2017 OUTdoor Collegiate AOY's

Finally!!
Sorry for the delay!

Guidelines are simple--
ALL marks are OUTdoors!
The Collegiate season ENDS when the final event of the NCAA Championship meet is completed!
NO marks made by Collegiates after the meet are eligible for consideration!!
I'll do the Men first.

There were FOUR Collegiate Records by the Men this year!
Christian Coleman ran 9.82 in the 100.
Fred Kerley blasted a 400 in 43.70.
Lindon Victor scored 8539 points in the Decathlon.
And the Texas A&M Sprint Medley Relay team ran 3:11.94!

Class Records went to Nathon Allen's 44.52 as a Frosh.
To Josh Kerr's 1500 of 3:35.99 as a Soph.
Coleman's 9.82 is the sole Junior Class record!
Kerley's 400 & Victor's Dec are the Senior Class records!!

NCAA Meet Records went to Coleman's 9.82 and Ionnis Kyriazis's JT of 270-11.

CHRISTIAN COLEMAN is the Aaron K's T&F Record Book's Athlete of the Year for the 2017 OUTdoor season!!
He didn't win this as easily as he won his races this year!
After all, Fred Kerley's 43.70 (in a HEAT!!) took 0.30 off the previous CR--and of course was the first sub-44 by a Collegiate (not counting marks AFTER the NCAA meet!!).
Lindon Victor's 8539 Dec was his 2nd of 3 this season!
All were high-scoring!
You also had Emmanuel Korir's spectacular 1st year at UTEP in both the 800 & 400!
But when the fog drifted off, there was the smallish dynamo with the initials of CC standing VERY tall!!
But all of the other above-named get & deserve Honorable Mentions!!
More HM's go to Josh Kerr, Justyn Knight & Kyriazis!
Note that FIVE of the six HM's last names begin with K!!

The Performance of the Year was a tough decision to make!
Sure, Coleman's 100 time was GREAT, but isn't also Kerley's 43.70, or Victor's 8539??
Or even Kyriazis's early season 288-9 in the Javelin?
I chose Kerley's 43.70 as my POY!
As noted, it came in a heat.
The fact that he ran several other fast times adds luster!
Also, he broke the CR by a larger percentage of margin than Coleman did---though true mathematicians might tell me I'm wrong!!
If Korir had run his PR of 1:43.10 DURING the season, the award might have gone to him!!
BTW, Coleman had a pair of marks under consideration---his 200 time of 19.85 being the other!
All the above named get HM's, including Coleman for his 200!

As noted in my HS post, my Event of the Year goes to the event with the most 2017 marks on my various DDD's!
We had a TIE this year!
With 5 marks each were the 100 and the 4X100 Relay!
(Goes hand in hand---just as the BATON is supposed to in the sprint Relay!!  LOL)
Four marks each included the DMR and the 400H.
The 200, 400, Decathlon, and the 4X400 Relay had 3 marks apiece.
With a pair were the 800, PV, SP, and the HT.
The 1500, 5000, DT, and JT have just 1 each.
Striking out were the Mile, 10000, 3000SC, 110H, HJ, LJ, and TJ!

My Personality of the Year goes to someone I've often been critical of here!
ED CHESEREK ran too many races in his Collegiate career for medals or points, NOT time!!
But you can't deny the power of his presence---especially when he was ABSENT!!
Injured in May, he was forced to skip the NCAA's, thus ending his career with "just" 17 Golds for Oregon, IN & OUT!
It was then that I realized what he meant to Collegiate T&F---not just in 2017, but in the 3 years prior!
His athletic skills may not have been present in Eugene in June, but King Ches was!

Following are all the athletes with marks on my Collegiate OUTdoor Top 24 Performers list!
Events not listed have ZERO!
100---Coleman (9.82--CR--1st), Burrell (9.93--6th, tied with 4 others), Belcher (9.93--6th, tied with 4 others), Skeen (9.98--19th, tied with 2 others), Mitchell-Blake (9.99--22nd, tied with 3 others)
200---Coleman (19.85--2nd), Richards (19.97--10th, tied with 1 other), Belcher (20.01--14th)
400---Kerley (43.70--CR--1st), N Allen (44.52--13th), E Korir (44.53--14th, tied with 1 other)
800---E Korir (1:43.73--2nd), I Harris (1:45.12--20th, tied with 1 other)
1500--Kerr (3:35.99--6th)
5000--Knight (13:17.51--5th)
400H--Futch (48.32--9th), Benjamin (48.33--10th), Mowatt (48.49--17th), B Robinson (48.58--23rd, tied with 2 others)
PV---Nilsen (18-9.50--12th), Laidig (18-8.25--19th, tied with 7 others)
SP---Hassan (69-11--16th), Miheljevic (69-10.25--17th)
DT--B Williams (213-8--16th)
JT--Kyriazis (288-9--2nd)
HT--Dudarev (243-5--19th), A Young (241-8--24th, tied with 1 other)
Dec--Victor (8539--CR--1st), D Williams (8345--6th), Wieland (8201--18th)
4X100--Houston (38.34--6th), NC A&T (38.48--9th), Texas (38.68--16th), UO (38.76--20th), Ohio St (38.92--23rd)
4X400--Arkansas (3:01.84--19th), Iowa (3:01.91--20th), Auburn (3:02.10-22nd, tied with 1 other)
DMR--Middle Tenn (9:33.25--14th), Penn (9:33.35--16th), Columbia (9:34.92--18th), Buffalo (9:35.72--20th)

Onward to the Women!!

Collegiate Records were numerous on the Women's side--with Relays leading the charge!!
UO's Ducks garnered FOUR of them--42.12 in the 4X100 (later tied!), 1:28.78 in the 4X200, 3:23.13 in the 4X400, and 3:39.05 in the SMR!!
(The latter lasted all of FOUR MINUTES!!!  See my earlier post for details of that tumultuous day of SMR Record-breaking!!)
LSU tied UO's 4X100 mark.
And Texas A&M was the squad that took over from UO with their SMR time of 3:39.04!!
Individual CR's went to Raevyn Rogers's 1:59.10 in the 800, to Kyra Jefferson's 22.02 in the 200, and to Maggie Ewen's HT of 240-7!!
So there were NINE CR's set this season!

Class Records went to--
Katie Rainsberger's 4:11.58 in the 1500, Rochelle Burton's 12.65 in the 100H, Kate Hall's 22-1 LJ (but tied with 1 other!), and Nina Schultz's 6021 Heptathlon all got Frosh Class records!
The lone Soph Class mark went to Tobi Amusan's 12.57 in the 100H.
Junior Class records go to Aleiah Hobbs's 10.85, Deajah Stevens's 22.09 in the 200, Rogers's 1:59.10 two-lapper, Keturah Orji's 46-11.50 TJ, and Ewen's 240-7!
Jefferson's 22.02 was the only Senior Class record!

There were a trio of Meet Records at the NCAA's--
Jefferson's 200, Ewen's HT, and the Ducks 4X400 Relay mark!

My policy is to omit Relays for consideration for "Athlete" of the Year!
After all, FOUR athletes comprise a Relay team!
So while the quality--AND the quantity!--of CR's in the Relays were stupifying, I decided to stick to my policy!
Thus, KYRA JEFFERSON is my 2017 Collegiate Athlete of the Year!!
Since I give highest consideration to those who break records in one of my 4 core groups (World, US, Collegiate, HS), I basically had 3 athletes from which to choose!
I went with Jefferson (over Rogers & Ewen) because that 22.02 broke one of the most respected (& oldest!!) CR's on the books--Dawn Sowell's 22.04 from 1989!!
And it came in a race that was thrilling to watch!
The rest of her season wasn't much to speak of, but that one race--in the most important meet of the year--tipped the scales to Ms Jefferson!
HM's go to Rogers, Ewen, Amusan, Hobbs, as well as to neophyte Steeplechaser Allie Ostrander, Jamaica's new SP find Danielle Thomas, and to Anna Rohrer!

Again, my Performance of the Year goes to Jefferson's half-lapper!!
For the reasons mentioned above!
HM's go to Ewen, Hobbs, Ostrander, and TWO for Rogers, whose 4X400 Relay leg of 49.77 powered the Ducks to a thrilling win in the NCAA's final event--giving them a pair of victories--the race AND the meet!!

The Event of the Year for the Women was the 4X100 Relay---by a mile--figuratively speaking!!
It had EIGHT marks making my DDD list!!
With 5 each were the 100, 100H, and the PV.
Four marks came from the JT, Heptathlon, and the DMR.
Three each go to the 200, 400, 10000, 3000SC, SP, DT, and the HT.
A pair go to the Mile, HJ, LJ, and the 4X400 Relay.
The 800 and 400H have 1 each.
With NONE are the 1500, 3000, 5000, and TJ!!

I love choosing my Personality of the Year MORE than I do my other awards!
Why?
Because its criteria aren't based on things measurable by a stopwatch or tape measure.
It goes into the true heart of our sport--what makes it tick & inspire others--the qualities that make us Humans!!
For those reasons, my Personality of the Year doesn't go to the best ATHLETE, but to the most interesting person--for whatever reason, good or bad!
(Keep in mind that Time magazine's "Person of the Year" choices have included some VERY evil people!!)
Thus, my Personality of the Year goes to 3 Women!!
And two of them USED to have the same last name!!
I speak obviously of the (former) WEEKS twins, TORI and LEXI!
They both got married this summer--Tori in July, Lexi in August--so will not be known by Weeks anymore!
(Don't ask me now their new names--I'd have to look it up, and I'm lazy!!  LOL)
But I give them this award for BEING the twins they are--in their looks, and in their wedding plans!!
The other award goes to ALLIE OSTRANDER!!
I chose her not so much for her fast times in the SC, but for the fact she's even RUNNING such an event, being all of 5 feet "tall"!!
She has perfect (Emma Coburn-style) form, and appears capable of going much faster!
But she gets it for being a Mountain Racer too!!
In fact, she won one of her races this season after winning a Mountain race in Wales (??), then flying home, and running the race a day or 2 later!
She's just a really fascinating person!

Finally, here's all the Women who have marks dated 2017 on my OUTdoor DDD lists---
100---Hobbs (10.85--2nd), M Brisco (10.96--5th, tied with 2 others), Stevens (11.00--11th, tied with 1 other), Henderson (11.01--12th, tied with 1 other), D Carter (11.05--24th, tied with 1 other)
200---Jefferson (22.02--CR--1st), Stevens (22.09--3rd), D Hill (22.41--23rd)
400---C Gordon (50.39--7th, tied with 1 other), Wimbley (50.40--9th), Ellis (50.45--10th)
800--Rogers (1:59.10--CR--1st)
Mile--Purrier (4:32.05--5th), H Green (4:32.50--6th)
10000--Rohrer (31:58.99--7th), C Taylor (32:11.80--12th), Wright (32:29.28--23rd)
3000SC--Ostrander (9:41.31--13th), Purrier (9:43.65--20th), Boreman (9:46.48--24th)
100H---Amusan (12.57--4th), J Camacho-Quinn (12.58--5th), Burton (12.65--11th), A Johnson (12.69--15th), Charleton (12.74--23rd, tied with 1 other)
400H---Watson (54.52--12th)
HJ---Fagan & Gusan (6-3.25--22nd's, tied with 3 others each)
LJ---S Saunders (22-1.75--19th, tied with 2 others), Hall (22-1--22nd, tied with 2 others)
PV---Rhodes (15-1.50--5th, tied with 1 other), Grove (15-1--7th, tied with 2 others), Clute & T Weeks (??) (14-11--11ths, tied with each other), Gruver (14-9--14th, tied with 4 others)
SP---Thomas (62-10--2nd), Woodard (60-3--12th), Farmer (59-5.50--21st)
DT---S Lawrence (205-4--10th), Knibb (203-7--13th), Ewen (198-6--22nd)
JT---Sediva (192-9--12th), Vucevenic (192-2--13th), Wales (191-0--14th), Pryke (186-9--21st)
HT--Ewen (240-7--CR--1st), B Anderson (225-1--16th), Llano (221-2--23rd, tied with 1 other)
Hept--K Williams (6354--5th), T Brooks (6099--14th), Stumbaugh (6023--23rd), Schultz (6021--24th)
4X100--(UO & LSU--42.12--CR's--1st's, tied with each other), Kentucky (42.51--4th), Alabama (42.56--6th), San Diego St (42.99--11th), Auburn (43.02--12th), Clemson (43.31--15th), Arkansas (43.34--16th)
4X400--UO (3:23.13--CR--1st), USC (3:23.35--2nd)
DMR--Penn St (10:56.07--7th), Notre Dame (10:58.22--11th), Indiana (11:02.25--16th), Columbia (11:02.32--17th)

Not sure when my next post will be, as I'm now in what I like to call my vacation period!
OUTdoor season is over, except for the Marathons & other Road races.
I don't do much with XC!
And my INdoor Previews won't begin until November!
But rest assured that whatever happens--on or off the Track & Field--will be reported ASAP, and in as much Detail as possible!!

See you---whenever!!