From Around the World

Track and Field is truly a Global sport!
Unless you're in it solely as a fan of one nation, or one athlete, there are incredible performances from athletes (and nations) far and wide throughout the year!
This blog is dedicated to bringing you ALL the best Marks & Records from EVERYWHERE---even if I might focus more on my fellow Americans!
And that's why I waited until the Hypo Meeting at Gotzis in Austria was over to bring you this report.

The Heptathlon had it all--the biggest names, the most thrilling competition, and the greatest marks!!
Let's see what happened.

Day One ended in a virtual tie, as Katerina Johnson-Thompson had 4059 points, with Nafissatou Thiam 3 points behind, and Caroline Schafer another 3 back!
Laura Ikauniece-Admidina had 3843 points, with the lone American Erica Bougard 8th at 3798, and Claudia Salman-Rath at 3763 in 9th!
Thiam HJ'ed 6-6!!

After 5, Schafer and Thiam were tied at 5083, with KJT back by 7.
LIA led the 2nd pack with 4896, followed by CSR at 4888, and Bougard at 4834..
Then came the Javelin Throw!!

Geraldine Ruckstahl, a 19 year old from Switzerland, hauled the spear out to a Gotzis Hept record of 191-3, which was also a National Record!!
Then Thiam whipped her's out 194-7, breaking the Gotzis record again, and breaking the National Record of Belgium in the process!!
But maybe more importantly, it put Thiam on course for a possible 7000 points, something only 3 Women have ever done---JJK many times, Carolina Kluft twice, and Laura Nikitina once!

She needed to PR in the 800---but not by much!
This 22 year old proved her mettle by running 2:15.24, and finishing with 7013 points!!
It's the Age 22 record, and breaks her own National Record by over 200 points!!
She moves from 16th A-T World to 3rd!!

Schafer used her speed to end with 6836 points in 2nd, making her 16th A-T World!!
Ikauniece-Admidina scored 6815, breaking her own National Record of Latvia!
She's 18th A-T World!!
KJT bested her PR by 9 points, ending 4th with 6691.
This is the best 4th Place mark ever!!
Salman-Rath's 6580 became the best 5th Place mark!!

Bougard improved her PR also by over 200 points, her 6502 moving her from 20th A-T US all the way to 6th!!

Anouk Vetter claimed the best 7th Place mark with her 6497!
Yorgelis Rodriguez's 6446 points got her the best 8th Place mark!!

Ruckstahl's 6280 points is the new National Record of Switzerland!
And Grit Sadeiko---formerly a Florida athlete seemingly stuck around 5600-5700--finally broke through with 6280, and the National Record of Estonia!!

The Decathlon had 15 Men score 8000 or more points, but just 2 topped 8500!
Damian Warner won it with 8591, but it was Eelco Sintnicolaas's 8539 in 2nd that broke his own National Record of the Netherlands!!

Many (including me) believe the current system of "Regionals" as the Qualifier (or Prelims meet) for the NCAA Championships is---is, well, AWFUL!!
With the track races being merely the initial 1st round heats, athletes normally just do what they're there to do---move on to the next round!
And the field event people all want to make the final 12!
But once they make it, there are no more heights to attempt, and the throws are limited to three!!
If they nail a big one in round 1, they're done!
BORING!!

Well, then you have guys like Fred Kerley, Christian Coleman, or women like Kendell Ellis in the 400!
(Of course, on the macabre side, you want to see who's NOT going to advance to Eugene!!)

Kerley ran 44.09 in his heat at the SEC's, proving him to be one who just wants to run fast, no matter what's "needed" or asked for by his coaches!
So his SHATTERING the Collegiate Record in this "1st round heat" wasn't so shocking, if you knew his M.O.!
His 43.70 took 0.30 seconds off Quincy Watts's 1992 CR!!
And he did it with NO competition, as 2nd was just 45.02!
He also gets the Senior Class record!
He moves from 2nd to 1st on the A-T Collegiate list!
He moves from 11th A-T US, tied with 2 others, to 6th!!
And he moves from 17th A-T World, tied with 2 others, to 7th!!
(He later ran a reported 43.35 on his team's 4X400 Relay!!)

Coleman was the best INdoors--and now he's the best OUTdoors!!
His 200 heat finished in just 19.85 seconds---AGAINST a breeze of 0.5!!
His 100-200 Combined Events total is now 29.81 (9.96 & 19.85), making him 10th A-T!!
He moves from 10th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 2nd!!
He's now 13th A-T US, tied with 2 others!
And he misses my World DDD by a mere 0.01 seconds!!
He'd run his 9.96 earlier, wind of 1.7.
This moved him from 11th A-T Collegiate, tied with 5 others, to 8th, tied with 3 others!

Jereem Richards was a quick 2nd in 19.97, although he ran in a separate heat, wind of 0.2.
He's 10th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!
Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake's 20.04 wasn't a PR!

There were other decent marks--East and West--and here's the best of them--
Maggie Ewen threw the Hammer 232-3.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn ran the 100H in 12.79--and again in 12.80!
Dewynne Charlton was 2nd in 12.87!
Reuben Walters ran the 110H in 13.39, with Grant Holloway 2nd in 13.47!
Akeem Bloomfield ran the 400 in 44.74!
Coleman had sped a 9.98 in his initial race, wind a MINUS 0.2!
Eight Women ran 800's between the 2:02.11 of Siofia Clairigh-Buttner and 2:03:00!!
Isaiah Harris ran his 800 in 1:45.92.
TJ Holmes and Kymber Payne ran 400H heats in 49.10 and 55.50, respectively.
Gabrielle Thomas sprinted her 2nd 200 in 22.60, but her initial round took 22.56, with a wind of 0.4.

Ashley Henderson ran her 100 in 11.01 (1.8).
She moves from 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others, to 12th, tied with 1 other!!
Chris Belcher's 20.06 (0.8) makes him 20th A-T Collegiate!
He beat Christian Coleman's 20.07 in that initial round!
As noted above, Kendell Ellis ran 400 meters in 50.45, moving her from 19th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 9th!!
Byron Robinson took just 48.58 for his 400H heat, becoming 20th A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others!!
Rai Benjamin's 48.91 in 2nd gave him the National Record of Antigua!!

Helen Schlachtenhaufen ran the 1500 meters in 4:11.15, with Jessica Harris next in 4:11.67.
Raven Saunders (59-2.25 in the SP) and Keturah Orji (TJ of 46-2.75) merely went through the motions!
Not quite the same with Emmonnie Henderson!
Her SP of 58-10 misses my Collegiate list by only 2.25 inches!!
Erin Farmer got a half-inch PR in the West meet, but her 59-5.50 keeps her 21st A-T Collegiate!

Some Relays were interesting!
LSU's 4X100 squad sped 42.32 for an easy win.
But Kentucky's 42.79 in 2nd moves them from 7th A-T School to 6th!
Alabama's 42.91 took 3rd, and moved them from 13th A-T School to 9th!
Clemson's 43.31 took 5th, but moved them from 17th A-T School to 15th!!

On the Men's side, Auburn won it in 38.74, beating LSU's 38.75!
But it was North Carolina A&T's 38.76 in 3rd that made them 18th A-T School!!
Tennessee was 4th in 38.92, but it was the 5th place time of Ohio State (39.01) that got them on the list, as 24th A-T School!!
In the West race, Arkansas's 38.77 nipped Texas A&M's 38.78!
But UO's 38.94 made them 21st A-T School, tied with 1 other!!

USC's Women's 4X400 team got a School PR of 3:26.09, but they remain 6th A-T!
UO's team ran 3:28.28, with Raevyn Rogers reportedly sprinting her leg in 50.19!!
Texas was next in 3:28.30.
Texas A&M's Men ran their's in 3:00.69!!

A couple of wind-aided marks were too good not to report--
Sydney Conley--daughter of the venerable TJ'er of yore Mike Conley!--LJ'ed 22-4.25, but a wind of 2.2 negated the mark!
Deajah Stevens sprinted the 100 in 10.89, but had a helping wind of 2.9!!

Now we come to the GORE & BLOOD!!
Who AIN'T gonna compete at Nationals in less than 2 weeks??

The most prominent are from the Championship hosts, the Ducks!!
You might have heard that a lower back sprain kept Ed Cheserek out of this meet, and thus ending his Collegiate career!!
Well, add the Selfie Goddess Hannah Cunliffe to that list of Non-Q's!!
Apparently hurting a bit from an old injury, she withdrew from the 2nd round of the 100, then apparently ended HER entire 2017 year, DNS'ing the 200.

Her tale of woe continued---though I'm not sure of the time sequence--in the 4X100 Relay!
They were DQ'ed for running out of their lane!
So was the USC Women's team!!
This is the 2nd year that "injury" has kept Cunliffe out of the NCAA's!!

Others include--
Elise Cranny in the 1500, as she faded badly on the last lap of her race!
UO's Sam Prakal & Austin Tamagno also failed to advance!
Katie Knight and Amy Eloise-Neale couldn't make it in the 5000!
Randall Cunningham didn't advance in the HJ!
From the East meet, Brandee Johnson failed to advance in the 400H.
Eliud Rutto is out of the 1500, and Myles Marshall won't be in the 800!
Bella Burda didn't make it in the 10000!
Molly Seidel was a DNS--though I'm not certain she was even entered!!
Adam Kelly didn't make it in the HT!
Mackenzie Shell won't be in the Pole Vault!
Angel Piccirillo won't be in the 1500.
Anna Rohrer (!!) was a DNF in the 5000, though I assume she'll still be in the 10K!
Freddie Crittenden failed to advance in the 110H!

I have some other marks---some from a few days earlier!
Shiying Liu threw the Javelin 218-1 to get the China National Record!!
This makes her 21st A-T World!
Radek Juska LJ'ed 27-2.50 to give him the National Record of the Czech Republic!!
Pam Dutkiewicz ran the 100H in a PR of 12.61, wind of 1.9!!
Stipe Zunic's SP of 70-5.75 breaks his own National Record of Croatia!!
In the Manchester (England) Street Games, Holly Bradshaw got an OUTdoor PR, her 15-9 making her 16th A-T World, tied with 1 other.
It also breaks her own National Record of Great Britain!!
(I can't find the full results from the Manchester 10K Road Race, but Dathan Ritzenhein won the Men's race in 28:06!!)

In HS news--
Rachel Baxter got an OUTdoor PR, PV'ing 14-4!!
This is a one inch PR!
But she remains 3rd A-T HS!

And keep the name of  Trey Tintinger in your head!!
He's 6 foot 3 inches tall.
And he's the new Frosh Class record holder in the HJ, as his 7-1.50 leap broke the old Class Record by 1.50 inches!!
He had gone over 6-11 a week or more ago!
Thus he added 2.50 inches to his PR since then!!

I'll close with a Correction!!
In my blog of May 8th, I reported a 200 time of 22.89 for Katia Seymour!
I added that this removed Sanya Richards-Ross from my HS list, her 23.01 from 2002!

Well, put SRR back on the list--in 24th place!
And remove Seymour's mark, as it turns out there was an illegal wind!!

One more item of note--
Primo Youth PV'er Lisa Gunnarsson has signed on to compete for--Virginia Tech next year!!
Her PR of 14-11 will make her an instant threat to the Collegiate Frosh Class records of  15-2.25 (INdoors) and 15-2.75 (OUTdoors)!!

See you soon!