Arcadia stunners lead week

Not to brag, but minutes before the race began, I thought to myself she can run 38.80!
But then--at the very last minute!--I changed it to 39.10!
Dang!

You know what race--and WHOM!--I speak of!
Sydney McLaughlin came to Arcadia with one goal in mind--break Lashinda Demus's HSR in the 300H!
It had stood for 16 years--since 2001--while Demus went on to break the WR & AR for the 400H--the latter of which still stands!!

Rarely have I seen someone DESTROY a HSR (or ANY major record!!) with such precision, such perfect form, and after finishing, look as if she could run it again--faster!--right then!!

McLaughlin took a full 1.08 seconds off the mark--her 38.90 the HSR, the Senior Class record, and the Meet Record!
In 2nd came Shae Anderson, whose own 40.41 wasn't exactly crawling!!

This was maybe one of the better Arcadia editions!
Another HSR to get CRUSHED here was the Men's 4X1600 Relay!
Great Oak had broken the record last year, running a great 16:52.88!
That's 4 guys from one school each running a 4:13+ for the "short Mile"!

Well, the Men from American Fork HS in Utah---ummm---put a FORK in G-O's record!!
(No apologies here, folks--deal with it!!  LOL)
After a 4:25 opening leg, the record seemed to be a stretch!
Then came a couple of 4:07's, leaving it to Casey Clinger to bring it home!
He not only "brought it home", he smashed down the door, ramming through in 4:02, for a final time of 16:41.30, taking more than 11 seconds off G-O's record!!
(Too bad it wasn't a 4XMile!!  Maybe they'll take a stab at THAT record too!!)

Distance runners always produce at Arcadia, and this year's edition was no exception!
In the Men's 3200 (UGH!!), 25 runners ended under 8:58, with 19 going sub-8:55, and 9 of those running times under 8:49!
Cooper Teare was the winner, in 8:41.46.
Austin Hindman was 2nd in 8:43.40, with Clinger 3rd in 8:44.70.
NONE of those times are eligible for my Top 24 A-T Two MILE list!!

In the Women's 3200, Brie Oakley was expected to dominate, remembering her 9:56 Deuce and 15:55 in the 5000 at the NBIN!!
Tell that to Claudia Lane, whose Soph Class status didn't scare her from tagging alongside Senior Superstar Oakley!!
Actually, it was Oakley who "tagged along" with Lane, as she ran almost the entire race in lane TWO, while Lane hugged the curb!
When Oakley tried a move, Lane sprinted harder, took the lead, and in a fantastic RACE, edged out Oakley by 0.07 seconds, 9:57.52 to 9:57.59!!
Allie Schadler was 3rd in a solid 10:05.70!
Again, NO list-makers!!

Not the case with Tara Davis!
Thinking her time was 13.30 at the end of her 100H race, she was stunned to look at the clock, and see 13.01 as her official time!
She'd shattered her PR by about 3-tenths of a second--something you rarely see in sprint races!!
It's the Arcadia Meet Record, and makes her 5th A-T HS!!
Caitlyn Little was 2nd in 13.29, which makes her 24th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!

But Davis was rather busy in the meet!
She won two other events, the LJ and TJ, with respective marks of 20-4.50 & 41-7.75!
In an interview, she said a BIG TJ---maybe over 43 feet!--had NOT been measured, even though it was a LEGAL jump!!
Apparently, the official raked the sand BEFORE it could be measured!!
HUH??

Other good Arcadia marks included---
The Great Oak Girls 4X1600 Relay team won in 20:05.31.  (They actually had 3 or 4 teams running this event!!)
Tierra Cockrell won the Heptathlon with 5077 points!
Brian Herron took the Men's 400 in 46.47.
He added a 200 win in 21.39!
Sammy Watson best stick to the 800 for awhile, as she lost the Mile to Madison Mooney's 4:47.32, running 4:47.72.
In the Men's DT, Turner Washington PR'ed again, his best effort measuring 217-5.
This moves him from 9th A-T HS to 6th!
Second was Elijah Mason's 212-11, making him 21st A-T HS, tied with 1 other!

The Spec Towns Multis was a grand day (or 2 days, to be exact!) for the Williams family!
Kendell Williams ended day 1 with her best NCAA score ever!
But she fell a bit short of her PR of 6402, which doesn't count for the Collegiate list, since it happened AFTER the NCAA meet last year!!
Sp her 6354 points total is her best official Collegiate mark--moving her from 6th to 5th A-T!!
Brother Devon also PR'ed, his 8345 Decathlon score making him 6th A-T Collegiate!!
AND--he's now 16th A-T US!!
Brit Tim Duckworth was on pace for a score of over 8100 points, but jogged the 1500, giving him 2nd with 7973, with Cody Walton also getting a PR with his 7937 score!

I should mention here that Kansas State Freshman (by way of Canada!) Nina Schultz scored 6021 Heptathlon points at the Jim Click meet!
This 18 year old took the Frosh Class record away from Kendell Williams, while also making her 21st A-T Collegiate!!

Two "MIA" women returned to the fray!
Laura Roesler--after stepping away from the sport for a year or more--opened her 2017 campaign with an 800 of 2:00.69!!
Guess you could say she's BAACKKK!!!
The now-retired, then UNretired, retired, and now (Maybe!!) UNretired AGAIN Brigetta Barrett HJ'ed 6-0.75, taking 2nd to Levern Spencer's 6-2 in the Grenada Invitational!!
Hoping she's back for good this time!!

That Grenada meet had some other good stuff!
Ashley Spencer's 54.78 took the 400H race from Leah Nugent's 54.88.
Sharika Nelvis sped the 100H in 12.68, beating Queen Harrison's 12.81.
(Wind was 0.4.)
Felicia Brown's 22.60 won the 200 over VCB's 22.93, while Kaylin Whitney opened up with 23.86 back in 7th--wind of 1.0.
LaShawn Merritt took his 200 in 20.42, despite a negative wind of 1.0!!
Brandon Rodney's 20.45 was 2nd, with Wallace Spearmon's 20.60 in 3rd!
Last but NOT least was Steven Gardiner's 44.26 in the 400, a PR by 0.01 seconds!!
He broke his own National Record of the Bahamas!
He's still 0.10 shy of the World list!

As I've done before---to save space--I'll list the other good marks I have by event group!
I'll lead with the Sprints!

Christian Coleman took a 100 in 10.03, with a wind of -0.8!!
Look for him to challenge the Collegiate Record!!
Aleia Hobbs took over the Collegiate lead with her 11.07 Century mark!
She had the max 2.0 wind, but the time makes her 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others!
Kendell Ellis's 50.98 for 1 lap misses my Collegiate DDD by 0.12 seconds!
Amelie Iuel battled with Freshman Anna Cockrell over 400H, winning in 55.38 to Cockrell's 55.51.
Freddie Crittenden sped the 110H in 13.42 in Miami, wind of 0.7!
Jaide Stepter's 51.12 took the UCLA 400.
Much faster was Quanera Hayes's 400 of 50.04!!
Shakima Wimbley took a 200 in 22.67, the wind being 0.7.
Daina Harper took Baylor's 400 in 51.85.
LSU sped a 4X100 Relay in a quick 42.66, but it wasn't a PR for the School!
Arkansas's Men took a 4X100 Relay in a non-PR 38.78.

Candace Hill ran a pair of good times at the MJ/JJK meet!
She took the 200 in 22.68.
In the 100, she had some interesting competition!
Brittney Reese--LJ'er extraordinaire!--ran 11.40, but it wasn't enough to top Hill's 11.29!
At the Sun Angel meet, Aries Merritt showed he's ready for all comers, winning the 110H in 13.41.
Quincy Hall--who ran 45.32 over 400 meters last week--added 10 hurdles to the mix, taking the 400H in 49.39!
Much room for improvement there!!
Chijinja Ujah (sp ?) won the 200 in 20,39.
Bralon Taplin won the 400 in 45.08, with Phyllis Francis taking the Women's race in 51.63.
At the Bojangles HS meet, Elijah Godwin's 46.34 won the 400 over Chantz Sawyers's 46.43!
Finally (in the Sprints) comes word of a 9.87 in the 100 by a 19 year old Zambian, wind of 0.2, but altitude of over 1300 meters!
A bit of doubt has been tossed his way, as he apparently cut 0.31 off his previous PR of 10.18!
Assuming it's legit, he broke the National Record of Zambia!!

The Throws claimed several marks--
Janeah Stewart's SP of 58-7.25 misses my Collegiate DDD by 2 inches!
But Kent State Senior Danniell Thomas's 59-5.75 does make that list, in 18th place, tied with 1 other.
She also threw the Discus 190-5!
Julia Ratcliffe had a non-PR in the HT--223.3.
At the MJ/JJK meet, Darrell Hill blasted out a SP measuring 71-10.50, moving him from 24th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 15th!
He misses the World list by 3.75 inches!
Jon Jones and Joe Kovacs were 2nd and 3rd, both in the 67's!
(What's up---or DOWN!!--with 74-footer Kovacs??)

Axed FROM the US list was George Woods, whose 70-11.75 dated from 1976!!

Pawel Fajdek had his best-ever opener in the Hammer Throw--his 267-0 beating Marcel Lomnicky's 255-8!
Summer Pierson had a DT of 198-7.
Liz Gleadle got the Sun Angel Meet Record with her JT of 197-6!
Josh Freeman's SP measured 67-11.75.
Jordan Geist improved his OUTdoor SP best to 74-10.25, but he remains 7th A-T HS.
Gleb Dudorev took a HT with 238-6, giving him the Collegiate lead!
And Erin Farmer won a SP with 58-9.75, making her 24th A-T Collegiate.
She's a Senior at Arkansas State!

In other field events---
Rougui Sow LJ'ed 22-0.75, making her 24th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other.
Kate Hall took 2nd with a decent 21-6.
Logan Boss missed the Collegiate list by one-half inch with her HJ of 6-2.25!
Emilyn Dearman of Pittsburg State took a Heptathlon with 5924 points, 89 points shy of the Collegiate list!
She led all 7 events!!
Tegura Claitt won a HJ with 7-5.75.
He's a Soph at Eastern Kentucky!

As usual, the PV offered a pile of good marks!
Emily Grove's 14-7.25 wasn't a PR.
The Weeks twins also didn't PR, but their 14-8.25's took the first two places at the Baylor meet, with Arkansas teammate Desiree Freier having her best mark since HS in 3rd--14-5.25!
Tori and Lexi both tried 15-0.25, but missed all their tries!
Audie Wyatt got the Sun Angel Meet Record with his 18-8.25!
Morgann LeLeux's 15-1.75 PR moves her from 15th A-T US, tied with 2 others, to 15th, but without ties!!
Alysha Newman got a big PR of 15-5.50, breaking her own National Record of Canada!!
But she misses the World list by 0.75 inches!!

I'll close this opus with my round-up of Distance news--that not yet reported!!
Angel Piccirillo took an 800 in 2:04.22.
Donavan Brazier won the Sun Angel 800 in a Meet Record time of 1:44.63!
He won by about 2 seconds!
Not bad for a race run in early April!!
Karissa Schweizer took a 1500 in 4:15.77.
Sun Angel had another Meet Record broken--this time in the Women's 800, with Shea Collinsworth's 2:01.51 doing the honors!
She misses the Collegiate list by just 0.14 seconds!
But she beat super-veteran Chanelle Price's 2:02.24!!

In Marathon news, the Paris races were won by a husband & wife team--Paul Lonyangata's 2:06:10 taking the Men's race, while his wife Purity Rionoripo's 2:20:55 was the fast Women's winner!!
She misses the World DDD by 25 seconds!!
The Rotterdam Marathon races went to Marius Kimutai's 2:06:04, and Meskerem Assefa's 2:24:18.

Ending on a downer note--
Rio Women's Marathon Gold medalist Jemima Sumgong tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test!!
No word yet on her B sample, nor what punishment might be forthcoming!!
But you know what---whatever she gets (assuming her guilt!), she deserves!!

Next week (In fact, beginning Thursday!), is Mt SAC!!
I've seen a preliminary entry list (of accepted entries, NOT the final heat sheets!), and WHOAAA, it's gonna be a good one!
Although I didn't see any top names in the Women's 5000 or 10000---at least none that would get me excited about mass revisions of my Record Book in those events!
But other events are LOADED!!!

See you then!