Many Bridges to London

I just LOVE creative titles--ones that play with words!
(I wanted to use "London Bridges Falling Down"--but with the recent terror attack AT the London Bridge, I decided against it!)
The Collegiate season is over.
The HS season continues, and will soon get red HOT with the Brooks PR & NBN meets!
The USATF (aka London WC Trials) is just days away!!
So this is the time when things get serious!
Those who need USATF and/or London Qualifying marks are trying for them!
The lucky ones who have them are in their final training phase!
And we, the fans, await the Records & Marks that will change people's thinking about what CAN be--IF!!
Here's the latest selection of results that indicate we're on the road to London--and that there are many bridges available to getting there!!

Genzebe Dibaba left question marks in her wake, after she faded to 6th place over the last K of the Rome DL 5000!!
Bad rabbiting--or lack of intent--left any idea of a possible World Record behind after 3000 meters were run.
Passing that mark in 8:36 left too much work to do!
At 4K, Helen Obiri took command, and using her significant 1500 speed, finished in 14:18.37 for a 4 second PR, the National Record of Kenya, the Age 27 Record, and a big win over G-D!!
Obiri moves from 6th to 5th on the A-T World list!
On my 1500 & 5000 Combined Events list, she moves from 4th A-T to 3rd--her times being 3:57.05 & 14:18.37, adding to 18:15.42.

Agnes Tirop was 2nd in 14:33.09, and Letesenbet Gidey's time of 14:33.32 in 3rd misses the Age 19 record by 0.80 seconds--that record held by one Tirunesh Dibaba!!
Yasmin Can PR'ed in 4th with 14:36.82.
Dibaba's time was 14:41.55, with her final 1000 in 3:15!!
Dominique Scott got a PR of 15:20.10 back in 13th!!

Sifan Hassan made the Rome 1500 a fast race, clipping off a 3:56.22!
It's the Meet Record!
Winny Chebet (3:59.16) and Konstanze Klosterhalfen (3:59.30) also got in under 4 minutes!
Meref Bahta ran 4:00.59, while Amanda Eccleston's 4:07.07 was the lone American time!

I should mention here that Hassan ran slightly faster (3:56.15) in the Hengelo meet a few days later!
It got her the Meet Record!
Besu Sado took 2nd in 4:00.98, followed by Winny Chebet (4:01.32), and Laura Weightman (4:01.95).
A big PR came for Icelander Anita Hinriksdottir back in 10th, her 4:06.43 giving her the National Record!!

Hengelo was the site for the Women's Ethiopian 10000 Trials.
Gelete Burka led the way with 30:40.87, which was also the Hengelo Meet Record!
Senbere Teferi's 30:41.68 took 2nd, with Belaynesh Oljira's 30:44.57 next!

The Men's race saw Abadi Hadis winning in 27:08.26 from Jamel Mekonnen's 27:09.08!

Rome produced the fastest Men's Steeplechase of the year, as Consesius Kipruto led a parade with his 8:04.63.
Soufiane El Bakhala of Morocco was 2nd in 8:05.17, Jarius Birech finishing in 8:07.84, with Amos Kirui 4th in 8:08.37.

Two Americans got list-worthy marks!
Hillary Bor ran 8:11.82 in 6th, moving him from 8th A-T US to 5th!
Andy Bayer ended in 8th with his PR of 8:14.46, which moves him from 13th A-T US to 10th!!

Dafne Schippers took the 100 in 10.99 (0.5), with Marie Josee Ta Lou running 11.03, and Michelle Lee Ahye ending in 11.07.

Aries Merritt had his fastest 110H time since 2015's kidney transplant, his 13.13 run INTO a wind of 0.3!
He beat a class field--Orlando Ortega was 2nd in 13.17, with RUSSIAN (NOT "neutral"!!) Sergey Shubenkov next in 13.21, and Andrew Pozzi running 13.24!

Andre DeGrasse sped 200 meters in 20.01, while Natasha Hastings had a win in 50.52!!
Janieve Russell took the 400H in 54.14.

Rome field events were good overall!
And had some significant upsets!

Michelle Carter was just 3rd in the SP, her 61-10.50 finishing behind Lijiao Gong's 64-2.25 winner, and American Dani Bunch's 62-2.25!!
Yulimar Rojas TJ'ed 48-8.25, winning over the once-invincible Caterine Ibarguen's 48-6!!
Thomas Rohler took the JT with ease, his 295-6 prevailing over Johannes Vetter's 289-2!

Russian Mariya Lasitskene (formerly Kuchina!) is 2017's Premier High Jumper, and she continued her season with a 6-6.75 win!
She tried 3 times at 6-8.75, but missed!
I should mention here that, like Sifan Hassan, Lasitskene improved from Rome to Hengelo!!
There, her winning mark was 6-8.25!
She got the Meet Record, and with her 0.25 inch improvement, she moved from 18th A-T World, tied with 6 others, to 14th, where she's tied with 4 others!!

Sandi Morris had a mixed European trip!
She won Hengelo's PV on fewer misses over another Russian (who, IMHO, are VERY welcome ANYwhere they're "allowed" to compete!!!), Olga Mulline, both clearing 15-3.
But she couldn't get past 14-11 in Rome!!
She wound up just 6th, after missing her 3 attempts at 15-3!!
Winning was Rio Golden Girl Ekaterina Stefanidi, her 15-11 prevailing over the 15-7's of Eliza McCartney and Yarislav Silva!!
Stef then attempted the WORLD Record height of 5.07 (16-7.50), but missed her 3 tries!!

The Racers GP meet in Jamaica had some notable names--giving average (for them!!) results!
Mo Farah won the 3000 in 7:41.20, with Pat Tiernan (7:41.62) and Kemoy Campbell (7:41.87) left behind!
Campbell's time breaks his own National Record of Jamaica!
David Rudisha suffered a loss in the 800, his time of 1:44.90 just 0.04 seconds behind the winner--Willy Tarbei.
Erik Sowinski was 3rd in 1:45.27.
Allyson Felix won the 400 in 50.52 over Courtney Okolo's 50.72.
I heard Felix was fading over the final 50!!

A possible "new" American 400H stud was unearthed in Jamaica!
Quincy Downing got a big PR of about 0.7 seconds, his 48.13 winner making him 20th A-T US!!
He beat Jaheel Hyde's 48.82.

Knocked OFF the US list was a real oldie--Jim Bolding's 48.24, dating from 1974!!

Wayde Van Niekerk sped the 200 in 19.84 (1.2).
It's the National Record of South Africa!
He becomes 24th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
While he remains 2nd A-T on my 100-200-400 Combined Events list, his time improves to 1:12.85 (9.98--19.84--43.03).

Jenna Prandini won the 200 in 22.57 over Kim Duncan's 22.61.
But Prandini took 2nd in 11.16 in the 100 (-0.8), with Kelly Ann-Baptiste winning in 11.13.
English Gardner was 5th, while Candace Hill was 8th!
Sharika Nelvis ran the 100H INTO a wind of 1.4, her 12.78 prevailing over Sally Pearson, who ended in 3rd with her 12.83.
Ronald Levy also had a negative wind (0.7), his 13.17 winning over Devon Allen's 13.26!
Yohan Blake won the 100 in 9.97 (0.6) over Akani Simbine's 10.00!
Shamier Little took the 400H in 54.21.
Ryan Whiting and O'Dayne Richards both had SP marks of 69-3.25, with Whiting winning on 2nd best mark!!

Oops!
I must have overlooked someone.
Some guy named Usain Bolt ran the 100 in 10.03.
And for some unknown reason, was massively celebrated after running his LAST race in Jamaica.
Weird, huh?

Back to Earth!
The Portland Track Festival had lots of American stars trying for USATF/London Q's.
And being just 110 miles from Eugene, several Collegiates drove up to run--just a day or 2 after ending their Collegiate season!!

Friday was the night of the 10000's--but minus the Beer Tent the British use in THEIR 10K's!!
(See a previous post!)
Shalane Flanagan returned to track racing in a big way, winning in a Meet Record 31:38.68!
Rachel Cliff of Canada got her Q in 2nd, running 32:07.
Galen Rupp's winner of 28:18.29 wasn't an MR, however!

On Saturday, Kate Grace roared through the 800 in 1:59.30, but a solid string of runners-up followed!
Grace's time was a PTF Meet Record!!
Hannah Fields was 2nd in 2:00.53, with 20 year old Australian Georgia Griffith next in 2:00.90, followed by Hannah Hermansson's 2:00.94, and Alexa Efraimson's 0.04 second PR of 2:00.95!!

Nick Symmonds had the 13th "best" time in the 800--his 1:49.48 his first track race in a couple of years!
Chris Low's 1:46.40 led the Men!

Brenda Martinez wanted a sub-4:00 in the 1500, but settled for 4:03.15, and the Meet Record!!
(That old MR belonged to Kate Grace!!)
Aussie Linden Hall took 2nd in 4:04.37.
Lauren Johnson ran 4:05.08, with Colorado's Dani Jones improving over her NCAA race, running 4:08.42.
But of course it's too late for inclusion on the A-T Collegiate list--by ONE DAY!!!
Another College gal--Kaela Edwards--ran 4:11.42 in 9th!
A different section saw Steepler Marie Lawrence PR'ing in 4:11.34!!
High Schooler Annie Hill (She's a Junior!) ran 4:19.42!
This is a good HS time, but with the recent climb in HS Mile standards, she misses my DDD by--0.08 seconds!!!

Eric Jenkins won the Men's 1500 in 3:37.55, with Sam Prakel and Lopez Lomong also at sub-3:38!
Maria Bernard took the Women's 3000SC in 9:44.29 over Meg Rolland's 9:47.00.
But the Men's race saw Stan Kebenai soloing to a PTF Meet Record of 8:18.55!!
He's 20th A-T US!
Anthony Rotich was 2nd in 8:27.16, with Dan Huling running 8:30.36!

Run OFF my US list was another Ancient--Doug Brown's 8:19.29 from 1978 is GONE!!

Shannon Rowbury cruised to a 5000 win in 15:12.52, and said she's still deciding whether to double at USATF in the 1500 and 5K!
Jess Tonn was 2nd in 15:33 and change.
Kirubel Erassa took the Men's race in 13:23.12 over Morgan McDonald's 13:23.28!
The latter is another Collegiate--and from Australia!

Clay Murphy wanted the AR in the 1000, but was over 3 seconds shy, his 2:17.17 an easy winner!
He's also now 13th A-T US, and owner of the PTF Meet Record!!
BTW, the owner of the AR--Rick Wohlhuter--was in attendance!!
He said in an interview that he WANTS his record to be broken--after 43 years!!
He shook hands with Murphy!!

Grace Ping--still 13 years young--continues to amaze!
She cut about 1 second off her Age 13 record in the 5000, running 16:25.63 against older 2nd tier  Pro's and some Collegians!!
On my A-T HS list (Yes, she's included, even though she's an 8th Grader!), she moves from 18th All-Time to 17th.
She also improves her 8th Grade Record!!

I'll finish this LONGGGG piece off by collapsing the remaining marks into event groups!

Sprints
At the Music City (Nashville!!) meet, Karsten Warholm ran the 400 in 44.87, getting the National Record of Norway!!
Hengelo's meet saw Germany's 4X100 team score a win over Dafne Schipper's-led Netherlands team--42.25 to 43.02!
At Arizona's ALTIS meet, Jamaica's Schillonie Calvert ran her 100 heat in 10.94, against a breeze of 0.1.
She took the final in 11.10.
And Sydney McLaughlin had a one-day double at HER final NJ meet as a HS'er--running the 400H in 56.97, then returning for a flat 400 in 51.91.

Distances
Brodey Hasty joined the list of fast HS Milers--running 4:01.75 (against just HS'ers!), becoming 21st A-T HS!!
He was timed at 1500 also---something I wish EVERY meet would do when a fast time is expected!!
His enroute 3:44.75 makes him 17th A-T HS!!
Laura Roesler took the Music City 800 in 2:00.54, with Natoya Goule just 0.02 seconds back!
In 5th came Jenny Simpson's 2:01.89!
Sara Vaughn--a mother and full-time Realtor!!--finally WON a race--her 4:06.64 PR winning in Nashville.
ALSO winning there was Gabe Grunewald, whose 4:28.28 in 12th was excused--She'd just completed her first round of chemotherapy!!!

Emily Oren of Oiselle took the MC Steeplechase in 9:40.15!
Hengelo's SC saw Sofia Assefa winning in a MR time of 9:07.06!!
She moves from 13th A-T World to 9th!!
Sadik Mikhou won the 1500 in 3:31.34 over Yomif Kejelcha's PR of 3:32.94.

And in the NY State HS meet, Katelyn Tuohy's 4:18.51 in the 1500 missed Mary Cain's Frosh Class record by 0.67 seconds!!
But she becomes 19th A-T HS!!
Knocked OFF my HS list was Darlene Beckford's 4:19.6--dating from 1979!!

Field Events
Jill Shippee PR'ed in the HT with 201-4!
It's a FIVE FOOT PR, but she remains 5th A-T HS!
Fabrizio Donato continues to amaze!
His 56-10 TJ breaks his own Age 40 record!!
Unknown (to me!) Menno Vloon PV'ed 19-2.25, giving him the National Record of the Netherlands!!
Hengelo had a good Men''s LJ!
Luvo Manyonga continued his string of 28 footers--his 28-3.25 winning over the 27-4.50 of Rushval Samaaj, and the 27-2.50 of Damar Forbes.

Finally, we have a 6-2.75 HJ (at ALTIS) from the comebacking Brigetta Barrett---and the reason she dropped out of competitive sport for awhile!!
She said on Facebook that she'd been heavily depressed, and wasn't enjoying her sport!
But now she's okay, and liking what she's doing again!!
Welcome back, Brigetta!!

Next up will be my COMBINED Preview of the NBN and Brooks PR meets!!
The Brooks PR is a one-day meet near Seattle--on June 17th!
The New Balance Nationals are in Greensboro, North Carolina (at NC A&T!!), and run from June 16th to the 18th!
Expect my Preview on the 15th, or very early on the 16th!