NBIN 2017--The MEN

There's going to be TWO reports--one for each gender!
This is partly due to how truly astounding this edition of the New Balance INdoor Nationals was!
But also because I have several bits of old news, which I'd like to get out before they get too moldy!!
To make things simpler, I'll divide them by gender.
Note--The old marks--most  by HS'ers--happened BEFORE the NBIN--so read their list placings, etc, with that in mind.
Some of them improved their marks at the Armory meet!

I finally got hold of the 1500 splits from Ed Cheserek's Collegiate Record Mile!
He passed through 1500 meters in 3:37.01, so gets THAT Collegiate Record also!!
It's the Senior Class record too.
He moves from 18th A-T Collegiate, to 1st!

Other 1500 splits from that race were good also!
Johnny Gregorek was timed enroute in 3:37.76, making him 10th A-T US.
Kyle Merber--who finished ahead of Gregorek in the full mile, was timed in 3:37.83!
He moves from 22nd A-T US to 11th!
And Ford Palmer's 1500 split was 3:38.04, making him 13th A-T US!

In an OUTdoor meet in South Africa, Luvo Manyonga LJ'ed 27-9.25.
It wasn't a PR, but a long foul was measured at 28-7.50!
Watch for this guy at the World Championships!!

Another OUTdoors mark is from Turner Washington, who threw the Discus 208-4, a great early HS mark!
This was from March 1st!

Jacob Wickey threw the WT 78-7, moving him from 16th A-T HS to 14th!
See below for what he did at NBIN!

Finally, Tyler Gleen supposedly ran the 600 in 1:18.52, which I reported in an earlier post!
But the eTN that came out right after that reports that mark as being 1:19.52!
While EITHER mark would place him on my HS list, he obviously gets listed MUCH higher with the faster time!
When I find out which mark is real, I'll let you know!!
Now on to the NBIN!!

When the Men's side produces FIVE High School Records--pretty much average for this incredible meet!!--it's hard to decide which one should lead!

Well, Trey Cunningham ran two of them, so.....!!
In the 60H heats, all eyes focused on Cunningham, who had already broken the HSR earlier in the season!
Here, he took his 7.49 HSR down to 7.45, making it look easy!
Coming back later in the day, he tore over the hurdles in 7.40, again destroying an already-great record!!
He's now 0.13 faster than Grant Holloway, who ain't exactly Swiss cheese!!
Seems he's close to Aries Merritt territory--the OUTdoor version of Merritt, that is!

He gets the Senior Class record, and the Meet Record!
Cory Poole ran 7.63, which makes him 9th A-T HS!
Damion Thomas ended in 7.73, making him 19th A-T HS, tied with 5 others!
Joseph Anderson's 7.74 misses my DDD by 0.01 seconds!!

Now, those were the heats!!
In the final, where Cunningham ran the 7.40, Thomas improved to 7.64!
He moves from 19th A-T HS, tied with 5 others, to 10th!
Noah Green sped a 7.72.
He's 17th A-T HS, tied with 3 others!
Anderson improved to 7.73, making him 21st A-T HS, tied with 5 others!

Mondo!!
This Swedish-American Mighty Mite just keeps on getting more incredible every time he and a pole get together!!
Opening at 17-5--after two other "human" PV'ers ended!!--Duplantis began his show!
After clearing 17-5, he passed the next 2 heights, clearing 18-8.75 on first try!
Yes, he went from 5.31 to 5.71 like hopping across a wide boulevard is done every day!
From there--on his third Height of the day!!--he cleared 19-1--the first by a HS'er, of course, but also the first 19 footer by ANYone under the age of 19!!
He breaks his own HSR---for the SIXTH time this INdoor season!!--and his own Junior Class record, and his own Age 17 record!
But hold on, folks!
He ALSO is now the National Record holder (NOT just the "Junior" NR holder, but THE National Record holder!!) of Sweden!!
The NBIN Meet Record--Natch!-- is his too!
And he even tried once to clear 19-2.75--but missed!
Don't bet against him Medaling in London this summer!!

Tyrese Cooper is another MEGA-SuperStar whose exploits on any track he stands on just leave observers totally awestruck!!
And yet--perhaps BECAUSE he's so great!!--we look at his performances at this NBIN thinking he wasn't at his best!!
Silly thought!

Let's concentrate on his 200's and 400's, since his 60's weren't near his PR of 6.78!
In his 400 heat, he ran 47.10, and wasn't even breathing hard at the end, while slower guys were bent over!
Later, he toured one lap in his 200 heat in 21.15, coming within 0.03 seconds of his PR--and Soph Class record!
So the thinking was--maybe HSR's in both??
Or at least in the 400, where he'd come within 0.09 seconds earlier this season!
But here, he actually had some competition!!

The 400 was first, and there he had to outlast Brian Herron and Chantz Sawyers, Herron being Cooper's rival for Frosh Class records last year!
He did win, but in a slowish (HA!!) 46.55, a full 0.54 slower than his earlier race!
Still, it took down the NBIN Meet Record!!

Herron ran 46.69, making him 6th A-T HS!!
(Don't forget, he's a Sophomore too!!)
Then Sawyers came across in 46.74, giving him 7th A-T HS!!
A really Classic HS race!!

Cooper returned an hour or so later in the 200, where his 21.05 broke his own Soph Class record!
He moves from 11th A-T HS to 7th, tied with 1 other!
Micaiah Harris surprised with his 21.13, which makes him 12th A-T HS!!
What will Ty do OUTdoors??
The mind boggles!!

The Men's distance races--both individual and Relay--produced some outstanding times--one of them a HSR!!
And the Affolder brothers were involved in most of them!

Their Carlisle TC of PA took down a venerable Relay record, the 9:59.94 by the Gloucester MA team, set in 2000, in the DMR!
The younger brother--Sam--ran his opening 1200 leg in 3:02.11.
Then Noah, a Senior, ran his anchor split in 4:04.95--by himself!
Their time---and the new HSR and Meet Record--was 9:56.18!!

Sam ran the Mile race!
But it was Cooper Teare who beat NXN XC Champ Reed Brown to the tape--and yes, this meet actually holds up a strip of tape for the winners to break in distance races!!

Teare tore (sic!!) up the track in a speedy 4:06.60, making him 10th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
Brown wasn't far behind, his 4:06.74, however, not being a PR!
Then came Haleed Suliman's 4:06.82, which makes him 11th A-T HS!
And Sam?
His 4:09.89 missed the Soph Class record by 0.07 seconds!

The NBIN is great for enroute times, and this year's edition was no different!
Suliman's split of 3:51.95 makes him 18th A-T HS.
Teare split 3:51.99 for 19th A-T HS!
Dalton Hengst's 3:52.26 wasn't a PR, but Brown's 3:52.32 makes him 22nd A-T HS!

Noah Affolder ran the Two Mile!
And that race was FAST!!
Okay, no HSR, but for once, these guys didn't mess around for half the race!!

Brodey Hasty--he of the wild hair!--made "haste" (Giggle, giggle!)--and HAD to, with some speedy dudes right behind him!
But he prevailed, running 8:45.16, making him 5th A-T HS!
Affolder was right behind him, his 8:46.08 making him 7th A-T HS!
Then came 4:00.97 Miler DJ (David) Principe's 8:47.40, which made him 8th A-T HS!!
Even Connor Lane's 8:53.59 made my DDD, in 20th place!!

And here again, splits were taken at 3000 meters, for even MORE revisions to my Record Book!!
(I wish Pro meets would do this more often!!  See above for Ed Cheserek's 1500 split--that came through about a WEEK after his CR-breaking Mile!!)
Anyway, Hasty was timed at 3000 in 8:13.92, making him 9th A-T HS!
Principe was timed in 8:14.15, giving him 10th on the list!
Next came Affolder's 8:16.56, which makes him 13th A-T HS!
Lane's 8:17.01 makes him 15th A-T HS, while Gabe Fendal's 8:21.89 makes him 19th A-T HS!

In the 5000, only one runner finished fast enough to make my list.
Ben Verghese's 14:47.25 winner makes him 20th A-T HS!

The name of "Cooper" was all around here!
Besides Tyrese, we had Cooper Teare, and now--in the 800--there was Cameron Cooper!!
While Brandon McGorty was seen as the favorite (At least by yours truly!!), Cooper's the one who really ripped up the Armory track!

His 1:49.46 got the NBIN Meet Record!!
And was just 0.25 from the HSR!!
He moves from 13th A-T HS to 2nd!
(Behind just Robby Andrews!!)
Rey Rivera also beat McGorty, his 1:50.04 nailing down 4th spot on the A-T HS list!
Then followed McGorty in a not-so-tardy 1:50.29!
He moves from 12th A-T HS to 6th, tied with 1 other!

Not many HS (or ANY!!) meets hold Walk races--at least not on a track!
(That's why I like the World Juniors OUTdoors, where both Men and Women Walkers get to stroll 10000 meters worth of track before a crowd of Walk fans!!)
That said, Cameron Haught--despite checking his watch a few times during this Mile race!--couldn't get Trevor Barron's HSR, or Barron's Meet Record!
His 6:12.00 won easily, however!!

In my opening remarks, I gave you some old marks!
Including a PR by WT specialist Jacob Wickey!
Well, he broke that here!!

In a battle of Titans--although his opponent is better known for his Shot Put achievements!!--Wickey did battle with one Jordan Geist!!
And he prevailed!
Wickey's WT of 79-6.75 beat Geist's PR of 79-4.75!
For Wickey, he goes from 14th to 13th on the A-T HS list!
Geist got the bigger PR, and sailed from 21st A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 14th!

Earlier, Geist won his specialty in ANOTHER battle of Titans!!
This time, Adrian "Tripp" Piperi was his name!
Neither of them got a PR, but Geist's 75-4.75 destroyed the NBIN Meet Record by about 4 feet!!
Piperi's 12 pound ball soared 72-0.75!!

This blog pays VERY little attention---if any!--to an exciting race--the Shuttle Hurdles Relay!
Indoors, it goes like this--
Hurdles are set up in two lanes--turned in opposite directions!!

(Actually, four lanes, as there's two teams racing in a heat!)

The runners start the race, the distance INdoors being 55 meters!
When they reach their finish line, their teammate starts running--in the opposite direction!
He (or she!) then "hands off"---though no baton is carried!!--when he crosses HIS finish line!
So, like most other relays, there's 4 to a team!

Anyway, the team from East Orange (NJ) whacked 0.58 off the HSR, their time being 28.62!
That's an average of four 7.15's being run by ONE High School!!
Just FYI, the HSR for the 55 meter hurdles is--or should I say, WAS!--7.00!
By Grant Holloway!
Keeping to their history of timing enroute distances, Trey Cunningham was timed in a HSR of 6.92 during his 7.40 for the 60H!!
Gives you some idea of how truly GREAT that Shuttle Hurdle HSR is!!

The Men's HJ has improved recently--at least OUTdoors!
But it's still fairly rare in this decade to see THREE guys clear the 7 foot barrier in the same meet--especially an INdoor meet, even one as prestigious as the NBIN!
Rahman Minor's 7-0.25 took the Gold over the 7-0.25's of JuVaughn Blake and Dan Claxton!

Finally, the Pentathlon!
As I noted in my NBIN Preview--Read it again to see how I did!!  LOL--the Pentathlon was hard to predict based on season marks, as this event isn't held much outside of this meet!
So the results here were fairly surprising!!

Kyle Garland--Watch for him in the OUTdoor Decathlon!!!--scored 4150 points, which handed him the Junior Class record!!
Yes, he's now one of just 8 men who have scored 4000 or more points INdoors!!
He moved all the way from 23rd A-T HS to 4th!!

And Darby Renwick's 3860 was pretty decent as well!!
He's now 22nd A-T HS!!

Quite a meet--and fully livestreamed too!
(You can watch the entire meet--if you want--by going to the NBIN site, where replays of the livestream are available for your viewing pleasure!)

I'll return in a few hours with my Women's NBIN post!
See you then!