 meet was loaded with top Americans, most of whom performed well.
Thirteen Meet Records were broken in this every-2nd-year meet, 6 by Americans!
Raven Saunders won the SP with 60-8.
Quanesha Burks took the Long Jump, though her winning mark of 22-1.50 was shared by Akela Jones, the places decided by 2nd best jumps!
Megan Clark won the PV, reaching 14-5.25.
But she just tied Sandi Morris's (!!) MR from 2014!!
Shelbi Vaughn's 187-8 throw won the Discus!
The US 4X100 team took the Women's race in 42.93.
Chelsea Blaase had no problem winning the 10000, jogging a MR of 35:30.87.
Jones took down the High Jump MR, going over 6-3.25.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn's 12.78 got the 100H MR.
Chrisann Gordon of Jamaica got the 400 MR with 51.02.
Yulanmis Aguilar won the JT with her MR of 187-4.
Lineydis Ventia took the 800 in the MR time of 2:02.02.
Raevyn Rogers was just 4th in 2:04.78, while Olivia Baker was 6th, about 4 seconds behind Rogers!!
Diego Del Real's 244-7 got the Hammer Throw Meet Record, and he got the scalp of American Olympian Rudy Winkler!!
Yeheria Miranda got the Women's MR in the 10K Walk, her time being 49:24.70!
In non-record action, Curtis Thompson won the Javelin with his 260-1.
Canada's Jenna Westaway, who took 2nd in the 800 with 2:03.90, won the 1500 over Mary Cain, 4:16.03 to 4:16.86!!
The 4X400 Relays were both won by US teams, the Men in 3:00.89, Michael Cherry on anchor, and the Women in 3:28.45, with Shakima Wimbley anchoring, and Jaide Stepter taking the 2nd leg!
Various other meets saw the following--
Shi Yukao LJ'ed 27-2.75 for a new Age 17 record!!
Michael Torneus nabbed the National Record of Sweden with his 27-8.75!
It misses my World list by less than 2 inches!
The Canadian Championships saw Andre De Grasse win the 100 in 9.99 (-0.1).
Brendon Rodney sped the 200 in 19.96.
De Grasse took 3rd in 20.32!!
Wind was 1.1.
1000 meter races were run--somewhere!!--and for this rarely run distance, saw World leading times of 2:36.04 by Louisa Lindh, and Mohamed Hamada's 2:17.66.
Second for the Men was Johan Rogostadt's 2:17.67.
For Lindh, it's the National Record of Sweden!!
Tirunesh Dibaba won a 5000 in 14:41.73!!
Alide Nawuwuna (??) took a 10000 in 30:26.94.
(Not sure if I already posted the latter mark!!)
In the French Championships, Renaud Lavillenie won the PV, clearing 19-6.25.
Jimmy Vicaut took the 100 in 9.88 (1.9), after a heat of 9.94.
Shawn Barber PV'ed 19-4.25.
Gianmarco Tamberi HJ'ed 7-8.75.
Wayde Van Niekerk sprinted 200 in 20.02, with the wind at 1.8.
In the Track Town Classic--in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, NOT Eugene OR USA!!--Melissa Bishop broke her own National Record of Canada, winning by more than 4 seconds with her 1:57.43.
McKayla Fricker was 2nd in 2:01.71, while shock American Olympian Chrishuna Williams took 3rd in 2:02.41.
Duane Solomon found some redemption with his 800 win in 1:45.51.
Andre De Grasse and Shaunae Miller took the 200's, in 20.20 and 22.38, respectively.
Arman Hall won the 400 in 45.05, while Jeremy Wariner was 3rd in 45.51.
Courtney Okolo ran 50.47 in the 400 to beat Fran McCorory's 50.83!
The now retired-to-make-movies-and-act, now not-so-retired Johnny Dutch took the 400H in 49.02!!
Belgium's Heusden-Zolder meet normally finds several American middle distance runners chasing OG or WC qualifying marks.
But this year, the Q period for Rio is finished!
But the US crowd still showed up!
While Ayanleh Souleiman crushed a 3:31.68 to easily beat Hillary Ngetich's 3:32.97, 7th placer Ryan Hill got a big PR of 3:35.59 in the 1500!!
In the Women's race, Cory McGee and Rachel Schneider were only 6th & 7th, but ran good times of 4:07.34 and 4:07.84.
McGee was actually leading through the final curve, but several passed her on the final straight!!
The Women's 5000 was won by Renata Plis in 15:23.19, over new British star Jess Andrews's 15:24.02.
But 3 Americans comported themselves well.
In 4th was Lauren Paquette's 15:28.40.
Sammy Silva was 6th in 15:29.85.
And Aisling Cuffe finished 8th in 15:36.12.
Albert Rop took the Men's 5000 in 13:09.08.
In Padua, Italy, Amanda Eccleston--who barely lost an Olympic spot to Brenda Martinez in a thrilling track-splatting finish at the US Trials--ran a PR of 4:04.88, missing the US list by 0.79 seconds!!
Heather Kampf took 2nd in 4:05.31.
Not bad for Eccleston's International debut!!
Stephanie McPherson won the 400 in 50.98.
In the Men's 1500, four Americans took the top 4 places, with the best being Erich Avila's winner of 3:36.37, a PR, and Kyle Merber's 3:37.35.
Someone who goes by the acronym of SAFP took the 100 in 11.25 from Jeneba Tarmoh's 11.47.
(SAFP is alias Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, as if you didn't already know!!)
Marks from meets I've forgotten the names of included--
Letsenet Gidey's 14:45.63 in the 5000.
The Ethiopian is supposedly a teenager, though don't know her exact age.
Ayanleh Souleiman won an 800 in 1:44.06.
Genzebe Dibaba took a 1500 in a quick 3:59.83.
Well, "quick" for mere mortals, anyway!! LOL
Ghana ran a 4X100 Relay in 42.67, becoming the 18th best Nation!!
Vera Rebryk's 220-9 Javelin Throw moves her from 15th A-T World to 12th, where she's tied with 1 other!
Christie Hussong's JT of 217-10 moves her from 22nd A-T World, tied with 1 other, to 20th!
And Mondo Duplantis broke his own Age 16 and Soph Class records with his 18-1 PV!!
He moves from 9th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 7th!
I now move on to the Monaco Diamond League meet.
I saved it for last for two VERY distinctive reasons.
One, because as far as DL's go, this one was NOT one of the best!
Two, for possibly ONE of the very reasons it didn't hold up well.
Just a day before the meet, an insane terrorist drove a truck through joyous crowds celebrating France's Bastille Day in nearby Nice, France, killing over 80 people, and injuring many more!
For awhile, there was some question whether the meet might be cancelled or postponed.
The Cote D'Azur airport, the airport used by most people coming to Monaco, was under heavy security, as were roads surrounding Monaco.
Finally, it was announced the meet would go on as scheduled, but without the "extras".
Under a veil of sadness and loss, the athletes performed as well as could be expected.
Here's what happened, limited to meet results only!
Gianmarco Tamberi won the HJ with a leap of 7-10, breaking his own National Record of Italy.
However, on his 2nd attempt at 2.41 (7-10.75), he badly hurt his ankle, causing him to be taken off the field on a stretcher, his Rio hopes shattered, and his 2016 season ended!
Bogdan Bondarenko took 2nd with a jump of 7-9.25.
Consesius Kipruto took the 3000SC in 8:08.11 over PK Koech's 8:08.32 and Barnabas Kipyego's 8:09.13.
In 6th was Andy Bayer's PR of 8:17.39.
But he remains 17th A-T US!
Ron Kwemoi's 3:30.49 overtook the fading Asbel Kiprop, whose 3:32.03 wound up just 6th, behind Mo Farah's 5th place mark of 3:31.74.
Elijah Manangoi, Taoufik Makhloufi, and Abdelaati Iguider filled in the space between Kwemoi and Farah!
Jakub Holusa's 3:33.36 became the National Record of the Czech Republic!
Caterine Ibarguen's TJ of 49-1 handled Yulimar Rojas's 48-0.50 with ease!
Tatsiana Khaladovich's 215-3 JT missed my World DDD by 4 inches.
(She later got on the list. See above!)
Alonzo Edward ran the 200 in 20.10 to beat Chris Lemaitre's 20.24.
Damian Forbes took the LJ with 27-0, while Piotr Malachowski won the DT with 215-1.
Nicholas Kipkoech won the 800 in 1:44.47 over Alfred Kipketer's 1:44.49, and Adam Kszczot's 1:44.59.
Elidh Doyle PR'ed in the 400H, her winning time being 54.09.
Cassandra Tate took 2nd in 54.63, while the beleaguered Shamier Little continued her fall, placing just 5th in 55.73.
Ashley Spencer did even worse, finishing 8th in 56.46!
Ekaterina Stefanidi won the PV with 15-9.25.
She took 3 tries at 16-2!!
Yarisley Silva was 2nd with 15-5.50, while Fabiana Murer and Holly Bradshaw got over 15-3's.
Eliza McCartney could clear just 14-11.
Dafne Schippers controlled the 100, her 10.94 looking easy.
VCB, aka Veronica Campbell-Brown, was a far back 2nd in 11.12, while Tianna Bartoletta was 5th in 11.21.
Valerie Adams seems back in the game, as she won the SP with her 65-9.50, beating the 65-0 of Christine Schwanitz.
Americans Michelle Carter and Tia Brooks did okay, with Carter hitting 64-3, and Brooks reaching 62-9.25.
Wayde Van Niekerk's 44.12 won the 400 over Michael Cedeno's 44.34, Bralon Taplin's 44.38, and Tony McQuay's 44.79.
Orlando Ortego won the 110H in 13.04, breaking his own National Record of Spain!!
Dimitri Bascou was 2nd in 13.12, while Pascal Martinot-Lagarde ran 13.17.
The Women's 3000 saw Helen Obiri sprinting a 60.97 final lap, to win in 8:24.27 over Mercy Cherono's 8:27.25, and Janet Kisa's 8:28.33.
Further back, but getting good PR's, were Katie Mackey in 8:46.58, and new Pro Dominique Scott in 8:46.65.
Gabe Grunewald dipped under 9:00 in 10th.
Then there was the Women's 800.
Let's just say that 3 PEOPLE finished in the first 3 places.
I won't reveal their times, as none of them should be included in WOMEN's races of whatever distance!!
(I'll have more to say on this in a future post!!)
That said, the first time I care about belongs to Eunice Sum, as she ran 1:57.47.
But finishing just behind her was US Olympic Trials 4th placer Molly Ludlow.
Her one full second PR of 1:57.68 moves her up 15 places (!!) on the A-T US list, from 22nd to 7th!!
Her time is the fastest by a US woman this year!!
Lynsey Sharp ran a--heh--sharp 1:57.75, while Angelika Cichocko--much-improved--ran 1:58.97.
Look for my World Junior Championships Preview, sometime before the meet begins in Bydgoszcz, Poland on July 19th, going through the 24th!
One final note, although I'm pretty sure you already know about it.
Drew Hunter turned Pro, thus dropping from the University of Oregon.
Apparently, he will take a year off to acclimate to being a Professional, then start college somewhere!
He signed with Adidas, in a multi-year contract!!
See you soon!
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Best & Worst--The US Trials
I like doing these B&W's, because I get to slay dragons with my opinionated potty mouth!!
Besides, after this meet ended, I (like many other T&F geeks) went through the DT's, having NO T&F to watch, no NBC "coverage" to cringe over, no blog with detailed results to put together!
What a bitch!!
But oh this blessed forum to soothe my wounded soul!
So hang on to (something!!), I'm about to let LOOSE!!
My Best & Worst of the 2016 United States Olympic Track and Field Trials!
Best Events, Based on Marks Only
Men
Long Jump (While many of the best marks were windy, it's rare the US has 7 men jumping 27 or more feet in one meet on the same day!! Much more than I expected!!)
Decathlon (While Ashton Eaton's score was actually BELOW average for him, there was good depth, with 3 guys over 8400 points, with another over 8200--and 2 of them scored big PR's!)
1500 (TWO men ran faster than the 36 year old Meet Record of the venerable Steve Scott!! How rare is an MR in a race longer than 200 meters?? Now, if EVERY distance race were run like that!!)
Women
100 (10.74 for English Gardner, with a couple of 10.78's, plus several more in the 10's, and many of them legal!! Sure, it's expected in Hayward's wind tunnel, but still....!!)
3000SC (Okay, so Emma Coburn tempo ran her race---so what?? But just look at the two behind her! Two solid PR's--even though 1 had already PR'ed this year, and the other was running her first SC of the year, due to injury! Plus, you had a few others under 9:40, most of whom PR'ed!!)
HJ (Yes, the HJ!! We had a 32 year old with 3 children, and a "child" of 18, both of whom jumped higher than anyone has these past 2 years!!)
SP (Shot Diva's not alone anymore!! In fact, the shot circle's kind of crowded now, with 5 throwing 62 feet or more, plus a few others over 60! Valerie, watch your back!!)
Heptathlon (Just like the Men, this event had depth! Three over 6400, with 2 of them scoring big PR's!! And several more over 6000!!)
The Worst Events, Based on Marks??
Oh, how I hate to do this!! (Why do I punish myself??)
For the Men, there were several!
Start with the 5000, where they ran their first 1000 SLOWER than the Women did!! Who cares that 41+ Bernard Lagat ran his last lap in 52!! I've said this too many times---If I wanted to watch a 400 race, I'd watch the 400!!)
The HJ!! UGH!!
While Erik Kynard bounded over at 7-6, and the crowd loving his showboating, 3rd place was just 7-3!! There have been HS meets better than that!!
20K Walk (Need I comment?)
400H (Remember the days when the US had 2 or 3 guys running sub-48's, and Edwin Moses was winning 100+ consecutive races--against all comers?? Yeah, I know, hard to remember!!)
For the Women, that's easy!
The JT, on a tear this year in the Collegiate ranks, sank to the bottom here, even with all the top Collegians here!
The 200! Look at the times--especially when compared to the 100, or the Men's 200!!
Discus Throw! No one came close to matching their early season marks!!
Best Events, Based on Competition
The Men's LJ, as noted above--for the same reasons!!
The 200! Gatlin vs Merritt, with two HS'ers aiming to shock!
19.75 to 19.79, 20 flat, then a HSR, and another HS speedster!
The Women's SC, but only for the 2nd & 3rd placers!
That 1500 final for the Ladies--who were anything but dainty & genteel!!
The 100H!! That's ALWAYS a battle, and this was no different!
And I'm talking about the Heats, Semi's, AND the Final!!
Worst Events, Based on Competition?
As noted, the Men's HJ!!
The Men's 400. Merritt ran solo!!
The 110H. Devon Allen blew away all the vets!! (Look again at the title of this award!)
For the Women, the 200!
Felix was 0.30 behind Tori Bowie, never in the game!
Best Dive for the Tape?
A tie, between Amanda Eccleston and Jenna Prandini.
While both Eccleston and Martinez hit the track, Brenda stumbled, so can't be counted as a dive!
Prandini also stumbled, and it was THOUGHT to be a dive--but it wasn't!
So maybe I should change HER award title to "Best Flailing Bod that APPEARS to be a Heroic Dive to Win"!!
Best NASCAR Moment?
Guess!
(With all due apologies to Alysia, Brenda, and Molly L!!)
Best Name for a Great Pun
Kate Grace!
Her 800 win was a, heh, coupe de Grace!!
Jenn Suhr
SUHRly you jest!
That's for SUHR!
I SUHR wish you'd quit making "jokes" about this stud's name!!
Okay, SUHR!!
Best Hair
Shelby Houlihan!!
Not much of a fan of colored hair (meaning Day-Glo colors, not just dyes!!), but Shel sure stands out!!
Easy to spot her in the pack!
I'd say Evan Jager for the Men, but I don't care for his bun.
I preferred his hippie look!!
Speaking of which, give this Men's award to Ben Blankenship!!
Best Performance by an athlete wearing Prescription Glasses
Rudy Winkler!
Don't see many people wearing REAL glasses---just shades!
Especially not in the Hammer Throw!!
Worst Performance by an athlete wearing Prescription Glasses
Sad to say, it was Shamier Little.
In the Semi's, when it was raining, she had to protect her glasses from the rain until she got down in the blocks!
You know what happened.
Best LiveStreamed Event
ANY of the field events shown during the time BEFORE the regular NBC crew took over!
EVERY jump, EVERY throw shown!!
Reminded me of the World INdoor PV this year!!
Best NBC Announcers
Sorry, I should have removed the "s" from Announcers!!
Sanya Richards-Ross, hands, feet, legs, and everything else DOWN!!
Fire that whole damn mob, and HIRE Sanya to do the ENTIRE show!!
Also, Tom Feuer, who announced the pre-NBC parts! (See above!)
One complaint, however!
He went on and on and on and on.....just like ME!!
Worst NBC Announcers
Everyone except Sanya! (See above!)
Best Post-Event Interview
I enjoyed the ones Flotrack did on the sneak!!
Meaning, they were banned from the "Mix Zone" because they'd supposedly violated some copyright rule---or something!! BullSHIT!!
Individually, I liked the one with Kate Murphy best!
She's that speedy Miling HS Junior.
She was answering questions, trying to be serious, but people (off camera) kept making her laugh!
So you'd see her talking about her race, and she'd suddenly start guffawing--then attempt to return to her straight face!!
Funny---and endearingly cute!!
Worst Post-Event Interview
This is a decades-old complaint, but why have those brief "interviews" immediately post-race??
And why ask the same old tired questions?
How did it feel to win?
Well, duhhhhh, it felt LOUSY, you dumb jerk!!
(I sure wish someone would say THAT!!)
Best Crier
I bet you thought I was going to say Alysia Montano's Oscar-winning performance down the final straight of the 800 final!
I could, I suppose!
But nope, gotta give this award to Deanna Price, who made the HT team!
She got a PR, and a podium spot!
She was sobbing (in delirious joy!) for MINUTES afterward!
One of the others---Was it Gwen Berry or Amber Campbell??--hugged her, and told her--"Stop crying, Girl, stop crying!".
Runner-up goes to Shelby Houlihan, who knelt on the track after the 5000, hands on head, crying tears of joy and disbelief--getting consoled by Emily Infeld!!
Best Nude ESPN Body Issue Athlete
Emma Coburn??
NO!!
(This will seem like a trick question, maybe!)
I choose Amanda Bingson!
She also posed nude for that issue--except for the 2015 edition!
Coburn is in this year's edition!!
Yes, I think Bingson's photos were sexier than Coburn's!!
Best PR (Meaning Personal Record, NOT Public Relations!)
Lots of them!
Start with the Multi's folks, both sex's!
Kendell Williams added 177 points to her previous best!
Heather Miller-Koch gained over 150!
Zach Ziemek and Jeremy Taiwo both gained over 100 points!
Delilah Muhammad broke her earlier best by 0.95 seconds!
Devon Allen improved 0.13 in the 110H---a big jump for that event!
Many other PR's were smaller, but came at the most opportune moments, all helping them get on the Rio team!
Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley in the 3000SC, Sydney McLaughlin in the 400H, Rudy Winkler in the HT, Kate Grace and Clay Murphy in the 800's, and on and on!
Worst Performance vis a vis their PR
Several here too!
Shamier Little's right at the top!!
Any of the No Heighters in the PV's, who shall remain nameless!
Best Fashion Statement
Boris Berian for proudly displaying his New Balance duds in enemy territory!!
All those wearing Oiselle's beautiful racing kit!!
Worst Fashion Statement
Those UGLY strips of tape on several athlete's legs and arms!!
WTF???
Anyone wearing a nose ring!!
Rings are for FINGERS and EARS!!
(I'd say nipple rings too, but luckily, I couldn't see any under all those sports bras!!)
Best Teenager (and/or 20 year old)
There were so MANY of them!
I'm not sure, but I believe the number of HS'ers & Collegiate Frosh & Sophs at this meet set some kind of record!!
For the Men, it's a tie between Noah Lyles and Michael Norman!
Their 200's were not only FAST, but they stole all the thunder from Gatlin, Gay, Spearmon, and all the oldies!!
For the Women, it's Sydney McLaughlin!!
No contest!!
But Vashti Cunningham shouldn't be overlooked, nor should Lexi Weeks, who gets several points, as does Keturah Orji, Raven Saunders, and Alexa Efraimson.
Add Chanel Brissett, who ran 12.95 in her heat of the 100H, becoming just the 4th HS'er to go sub-13!
Best 30 or Over
Bernard Lagat--again, no contest!!
Honorable Mentions to Reese Hoffa, Jenn Suhr, and Justin Gatlin.
Best New Mom Performance
This was a tough one, as there were several "moms" out there.
But "new" was a relative term!
The newEST was Sarah Brown.
While her 4:24 in her heat was poor, it gained a million points when you realize she was still PREGNANT just 4 months earlier!!
That she even RAN was amazing!
(Reminded me a lot of Alysia Montano running the USATF 800 when 8.5 months preggers, back in 2014!)
But for the Best PERFORMANCE, that has to go to Chaunte Lowe!
She's had THREE children, and though her latest was 2 years ago, she's also dealt with injury since then, so her 6-7 HJ was incredible, considering!!
Best Performance by a 110H Guy Sporting a Transplanted Kidney from his Sister
Hmmmm, who should I give this one to??
Best Celebrations
Chaunte Lowe wins this award also!!
Did you see her dance steps on the pads after every make?
Puts Miley's twerks to shame!!
LOVED it!!
Second place goes to another Vertical Jumps Woman--Lexi Weeks!
She was crying, screaming, jumping around, all that good stuff!
Add Deanna Price's poignant sobs after making the Rio squad (See above!).
Best Performance by a Duck
Quack! Quack!
Jeez, how MANY Oregon Ducks were there??
Did they have their entire team there?
Seemed that way!!
But, for the Men, Devon Allen wins this!
For the Women, I'll give it to Jenna Prandini.
(Yes, I know Prandini is a FORMER Duck! But once a Duck, ALWAYS a Duck!!)
Best "Unknown" Award
Who rose from the depths to perform like never before?
And which of those did NONE of us "experts" even CONSIDER as a serious contender--let alone even know who the F--K they were??
Ever heard of Gabrielle Thomas before this meet began?
Yeah, neither had I, and I'm a SERIOUS T&F geek!!
She's a Harvard (!!) Freshman sprinter, who competed very well through the 200 rounds, PR'ing along the way!
And she ALMOST got the award for Best Hair!
(It had thin tight braids down each side, with sort of a shaved look on either side of her swept back flowing locks!)
Not to mention she is one BEAUTIFUL girl!!!
Best NBC Coverage
Worst NBC Coverage
Was there anything GOOD about it??
NOTE: As I said earlier, the PRE-NBC livestream, with Tom Feuer, was VERY good!!
And that WAS put on by NBC!
But it just didn't SEEM like they had anything to do with it!!
I'll end with a "Most" Award!!
Most Meet Records Broken
The Women broke FIVE, and added a Tie, so there were SIX!!
They were the 3000SC, 400H, LJ, SP, and the HT, as well as a tie in the HJ!
The Men got only THREE--the 1500, PV, and the JT!
See you soon, with my report from the Monaco DL!
That will also include news from the European Championships, which (in case anyone wasn't aware!!) took place from July 6-10, DURING the Trials period!!
Besides, after this meet ended, I (like many other T&F geeks) went through the DT's, having NO T&F to watch, no NBC "coverage" to cringe over, no blog with detailed results to put together!
What a bitch!!
But oh this blessed forum to soothe my wounded soul!
So hang on to (something!!), I'm about to let LOOSE!!
My Best & Worst of the 2016 United States Olympic Track and Field Trials!
Best Events, Based on Marks Only
Men
Long Jump (While many of the best marks were windy, it's rare the US has 7 men jumping 27 or more feet in one meet on the same day!! Much more than I expected!!)
Decathlon (While Ashton Eaton's score was actually BELOW average for him, there was good depth, with 3 guys over 8400 points, with another over 8200--and 2 of them scored big PR's!)
1500 (TWO men ran faster than the 36 year old Meet Record of the venerable Steve Scott!! How rare is an MR in a race longer than 200 meters?? Now, if EVERY distance race were run like that!!)
Women
100 (10.74 for English Gardner, with a couple of 10.78's, plus several more in the 10's, and many of them legal!! Sure, it's expected in Hayward's wind tunnel, but still....!!)
3000SC (Okay, so Emma Coburn tempo ran her race---so what?? But just look at the two behind her! Two solid PR's--even though 1 had already PR'ed this year, and the other was running her first SC of the year, due to injury! Plus, you had a few others under 9:40, most of whom PR'ed!!)
HJ (Yes, the HJ!! We had a 32 year old with 3 children, and a "child" of 18, both of whom jumped higher than anyone has these past 2 years!!)
SP (Shot Diva's not alone anymore!! In fact, the shot circle's kind of crowded now, with 5 throwing 62 feet or more, plus a few others over 60! Valerie, watch your back!!)
Heptathlon (Just like the Men, this event had depth! Three over 6400, with 2 of them scoring big PR's!! And several more over 6000!!)
The Worst Events, Based on Marks??
Oh, how I hate to do this!! (Why do I punish myself??)
For the Men, there were several!
Start with the 5000, where they ran their first 1000 SLOWER than the Women did!! Who cares that 41+ Bernard Lagat ran his last lap in 52!! I've said this too many times---If I wanted to watch a 400 race, I'd watch the 400!!)
The HJ!! UGH!!
While Erik Kynard bounded over at 7-6, and the crowd loving his showboating, 3rd place was just 7-3!! There have been HS meets better than that!!
20K Walk (Need I comment?)
400H (Remember the days when the US had 2 or 3 guys running sub-48's, and Edwin Moses was winning 100+ consecutive races--against all comers?? Yeah, I know, hard to remember!!)
For the Women, that's easy!
The JT, on a tear this year in the Collegiate ranks, sank to the bottom here, even with all the top Collegians here!
The 200! Look at the times--especially when compared to the 100, or the Men's 200!!
Discus Throw! No one came close to matching their early season marks!!
Best Events, Based on Competition
The Men's LJ, as noted above--for the same reasons!!
The 200! Gatlin vs Merritt, with two HS'ers aiming to shock!
19.75 to 19.79, 20 flat, then a HSR, and another HS speedster!
The Women's SC, but only for the 2nd & 3rd placers!
That 1500 final for the Ladies--who were anything but dainty & genteel!!
The 100H!! That's ALWAYS a battle, and this was no different!
And I'm talking about the Heats, Semi's, AND the Final!!
Worst Events, Based on Competition?
As noted, the Men's HJ!!
The Men's 400. Merritt ran solo!!
The 110H. Devon Allen blew away all the vets!! (Look again at the title of this award!)
For the Women, the 200!
Felix was 0.30 behind Tori Bowie, never in the game!
Best Dive for the Tape?
A tie, between Amanda Eccleston and Jenna Prandini.
While both Eccleston and Martinez hit the track, Brenda stumbled, so can't be counted as a dive!
Prandini also stumbled, and it was THOUGHT to be a dive--but it wasn't!
So maybe I should change HER award title to "Best Flailing Bod that APPEARS to be a Heroic Dive to Win"!!
Best NASCAR Moment?
Guess!
(With all due apologies to Alysia, Brenda, and Molly L!!)
Best Name for a Great Pun
Kate Grace!
Her 800 win was a, heh, coupe de Grace!!
Jenn Suhr
SUHRly you jest!
That's for SUHR!
I SUHR wish you'd quit making "jokes" about this stud's name!!
Okay, SUHR!!
Best Hair
Shelby Houlihan!!
Not much of a fan of colored hair (meaning Day-Glo colors, not just dyes!!), but Shel sure stands out!!
Easy to spot her in the pack!
I'd say Evan Jager for the Men, but I don't care for his bun.
I preferred his hippie look!!
Speaking of which, give this Men's award to Ben Blankenship!!
Best Performance by an athlete wearing Prescription Glasses
Rudy Winkler!
Don't see many people wearing REAL glasses---just shades!
Especially not in the Hammer Throw!!
Worst Performance by an athlete wearing Prescription Glasses
Sad to say, it was Shamier Little.
In the Semi's, when it was raining, she had to protect her glasses from the rain until she got down in the blocks!
You know what happened.
Best LiveStreamed Event
ANY of the field events shown during the time BEFORE the regular NBC crew took over!
EVERY jump, EVERY throw shown!!
Reminded me of the World INdoor PV this year!!
Best NBC Announcers
Sorry, I should have removed the "s" from Announcers!!
Sanya Richards-Ross, hands, feet, legs, and everything else DOWN!!
Fire that whole damn mob, and HIRE Sanya to do the ENTIRE show!!
Also, Tom Feuer, who announced the pre-NBC parts! (See above!)
One complaint, however!
He went on and on and on and on.....just like ME!!
Worst NBC Announcers
Everyone except Sanya! (See above!)
Best Post-Event Interview
I enjoyed the ones Flotrack did on the sneak!!
Meaning, they were banned from the "Mix Zone" because they'd supposedly violated some copyright rule---or something!! BullSHIT!!
Individually, I liked the one with Kate Murphy best!
She's that speedy Miling HS Junior.
She was answering questions, trying to be serious, but people (off camera) kept making her laugh!
So you'd see her talking about her race, and she'd suddenly start guffawing--then attempt to return to her straight face!!
Funny---and endearingly cute!!
Worst Post-Event Interview
This is a decades-old complaint, but why have those brief "interviews" immediately post-race??
And why ask the same old tired questions?
How did it feel to win?
Well, duhhhhh, it felt LOUSY, you dumb jerk!!
(I sure wish someone would say THAT!!)
Best Crier
I bet you thought I was going to say Alysia Montano's Oscar-winning performance down the final straight of the 800 final!
I could, I suppose!
But nope, gotta give this award to Deanna Price, who made the HT team!
She got a PR, and a podium spot!
She was sobbing (in delirious joy!) for MINUTES afterward!
One of the others---Was it Gwen Berry or Amber Campbell??--hugged her, and told her--"Stop crying, Girl, stop crying!".
Runner-up goes to Shelby Houlihan, who knelt on the track after the 5000, hands on head, crying tears of joy and disbelief--getting consoled by Emily Infeld!!
Best Nude ESPN Body Issue Athlete
Emma Coburn??
NO!!
(This will seem like a trick question, maybe!)
I choose Amanda Bingson!
She also posed nude for that issue--except for the 2015 edition!
Coburn is in this year's edition!!
Yes, I think Bingson's photos were sexier than Coburn's!!
Best PR (Meaning Personal Record, NOT Public Relations!)
Lots of them!
Start with the Multi's folks, both sex's!
Kendell Williams added 177 points to her previous best!
Heather Miller-Koch gained over 150!
Zach Ziemek and Jeremy Taiwo both gained over 100 points!
Delilah Muhammad broke her earlier best by 0.95 seconds!
Devon Allen improved 0.13 in the 110H---a big jump for that event!
Many other PR's were smaller, but came at the most opportune moments, all helping them get on the Rio team!
Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley in the 3000SC, Sydney McLaughlin in the 400H, Rudy Winkler in the HT, Kate Grace and Clay Murphy in the 800's, and on and on!
Worst Performance vis a vis their PR
Several here too!
Shamier Little's right at the top!!
Any of the No Heighters in the PV's, who shall remain nameless!
Best Fashion Statement
Boris Berian for proudly displaying his New Balance duds in enemy territory!!
All those wearing Oiselle's beautiful racing kit!!
Worst Fashion Statement
Those UGLY strips of tape on several athlete's legs and arms!!
WTF???
Anyone wearing a nose ring!!
Rings are for FINGERS and EARS!!
(I'd say nipple rings too, but luckily, I couldn't see any under all those sports bras!!)
Best Teenager (and/or 20 year old)
There were so MANY of them!
I'm not sure, but I believe the number of HS'ers & Collegiate Frosh & Sophs at this meet set some kind of record!!
For the Men, it's a tie between Noah Lyles and Michael Norman!
Their 200's were not only FAST, but they stole all the thunder from Gatlin, Gay, Spearmon, and all the oldies!!
For the Women, it's Sydney McLaughlin!!
No contest!!
But Vashti Cunningham shouldn't be overlooked, nor should Lexi Weeks, who gets several points, as does Keturah Orji, Raven Saunders, and Alexa Efraimson.
Add Chanel Brissett, who ran 12.95 in her heat of the 100H, becoming just the 4th HS'er to go sub-13!
Best 30 or Over
Bernard Lagat--again, no contest!!
Honorable Mentions to Reese Hoffa, Jenn Suhr, and Justin Gatlin.
Best New Mom Performance
This was a tough one, as there were several "moms" out there.
But "new" was a relative term!
The newEST was Sarah Brown.
While her 4:24 in her heat was poor, it gained a million points when you realize she was still PREGNANT just 4 months earlier!!
That she even RAN was amazing!
(Reminded me a lot of Alysia Montano running the USATF 800 when 8.5 months preggers, back in 2014!)
But for the Best PERFORMANCE, that has to go to Chaunte Lowe!
She's had THREE children, and though her latest was 2 years ago, she's also dealt with injury since then, so her 6-7 HJ was incredible, considering!!
Best Performance by a 110H Guy Sporting a Transplanted Kidney from his Sister
Hmmmm, who should I give this one to??
Best Celebrations
Chaunte Lowe wins this award also!!
Did you see her dance steps on the pads after every make?
Puts Miley's twerks to shame!!
LOVED it!!
Second place goes to another Vertical Jumps Woman--Lexi Weeks!
She was crying, screaming, jumping around, all that good stuff!
Add Deanna Price's poignant sobs after making the Rio squad (See above!).
Best Performance by a Duck
Quack! Quack!
Jeez, how MANY Oregon Ducks were there??
Did they have their entire team there?
Seemed that way!!
But, for the Men, Devon Allen wins this!
For the Women, I'll give it to Jenna Prandini.
(Yes, I know Prandini is a FORMER Duck! But once a Duck, ALWAYS a Duck!!)
Best "Unknown" Award
Who rose from the depths to perform like never before?
And which of those did NONE of us "experts" even CONSIDER as a serious contender--let alone even know who the F--K they were??
Ever heard of Gabrielle Thomas before this meet began?
Yeah, neither had I, and I'm a SERIOUS T&F geek!!
She's a Harvard (!!) Freshman sprinter, who competed very well through the 200 rounds, PR'ing along the way!
And she ALMOST got the award for Best Hair!
(It had thin tight braids down each side, with sort of a shaved look on either side of her swept back flowing locks!)
Not to mention she is one BEAUTIFUL girl!!!
Best NBC Coverage
Worst NBC Coverage
Was there anything GOOD about it??
NOTE: As I said earlier, the PRE-NBC livestream, with Tom Feuer, was VERY good!!
And that WAS put on by NBC!
But it just didn't SEEM like they had anything to do with it!!
I'll end with a "Most" Award!!
Most Meet Records Broken
The Women broke FIVE, and added a Tie, so there were SIX!!
They were the 3000SC, 400H, LJ, SP, and the HT, as well as a tie in the HJ!
The Men got only THREE--the 1500, PV, and the JT!
See you soon, with my report from the Monaco DL!
That will also include news from the European Championships, which (in case anyone wasn't aware!!) took place from July 6-10, DURING the Trials period!!
Monday, July 11, 2016
Trial's Stunning End--The Last 2 Days--July 9-10
It's over!
Or is it?
The somewhat experimental United States Track and Field Olympic Trials for the Games of Rio has concluded, and the US team is set---sort of!
I will report what I know---or think I know!---about the status of the team, but the final team list won't be known for a day or two!)
The last 2 days had most of the finals, with all the joy & pain you'd expect when 4 years of your life comes down to just a few seconds or minutes of fierce competition!
So let's get to it!!
Saturday began with the beginning of the Heptathlon, but I'll report on that toward the end, when the 800 was run, so as to keep to my format of following the timeline of the events, in sequence.
Let's go to the Women's Javelin Throw final!
Hannah Carson threw 190-11 in the 2nd round, taking the lead.
This held until round 5, when Kara Winger finally hit her stride, reaching 189-11.
But Maggie Malone, the Collegiate leader this year, whipped it out to 199-7.
Brittany Borman--whom many thought would follow Winger to Rio--reached 185-8 to go into 4th.
Not enough!
The sixth round didn't produce any changes.
Haley Crouser and Audrey Malone finished 10th and 11th, respectively!
The Men's TJ final had some of us worried after the first 2 rounds, as heavily favored World Record threat Christian Taylor couldn't reach 55 feet, and appeared to have a niggle.
Luckily, that turned out to be a false alarm, as seen when he reached 57-0.75 in round 6 to make the team.
He couldn't match the 57-11 produced by Will Claye in round 5, but no matter!
Chris Benard shook up the formcharts a bit, when his 56-5.75 left behind Omar Craddock's 56-3.75 to make the team!
Benard's mark makes him 21st A-T US!
Eric Sloan fouled out!
The Men's 110H semi's was the first track event on Saturday.
Jeff Porter--husband of Brit Tiffany Porter, and brother-in-law to Cindy Ofili--won semi 1 in 13.49, beating Jason Richardson and Aleec Harris.
Not making it to the final was Ryan Wilson!
Ronnie Ash took care of Jarrett Eaton in semi 2, courtesy of a 13.34.
Oregon's Devon Allen, wearing his Duck jersey, ran 13.40, while David Oliver timed 13.46, and Aries Merritt--his kidney donor sister watching from the stands--was 3rd in 13.57.
Oliver was seen rubbing his leg afterward, and he wound up scratching from the final!!
The Women's 200 semi's saw most of the players making it into the final.
Jenna Prandini won the first, her 22.68 edging her Duck friend Ariana Washington's 22.72, while Tiffany Townsend took 3rd with 22.79.
Not making it, but still providing a race-within-a-race, were HS Profeshes Kaylin Whitney and Candace Hill!
And it was close, as the 18 year old Whitney's 23.03 prevailed over the 17 year old Hill's 23.05!!
Deajah Stevens kept the Oregon streak alive, nailing semi 2 in 22.45, well ahead of Harvard's surprise Frosh, Gabrielle Thomas, who ran 22.72.
Joanna Atkins and Morolake Akinosun failed to Q here!
The last semi had the "biggies"--Tori Bowie and Allyson Felix.
And it was no contest, as Bowie's 22.27 smoked the gun shy Felix's 22.57!
Jeneba Tarmoh was far back, but her 22.98 got her in with a time Q.
The stage was set for one of the most anticipated finals of the meet!!
The Men's 5000 final went out slower than most women's races--the entire field reaching the first K in 3:12!!
Then Brian Schrader and Will Kincaid decided to put pedal to metal, and whizzed through a lap in 59-high!
They eventually faded (Kincaid was 8th, while Schrader was 14th!), but at least they weren't on 16:00 pace anymore!!
Nonetheless, the pace was still sluggish enough that the front "group" included almost the entire field!
It was anybody's race--which began with the ringing of the bell.
Bernard Lagat came off the last curve in a dead-out sprint--impressive for one turning 42 in December!--but when he passed Hassan Mead and Paul Chelimo to win it in 13:35.50, his final lap taking just 52.82--it really wasn't that much of a shock!
Eric Jenkins made things a little exciting, as his mad dash almost caught Chelimo.
Jenkins's last 400 was 53.41, but I'd bet his final 60 was worthy of an INdoor sprint!!
Ben True and Ryan Hill---both thought to have good chances to make the team--were 5th and 6th, respectively!
Shadrack Kipchirchir finished 8th, while Galen Rupp was never really in it, and ended in 9th!
Not to fret--he'll be in the Rio 10K and Marathon!!
Oh Baby, that Men's 200 final!!
LaShawn Merritt, the proud owner of a shiny new 19.74 from the heats, vs the much-maligned Justin Gatlin.
Add two incredible HS'ers, and you've got yourself a headline grabber!
Gatlin exploded out the gate, claiming a slight lead at the top of the straight.
But Merritt and the HS kids--Noah Lyles and Michael Norman--were almost even.
Could the unbelievable happen, and a KID beat one or both of the grizzled veterans?
That question was answered--decisively--when the vets hit Overdrive, and demonstrated how Olympians are made!
When Gatlin crossed the line, with Merritt right there, all eyes turned to Lyles and Norman!
But what they saw was Ameer Webb's 20.00 take the Olympic dream away from them!
Still, Lyles's 20.09 in 4th stole the HSR from Roy Martin's 20.13 of 1985.
He also took Martin's Senior Class record, and moved from 4th to 1st on the A-T HS list!
Norman was close behind, and took 5th with his 20.14, a PR by 0.01.
This moved him from 4th A-T HS to 3rd, tied with 1 other!
As for Gatlin, his winning time was 19.75,good enough to give him the Age 34 record, and make him the oldest to run under 19.80, as well as the oldest sub-20!!
Merritt's 19.79 fell 0.05 shy of his recent PR, but was enough to make a 200-400 double in Rio a possibility!!
However, word came today--over Twitter--that he'd decided to drop the 200!
This makes Noah Lyles an Olympian!!
Tyson Gay was never in it, ending in 6th with 20.38, while Kendal Williams also timed 20.38, in 7th!
Ending Saturday's business was the Men's 110H final.
As noted earlier, David Oliver was a DNS.
This left two questions--Could new kidney owner Aries Merritt become a 2-time Olympian?--and Would the Duck's Trial's successes continue behind the name of Devon Allen?
Allen answered the latter query--decisively!!
His football experience giving him a clear lead after one hurdle, he only lengthened it all the way down the track, finally blasting through in 13.03, becoming the 2nd fastest footballer-slash-sprinter in Collegiate history--even if his time isn't eligible for Collegiate records or lists!!--behind only the legendary Renaldo Nehemiah's 13.00!!
He misses the World DDD list by a mere 0.01 seconds!!
He moves from 24th A-T US to 15th, tied with 2 others!
Then the other question was answered!
Ronnie Ash took 2nd, running 13.21.
The blur of two bodies crossed next, but which was ahead?
It was Jeff Porter's 13.21 which doomed the heavily sentimental favorite, Aries Merritt, to only DL's and other lesser meets!!
Merritt was timed in 13.22.
Jason Richardson and Jarrett Eaton were next, followed a bit later by Aleec Harris.
Sunday saw the finish of the grueling Heptathlon--and what a finish it was!!
Like every memorable Multi, it came down to the final event--in this case, the 800 meters!
After the 1st day, Barbara Nwaba had taken the lead from young Kendell Williams, 3903 to 3892.
Three others were in contention--Heather Miller-Koch, Erica Bougard, and the veteran Sharon Day-Monroe!!
Chantae McMillan was also having a good series of events.
Williams had a below-average LJ, falling enough behind that one announcer stated the team was set--and it did NOT include the Georgia Bulldog!!
Bougard had an awful JT, ending any Rio dreams she might have had, while Williams hit a slight PR.
Then came the 800, where it was said Williams needed to stay within 5.5 seconds of the faster trio, all of whom had PR's at least 8 seconds quicker than Williams's 2:17.
They led through 400 in about 62, with the brave Williams not that far behind--maybe 65 or 66.
But she started to fade as they rounded the last curve.
Could she hold on?
She was CLOSE!!
When they all had finished, Williams hid her face from the scoreboard, kneeling on the track.
It took a minute before she was told she'd made it--by 17 points!!
Nwaba's 6494 winner fell just 6 points shy of her PR.
Miller-Koch saw her PR jump by almost 150 points--to 6423 in 2nd.
She moves from 18th A-T US to 10th!!
Williams's 6402 was a PR by 177 points, and led to her rise on the A-T US list from 20th to 11th!
She beat the 6385 that Day-Monroe was able to put together.
McMillan finished strong, her 6326 in 5th a PR by 138 points!!
She moves from 24th to 16th on the A-T US list!
Four others scored more than 6000 points, with Bougard's 6038 giving her 8th!
The heavily-anticipated Women's Pole Vault had much better weather than did the Q round!!
This made for a GREAT competition, which saw 11 women go over at least 14-9, with six of them reaching 15-1 or higher!
The opening height was a strong 14-5.25!!
(I said the OPENING height!!)
The precocious Arkansas Frosh--half of a twin set--Lexi Weeks, cleared on first attempt, as did her pal and training partner, the former Razorback, Sandi Morris, who had just begun vaulting again one week earlier after her pole-breaking accident a few months ago.
They both made 14-9--making it look like half that height--then were joined by the inimitable Jenn Suhr at 15-1, where the trio all cleared cleanly on their first.
They soon had company, with the much improved Morgann LeLeux tying her 2016 PR, and remaining 15th A-T US, tied with 7 others!
Then Katie Nageotte and Megan Clark also sailed over, with Nageotte's 15-1 moving her from 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 15th, where she's tied with 8 others!!
Among the No-Heights was Mary Saxer!
Suhr, Morris, and Weeks all made 15-3 on their 1st, with Lexi reaching a tiny PR of a quarter-inch!
She was VERY happy--but she was apparently told by her coach in the stands to tamp down her excitement, as her hand gestures indicated!!
She still had more bars to clear!
Morris was in the lead after clearing 15-5 with room to spare.
Suhr sailed over too, but it took her all 3 attempts!!
Weeks missed once, clearing her second PR of the day on 2nd attempt!
The bar went up to 15-7!
Suhr nailed it on first try, as did Morris!!
The amazing teenager (She turns 20 in December, as will sister Tori!) decided to stop, and realizing she'd made the Olympic team, now had clearance to celebrate.
And she did, jumping for joy, crying--all that good stuff!!
BTW, her 15-5 moved her from 10th A-T US to 6th, tied with 1 other!
But how much higher would Morris and Suhr go, and who would win?
After Suhr went over 15-9 on her first, and Morris missed, the snake-lover decided to use her next two attempts at 15-11.
She missed both, and Suhr missed all 3 of her's, so Suhr wound up winning!
Two excited Arkansas gals and the more stoic super-veteran--going to Rio!!
The Men's HJ, despite the presence of the crowd-pleasing Erik Kynard, was fairly dull.
Kynard tried to rev up the crowd, but when your winning height is just 7-6, that's hard to do--although he tried 3 times to clear 7-8.50.
Kyle Landon was 2nd at 7-5, while 3rd placer Brad Adkins could clear just 7-3.
Avion Jones couldn't clear anything!
Then came yet ANOTHER race everyone was waiting for--the Women's 400H!!
With the "favorite", Shamier Little, already out, the main focus landed on 16 year old (soon to be 17!) New Jersey Superstar Sydney McLaughlin, as mature-seeming a teenager as you'll find anywhere!!
But could she handle the pressure of trying to become our youngest Olympian, in a field of Professionals and top Collegians?
At the gun, Delilah Muhammad (a fellow Easterner, from New York!!) took off, making up staggers before the 2nd hurdle!!
McLaughlin was slow to get going, and had a lot of room to make up, possibly worn out by the competitive rounds she'd already run.
When you win all your High School races by a country mile, it's difficult to get used to being BEHIND anyone, let alone 4 or 5 other women!!
But she gathered herself, and quickly moved up, while Muhammad kept on charging ahead!
As she broke the invisable tape after just 52.88 of running, the battle for places was still going on!
And McLaughlin appeared tired.
Ashley Spencer used her 50.28 400 speed to nail 2nd in a PR of 54.02.
McLaughlin held on, shattering her own HSR by 0.31, hitting the line in 54.15.
Kori Carter finished 4th in 54.47, with Cassandra Tate, Autumne Franklin, and Jaide Stepter also going under 55 seconds!
For Muhammad, it's the Meet Record, and makes her 13th A-T World!
She moves from 13th A-T US to 5th!!
Spencer is now 15th A-T US!
McLaughlin, as noted, broke her own HSR, as well as her own Junior Class record, and Age 16 record!!
In fact, her's is the fastest by any female Age 18 or younger.
And she misses the Age 19 standard by just 0.01 seconds!
She is now a full 1.05 seconds ahead of the previous HSR holder, Leslie Maxie!!
Knocked OFF my World DDD (by Muhammad) was Sabine Busch's 53.24, dating from 1987!
Pushed OFF the US list was the venerable Judy Brown-King, who had run 54.23, also in 1987!
I've got 4 more outstanding races to report, and I know this is already rather lengthy, but I've chosen to continue here, rather than begin a new post!!
My apologies, and I hope it's at least an enjoyable torture test!
LOL
Molly Huddle is cute (I have a real hard crush on her!!), and has a GREAT name (BOTH first & last!!).
She is also a BEAST and a MACHINE!!
The field jogged through 1000 meters in 3:11.92.
While not as bad as the Men's first K of their 5000 (See above!), they were at 16:00 pace!
While not dramatic, Molly started leading the train at 72's and 73's instead of 77's.
Still, they were dangerously bunched together, an accident waiting to happen.
Then it did--but it only affected one runner--Nicole Tully.
She was now about 8 seconds behind, and DNF'ed after about 2600 meters!
In this group was the Boise State freshman, Allie Ostrander, whose 1st race back from injury (during INdoor season) was the heats here, where she ran an amazing 15:27 and change!
Also there were Emily Infeld, Abbey D'Agostino, Shelby Houlihan, Katie Mackey, and Kim Conley!
But Huddle kept the reins, and charged along at steady 72's.
Then Ostrander faded, though not horrendously, leaving a pack of 6.
At the bell, Huddle sprinted, finding the finish just 63.23 later!
The speedy Houlihan, who had run a 4:03.39 PR this year over 1500, tried to catch Huddle, but she could only match her 400, her last 400 being 63.89, her final time 15:06.14 to Huddle's 15:05.01.
Conley could manage only 68 for her last go-round, ending 3rd in 15:10.62.
Infeld, already on the 10K team with Huddle, was 4th three seconds behind Conley.
Abbey D was 5th, just behind Infeld.
Marielle Hall, also on the 10K squad, was 7th, just ahead of Ostrander's new PR of 15:24.74.
Jordan Hasay faded to 13th, just ahead of Sara Hall.
Huddle's last 3000 was about 8:53, and her final K at 2:51.
Another fairly lackluster event was the Men's 400H.
Kerron Clement's winning time of 48.50 won't scare anyone.
But excited to finish 2nd was Collegian Byron Robinson, who ran 48.79.
He'd never broken 50 before 2016 began!!
Michael Tinsley took 3rd in 48.82.
Jeshua Anderson was DQ'ed for an unknown reason.
Would the Women's 1500--with a LOADED field--go off like a car with a flat tire, or would they make it honest?
At 67.95 through 400, there was a tiny leak, but the wheels were spinning nonetheless.
When they chugged through 800 just under 2:16, the entire pack was tied together in a knot.
And Brenda Martinez, whose 800 race to Rio was broken apart by a crowded-field stumble at a crucial point, stumbled again--but this time it was minor, and she stayed in the hunt.
Rumor has it that Alexa Efraimson, stuck in a box, elbowed her way to freedom, knocking one runner temporarily to the infield.
But as of a few hours ago, no reports of protests being filed!!
They came through 1100 meters in about 3:04, with Jenny Simpson in front.
Then they sprinted.
Simpson's final lap was a 59.97 blazer, her 4:04.74 holding off the 60.51 lap of Shannon Rowbury, who timed 4:05.39.
Martinez had kicked into 3rd, and appeared ready to claim redemption after the 800 debacle.
But redheaded Amanda Eccleston was imitating Tori Bowie, charging hard, then diving at the line, JUST missing catching Martinez.
They'd both run sub-61's, and ended just 0.03 apart (which seemed like too much!!), 4:06.16 to 4:06.19!!
Martinez was an Olympian!!
Morgan Uceny, who was up front at the bell, couldn't finish as fast, and took 5th, a bit ahead of Efraimson's 4:07.34.
Mary Cain was also near the front with a lap to go, but could manage just 67.70 for her last 400, ending in 11th!
Gabe Grunewald finished last!
Bowie vs Felix.
The Terrific Tori v the Wounded Warrior.
It was decided on the curve.
Bowie rocketed forward, while Felix lagged, with too much ground to make up--especially when not at her best!!
She couldn't win--but could she make the 200 team? (She'd made the 400 squad already!)
Another Oregon Duck, Teajah Stevens, was close behind Bowie's 22.25, timed in 22.30.
But Felix had a fight on her hands!
Clearly not the 21.69 woman we all love, she was finally caught by yet ANOTHER Duck--a FORMER Duck, that is!--Jenna Prandini.
Just before the line, Prandini stumbled, and appeared to be diving for the line!
But she wasn't--she'd merely stumbled, and started flailing her limbs.
Her contortions delivered her that golden 3rd spot, inches ahead of the smoother finishing Felix.
They were given times a tenth apart, but even that wasn't indicative of how close they were!!
Ariana Washington--Yes, one more Duckie!!--was 5th, while the beautiful Harvard Frosh, Gabrielle Thomas, took 6th.
Jeneba Tarmoh was last.
The last event of this ten day extravaganza was the Men's 1500, and probably the one event where I least expected a Meet Record to fall!!
But it DID!!
(Jordan McNamara had tweeted out requests for the others to help him set an honest pace, as a few of the men needed OG qualifying times, and this would be their last chance to get it!)
They ran the first 400 in a respectable 58, just over Q pace.
When they slowed a bit to a 59--800 of 1:57 and change--things looked bad for those needing a fast time.
With jostling taking place that made the Women's 800 crash site look like an afternoon tea party, the men charged forward as a unit, all of them playing bumper cars.
You could barely see the short man, Leo Manzano, who was in the middle, alongside the taller bearded Ben Blankenship.
When the bell sounded, they were already in full speed mode, with the spunky Matthew Centrowitz leading the way.
Making a 53.95 lap look easy, Centro sped across the line in the Meet Record time of 3:34.09, Steve Scott's 3:35.30 from the misbegotten 1980 Trials now off the books!!
Robby Andrews used his famous kick to garner 2nd in 3:34.88.
Blankenship held off the hard-charging Manzano, who failed to make his first team in about a decade!!
Protests were filed, but after some deliberation, the results were upheld, the appeals denied!!
And the meet was finished.
I will have a "Best & Worst" post up in a day or two.
And believe me, there were PLENTY of bests--and a TON of worsts!!
Hang tight, my friends!!
Or is it?
The somewhat experimental United States Track and Field Olympic Trials for the Games of Rio has concluded, and the US team is set---sort of!
I will report what I know---or think I know!---about the status of the team, but the final team list won't be known for a day or two!)
The last 2 days had most of the finals, with all the joy & pain you'd expect when 4 years of your life comes down to just a few seconds or minutes of fierce competition!
So let's get to it!!
Saturday began with the beginning of the Heptathlon, but I'll report on that toward the end, when the 800 was run, so as to keep to my format of following the timeline of the events, in sequence.
Let's go to the Women's Javelin Throw final!
Hannah Carson threw 190-11 in the 2nd round, taking the lead.
This held until round 5, when Kara Winger finally hit her stride, reaching 189-11.
But Maggie Malone, the Collegiate leader this year, whipped it out to 199-7.
Brittany Borman--whom many thought would follow Winger to Rio--reached 185-8 to go into 4th.
Not enough!
The sixth round didn't produce any changes.
Haley Crouser and Audrey Malone finished 10th and 11th, respectively!
The Men's TJ final had some of us worried after the first 2 rounds, as heavily favored World Record threat Christian Taylor couldn't reach 55 feet, and appeared to have a niggle.
Luckily, that turned out to be a false alarm, as seen when he reached 57-0.75 in round 6 to make the team.
He couldn't match the 57-11 produced by Will Claye in round 5, but no matter!
Chris Benard shook up the formcharts a bit, when his 56-5.75 left behind Omar Craddock's 56-3.75 to make the team!
Benard's mark makes him 21st A-T US!
Eric Sloan fouled out!
The Men's 110H semi's was the first track event on Saturday.
Jeff Porter--husband of Brit Tiffany Porter, and brother-in-law to Cindy Ofili--won semi 1 in 13.49, beating Jason Richardson and Aleec Harris.
Not making it to the final was Ryan Wilson!
Ronnie Ash took care of Jarrett Eaton in semi 2, courtesy of a 13.34.
Oregon's Devon Allen, wearing his Duck jersey, ran 13.40, while David Oliver timed 13.46, and Aries Merritt--his kidney donor sister watching from the stands--was 3rd in 13.57.
Oliver was seen rubbing his leg afterward, and he wound up scratching from the final!!
The Women's 200 semi's saw most of the players making it into the final.
Jenna Prandini won the first, her 22.68 edging her Duck friend Ariana Washington's 22.72, while Tiffany Townsend took 3rd with 22.79.
Not making it, but still providing a race-within-a-race, were HS Profeshes Kaylin Whitney and Candace Hill!
And it was close, as the 18 year old Whitney's 23.03 prevailed over the 17 year old Hill's 23.05!!
Deajah Stevens kept the Oregon streak alive, nailing semi 2 in 22.45, well ahead of Harvard's surprise Frosh, Gabrielle Thomas, who ran 22.72.
Joanna Atkins and Morolake Akinosun failed to Q here!
The last semi had the "biggies"--Tori Bowie and Allyson Felix.
And it was no contest, as Bowie's 22.27 smoked the gun shy Felix's 22.57!
Jeneba Tarmoh was far back, but her 22.98 got her in with a time Q.
The stage was set for one of the most anticipated finals of the meet!!
The Men's 5000 final went out slower than most women's races--the entire field reaching the first K in 3:12!!
Then Brian Schrader and Will Kincaid decided to put pedal to metal, and whizzed through a lap in 59-high!
They eventually faded (Kincaid was 8th, while Schrader was 14th!), but at least they weren't on 16:00 pace anymore!!
Nonetheless, the pace was still sluggish enough that the front "group" included almost the entire field!
It was anybody's race--which began with the ringing of the bell.
Bernard Lagat came off the last curve in a dead-out sprint--impressive for one turning 42 in December!--but when he passed Hassan Mead and Paul Chelimo to win it in 13:35.50, his final lap taking just 52.82--it really wasn't that much of a shock!
Eric Jenkins made things a little exciting, as his mad dash almost caught Chelimo.
Jenkins's last 400 was 53.41, but I'd bet his final 60 was worthy of an INdoor sprint!!
Ben True and Ryan Hill---both thought to have good chances to make the team--were 5th and 6th, respectively!
Shadrack Kipchirchir finished 8th, while Galen Rupp was never really in it, and ended in 9th!
Not to fret--he'll be in the Rio 10K and Marathon!!
Oh Baby, that Men's 200 final!!
LaShawn Merritt, the proud owner of a shiny new 19.74 from the heats, vs the much-maligned Justin Gatlin.
Add two incredible HS'ers, and you've got yourself a headline grabber!
Gatlin exploded out the gate, claiming a slight lead at the top of the straight.
But Merritt and the HS kids--Noah Lyles and Michael Norman--were almost even.
Could the unbelievable happen, and a KID beat one or both of the grizzled veterans?
That question was answered--decisively--when the vets hit Overdrive, and demonstrated how Olympians are made!
When Gatlin crossed the line, with Merritt right there, all eyes turned to Lyles and Norman!
But what they saw was Ameer Webb's 20.00 take the Olympic dream away from them!
Still, Lyles's 20.09 in 4th stole the HSR from Roy Martin's 20.13 of 1985.
He also took Martin's Senior Class record, and moved from 4th to 1st on the A-T HS list!
Norman was close behind, and took 5th with his 20.14, a PR by 0.01.
This moved him from 4th A-T HS to 3rd, tied with 1 other!
As for Gatlin, his winning time was 19.75,good enough to give him the Age 34 record, and make him the oldest to run under 19.80, as well as the oldest sub-20!!
Merritt's 19.79 fell 0.05 shy of his recent PR, but was enough to make a 200-400 double in Rio a possibility!!
However, word came today--over Twitter--that he'd decided to drop the 200!
This makes Noah Lyles an Olympian!!
Tyson Gay was never in it, ending in 6th with 20.38, while Kendal Williams also timed 20.38, in 7th!
Ending Saturday's business was the Men's 110H final.
As noted earlier, David Oliver was a DNS.
This left two questions--Could new kidney owner Aries Merritt become a 2-time Olympian?--and Would the Duck's Trial's successes continue behind the name of Devon Allen?
Allen answered the latter query--decisively!!
His football experience giving him a clear lead after one hurdle, he only lengthened it all the way down the track, finally blasting through in 13.03, becoming the 2nd fastest footballer-slash-sprinter in Collegiate history--even if his time isn't eligible for Collegiate records or lists!!--behind only the legendary Renaldo Nehemiah's 13.00!!
He misses the World DDD list by a mere 0.01 seconds!!
He moves from 24th A-T US to 15th, tied with 2 others!
Then the other question was answered!
Ronnie Ash took 2nd, running 13.21.
The blur of two bodies crossed next, but which was ahead?
It was Jeff Porter's 13.21 which doomed the heavily sentimental favorite, Aries Merritt, to only DL's and other lesser meets!!
Merritt was timed in 13.22.
Jason Richardson and Jarrett Eaton were next, followed a bit later by Aleec Harris.
Sunday saw the finish of the grueling Heptathlon--and what a finish it was!!
Like every memorable Multi, it came down to the final event--in this case, the 800 meters!
After the 1st day, Barbara Nwaba had taken the lead from young Kendell Williams, 3903 to 3892.
Three others were in contention--Heather Miller-Koch, Erica Bougard, and the veteran Sharon Day-Monroe!!
Chantae McMillan was also having a good series of events.
Williams had a below-average LJ, falling enough behind that one announcer stated the team was set--and it did NOT include the Georgia Bulldog!!
Bougard had an awful JT, ending any Rio dreams she might have had, while Williams hit a slight PR.
Then came the 800, where it was said Williams needed to stay within 5.5 seconds of the faster trio, all of whom had PR's at least 8 seconds quicker than Williams's 2:17.
They led through 400 in about 62, with the brave Williams not that far behind--maybe 65 or 66.
But she started to fade as they rounded the last curve.
Could she hold on?
She was CLOSE!!
When they all had finished, Williams hid her face from the scoreboard, kneeling on the track.
It took a minute before she was told she'd made it--by 17 points!!
Nwaba's 6494 winner fell just 6 points shy of her PR.
Miller-Koch saw her PR jump by almost 150 points--to 6423 in 2nd.
She moves from 18th A-T US to 10th!!
Williams's 6402 was a PR by 177 points, and led to her rise on the A-T US list from 20th to 11th!
She beat the 6385 that Day-Monroe was able to put together.
McMillan finished strong, her 6326 in 5th a PR by 138 points!!
She moves from 24th to 16th on the A-T US list!
Four others scored more than 6000 points, with Bougard's 6038 giving her 8th!
The heavily-anticipated Women's Pole Vault had much better weather than did the Q round!!
This made for a GREAT competition, which saw 11 women go over at least 14-9, with six of them reaching 15-1 or higher!
The opening height was a strong 14-5.25!!
(I said the OPENING height!!)
The precocious Arkansas Frosh--half of a twin set--Lexi Weeks, cleared on first attempt, as did her pal and training partner, the former Razorback, Sandi Morris, who had just begun vaulting again one week earlier after her pole-breaking accident a few months ago.
They both made 14-9--making it look like half that height--then were joined by the inimitable Jenn Suhr at 15-1, where the trio all cleared cleanly on their first.
They soon had company, with the much improved Morgann LeLeux tying her 2016 PR, and remaining 15th A-T US, tied with 7 others!
Then Katie Nageotte and Megan Clark also sailed over, with Nageotte's 15-1 moving her from 23rd A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 15th, where she's tied with 8 others!!
Among the No-Heights was Mary Saxer!
Suhr, Morris, and Weeks all made 15-3 on their 1st, with Lexi reaching a tiny PR of a quarter-inch!
She was VERY happy--but she was apparently told by her coach in the stands to tamp down her excitement, as her hand gestures indicated!!
She still had more bars to clear!
Morris was in the lead after clearing 15-5 with room to spare.
Suhr sailed over too, but it took her all 3 attempts!!
Weeks missed once, clearing her second PR of the day on 2nd attempt!
The bar went up to 15-7!
Suhr nailed it on first try, as did Morris!!
The amazing teenager (She turns 20 in December, as will sister Tori!) decided to stop, and realizing she'd made the Olympic team, now had clearance to celebrate.
And she did, jumping for joy, crying--all that good stuff!!
BTW, her 15-5 moved her from 10th A-T US to 6th, tied with 1 other!
But how much higher would Morris and Suhr go, and who would win?
After Suhr went over 15-9 on her first, and Morris missed, the snake-lover decided to use her next two attempts at 15-11.
She missed both, and Suhr missed all 3 of her's, so Suhr wound up winning!
Two excited Arkansas gals and the more stoic super-veteran--going to Rio!!
The Men's HJ, despite the presence of the crowd-pleasing Erik Kynard, was fairly dull.
Kynard tried to rev up the crowd, but when your winning height is just 7-6, that's hard to do--although he tried 3 times to clear 7-8.50.
Kyle Landon was 2nd at 7-5, while 3rd placer Brad Adkins could clear just 7-3.
Avion Jones couldn't clear anything!
Then came yet ANOTHER race everyone was waiting for--the Women's 400H!!
With the "favorite", Shamier Little, already out, the main focus landed on 16 year old (soon to be 17!) New Jersey Superstar Sydney McLaughlin, as mature-seeming a teenager as you'll find anywhere!!
But could she handle the pressure of trying to become our youngest Olympian, in a field of Professionals and top Collegians?
At the gun, Delilah Muhammad (a fellow Easterner, from New York!!) took off, making up staggers before the 2nd hurdle!!
McLaughlin was slow to get going, and had a lot of room to make up, possibly worn out by the competitive rounds she'd already run.
When you win all your High School races by a country mile, it's difficult to get used to being BEHIND anyone, let alone 4 or 5 other women!!
But she gathered herself, and quickly moved up, while Muhammad kept on charging ahead!
As she broke the invisable tape after just 52.88 of running, the battle for places was still going on!
And McLaughlin appeared tired.
Ashley Spencer used her 50.28 400 speed to nail 2nd in a PR of 54.02.
McLaughlin held on, shattering her own HSR by 0.31, hitting the line in 54.15.
Kori Carter finished 4th in 54.47, with Cassandra Tate, Autumne Franklin, and Jaide Stepter also going under 55 seconds!
For Muhammad, it's the Meet Record, and makes her 13th A-T World!
She moves from 13th A-T US to 5th!!
Spencer is now 15th A-T US!
McLaughlin, as noted, broke her own HSR, as well as her own Junior Class record, and Age 16 record!!
In fact, her's is the fastest by any female Age 18 or younger.
And she misses the Age 19 standard by just 0.01 seconds!
She is now a full 1.05 seconds ahead of the previous HSR holder, Leslie Maxie!!
Knocked OFF my World DDD (by Muhammad) was Sabine Busch's 53.24, dating from 1987!
Pushed OFF the US list was the venerable Judy Brown-King, who had run 54.23, also in 1987!
I've got 4 more outstanding races to report, and I know this is already rather lengthy, but I've chosen to continue here, rather than begin a new post!!
My apologies, and I hope it's at least an enjoyable torture test!
LOL
Molly Huddle is cute (I have a real hard crush on her!!), and has a GREAT name (BOTH first & last!!).
She is also a BEAST and a MACHINE!!
The field jogged through 1000 meters in 3:11.92.
While not as bad as the Men's first K of their 5000 (See above!), they were at 16:00 pace!
While not dramatic, Molly started leading the train at 72's and 73's instead of 77's.
Still, they were dangerously bunched together, an accident waiting to happen.
Then it did--but it only affected one runner--Nicole Tully.
She was now about 8 seconds behind, and DNF'ed after about 2600 meters!
In this group was the Boise State freshman, Allie Ostrander, whose 1st race back from injury (during INdoor season) was the heats here, where she ran an amazing 15:27 and change!
Also there were Emily Infeld, Abbey D'Agostino, Shelby Houlihan, Katie Mackey, and Kim Conley!
But Huddle kept the reins, and charged along at steady 72's.
Then Ostrander faded, though not horrendously, leaving a pack of 6.
At the bell, Huddle sprinted, finding the finish just 63.23 later!
The speedy Houlihan, who had run a 4:03.39 PR this year over 1500, tried to catch Huddle, but she could only match her 400, her last 400 being 63.89, her final time 15:06.14 to Huddle's 15:05.01.
Conley could manage only 68 for her last go-round, ending 3rd in 15:10.62.
Infeld, already on the 10K team with Huddle, was 4th three seconds behind Conley.
Abbey D was 5th, just behind Infeld.
Marielle Hall, also on the 10K squad, was 7th, just ahead of Ostrander's new PR of 15:24.74.
Jordan Hasay faded to 13th, just ahead of Sara Hall.
Huddle's last 3000 was about 8:53, and her final K at 2:51.
Another fairly lackluster event was the Men's 400H.
Kerron Clement's winning time of 48.50 won't scare anyone.
But excited to finish 2nd was Collegian Byron Robinson, who ran 48.79.
He'd never broken 50 before 2016 began!!
Michael Tinsley took 3rd in 48.82.
Jeshua Anderson was DQ'ed for an unknown reason.
Would the Women's 1500--with a LOADED field--go off like a car with a flat tire, or would they make it honest?
At 67.95 through 400, there was a tiny leak, but the wheels were spinning nonetheless.
When they chugged through 800 just under 2:16, the entire pack was tied together in a knot.
And Brenda Martinez, whose 800 race to Rio was broken apart by a crowded-field stumble at a crucial point, stumbled again--but this time it was minor, and she stayed in the hunt.
Rumor has it that Alexa Efraimson, stuck in a box, elbowed her way to freedom, knocking one runner temporarily to the infield.
But as of a few hours ago, no reports of protests being filed!!
They came through 1100 meters in about 3:04, with Jenny Simpson in front.
Then they sprinted.
Simpson's final lap was a 59.97 blazer, her 4:04.74 holding off the 60.51 lap of Shannon Rowbury, who timed 4:05.39.
Martinez had kicked into 3rd, and appeared ready to claim redemption after the 800 debacle.
But redheaded Amanda Eccleston was imitating Tori Bowie, charging hard, then diving at the line, JUST missing catching Martinez.
They'd both run sub-61's, and ended just 0.03 apart (which seemed like too much!!), 4:06.16 to 4:06.19!!
Martinez was an Olympian!!
Morgan Uceny, who was up front at the bell, couldn't finish as fast, and took 5th, a bit ahead of Efraimson's 4:07.34.
Mary Cain was also near the front with a lap to go, but could manage just 67.70 for her last 400, ending in 11th!
Gabe Grunewald finished last!
Bowie vs Felix.
The Terrific Tori v the Wounded Warrior.
It was decided on the curve.
Bowie rocketed forward, while Felix lagged, with too much ground to make up--especially when not at her best!!
She couldn't win--but could she make the 200 team? (She'd made the 400 squad already!)
Another Oregon Duck, Teajah Stevens, was close behind Bowie's 22.25, timed in 22.30.
But Felix had a fight on her hands!
Clearly not the 21.69 woman we all love, she was finally caught by yet ANOTHER Duck--a FORMER Duck, that is!--Jenna Prandini.
Just before the line, Prandini stumbled, and appeared to be diving for the line!
But she wasn't--she'd merely stumbled, and started flailing her limbs.
Her contortions delivered her that golden 3rd spot, inches ahead of the smoother finishing Felix.
They were given times a tenth apart, but even that wasn't indicative of how close they were!!
Ariana Washington--Yes, one more Duckie!!--was 5th, while the beautiful Harvard Frosh, Gabrielle Thomas, took 6th.
Jeneba Tarmoh was last.
The last event of this ten day extravaganza was the Men's 1500, and probably the one event where I least expected a Meet Record to fall!!
But it DID!!
(Jordan McNamara had tweeted out requests for the others to help him set an honest pace, as a few of the men needed OG qualifying times, and this would be their last chance to get it!)
They ran the first 400 in a respectable 58, just over Q pace.
When they slowed a bit to a 59--800 of 1:57 and change--things looked bad for those needing a fast time.
With jostling taking place that made the Women's 800 crash site look like an afternoon tea party, the men charged forward as a unit, all of them playing bumper cars.
You could barely see the short man, Leo Manzano, who was in the middle, alongside the taller bearded Ben Blankenship.
When the bell sounded, they were already in full speed mode, with the spunky Matthew Centrowitz leading the way.
Making a 53.95 lap look easy, Centro sped across the line in the Meet Record time of 3:34.09, Steve Scott's 3:35.30 from the misbegotten 1980 Trials now off the books!!
Robby Andrews used his famous kick to garner 2nd in 3:34.88.
Blankenship held off the hard-charging Manzano, who failed to make his first team in about a decade!!
Protests were filed, but after some deliberation, the results were upheld, the appeals denied!!
And the meet was finished.
I will have a "Best & Worst" post up in a day or two.
And believe me, there were PLENTY of bests--and a TON of worsts!!
Hang tight, my friends!!
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Kid Power in Eugene--July 4-8--Part 2
Here's all the news & results from the July 7th & 8th portions of this (so far) stunning Trials meet!
In which a group of teenagers showed some prominent adults what's what and who's on top---or very likely well on their way there!!
Here's the tale of the tape--so to speak!
Two Women's Field event Q rounds started the action on Thursday--the Shot Put and Javelin Throw.
Tia Brooks, having a PR year, led the Q's with a good 62-6.50.
Jill Camarena-Williams, returning strong from new motherhood and a bit of injury probs, threw 62-1.25, while new Bombshell Betty (aka Raven Saunders) reached 60-5.75!
The only real shock came when Kelsey Card fouled out!
Kara Winger flung the spear out 201-6---one and done!
Maggie Malone, the top Collegiate threat, threw it 198-3.
Winger's throw missed the Meet Record by 3 inches!!
Malone's sister Audrey also moved on.
The Women's 5000 heats were 2 of the most loaded fields in the entire meet!
Race one went through 3K at tempo pace before the real running began.
Kim Conley, who'd DNF'ed the 10000 after 8K, ran 15:40.04 to lead Kellyn Taylor, Nicole Tully, and Emily Infeld in under 15:41.
The field was so good, that several "names" didn't make it.
This heat saw that group include Lauren Paquette, Laura Thweatt, and Natosha Rogers.
Jessica Tonn was a DNS.
The RoadRunner (Molly Huddle) ran as she wished, finishing with a K of under 3 minutes, and timing 15:26.33, bringing 5 more in under 15:30.
One of those didn't think she'd be there!
If you recall, tiny Alaskan Grizzly Allie Ostrander stopped during an INdoor 5000, injured!
Earlier, on Seattle's Oversize Track, she'd run 15:21, 2nd only to Kim Conley's 15:09!
Well, here she ran a smart and persistent 15:27.13, finishing 4th in the fastest heat!!
In her first Collegiate "legal track" 5000, she'd be 23rd A-T Collegiate if it had been run a few weeks earlier!!
Appears to be a definite contender come finals day!!
Katie Mackey was 2nd to Huddle, with Shelby Houlihan 3rd, with Marielle Hall following Ostrander, and Abbey D'Agostino next in line.
Also Q'ing, but in 9th, came Jordan Hasay.
Gabe Grunewald was a non-Q.
All of the contenders in the Men's Triple Jump passed through the Q round unscathed.
Matthew O'Neal's 55-8.75 led the way, although it was windy.
His best legal effort measured 55-6.
The Olympian field in the Women's 100H heats provided some decent entertainment for the sun-drenched Hayward crowd.
In heat 1, American Record holder Kendra (I prefer to call her Kendra rather than Keni!) Harrison strolled through in 12.57, wind legal.
In 5th place was HS'er Chanel Brissett, who had sped a 13.04 earlier in the year, one of a solid contingent of HS hurdle speedsters, ready to take over from their elders!
Her PR of 12.95 ties Candy Young's one-time HSR,, but Young's still-valid Junior Class record!!
It also moves her from 4th A-T HS to 3rd, tied with--Ms Young!!
Dawn Harper-Nelson finished 2nd in 12.85.
Kristi Castlin's 12.68 took heat 2, with Puerto Rican dual citizen Jasmine Camacho-Quinn next in 12.82.
Heat 3 went to Jasmine Stowers in 12.65, edging Nia Ali's 12.68.
The fourth heat was windy (2.4), and saw Queen Harrison win in 12.71 over Sharika Nelvis's 12.79.
Brianna Rollins, seemingly on her way back to her brilliant form of 2013, won heat 5 in 12.56!
And that was just the heats!!
Next came the Men's 200 heats!
All season, talk in HS circles was about what Noah Lyles and Michael Norman might run if unleashed!
The first heat provided some clues!
Coming off a strong turn, Lyles took the lead from Walter Dix, and proceeded to lengthen it--while seemingly in cruise mode!
He even let up a bit before the line, and STILL ran 20.09!!
Alas, no HSR, as the wind was a substantial 3.3!!
However, he left veteran Dix in the dust, his time being 20.23!
Long Jumper--Sprinter Jarrion Lawson took heat 2 in 20.54, while Isiah Young won the 3rd heat in 20.53.
Then came heat number 4!
Teen wunderkind Norman would be facing 30-plussers Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon!!
Inspired by Lyles's run, Norman charged off the curve in front, and only increased his lead over the final 100!!
His 20.06--aided by a wind of 2.8--destroyed his elders, with Gay timing 20.36, and Spearmon 20.39!
Talk became NOT whether these 2 teen studs could make it through the rounds in Eugene, but whether they would make the final in Rio!!
It seemed a bit anticlimactic when heat 5 saw Ameer Webb's 20.27 take the win from Justin Gatlin's 20.32.
In the final heat, LaShawn Merritt strode a 20.09 with a 2.8 wind helping him!
Action on the track continued with the Women's 400H heats, with yet another teenage superstar bringing on a solid sea of awestruck ooh's and aah's from the fans!
After a slow 1st heat (where a DNS was injured Georgeanne Moline!!), 16 year old New Jersey native Sydney McLaughlin cleared all 10 hurdles like they weren't even there, cruising home in 55.46, a time very few HS'ers have ever run---even once---yet it's become average for this young rock star!
Kori Carter took 3rd, while another fast-improving HS'er, Anna Cockrell, ran 56.53 in 5th.
Delilah Muhammad took heat 3 in 55.33, while Cassandra Tate timed 55.93 as the winner of heat 4.
Ashley Spencer also Q'ed in 5th in the latter heat!
In heat 5, favored Shamier Little ran 2nd to Jaide Stepter's 55.64, as Little ran 55.83.
Earlier in the day, it was announced that Little decided to forego her last year of Collegiate eligibility and turn Professional!!
The Men's DT qualifying saw Mason Finley explode out to a PR distance of 218-11.
He is now 24th A-T US, tied with 1 other!
Sean Mattis, who had thrown 221-2 in his first outing this year, reached 199-11.
Casey Malone was a non-Q.
Raven Saunders almost won the Women's Shot Put!!
Never having reached even 46 feet as late as December 2013, but breaking the INdoor HSR just 3 months later (followed by the OUTdoor HSR in 2014!), Saunders grabbed the lead in round 5 with a massive (and almost-PR) 63-1.50!!
This led Felicia Johnson's 63-1.25 by the tiniest of filaments!
That is, until in round 6, Shot Diva Michelle Carter (whose HSR reign Saunders ended a few years ago!) reached 64-3.25, enough to win, and set a new Meet Record!!
ALL of Carter's 6 throws were over 62-6!!
In 4th was Tia Brooks's 62-1.75, which also fell in round 5!
She edged Jillian Camarena-Williams, who threw 61-8.50.
Brittany Smith and Chase Ealey also topped 60 feet, while Jeneva Stevens was 8th with 59-10.50!
Dani Bunch had 3 fouls!
The Women's 1500 heats were spared drama, for the most part, except for the discussion about whether it was even necessary to run them, as there would be just 3 people not getting through to the semi's, after 3 scratched!!
One of those missing out (but not really expected to make it!) was new Mom Sarah Brown, who gave birth to her daughter just 4 months ago!!
She stayed with the pack for a couple of laps, but then fell off, running 4:24.97!
(Not only was she still a breastfeeding new mother, but she'd had a health scare as well, a tumor on her back turning up benign!!!)
Amanda Eccleston led the 1st heat with her 4:13.82.
Three more teenagers were in the mob behind her, all Q'ing, despite Alexa Efraimson falling, then getting up to sprint into the next round!!
(Kate Murphy and Christina Aragon were the other sub-20's!)
Brenda Martinez, more determined here after her disaster in the 800, led Morgan Uceny and Elise Cranny in heat 2, the slowest of the 3 at 4:23-plus!
Jenny Simpson controlled the last heat, cruising to a 4:17, with AR holder Shannon Rowbury and 20 year old NOP-mate Mary Cain among the followers.
Gabe Grunewald, just 2 hours removed from her 5000 heat, Q'ed in 6th!!
For the first time this century, three American female Triple Jumpers are heading to the Olympic Games!!
Keturah Orji's 46-11.75 (with 5 of her jumps being 46-7.50 or longer, and the other one at 45-10.75!!) led Christina Epps's 46-6 and Andrea Geubelle's 45-9.25.
Epps's PR moves her from 12th A-T US to 9th, tied with 1 other!
In 4th was the surprising Imani Oliver, whose 45-4.50 couldn't match her Q-round PR of 46-0!
Ciarra Brewer also reached 45 feet (45-3.50) in 5th!
Amanda Smock was just 10th, while Bria Matthews was 12th!
One of our (and the world's!!) weaker events, the Men's 400H, saw everyone of note moving from the heats to the semi's!
Johnny Dutch's 49.56 was the fastest.
The Men's 1500 heats were all jogfests, just as were the Women's!
Craig Engels took the first in 3:41.92, with Ben Blankenship taking the 2nd in 3:49, and Eric Avila winning the third over Leo Manzano and Matthew Centrowitz.
Chad Noelle and Will Leer were among the notable non-Q's.
Ohhhh, that Women's Steeplechase final!!
Look out World, here we come!!
Two-time American Record breaker, and newbie nude ESPN Body Issue icon Emma Coburn took the win in 9:17.48.
While it's her 5th fastest time ever, she made it appear about 30 seconds slower, with her loping stride and effortless hurdling totally controlling the race, start to finish--even though she didn't take the lead until after 2000 meters!
Running with a pack of 5 or 6, they appeared to be on 9:30 to 9:35 pace for the first 3 or 4 laps!
Then, almost silently, the Coloradan edged in front, but with Colleen Quigley, Stephanie Garcia, and Courtney Frerichs playing shadow.
9:18 girl Leah O'Connor started falling off, as did Shalaya Kipp, Megan Rolland, Ashley Higginson, and Bridget Franek!
With 1000 to go, Coburn showed her stuff, developing a gap of 5 meters, then 10, then 20.
But then she started coming back--or THEY started moving toward Coburn--and soon a pack of 4 turned a runaway into a RACE!!
(Well, at least a race for 2nd & 3rd!!)
Turning 76 and 77 second laps into 68's, Coburn again led, with all 4 clearing the final water pit cleanly, all sprinting hard!
Coburn moved away after that, with the other 3 in a fierce battle.
Quigley led Frerichs over the last barrier, but Garcia, face in a grimace, clipped it with her left foot, going down hard, her Rio dreams gone!
While Frerichs sprinted past Quigley, Kipp came on hard to overtake the struggling Garcia, who'd risen to finish the race!
Coburn's 9:17.48 is the new Meet Record!
Frerichs's PR of 9:20.92--yes--WOULD break her own Collegiate Record IF it had been run---oh Hell, you know the drill!!
As it stands, it moves her from 6th to 4th on the A-T US list!
Quigley's 9:21.29 moves her from 9th A-T US up to 5th!!
Kipp wanted a Rio ticket, but was happy with a solid PR of 9:28.72, which moves her from 17th A-T US to 11th!
Garcia's 9:28.99 in 5th was amazing, all things considered!
Franek ran 9:33.51, while Rolland got a small PR in 7th with her 9:35.31.
She moves up one spot on the A-T US list, from 19th to 18th!
Mel Lawrence got a PR by just 0.20 (9:36.35), but a PR's a PR!!
She remains 19th A-T US!
Ashley Higginson was 9th in 9:38.55, while Rene Williams-Chesser's 9:40.40 misses my US DDD by 0.71 seconds!
O'Connor completely fell apart on the last lap, which took her 104 seconds, and she needed to be helped off the track!!
Not sure what caused it!
I know this is already a LONGGG post, but I still have a lot more to report, so take a break, then come back for the remainder!
Ready?
The Women's Pole Vault Qualifying!!
On a day when Oregon's infamous rain finally appeared--in torrents!!
They started---with Demi Payne's injury taking her out of the game after 1 clearance--at 13-11.25!
Jenn Suhr asked to pass all the initial heights.
Sandi Morris--also back from injury--mastered her series of attempts.
After a long weather delay, they finally finished, with Suhr among the Q's.
Becky Holliday and Kaitlin Petrillose joined Payne on the sidelines.
The Men's 110H heats were drama-less--if that's a word!
All 4 heats had to fight winds of 1.2 to 1.8!!
All the players Q'ed, with Ronnie Ash's 13.39 in heat 2 being the fastest.
The Men's DT final--with the rain still falling--made the circle slippery, and limited Mason Finley's winning throw to 208-1, more than 10 feet less than his PR in the qualifying round!
Tavis Bailey and Andrew Evans took the other two spots, barely over 200 feet!
Lance Brooks took 5th, with Jared Schuurmanns in 7th, and Sam Mattis back in 9th!
Just as in the Men's 200 heats, there were a pair of teenagers who gave their elders small headaches in the Women's 200 heats--though not the MIGRAINES that Noah Lyles and Michael Norman gave theirs!!
Candace Hill took 2nd behind Jenna Prandini's 22.72 in heat 1, with Hill timed in 22.93, as both fought a 2.0 negative wind!
Allyson Felix did her thing in heat 2, her 22.93 edging Morolake Akinosun's 22.99.
The wind was mildly against them, at 0.3 power.
Heat 3 saw 18 year old Kaylin Whitney run 23.14 for second behind UO heroine Deajah Stevens's 22.91.
Another "Duck", Ariana Washington, won heat 4 in 22.95, beating Jeneba Tarmoh (23.02) and Kyra Jefferson (23.17).
The wind turned--windy!--so Tori Bowie's 5th heat 22.74 wasn't legal.
Candyce McGrone took second in 22.98.
Finally, in heat 6, a small shock hit Joanna Atkins, as Harvard Freshman Gabrielle Thomas beat her with a 22.91, as Atkins ran 22.99.
They had a helpful wind of 1.0.
(A Harvard sprinter??)
In the heaviest downpour of the day, the 100H women returned for their semi's!!
Into a wind of 1.0 sped Brianna Rollins, whose 12.60 beat Nia Ali's 12.68.
Moving on with time Q's were Jackie Coward and Sharika Nelvis.
In the 2nd semi, Kristi Castlin's 12.77 beat Jasmin Stowers's 12.91.
But in 3rd--in 13.01--came the legendary Dawn Harper-Nelson--but too slow to qualify for the final!!
The two unrelated Harrison's--Queen and Kendra--fought in the last semi, with Queen prevailing, 12.78 to 12.91.
Kendra was NOT looking like the same person who sprinted 12.24 for the American Record earlier this year!!
Non-Q's included Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and the HS'er, Chanel Brissett!
Jesse Williams and Randall Cunningham (Vashti's brother) were the most serious non-Q's in the Men's HJ.
All the other players made it to the final.
The Men's 1500 semi's went off similarly to the heats---slow, then slower!
Izaic Yorks took semi 1 in 3:47 and change.
Sam Prakel, Robby Creese, and Thomas Awad were among the non-Q's.
Ben Blankenship out-kicked (or jogged to the line faster!!) Matthew Centrowitz in semi 2.
The only notable name not making it through was Alexa Efraimson's boyfriend, Matthew Maton, his hippie-ish long locks flowing!!
The Women's 400H semi's produced THE shock of the day, when Shamier Little failed to advance to the final in the second semi!!
In semi one, Sydney McLaughlin took care of business like someone twice her age of 16, as her 55.23 easily beat all comers, Terea Brown's 55.70 taking 2nd, followed by Kori Carter and Jaide Stepter.
It was semi 2 where we watched--stunned--as favored Ms Little fell behind, and never really developed any real charge, finally finishing a non-Q 5th in 55.64!!
She laid down on the track afterward, staring into space, trying to comprehend what just happened!
Shaken to the bone--raw!
Delilah Muhammad sped an unnecessary 54.14, by far the fastest of the meet!
Autumne Franklin was far back in 55.40, with Ashley Spencer and Cassandra Tate also finishing ahead of Little!!
Michael Tinsley and Johnny Dutch took the pair of Men's 400H semi's, times of 49.15 and 49.20, respectively.
Kenny Selmon didn't Q in the first, while Eric Futch failed to move on in number 2.
Taylor McLaughlin was a DNS.
The two Women's 1500 semi rounds were won in 4:10--4:11 times, with Jenny Simpson and Brenda Martinez the winners.
Twelve women ran under 4:13, with 10 of them under 4:12!
Shannon Rowbury's 61.94 (behind Simpson) was the fastest closing lap.
Mary Cain was among the Q's in semi 2.
Many top-notch Milers didn't make it through--among them Cory McGee (8th), Christina Aragon (9th), and Heather Kampf (10th) in the first semi--and Rachel Schneider, Elise Cranny, Kate Murphy, and Erin Donohue from the second!
HS'er Murphy held back too far for the first 800, then moved too late, and despite a final 400 in 63.55, also failed to move on!
Treniere Moser was a DNS.
The Men's 3000SC wasn't nearly as dramatic---or fast--as the Women's!
Evan Jager slowed 22 seconds from his American Record time, winning as he wished!
Hillary Bor, one of the Kenyans turned Americans through the US Army team, took 2nd, with Donn Cabral set to join them in Rio.
Cory Leslie was 7th, while Dan Huling was only 9th!
Stan Kebenai, up front with Jager most of the way, fell over the last water jump, ending in 12th, and last!
The Men's 200 semi's again saw the two teens dominate---at least until the third semi!
Michael Norman, running against a wind of 1.1, was ahead of Justin Gatlin coming off the curve, and while Gatlin tried, he couldn't catch the smooth striding Norman, times of 20.21 and 20.23!
Noah Lyles did the same, except to younger competition--Kendal Williams---as his 20.26 prevailed with legal wind.
The first race saw Isiah Young, Wallace Spearmon, Michael Rodgers, and Trentavis Friday failing to move on!
The second race left Dedric Dukes, Jarrion Lawson, and Walter Dix behind!!
But in the 3rd semi, 400 Master LaShawn Merritt proved at least as masterful at half the distance, as he ran a PR by 0.04, his 19.74 tying Tyson Gay's Age 30 record!!
He moves from 15th A-T World to 12th.
And he moves from 10th A-T US to 8th!
Ameer Webb wasn't crawling in 2nd, as his 19.97 was far ahead of Gay's 20.16!!
The wind was 1.4.
The final event of Day 8 of these Trials was the Women's 100H!!
Run in dry weather--as opposed to the monsoonish semi's!!--this race was symbolic of the high drama--and the shocks and surprises that have made this---thus far!---one of the very best OG Trials ever!!
(Or if not the best, maybe one of the most intriguing!!)
The second fastest woman of All-Time, Kendra Harrison, finished SIXTH!!!
(And yet, ironically, and probably of zero import to her, her time of 12.62 tied for the fastest-ever 6th Place mark!!)
Winning, in 12.34, was rebounding Brianna Rollins!!
Her time missed Gail Devers's 2000 Meet Record by just 0.01 seconds!!
But she handily beat Kristi Castlin, who celebrated her 28th birthday with a PR of 12.50, and a plane trip to Brazil next month!!
She moves from 20th A-T US to 17th.
Also joining them in Rio will be the hurdler with the shortest name--Nia Ali--who finished in 12.55, just 0.02 ahead of Queen Harrison.
Sharika Nelvis's 12.60 was another 0.02 ahead of Kendra Harrison.
Jackie Coward was next in 12.75, while Jasmin Stowers crashed over the last hurdle--a la Gail Devers in the Barcelona Olympics--but still finished, although in just 17.13.
My next results post will be at the meet's conclusion--on Sunday!!
Then I'll follow that with a "Best & Worst" post--a selection of good AND bad memories from the entire meet!!
Enjoy the rest of the meet!
In which a group of teenagers showed some prominent adults what's what and who's on top---or very likely well on their way there!!
Here's the tale of the tape--so to speak!
Two Women's Field event Q rounds started the action on Thursday--the Shot Put and Javelin Throw.
Tia Brooks, having a PR year, led the Q's with a good 62-6.50.
Jill Camarena-Williams, returning strong from new motherhood and a bit of injury probs, threw 62-1.25, while new Bombshell Betty (aka Raven Saunders) reached 60-5.75!
The only real shock came when Kelsey Card fouled out!
Kara Winger flung the spear out 201-6---one and done!
Maggie Malone, the top Collegiate threat, threw it 198-3.
Winger's throw missed the Meet Record by 3 inches!!
Malone's sister Audrey also moved on.
The Women's 5000 heats were 2 of the most loaded fields in the entire meet!
Race one went through 3K at tempo pace before the real running began.
Kim Conley, who'd DNF'ed the 10000 after 8K, ran 15:40.04 to lead Kellyn Taylor, Nicole Tully, and Emily Infeld in under 15:41.
The field was so good, that several "names" didn't make it.
This heat saw that group include Lauren Paquette, Laura Thweatt, and Natosha Rogers.
Jessica Tonn was a DNS.
The RoadRunner (Molly Huddle) ran as she wished, finishing with a K of under 3 minutes, and timing 15:26.33, bringing 5 more in under 15:30.
One of those didn't think she'd be there!
If you recall, tiny Alaskan Grizzly Allie Ostrander stopped during an INdoor 5000, injured!
Earlier, on Seattle's Oversize Track, she'd run 15:21, 2nd only to Kim Conley's 15:09!
Well, here she ran a smart and persistent 15:27.13, finishing 4th in the fastest heat!!
In her first Collegiate "legal track" 5000, she'd be 23rd A-T Collegiate if it had been run a few weeks earlier!!
Appears to be a definite contender come finals day!!
Katie Mackey was 2nd to Huddle, with Shelby Houlihan 3rd, with Marielle Hall following Ostrander, and Abbey D'Agostino next in line.
Also Q'ing, but in 9th, came Jordan Hasay.
Gabe Grunewald was a non-Q.
All of the contenders in the Men's Triple Jump passed through the Q round unscathed.
Matthew O'Neal's 55-8.75 led the way, although it was windy.
His best legal effort measured 55-6.
The Olympian field in the Women's 100H heats provided some decent entertainment for the sun-drenched Hayward crowd.
In heat 1, American Record holder Kendra (I prefer to call her Kendra rather than Keni!) Harrison strolled through in 12.57, wind legal.
In 5th place was HS'er Chanel Brissett, who had sped a 13.04 earlier in the year, one of a solid contingent of HS hurdle speedsters, ready to take over from their elders!
Her PR of 12.95 ties Candy Young's one-time HSR,, but Young's still-valid Junior Class record!!
It also moves her from 4th A-T HS to 3rd, tied with--Ms Young!!
Dawn Harper-Nelson finished 2nd in 12.85.
Kristi Castlin's 12.68 took heat 2, with Puerto Rican dual citizen Jasmine Camacho-Quinn next in 12.82.
Heat 3 went to Jasmine Stowers in 12.65, edging Nia Ali's 12.68.
The fourth heat was windy (2.4), and saw Queen Harrison win in 12.71 over Sharika Nelvis's 12.79.
Brianna Rollins, seemingly on her way back to her brilliant form of 2013, won heat 5 in 12.56!
And that was just the heats!!
Next came the Men's 200 heats!
All season, talk in HS circles was about what Noah Lyles and Michael Norman might run if unleashed!
The first heat provided some clues!
Coming off a strong turn, Lyles took the lead from Walter Dix, and proceeded to lengthen it--while seemingly in cruise mode!
He even let up a bit before the line, and STILL ran 20.09!!
Alas, no HSR, as the wind was a substantial 3.3!!
However, he left veteran Dix in the dust, his time being 20.23!
Long Jumper--Sprinter Jarrion Lawson took heat 2 in 20.54, while Isiah Young won the 3rd heat in 20.53.
Then came heat number 4!
Teen wunderkind Norman would be facing 30-plussers Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon!!
Inspired by Lyles's run, Norman charged off the curve in front, and only increased his lead over the final 100!!
His 20.06--aided by a wind of 2.8--destroyed his elders, with Gay timing 20.36, and Spearmon 20.39!
Talk became NOT whether these 2 teen studs could make it through the rounds in Eugene, but whether they would make the final in Rio!!
It seemed a bit anticlimactic when heat 5 saw Ameer Webb's 20.27 take the win from Justin Gatlin's 20.32.
In the final heat, LaShawn Merritt strode a 20.09 with a 2.8 wind helping him!
Action on the track continued with the Women's 400H heats, with yet another teenage superstar bringing on a solid sea of awestruck ooh's and aah's from the fans!
After a slow 1st heat (where a DNS was injured Georgeanne Moline!!), 16 year old New Jersey native Sydney McLaughlin cleared all 10 hurdles like they weren't even there, cruising home in 55.46, a time very few HS'ers have ever run---even once---yet it's become average for this young rock star!
Kori Carter took 3rd, while another fast-improving HS'er, Anna Cockrell, ran 56.53 in 5th.
Delilah Muhammad took heat 3 in 55.33, while Cassandra Tate timed 55.93 as the winner of heat 4.
Ashley Spencer also Q'ed in 5th in the latter heat!
In heat 5, favored Shamier Little ran 2nd to Jaide Stepter's 55.64, as Little ran 55.83.
Earlier in the day, it was announced that Little decided to forego her last year of Collegiate eligibility and turn Professional!!
The Men's DT qualifying saw Mason Finley explode out to a PR distance of 218-11.
He is now 24th A-T US, tied with 1 other!
Sean Mattis, who had thrown 221-2 in his first outing this year, reached 199-11.
Casey Malone was a non-Q.
Raven Saunders almost won the Women's Shot Put!!
Never having reached even 46 feet as late as December 2013, but breaking the INdoor HSR just 3 months later (followed by the OUTdoor HSR in 2014!), Saunders grabbed the lead in round 5 with a massive (and almost-PR) 63-1.50!!
This led Felicia Johnson's 63-1.25 by the tiniest of filaments!
That is, until in round 6, Shot Diva Michelle Carter (whose HSR reign Saunders ended a few years ago!) reached 64-3.25, enough to win, and set a new Meet Record!!
ALL of Carter's 6 throws were over 62-6!!
In 4th was Tia Brooks's 62-1.75, which also fell in round 5!
She edged Jillian Camarena-Williams, who threw 61-8.50.
Brittany Smith and Chase Ealey also topped 60 feet, while Jeneva Stevens was 8th with 59-10.50!
Dani Bunch had 3 fouls!
The Women's 1500 heats were spared drama, for the most part, except for the discussion about whether it was even necessary to run them, as there would be just 3 people not getting through to the semi's, after 3 scratched!!
One of those missing out (but not really expected to make it!) was new Mom Sarah Brown, who gave birth to her daughter just 4 months ago!!
She stayed with the pack for a couple of laps, but then fell off, running 4:24.97!
(Not only was she still a breastfeeding new mother, but she'd had a health scare as well, a tumor on her back turning up benign!!!)
Amanda Eccleston led the 1st heat with her 4:13.82.
Three more teenagers were in the mob behind her, all Q'ing, despite Alexa Efraimson falling, then getting up to sprint into the next round!!
(Kate Murphy and Christina Aragon were the other sub-20's!)
Brenda Martinez, more determined here after her disaster in the 800, led Morgan Uceny and Elise Cranny in heat 2, the slowest of the 3 at 4:23-plus!
Jenny Simpson controlled the last heat, cruising to a 4:17, with AR holder Shannon Rowbury and 20 year old NOP-mate Mary Cain among the followers.
Gabe Grunewald, just 2 hours removed from her 5000 heat, Q'ed in 6th!!
For the first time this century, three American female Triple Jumpers are heading to the Olympic Games!!
Keturah Orji's 46-11.75 (with 5 of her jumps being 46-7.50 or longer, and the other one at 45-10.75!!) led Christina Epps's 46-6 and Andrea Geubelle's 45-9.25.
Epps's PR moves her from 12th A-T US to 9th, tied with 1 other!
In 4th was the surprising Imani Oliver, whose 45-4.50 couldn't match her Q-round PR of 46-0!
Ciarra Brewer also reached 45 feet (45-3.50) in 5th!
Amanda Smock was just 10th, while Bria Matthews was 12th!
One of our (and the world's!!) weaker events, the Men's 400H, saw everyone of note moving from the heats to the semi's!
Johnny Dutch's 49.56 was the fastest.
The Men's 1500 heats were all jogfests, just as were the Women's!
Craig Engels took the first in 3:41.92, with Ben Blankenship taking the 2nd in 3:49, and Eric Avila winning the third over Leo Manzano and Matthew Centrowitz.
Chad Noelle and Will Leer were among the notable non-Q's.
Ohhhh, that Women's Steeplechase final!!
Look out World, here we come!!
Two-time American Record breaker, and newbie nude ESPN Body Issue icon Emma Coburn took the win in 9:17.48.
While it's her 5th fastest time ever, she made it appear about 30 seconds slower, with her loping stride and effortless hurdling totally controlling the race, start to finish--even though she didn't take the lead until after 2000 meters!
Running with a pack of 5 or 6, they appeared to be on 9:30 to 9:35 pace for the first 3 or 4 laps!
Then, almost silently, the Coloradan edged in front, but with Colleen Quigley, Stephanie Garcia, and Courtney Frerichs playing shadow.
9:18 girl Leah O'Connor started falling off, as did Shalaya Kipp, Megan Rolland, Ashley Higginson, and Bridget Franek!
With 1000 to go, Coburn showed her stuff, developing a gap of 5 meters, then 10, then 20.
But then she started coming back--or THEY started moving toward Coburn--and soon a pack of 4 turned a runaway into a RACE!!
(Well, at least a race for 2nd & 3rd!!)
Turning 76 and 77 second laps into 68's, Coburn again led, with all 4 clearing the final water pit cleanly, all sprinting hard!
Coburn moved away after that, with the other 3 in a fierce battle.
Quigley led Frerichs over the last barrier, but Garcia, face in a grimace, clipped it with her left foot, going down hard, her Rio dreams gone!
While Frerichs sprinted past Quigley, Kipp came on hard to overtake the struggling Garcia, who'd risen to finish the race!
Coburn's 9:17.48 is the new Meet Record!
Frerichs's PR of 9:20.92--yes--WOULD break her own Collegiate Record IF it had been run---oh Hell, you know the drill!!
As it stands, it moves her from 6th to 4th on the A-T US list!
Quigley's 9:21.29 moves her from 9th A-T US up to 5th!!
Kipp wanted a Rio ticket, but was happy with a solid PR of 9:28.72, which moves her from 17th A-T US to 11th!
Garcia's 9:28.99 in 5th was amazing, all things considered!
Franek ran 9:33.51, while Rolland got a small PR in 7th with her 9:35.31.
She moves up one spot on the A-T US list, from 19th to 18th!
Mel Lawrence got a PR by just 0.20 (9:36.35), but a PR's a PR!!
She remains 19th A-T US!
Ashley Higginson was 9th in 9:38.55, while Rene Williams-Chesser's 9:40.40 misses my US DDD by 0.71 seconds!
O'Connor completely fell apart on the last lap, which took her 104 seconds, and she needed to be helped off the track!!
Not sure what caused it!
I know this is already a LONGGG post, but I still have a lot more to report, so take a break, then come back for the remainder!
Ready?
The Women's Pole Vault Qualifying!!
On a day when Oregon's infamous rain finally appeared--in torrents!!
They started---with Demi Payne's injury taking her out of the game after 1 clearance--at 13-11.25!
Jenn Suhr asked to pass all the initial heights.
Sandi Morris--also back from injury--mastered her series of attempts.
After a long weather delay, they finally finished, with Suhr among the Q's.
Becky Holliday and Kaitlin Petrillose joined Payne on the sidelines.
The Men's 110H heats were drama-less--if that's a word!
All 4 heats had to fight winds of 1.2 to 1.8!!
All the players Q'ed, with Ronnie Ash's 13.39 in heat 2 being the fastest.
The Men's DT final--with the rain still falling--made the circle slippery, and limited Mason Finley's winning throw to 208-1, more than 10 feet less than his PR in the qualifying round!
Tavis Bailey and Andrew Evans took the other two spots, barely over 200 feet!
Lance Brooks took 5th, with Jared Schuurmanns in 7th, and Sam Mattis back in 9th!
Just as in the Men's 200 heats, there were a pair of teenagers who gave their elders small headaches in the Women's 200 heats--though not the MIGRAINES that Noah Lyles and Michael Norman gave theirs!!
Candace Hill took 2nd behind Jenna Prandini's 22.72 in heat 1, with Hill timed in 22.93, as both fought a 2.0 negative wind!
Allyson Felix did her thing in heat 2, her 22.93 edging Morolake Akinosun's 22.99.
The wind was mildly against them, at 0.3 power.
Heat 3 saw 18 year old Kaylin Whitney run 23.14 for second behind UO heroine Deajah Stevens's 22.91.
Another "Duck", Ariana Washington, won heat 4 in 22.95, beating Jeneba Tarmoh (23.02) and Kyra Jefferson (23.17).
The wind turned--windy!--so Tori Bowie's 5th heat 22.74 wasn't legal.
Candyce McGrone took second in 22.98.
Finally, in heat 6, a small shock hit Joanna Atkins, as Harvard Freshman Gabrielle Thomas beat her with a 22.91, as Atkins ran 22.99.
They had a helpful wind of 1.0.
(A Harvard sprinter??)
In the heaviest downpour of the day, the 100H women returned for their semi's!!
Into a wind of 1.0 sped Brianna Rollins, whose 12.60 beat Nia Ali's 12.68.
Moving on with time Q's were Jackie Coward and Sharika Nelvis.
In the 2nd semi, Kristi Castlin's 12.77 beat Jasmin Stowers's 12.91.
But in 3rd--in 13.01--came the legendary Dawn Harper-Nelson--but too slow to qualify for the final!!
The two unrelated Harrison's--Queen and Kendra--fought in the last semi, with Queen prevailing, 12.78 to 12.91.
Kendra was NOT looking like the same person who sprinted 12.24 for the American Record earlier this year!!
Non-Q's included Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and the HS'er, Chanel Brissett!
Jesse Williams and Randall Cunningham (Vashti's brother) were the most serious non-Q's in the Men's HJ.
All the other players made it to the final.
The Men's 1500 semi's went off similarly to the heats---slow, then slower!
Izaic Yorks took semi 1 in 3:47 and change.
Sam Prakel, Robby Creese, and Thomas Awad were among the non-Q's.
Ben Blankenship out-kicked (or jogged to the line faster!!) Matthew Centrowitz in semi 2.
The only notable name not making it through was Alexa Efraimson's boyfriend, Matthew Maton, his hippie-ish long locks flowing!!
The Women's 400H semi's produced THE shock of the day, when Shamier Little failed to advance to the final in the second semi!!
In semi one, Sydney McLaughlin took care of business like someone twice her age of 16, as her 55.23 easily beat all comers, Terea Brown's 55.70 taking 2nd, followed by Kori Carter and Jaide Stepter.
It was semi 2 where we watched--stunned--as favored Ms Little fell behind, and never really developed any real charge, finally finishing a non-Q 5th in 55.64!!
She laid down on the track afterward, staring into space, trying to comprehend what just happened!
Shaken to the bone--raw!
Delilah Muhammad sped an unnecessary 54.14, by far the fastest of the meet!
Autumne Franklin was far back in 55.40, with Ashley Spencer and Cassandra Tate also finishing ahead of Little!!
Michael Tinsley and Johnny Dutch took the pair of Men's 400H semi's, times of 49.15 and 49.20, respectively.
Kenny Selmon didn't Q in the first, while Eric Futch failed to move on in number 2.
Taylor McLaughlin was a DNS.
The two Women's 1500 semi rounds were won in 4:10--4:11 times, with Jenny Simpson and Brenda Martinez the winners.
Twelve women ran under 4:13, with 10 of them under 4:12!
Shannon Rowbury's 61.94 (behind Simpson) was the fastest closing lap.
Mary Cain was among the Q's in semi 2.
Many top-notch Milers didn't make it through--among them Cory McGee (8th), Christina Aragon (9th), and Heather Kampf (10th) in the first semi--and Rachel Schneider, Elise Cranny, Kate Murphy, and Erin Donohue from the second!
HS'er Murphy held back too far for the first 800, then moved too late, and despite a final 400 in 63.55, also failed to move on!
Treniere Moser was a DNS.
The Men's 3000SC wasn't nearly as dramatic---or fast--as the Women's!
Evan Jager slowed 22 seconds from his American Record time, winning as he wished!
Hillary Bor, one of the Kenyans turned Americans through the US Army team, took 2nd, with Donn Cabral set to join them in Rio.
Cory Leslie was 7th, while Dan Huling was only 9th!
Stan Kebenai, up front with Jager most of the way, fell over the last water jump, ending in 12th, and last!
The Men's 200 semi's again saw the two teens dominate---at least until the third semi!
Michael Norman, running against a wind of 1.1, was ahead of Justin Gatlin coming off the curve, and while Gatlin tried, he couldn't catch the smooth striding Norman, times of 20.21 and 20.23!
Noah Lyles did the same, except to younger competition--Kendal Williams---as his 20.26 prevailed with legal wind.
The first race saw Isiah Young, Wallace Spearmon, Michael Rodgers, and Trentavis Friday failing to move on!
The second race left Dedric Dukes, Jarrion Lawson, and Walter Dix behind!!
But in the 3rd semi, 400 Master LaShawn Merritt proved at least as masterful at half the distance, as he ran a PR by 0.04, his 19.74 tying Tyson Gay's Age 30 record!!
He moves from 15th A-T World to 12th.
And he moves from 10th A-T US to 8th!
Ameer Webb wasn't crawling in 2nd, as his 19.97 was far ahead of Gay's 20.16!!
The wind was 1.4.
The final event of Day 8 of these Trials was the Women's 100H!!
Run in dry weather--as opposed to the monsoonish semi's!!--this race was symbolic of the high drama--and the shocks and surprises that have made this---thus far!---one of the very best OG Trials ever!!
(Or if not the best, maybe one of the most intriguing!!)
The second fastest woman of All-Time, Kendra Harrison, finished SIXTH!!!
(And yet, ironically, and probably of zero import to her, her time of 12.62 tied for the fastest-ever 6th Place mark!!)
Winning, in 12.34, was rebounding Brianna Rollins!!
Her time missed Gail Devers's 2000 Meet Record by just 0.01 seconds!!
But she handily beat Kristi Castlin, who celebrated her 28th birthday with a PR of 12.50, and a plane trip to Brazil next month!!
She moves from 20th A-T US to 17th.
Also joining them in Rio will be the hurdler with the shortest name--Nia Ali--who finished in 12.55, just 0.02 ahead of Queen Harrison.
Sharika Nelvis's 12.60 was another 0.02 ahead of Kendra Harrison.
Jackie Coward was next in 12.75, while Jasmin Stowers crashed over the last hurdle--a la Gail Devers in the Barcelona Olympics--but still finished, although in just 17.13.
My next results post will be at the meet's conclusion--on Sunday!!
Then I'll follow that with a "Best & Worst" post--a selection of good AND bad memories from the entire meet!!
Enjoy the rest of the meet!
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