The 2017 Prefontaine Memorial

If you survived my Preview's hyperbolic overdrive, maybe you'll understand why I had to think a bit about whether I'd give the Pre DL its own post!
It was an excellent (lower case) meet---even if my Preview had seen abundant use of ALL CAPS in ramming home the message that THIS Prefontaine meet MIGHT be the greatest of them all!!
Put simply, it wasn't.
But combined with the fact there WERE many great marks is the fact that OTHER meets were better than expected, and needed more space than trying to cram EVERYTHING into one post would provide!!
(Following this post---in a few hours---will come my report on the NCAA Regionals, the Gotzis Multi's, and whatever else I might have---other than Pre!)

What made this year's edition weren't so much the Records & Marks, but the Competition!!
And nowhere else could you find better than in the Men's Triple Jump or the Women's 200.

Christian Taylor and Will Claye have been friends & rivals (or both!) since their years as teammates at Florida!
The pattern continued here!
Taylor opened with 58-5.75--which would've been a Meet Record, but for the wind!
Claye's 3rd round saw him close in---57-11.25.
Taylor responded with the ultimate winner--his giant 59-5---and a legal wind!!
Claye came back with a 58-5.75, legal wind!
Then in round 5, Claye ripped a huge 59-2.75 (windy!), but that was it!
A Taylor foul, and a Claye 58-3 in round 6 were anticlimactic!
That said, FIVE of Claye's attempts were 57 feet or longer!
Taylor had four of those!

In the end, Taylor's 59-5 is the Age 26 record!
He breaks his own Pre Meet Record!
Claye's 58-5.75 PR moves him up one place on the A-T US list, from 7th to 6th!
He also moves from 22nd to 15th on the A-T World list!!

The 200 lived up to expectations---but not quite in the "WHO" department!!
Most (especially some rabid Jamaica Firsters on the T&FN Message Board!!) expected Elaine Thompson to win---maybe even easily!!
(To be honest, I did too!!)
Tell that to Tori Bowie, a woman who tends to run hot OR cold!!
She was VERY HOT here!!!

Ripping the curve found her already in front coming to the straight!
She merely extended her lead, leaving an All-Everything field behind her!!
Her 21.77 dominated a field that saw 2 others come in under 22 seconds!
She improved her 100-200 Combined Events totals on the World & US lists!
Her 10.78 & 21.77 add to 32.55.
She's 7th on my World list, and 4th on the US list!
It's also the Pre Meet Record!!
She moves from 9th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 5th, tied with 1 other.
On the A-T World list, she moves from 23rd, tied with 3 others, to 15th, tied with 1 other!!

Miller-Uibo's 21.91 breaks her own National Record of the Bahamas!
It makes her 21st A-T World!

Knocked OFF my World DDD were 3 historic names!!
Marie Jose-Perec (1993), Kerron Stewart (2008), and Chandra Cheeseborough (1983) all had marks of 21.99!!
They're all GONE!!

After ET's 21.98 came Dafne Schippers's 22.30, Allyson Felix's 22.33, Marie Josee Ta Lou's 22.37, and Hayward's fave, Jenna Prandini, who ended 7th in 22.54!

The distances---as should be in a meet honoring Mister Prefontaine!!--were all competitive---and somewhat speedy!
Let's take them in order of schedule, since none really stood out by themselves!!

The Women's "B" 800 saw Charlene Lipsey finally get an OUTdoor sub-2:00!!
Her 1:59.87 gave her an easy win over Chrishuna Williams's 2:00.62.
But all eyes were on the lanky NY'er, Sammy Watson, finishing her HS career in style!!
In the pack at 58-high, she stayed on the outside, giving her room to move.
And she wasn't shy about trying!
But alas, her quest to join Mary Cain in the sub-2 HS crowd fell short.
Still, her OUTdoor PR of 2:01.47 moved her from 9th A-T HS to 4th!!
She said she'll be trying again---maybe at USATF!!
She DID beat Kendra Chambers and Laura Roesler, both in the high 2:01's!

Sheila Reid was a late scratch from the "B" 1500 on Friday, citing allergies!!
(Eugene is famous---or INfamous!!--for that!!)
In her absence, her Canadian compatriot, Gabrielle Stafford, won in 4:07.43.
Katie Mackey started her sprint late, but took 2nd in 4:07.79.
Emily Lipari PR'ed again, in 4:08.29!
Alexa Efraimson improved to 4:09.03 in 5th.

In 9th came Gabe Grunewald!
Her time of 4:15.04 didn't really matter---though she wants to qualify for USATF!!
What mattered was that she ran DESPITE being in the prison of cancer, and delaying treatment (!!!) so she can try for London!!
There are no words!
Bless you, Gabe---for being YOU!!

Then came the 3000SC on Joan Samuelson Night!!
WOW!
Celiphine Chespol--all of 18 years of age!!--was in a 3-pack with WR holder Ruth Jebet and Beatrice Chepkoech as the penultimate water jump approached!
As she came off the water, her shoe slipped, and she STOPPED to get it back on!!
This took about 4 seconds!!
About 200 meters later (or less!), she was right back in front!!
And she remained there, sprinting hard (with both shoes on!) to the line, and getting the Meet Record and her own Age 18 record with her time of 8:58.78!!
She also nabbed the Kenyan National Record!
It moves her from 7th A-T World to 2nd!!

Chepkoech went past the fading Jebet to take 2nd in 9:00.70.
She remains 5th A-T World.
Jebet finished 3rd in 9:03.52.

Surprising herself (and others), Emma Coburn came THIS close to breaking her own National Record, but her 9:07.96 fell 0.33 seconds short!
Courtney Frerichs, fully recovered from her Doha food poisoning (See my Preview post!), took a second off her PR, her 9:19.09 taking 5th, and moving her from 6th to 4th on the A-T US list!!

If you looked closely, you could see Genzebe Dibaba wasn't going to break the WR in the 5000!!
She didn't have her usual smooth running form---at least not AS smooth as usual!
And when the pacer fell off the needed pace after just 2 laps, the WR chase was over!
But not the race!
Dibaba's 14:25.22 gave her the Age 26 record!

Lilian Rengerek ran 14:36.80 in 2nd, with Sifan Hassan's 14:41.24 in 3rd taking down Lornah Kiplagat's old Netherlands National Record!!

When the pace took off, Molly Huddle decided she didn't have it, so deliberately stayed well back, leading the US contingent to a series of 15:10'ish times--Huddle's 15:09.09 and Emily Sisson's 15:10.91 being the best.

The Men's 5K BEGAN in 12:55-pace mode!
But after about a mile, that idea died, and born was the usual (and boring!!) Follow Sir Mo Parade to the Execution Chamber!!
Viewers yawned while Mo sped away to a 13:00.70 win over Yomif Kejelcha  and Geoff Kamworor, both of whom finished less than a second (but might as well have been an HOUR!) behind!!
Paul Chelimo's 13:10.11 in 7th was the best of the Americans!

The Men's Mile's produced its normal queue of sub-4's.
This time, they included 3 under 3:50, one US HS'er CLOSE to a sub-4, and THREE Norwegian brothers breaking 4---but in separate races!!
The Ingebrigtsens (Henrik, Filip, and the Kid, Jakub) became the "Borlees of the Mile", and history was made!
But it was Jakub who stole the show, as his 3:58.07 (11th in the "B" Mile) became the Age 16 record!!
No one---not even Jim Ryun!!--ran under 4:00 when 16!!

Brazil's Thiago Do Andre won it in 3:51.99.
Chris O'Hare was 2nd in 3:53.34.
In 7th came Andy Wheating in 3:55.67.
DJ Principe ran a steady pace, but missed his sub-4 goal by 0.74 seconds!!
His 4:00.73 is 13th A-T HS!!

Knocked OFF my HS list was a real oldie---Rich Kimball's 4:02.4, dating from 1974!!

Ron Kwemoi (3:49.04) missed my World list by 0.64 seconds!
Elijah Managoi's 3:49.08 missed it by 0.68 seconds!
And Tim Cheruiyot's 3:49.64 missed it by 1.24 seconds!

Clay Murphy showed he has Mile wheels, his 3:51.99 in 5th making him 20th A-T US!!
Ben Blankenship ran good in 7th, time of 3:53.04.
Filip Ingebrigtsen was 8th in 3:53.23.
Asbel Kiprop said a virus was the reason he finished just 13th in 3:58.24!

The other Women's 1500 had all the Names, but not the needed pacing!!
(Or at least no one willing to follow her!!)
Thus, we instead found a MOB of star runners all together at the bell!!
When the dust had settled, it was the sub-60 (!!) laps of Faith Kipyegon and Helen Obiri that prevailed!
Kip's 59.55 took her home in 3:59.67, while Obiri's 59.99 gave her a 4:00.46.
Right behind her came Laura Muir in 4:00.47.
(She said afterward she needs to work on her "finishing dip"!!)

Brenda Martinez surprisingly (But maybe not so much!!) led the strong US contingent!!
Her 4:03.56 outleaned Kate Grace's PR of 4:03.59.
Grace is now 24th A-T US!!
Jenny Simpson beat her "rival", Shannon Rowbury, 4:04.16 to 4:04.59, in 8th and 9th!
Shelby Houlihan's 4:06.43 followed in 11th!

The WOMEN's 800 saw Habitam Alemu winning in 1:59.19 over Selina Buchel's 1:59.46, and Melissa Bishop's 1:59.52.
There were 3 Nameless humans in front.

The pair of High School 200's gave us things to talk about!

In the Men's race, Ty Cooper won in a PR of 20.51.
This breaks his own Soph Class record!!
And he moves from 19th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 17th!!
Kalon Barnes took 2nd in 20.54, making him 20th A-T HS!!
I'd never heard of him, and when checking my 2017 HS Track book, couldn't find his name anywhere!!
A real shocker!!

Another to raise your hair (& eyebrows!!) was Tamari Davis!!
She won the Women's HS 200 in 23.21--wind legal!
Oh, almost forgot!
She's a 14 year old EIGHTH GRADER!!
This breaks her own Age 14 record!!
Everyone she beat were established High Schoolers, several of them Seniors!!
(Symone Mason, the favorite, ended in 4th, running 23.49!!)

The Women's 400H became one of the best events of the meet--unexpectedly!!
Glasses-wearing (& sass-talking Twitter Ace) Shamier Little came off the last turn in front!
But Ashley Spencer---a few lanes to her right--steadily cut her lead, then took it---winning in a PR of 53.38!!
Her Combined Events for the 400 & 400H is now 1:43.66 (50.28 & 53.38)
She remains 3rd on that US list!
She misses the World DDD by 0.16 seconds!!
She also moves from 13th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 11th!!

Little also PR'ed--to 53.44.
She remains in 4th on the US Combined Events list, times of 51.06 & 53.44 adding to 1:44.50!.
She misses the World Top 24 Performers list by 0.22 seconds!!
And she remains 12th A-T US!
Georgeanne Moline took 3rd in a slight 2017 best of 54.09!

The High Hurdles were taken by Omar McLeod (13.01) and Jasmine Stowers (12.59).
Behind McLeod came Ron Levy's 13.10, Devon Allen's 13.11, and Aries Merritt's 13.13!!

Queen Harrison (Will Claye's fiancee) took 2nd in 12.64, with DHN 3rd in 12.66, with Christina Manning getting the same time in 4th, followed by Sharika Nelvis's 12.68!!

Morolake Akinosun---whom yours truly recognized as the potential winner in the recent Jamaica meet---and in my Preview here!!--took the 100 in 10.94, but a "wind" of 2.1 negated the time as her new PR!!
It beat Murielle Ahoure's 10.96, Michelle Lee-Ahye's 10.97, and VCB's 11.00!!

LaShawn Merritt took a weak 400 in a weak 44.79.
Ronnie Baker used a wind of 2.4 to blast a 9.86 in the 100!!
Left behind was Bingtian Su's 9.92!!
Left WAY behind were Andre DeGrasse's 9.96 and Justin Gatlin's 9.97!!

Ryan Crouser took advantage of an "off" day for 74 footer Joe Kovacs, his 73-7.25 giving him the Pre Meet Record, and the Age 24 record!!
But it wasn't a PR!
Tom Walsh was second with 71-2.25, while Kovacs could find just 70-4.25 with his 16 pound orb!!

Tatsiana Kholodovich opened the meet on Friday with a JT of 217-6.
This held on to be the winner, although China's Shiying Liu was good in 2nd with her 213-11, while Rio winner Sara Kolak took 3rd with a throw of 212-1.

Brittney Reese got out to 23-0 in the LJ, decisively beating Tianna Bartoletta's 22-5!!
It's another World Leader for the entertaining Reese!!

The Women's HJ needs a mea culpa disclaimer from your friendly blogger!!
You read my Preview, right?
Did you "see" the name of Maria Lasitskene anywhere?
I mean, who's ever heard of MARIA LASITSKENE??

Well, maybe her NEW HUSBAND has!!!
You see, Mariya Kuchina--who HJ'ed 6-8 INdoors this year to lead the World!!--got married in March!!
So it was Maria (Kuchina) Lasitskene who won the HJ here---with a leap of--6-8!!
It's her OUTdoor PR, and got her the Meet Record!!

It also REMOVED a certain Ruth Beitia---who competed here, but didn't do so well!!--from my World list, her 6-7.50 from 2007 now gone!!

Kamila Licwinko and Vashti Cunningham both cleared a good 6-4.75, but Licwinko got 2nd!
Cunningham's mark wasn't a PR!

Well, that about wraps-----OH WAIT!!!!
You thought I'd forgot all about MONDO!!!
HA!
NO ONE lost sight of Mr Duplantis---all of 17 years old!!---as he fought side-by-side with Titans Sam Kendricks, Thiago Braz, Pietr Lisek, and---Renaud Lavillenie---among others!!

In fact, after the first 3 bars, Mondo was the ONLY ONE with NO MISSES!!
That didn't last!
Even though he's the KING of the Youth movement, the presence of PV gods Lavillenie and Kendricks et al---and maybe the adoring and LOUD crowd of Hayward clappers---got to him just a wee bit!!
Enough that he failed to clear anything over 18-8.75---which left him in 4th!!

Winning was Kendricks (19-2.75---3 misses at 19-4.75), followed by Renaud and Lisek, both of whom cleared 19-0.75!

Shawn Barber, formerly one of Mondo's young precursors, bombed out early!

As promised, I'll have my "other" report---Gotzis, the Regionals, and more--up in a few hours!!