As November 2018 began, I had a pretty good idea of where this blog would be going.
Cover the NYC Marathon.
Check.
The NCAA Regionals, but only a cursory glance.
Done
The Championships
Top 10's, with some interesting lower finishers mentioned!
And that's when the hesitation set in, day by day, hour by hour!
Long story short, a chronic foot & lower leg infection seemed to be getting worse---though ironically might now be improving!
On top of that, a bad sore throat began.
The two problems together has made daily life pretty uncomfortable.
While I wrote down the top NCAA finishers, I did so differently than I normally do---with much less energy!
(I haven't even yet changed my OUTdoor Record Book to note Kellyn Taylor's fast Half---which DOES make my Top 24 list!!
Plus whatever else I missed due to this recent onslaught of discomfort.
Suffice to say--and I am VERY sad to say so---I just don't have the necessary health to do what this blog would be doing---Previewing the 2018-2019 INdoor T&F season , making all kinds of Records predictions, then enthusiastically reporting all the best marks sure to come----soon!!
With the utmost regret, I must call a halt to this blog.
(I've also greatly reduced my commentary on the T&FN Message Board---and on my Twitter site.
I need to get healthy again!
I will still check out my normal research sites for major results.
I'll be watching LOTS of stuff on Netflix and from my private DVD collection!!
I'll watch or listen to NFL & Collegiate football games!
I'll READ the MB's!!
To prove that what I'm saying is true---I'm going to end this now!
Too uncomfortable to concentrate!!
Will you see another post?
MAYBE!!
But don't look for it!!
If and whan I can, I'll tell you more!
One thing I DO want to say---
THANK YOU for sticking with me these past 5 years!
Enjoy the 2018-2019 T&F INdoor season!
I'll try to!
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
"New" Champs Expected Tomorrow
A reminder of how this blogger sees Cross Country---
Times can mostly be taken with two grains of salt!
Even the NCAA Championship course doesn't remain the same every year!
Weather---good and bad---greatly affects the outcome!
There WILL be some shocks tomorrow!
The Regionals of XC---unlike T&F's "regionals"--DO offer some significant data to mull over!
So let's briefly review what happened a week ago !!
The Northeast Regional times seem to be outliers---on the deeply negative side!
I mean, come on---32:31 and 21:29 won these races!!
Paul Hogan took the Men's 10K, and Shannon Milnar won the Women's!
No serious contenders here!!
The South has a top returner in Alfred Chelanga, who took the 10K in 30:59!
Zach Long was 12 seconds back!
Militar Mitcheva won the 6K in 20:17.
A couple of Jessica's followed, with Ms Paslov beating Ms Drop!
They were each spaced 6 seconds apart!
The South Central race went to Jamie Crowe's 31:36!
Abraham Chirchir was 4 seconds back!
The Women's race had a tougher set of podium toppers!
Katrina Robinson--despite her time of just 20:20 here--should be considered a Top Ten threat in Madison!
Both Taylor Werner and Lauren Gregory etched 20:29's into their logbooks!
Again, please ignore the times run in the Regionals!
For while the Mid-Atlantic saw the winning 10K time as 31:04, you can't ignore Casey Comber as a potential threat tomorrow!
He beat Nick Wareham's 31:08!
Likewise, say what you will about the Women's winning time being just 21:02, you cannot overlook Rachel McArthur!
She beat Grace Mancini's 21:08!
The Southeast race went to James Sugura's 29:27!
He nipped Peter Saufer's same time!
Dorcas Wasike took the 6K in 19:42, with Elly Henes just 5 seconds back!
The Midwest presents some intriguing names!
Callie Logue has been steady all season, and her 10 second win over tough Sharon Lokedi---20:13 to 20:23---didn't change that!!
Winny Kosgei matched Lokedi's time, while Aubrey Roberts was just a second behind!
Edwin Kurgat took the Men's race in 30:41, just edging Isai Rodriguez, 30:41 to 30:42!
That leaves us with the three "strongest" regions--the Great Lakes, the Mountain, and the West!
It's likely we'll see a majority of tomorrow's Top 20 or so coming from these regions!!
The Great Lakes Men's 3rd placer--Morgan McDonald--may be the key to tomorrow's race, as Australians are feisty frontrunners!
But his 31:13 was beaten in the Regional by Jaret Carpenter's 31:09 and Ben Kandell's 31:11.
Again, ignore the slowish times!
But it's on the Women's side where we might have seen tomorrow's eventuial winner emerge!!
Her name is Alicia Monson---and she's ALSO from Australia!!
NOTE ADDED SATURDAY---HUGE ERROR!
Apparently Ms Monson is from Wisconsin---quite a few kilometers from Australia!
My apologies!!
That she beat Anna Rohrer in the process takes nothing away from my "feel" for her talent!!
The West region supposedly has "everyone's" consensus favorite in their mix!
His name is Grant Fisher!
He DOES have quick track times, and a winning record!
That is, until you note he ended only 16th here!!
Most say he was "resting", and just tempoed to the line safely.
Also, he was just 9 seconds behind Nick Hauger's 29:42 winner!
Carlos Villarreal finished just one second back!
The West Women definitely saw more "realistic" results---meaning ones that can be expected to be matched tomorrow!!
Allie Ostrander is not only the best "Cross" runner, but her Steeplechase technique can take her over any hay bales or other "barriers" unscratched and unperturbed!!
That she clocked a stunning 19:09---10 seconds faster the the NCAA Championship Meet record!!--and beat Jessica Hull by 13 seconds---should place her at the very top of the Podium challengers tomorrow!!
Susan Ejore ran 19:25 to edge past Stanford's tough Elise Cranny by a second!
Fiona O'Keefe is another to watch, as is Weronika Pyzik, even though the latter ended in 19:35, a full 26 seconds being the diminuitive Allie O!!
And then we come to the Mountain Region!!
Whew!!
From there, we just might see the same 3 top finishers in the Regional cross the line close together----1, 2, 3???---tomorrow!!
Joe Klecker's 29:17 won the race, but Tyler Day and Matt Baxter each tossed in 29:19's to take the next two spots!!
And do NOT discount Rory Linkletter, even though he ended 8th in 29:26.
As for the Females, watch out!!!
Is Weini Kelati REALLY that much better than last year's record-smashing champion, Ednah Kurgat??
She's beaten her in every race this year, and by fairly decisive margins!!
But is Kurgat merely biding her time, keying on tomorrow's BIG race??
Kelati is a known frontrunner, unafraid to take it out from the gun!
Does she now have the confidence to back up her talent??
Erica Birk and Jaci Smith ran good times too--19:35 and 19:44--they were nowhere near Kelati!
And what about Dani Jones, who ended 6th??
Will she shock them all??
While I've never done predictions for XC, here's my take on tomorrow's races.
Allie Ostander wins it!
She's followed by Kelati, Monson, Cranny, Jones, Logue, and Kurgat!!
The Men's race goes to McDonald, followed VERY closely by Fisher, Klecker, Chelanga, Baxter, and Linkletter!!
The Women's Meet Record WILL be broken tomorrow---maybe even dipping into the 18's!
The Men's will be more tactical, and may not break 29!!
See you soon!!
Times can mostly be taken with two grains of salt!
Even the NCAA Championship course doesn't remain the same every year!
Weather---good and bad---greatly affects the outcome!
There WILL be some shocks tomorrow!
The Regionals of XC---unlike T&F's "regionals"--DO offer some significant data to mull over!
So let's briefly review what happened a week ago !!
The Northeast Regional times seem to be outliers---on the deeply negative side!
I mean, come on---32:31 and 21:29 won these races!!
Paul Hogan took the Men's 10K, and Shannon Milnar won the Women's!
No serious contenders here!!
The South has a top returner in Alfred Chelanga, who took the 10K in 30:59!
Zach Long was 12 seconds back!
Militar Mitcheva won the 6K in 20:17.
A couple of Jessica's followed, with Ms Paslov beating Ms Drop!
They were each spaced 6 seconds apart!
The South Central race went to Jamie Crowe's 31:36!
Abraham Chirchir was 4 seconds back!
The Women's race had a tougher set of podium toppers!
Katrina Robinson--despite her time of just 20:20 here--should be considered a Top Ten threat in Madison!
Both Taylor Werner and Lauren Gregory etched 20:29's into their logbooks!
Again, please ignore the times run in the Regionals!
For while the Mid-Atlantic saw the winning 10K time as 31:04, you can't ignore Casey Comber as a potential threat tomorrow!
He beat Nick Wareham's 31:08!
Likewise, say what you will about the Women's winning time being just 21:02, you cannot overlook Rachel McArthur!
She beat Grace Mancini's 21:08!
The Southeast race went to James Sugura's 29:27!
He nipped Peter Saufer's same time!
Dorcas Wasike took the 6K in 19:42, with Elly Henes just 5 seconds back!
The Midwest presents some intriguing names!
Callie Logue has been steady all season, and her 10 second win over tough Sharon Lokedi---20:13 to 20:23---didn't change that!!
Winny Kosgei matched Lokedi's time, while Aubrey Roberts was just a second behind!
Edwin Kurgat took the Men's race in 30:41, just edging Isai Rodriguez, 30:41 to 30:42!
That leaves us with the three "strongest" regions--the Great Lakes, the Mountain, and the West!
It's likely we'll see a majority of tomorrow's Top 20 or so coming from these regions!!
The Great Lakes Men's 3rd placer--Morgan McDonald--may be the key to tomorrow's race, as Australians are feisty frontrunners!
But his 31:13 was beaten in the Regional by Jaret Carpenter's 31:09 and Ben Kandell's 31:11.
Again, ignore the slowish times!
But it's on the Women's side where we might have seen tomorrow's eventuial winner emerge!!
Her name is Alicia Monson---and she's ALSO from Australia!!
NOTE ADDED SATURDAY---HUGE ERROR!
Apparently Ms Monson is from Wisconsin---quite a few kilometers from Australia!
My apologies!!
That she beat Anna Rohrer in the process takes nothing away from my "feel" for her talent!!
The West region supposedly has "everyone's" consensus favorite in their mix!
His name is Grant Fisher!
He DOES have quick track times, and a winning record!
That is, until you note he ended only 16th here!!
Most say he was "resting", and just tempoed to the line safely.
Also, he was just 9 seconds behind Nick Hauger's 29:42 winner!
Carlos Villarreal finished just one second back!
The West Women definitely saw more "realistic" results---meaning ones that can be expected to be matched tomorrow!!
Allie Ostrander is not only the best "Cross" runner, but her Steeplechase technique can take her over any hay bales or other "barriers" unscratched and unperturbed!!
That she clocked a stunning 19:09---10 seconds faster the the NCAA Championship Meet record!!--and beat Jessica Hull by 13 seconds---should place her at the very top of the Podium challengers tomorrow!!
Susan Ejore ran 19:25 to edge past Stanford's tough Elise Cranny by a second!
Fiona O'Keefe is another to watch, as is Weronika Pyzik, even though the latter ended in 19:35, a full 26 seconds being the diminuitive Allie O!!
And then we come to the Mountain Region!!
Whew!!
From there, we just might see the same 3 top finishers in the Regional cross the line close together----1, 2, 3???---tomorrow!!
Joe Klecker's 29:17 won the race, but Tyler Day and Matt Baxter each tossed in 29:19's to take the next two spots!!
And do NOT discount Rory Linkletter, even though he ended 8th in 29:26.
As for the Females, watch out!!!
Is Weini Kelati REALLY that much better than last year's record-smashing champion, Ednah Kurgat??
She's beaten her in every race this year, and by fairly decisive margins!!
But is Kurgat merely biding her time, keying on tomorrow's BIG race??
Kelati is a known frontrunner, unafraid to take it out from the gun!
Does she now have the confidence to back up her talent??
Erica Birk and Jaci Smith ran good times too--19:35 and 19:44--they were nowhere near Kelati!
And what about Dani Jones, who ended 6th??
Will she shock them all??
While I've never done predictions for XC, here's my take on tomorrow's races.
Allie Ostander wins it!
She's followed by Kelati, Monson, Cranny, Jones, Logue, and Kurgat!!
The Men's race goes to McDonald, followed VERY closely by Fisher, Klecker, Chelanga, Baxter, and Linkletter!!
The Women's Meet Record WILL be broken tomorrow---maybe even dipping into the 18's!
The Men's will be more tactical, and may not break 29!!
See you soon!!
Sunday, November 4, 2018
NYC Marathon's Amazing Closers
Did the 2017 Champions do it again?
An absolute "NO!" doesn't suffice!
Because Geoff Kamworor and Shalane Flanagan ran VERY well, and ended on the podium!
But this year's version of the New York City Marathon gave up a whole lot more than heroic American achievers, or African track speedsters showing their worth on this venerable city's streets and bridges!
The Women's race began a half hour before the Men's.
And almost to the second, the first uphill mile matched 2017's--6:41 to 6:43, with the entire elite pack tied in a neat little bow.
While the downhill portion over the Verazanno Narrows Bridge picked up the pace, they hit the 5K in 18:45, 24 seconds up on 2017's jogfest!
But 10K was reached several seconds behind last year's pace.
The field was still all together!
Then an American took over.
Was it Shalane Flanagan, Molly Huddle, Des Linden, or Allie Kieffer?
How about Brittany Charboneau, a 30 year old Marathon drifter with a 2:35-ish PR!!
But her "lead" was negligible, even though it held for a few more miles!
Then Linden took over, hitting the 15K point in 55:08 after a 5000 in 18:03.
They were now running Miles of 5:50!!
And Flanagan was NOT in the Top 10 on the Leaderboard!!
Mary Keitany, whose "bad" day allowed Flanagan to become the US's first NYC Champion in over 30 years, surged a 5:38 Mile between 10 and 11.
Flanagam was now back with the lead group!
Mamitu Daska and Rahma Tusa were now leading, reaching 20K in 72:08, the first pair of 10K's having been run in 37:05 and 35:03!!
And now, at the Half, Keitany was leading, time of 1:15:50---about 18 seconds faster than in 2017,
But they had run their 2nd half under 1:11, and all of the frontrunners seemed capable of repeating!!
Coming over the bridge from Queens into Manhatten, Keitany was hitting the gas--HARD!!
Her 5000 from 20 to 25K was just 16:15, by far the fastest of the race!
And then she BLASTED a 4:54 Mile, followed by a 4:57!!
Two Miles in 9:51, right up there with the Men's pace!
And she was only at 18 miles!!
It took Keitany--now running alone!--just 15:19 for the 5000 between 25 & 30K!!
Her next 5000 took only 15:34, making her previous 10K a blistering 30:53!!
There would be no Shalane Flanagan screaming "FUCK YES!" this year!!
At 20 Miles, Keitany led Tusa by 54 seconds, with Flanagan and Huddle battling for US supremacy!
Vivian Cheruiyot was ahead of the Americans!
That 15:34 left the Kenyan vet over two minutes in the lead.
It was now a Coronation for this A-T great heading to her 4th W in NYC!!
At 23 Miles, closing in on Central Park, Tusa was 2:16 behind Keitany, but just 22 seconds ahead of Flanagan, who was finishing hard!!
Could she make the podium!!
The finish line was approaching, and race-able territory was dropping out of sight!!
Her last measurable 5K splitting a more "human" 16:13, Keitany sped across the line in 2:22:48, missing the Course Record by just 17 seconds!!
Tusa was clearly dying!
With every new camera image, Flanagan was now clearly attacking Tusa's rearguard!
Cheruiyot had used her Track speed to end 2nd in 2:26:02, and Shalane was now pumping her arms to reach the line in 2:26:22, this time yelling "I love you!" to her adoring fans!!
Huddle PR'ed by over a minute to end 4th, time of 2:26:44!!
She moves from 21st A-T US to 14th!!
Tusa crawled to the finish in 2:27:13, brave to finish!
She was followed by more Americans--Linden's 2:27:41 in 6th, with Kieffer 7th in 2:28:12.
This makes her 22nd A-T US!!
But what was utterly stupifying was the time of Keitany's SECOND Half!
It was 66:58, the fastest ever in a full Marathon!!
The Men's race soon became another African slugfest, with the fave being Kamworor!
Tell that to Shura Kitata, a young up-and-comer!
He took the lead early--even making a tiny break of about 5 meters!!
This wasn't the norm in Men's Marathoning!!
After 5000's of 15:37 (over the V-N Bridge) and 15:11, Kitata led a group of 5 or 6 through 15K in 45:47, barely dipping into the 14's on their last split!!
Kitata was still leading at the Half, reached in 1:03:55!!
Quite a bit faster than in 2017!!
But he had company, with Lelisa Desisa being just 2 seconds back, with Kamworor close in tow!
In fact, Kamworor held a small lead at 25K, after a last 5000 of 15:05!!
No super fast splits, but not a MoBot race either!!
And GK was hitting the gas, exploding to a 14:36 split between 25 & 30K!!
Into Central Park they went, with Kamworor leading Kitata and Desisa!!
But it was close--VERY close!!
This wasn't a Keitany runaway--this was a RACE!!
At 40K--with just 2195 meters left--Kamworor and Desisa were side by side--almost clipping each other, while Kitata had now fallen behind by 10 seconds!!
The road through CP was winding, each turn revealing a closer race!!
The young Kitata had more left!
He was attacking, even taking the lead again!
Kamworor wasn't "gone", but it would take a sub-60 final 400 to bring him back into contention!!
And then Desisa was sprinting, and the gap between he and Kitata was narrowing!
At the line, Desisa's 2:05:59 beat Kitata's 2:06:01 for the big W!!
Kamworor faded to 2:06:26, ending 3rd!
The first American was Jared Ward, his 6th place time being 2:12:24!!
Bernard Lagat was said to be seeking the US "Masters" record, but after a fairly smooth first half, his initial go at the 26.2 distance took him 2:17 & change--far off any record, but not bad for a guy approaching Age 44!!
The weekend began with the USATF 5000 being held over the closing miles of the Marathon!!
Paul Chelimo outsprinted Shadrack Kipchirchir for the win, both timed in 13:45!
Stan Kebenai took 3rd in 13:53.
Eric Jenkins was 4th in 14:00, with Matthew Centrowitz ending 2 seconds farther back in 8th!!
The Women's race saw Emily Sisson running 15:38 for the Win, with Erika Kemp's 15:50 taking the Silver.
Amy Cragg followed in 15:54.
Aisling Cuffe ran a decent 16:06 in 8th!!
Some "other" news to report---
Centro has left the Nike Oregon Project!!
His volunteer coaching position at the University of Washington finds him aligned with UO's former coaches, the Powell's, but no indication of anything official!!
Chelimo has left the US Army team, and signed with Nike!!
Finally--and sadly--there is news of a knee injury to Katelyn Tuohy!
It's serious enough that she didn't run in her State final!
And all indications are this will close out her XC season!!
As for INdoors, who knows??!!
Next up are the Collegiate Regionals!!
See you soon!
An absolute "NO!" doesn't suffice!
Because Geoff Kamworor and Shalane Flanagan ran VERY well, and ended on the podium!
But this year's version of the New York City Marathon gave up a whole lot more than heroic American achievers, or African track speedsters showing their worth on this venerable city's streets and bridges!
The Women's race began a half hour before the Men's.
And almost to the second, the first uphill mile matched 2017's--6:41 to 6:43, with the entire elite pack tied in a neat little bow.
While the downhill portion over the Verazanno Narrows Bridge picked up the pace, they hit the 5K in 18:45, 24 seconds up on 2017's jogfest!
But 10K was reached several seconds behind last year's pace.
The field was still all together!
Then an American took over.
Was it Shalane Flanagan, Molly Huddle, Des Linden, or Allie Kieffer?
How about Brittany Charboneau, a 30 year old Marathon drifter with a 2:35-ish PR!!
But her "lead" was negligible, even though it held for a few more miles!
Then Linden took over, hitting the 15K point in 55:08 after a 5000 in 18:03.
They were now running Miles of 5:50!!
And Flanagan was NOT in the Top 10 on the Leaderboard!!
Mary Keitany, whose "bad" day allowed Flanagan to become the US's first NYC Champion in over 30 years, surged a 5:38 Mile between 10 and 11.
Flanagam was now back with the lead group!
Mamitu Daska and Rahma Tusa were now leading, reaching 20K in 72:08, the first pair of 10K's having been run in 37:05 and 35:03!!
And now, at the Half, Keitany was leading, time of 1:15:50---about 18 seconds faster than in 2017,
But they had run their 2nd half under 1:11, and all of the frontrunners seemed capable of repeating!!
Coming over the bridge from Queens into Manhatten, Keitany was hitting the gas--HARD!!
Her 5000 from 20 to 25K was just 16:15, by far the fastest of the race!
And then she BLASTED a 4:54 Mile, followed by a 4:57!!
Two Miles in 9:51, right up there with the Men's pace!
And she was only at 18 miles!!
It took Keitany--now running alone!--just 15:19 for the 5000 between 25 & 30K!!
Her next 5000 took only 15:34, making her previous 10K a blistering 30:53!!
There would be no Shalane Flanagan screaming "FUCK YES!" this year!!
At 20 Miles, Keitany led Tusa by 54 seconds, with Flanagan and Huddle battling for US supremacy!
Vivian Cheruiyot was ahead of the Americans!
That 15:34 left the Kenyan vet over two minutes in the lead.
It was now a Coronation for this A-T great heading to her 4th W in NYC!!
At 23 Miles, closing in on Central Park, Tusa was 2:16 behind Keitany, but just 22 seconds ahead of Flanagan, who was finishing hard!!
Could she make the podium!!
The finish line was approaching, and race-able territory was dropping out of sight!!
Her last measurable 5K splitting a more "human" 16:13, Keitany sped across the line in 2:22:48, missing the Course Record by just 17 seconds!!
Tusa was clearly dying!
With every new camera image, Flanagan was now clearly attacking Tusa's rearguard!
Cheruiyot had used her Track speed to end 2nd in 2:26:02, and Shalane was now pumping her arms to reach the line in 2:26:22, this time yelling "I love you!" to her adoring fans!!
Huddle PR'ed by over a minute to end 4th, time of 2:26:44!!
She moves from 21st A-T US to 14th!!
Tusa crawled to the finish in 2:27:13, brave to finish!
She was followed by more Americans--Linden's 2:27:41 in 6th, with Kieffer 7th in 2:28:12.
This makes her 22nd A-T US!!
But what was utterly stupifying was the time of Keitany's SECOND Half!
It was 66:58, the fastest ever in a full Marathon!!
The Men's race soon became another African slugfest, with the fave being Kamworor!
Tell that to Shura Kitata, a young up-and-comer!
He took the lead early--even making a tiny break of about 5 meters!!
This wasn't the norm in Men's Marathoning!!
After 5000's of 15:37 (over the V-N Bridge) and 15:11, Kitata led a group of 5 or 6 through 15K in 45:47, barely dipping into the 14's on their last split!!
Kitata was still leading at the Half, reached in 1:03:55!!
Quite a bit faster than in 2017!!
But he had company, with Lelisa Desisa being just 2 seconds back, with Kamworor close in tow!
In fact, Kamworor held a small lead at 25K, after a last 5000 of 15:05!!
No super fast splits, but not a MoBot race either!!
And GK was hitting the gas, exploding to a 14:36 split between 25 & 30K!!
Into Central Park they went, with Kamworor leading Kitata and Desisa!!
But it was close--VERY close!!
This wasn't a Keitany runaway--this was a RACE!!
At 40K--with just 2195 meters left--Kamworor and Desisa were side by side--almost clipping each other, while Kitata had now fallen behind by 10 seconds!!
The road through CP was winding, each turn revealing a closer race!!
The young Kitata had more left!
He was attacking, even taking the lead again!
Kamworor wasn't "gone", but it would take a sub-60 final 400 to bring him back into contention!!
And then Desisa was sprinting, and the gap between he and Kitata was narrowing!
At the line, Desisa's 2:05:59 beat Kitata's 2:06:01 for the big W!!
Kamworor faded to 2:06:26, ending 3rd!
The first American was Jared Ward, his 6th place time being 2:12:24!!
Bernard Lagat was said to be seeking the US "Masters" record, but after a fairly smooth first half, his initial go at the 26.2 distance took him 2:17 & change--far off any record, but not bad for a guy approaching Age 44!!
The weekend began with the USATF 5000 being held over the closing miles of the Marathon!!
Paul Chelimo outsprinted Shadrack Kipchirchir for the win, both timed in 13:45!
Stan Kebenai took 3rd in 13:53.
Eric Jenkins was 4th in 14:00, with Matthew Centrowitz ending 2 seconds farther back in 8th!!
The Women's race saw Emily Sisson running 15:38 for the Win, with Erika Kemp's 15:50 taking the Silver.
Amy Cragg followed in 15:54.
Aisling Cuffe ran a decent 16:06 in 8th!!
Some "other" news to report---
Centro has left the Nike Oregon Project!!
His volunteer coaching position at the University of Washington finds him aligned with UO's former coaches, the Powell's, but no indication of anything official!!
Chelimo has left the US Army team, and signed with Nike!!
Finally--and sadly--there is news of a knee injury to Katelyn Tuohy!
It's serious enough that she didn't run in her State final!
And all indications are this will close out her XC season!!
As for INdoors, who knows??!!
Next up are the Collegiate Regionals!!
See you soon!
Sunday, October 28, 2018
WR (& XC Charges Forward)
A World Record in the Men's Half-Marathon was run in the Valencia race.
But let's begin with a Track 10000 recently run in Japan!
There, Richard Yator's winning 27:14.70 became the World leading mark of 2018!
In the Valencia race, Abraham Kiptum came through 10K in 28:02, after hitting the first 5K in 13:56.
Not WR material, and slower than the 27:50 pace he'd wanted!
But then he took charge, and blasted his next 5000 in 13:38!!
Another 13:38 (!!!) brought him to 20K in 55:18!
His SECOND 10000 had been run in---27:16!!
(Now you know why I mentioned Yator's World-Leading Track 10000 first!!)
From there, his next seven-tenths of a mile was run in 3:00, or sub-4:20 mile pace!!
His new WR of 58:18 is also the National Record of Kenya, and the Age 29 Record!!
Jamal Yimor's 58:33 becomes the best 2nd Place mark!
It also gives him the Age 22 Record, and Ethiopia's National Record!!
He moves from 22nd A-T World to 3rd, tied with 1 other!!
Abadi Hadis's 58:44 gives him the best 3rd Place mark!!
He's 9th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
The next 4 runners ended between 59:21 and 59:27.
Then came Suman Cheprot's 59:28, which tied him with 1 other for the best 8th Place mark!!
Abel Kipchumba got the best 9th Place mark with his 59:29!
And Josphat Boit's 59:42 gives him the best 10th Place mark!!
The Women's race went to the veteran Gelete Burka, time of 66:11.
She beat Alia Saeed's 66:13, which is the new National Record of the United Arab Emirates, or UAE!
Edith Chelimo's 66:18 took the Bronze!!
More Road running later, but the Collegiate Conferences gave up some results that might point toward a clearer picture of who the top finishers might be in Madison on November 17th!
Weini Kelati, the tiny Eritrean, beat Ednah Kurgat---again!!
And her MARGIN of victory grew---to a whopping 18 seconds.
Now, either Kurgat is holding her cards close to her chest, or Kelati has now become New Mexico's---and the NCAA's!---clear favorite!
Her 19:49 beat Kurgat's 20:11.
In 3rd and 4th came Charlotte Prouse (20:14), and Allie Ostrander (20:14)!!
Paul Roberts's 24:34 nrst Eric Hamer's 24:37 and Carson Hume's 24:39 in the Men's race!1
Another 2018 shocker might be Wisconsin's Alicia Monson, who has now established herself among the true elites with a dominant win in the Big 10 race!
Her 19:49 beat Aubrey Roberts's 19:58..
Bethany Hasz's 20:14 was back in 5th!
The Men had a fast race, with Morgan McDona;d's 23:26 beating Oliver Hoare's 23:29!
But Grant Fisher's remains---barely---in front on the Leaderboard of NCAA faves!
His 23:10 in the PAC-12 race was virtually tied by the next 3 placers!
Talia Hull matched Fisher's time, while Alex Ostberg and Alek Parsons both hit home in 23:11.
Joe Klecker was 5th in 23:12, while Cooper Teare was given basically the same time.
DJ Principe ended back in 24th, time of 23:40.
The Women's race had a LOT of top names up front!!
Dani Jones might give Ms's Kelati & Monson & maybe Kurgat some trouble, as she toyed with the field before pushing ahead to win in 19:24!!
She ended just one second in front of Jessica Hull!
Elise Cranny ran 19:29, beating Weronika Pyzik's 19:35 for 3rd!
Fiona O'Keefe was 5th in 19:43.
Katie Rainsberger was out of it back in 11th, time of 20:04.
Times at the SEC were either BOLTian, or utterly ridiculous, due to a mismeasurement of the course!!
No way a pretty much unknown woman runs 6K in 18:55---even if the course was downhill and on a perfect golf course surface with perfect weather!!
Ditto the Men's leader NOT running 22:20---at least not for a course supposed to be 8K!!
However, as I've often noted, it's the MARGIN of victory that counts much more than the time!!
Gilbert Boit ran that 22:20, beating Albert Chelanga's "22:27".
Jessica Pascoe was the recipient of that 18:55, which beat Katrina Robionson's "19:01".
Lauren Gregory ran "19:08" in 3rd!!
SEC, shame on you!!
In other Conferences---
Callie Logue ran a nifty 19:54 to beat Sabrina Johnson's 19:59 in the Big 12 race.
The Men's division went to Edwin Kurgat's 23:21.
Isai Rodriguez was 2nd in 23:26.
The ACC Men's race was close, with Peter Saufer and Zach Facioni timed in 23:31.
Dorcas Wasike took the Women's race in 20:07, beating Elly Henes's 20:16, and Anna Rohrer's 20:19.
The Big East Women's race went to Caroline Alcorta's 20:12.
Rachel McArthur took 2nd in 20:16, with Paige Hofstad further back in 3rd, time of 20:34.
Casey Comber's 23:59 took the Men's race over the 24:09 of Nick Wareham!
In the West Coast Men's race, Rory Linkletter ended just 4th, time of 23:32.
Nick Hauger took the W in 23:20 over Connor McMillan's 23:23.
Erica Birk won the Women's race in 19:46, beating Lauren LaRocco's 19:52!
And in the Big Sky Men's race, a couple of VERY key players went into battle!
Matthew Baxter beat Tyler Day, 22:46 to 22:50.
While those times also might look like outliers, the NAMES of they who ran them gives weight to the validity of the results!!
Angie Nickerson took the 5000 Women's race in 16:30.
Keep that 16:30 in mind as I report to you Katelyn Tuohy's latest pair of races!
In a race which she said was run as a workout (!!!), she still beat her own Course Record (by 7 seconds!)
Running just the final 1000 hard, her 16:46 beat the 2nd placer by 90 seconds!!
But then, in a 3 Mile race, her 15:55 did NOT break her own CR!
She missed by a mere three-tenths of a second!!
Have no idea what her race plan was there!!
This is getting long, but I have several other results to report---and some Records!!
Lawrence Cherono wiped out his own Course Record at the Amsterdam Marathon.
His 2:04:06 makes him 13th A-T World!!
Mule Wasihan took 2nd in a quick 2:04:37
Ken Bekele was up with the leaders---even led at one point---but became a VERY late race DNF---walking off the course at around 40K!!
Another Bekele won the Women's race!
Tadelech Bekele won it in 2:23:14.
But there were a couple of significant first-timers who ran some good times in their debuts!
Linet Masai ran 2:23:46, and Meseret Defar ran 2:27:25!!
The Delhi Half found Tirunesh Dibaba wallowing back in 8th at the finish line, time of 68:36!
The National Record of Canada for Men fell at the Toronto Marathon!
Cam Levins ran a sturdy and steady race, his 2:09:25 the new NR!
Benson Kipruto's 2:07:24 was the winner!
Augustino Sulle's 2:07:46 became Tanzania's new National Record!
Mimi Belete won the Women's race in a Course Record 2:22:29!
BTW, Levins's mark broke Jerome Drayton's 2:10:09, which dated from 1975!!
The Frankfurt Marathon was won by Kalhala Gezahegn's 2:06:37.
Mechamu Assefa took the Women's race in 2:20:31!
Lindsay Flanagan ran a good 2:29:35 as the lone American finisher!
Sara Hall was a DNF---reason unknown!!
Mark Kiptoo also ran in Frankfurt---at Age 42!
His 2:07:50 smashed my 40 & Over Record by 48 seconds!
Finally, on the racing front, a short course (9640 meters!!) race was run at the Reebok Women's 10K---formerly the Tufts race!!
Emily Sisson ran 30:39---which if extended that extra 360 meters, might have landed her around 31:45 or so at the end!
I'll close with some "off-track" news!
Valerie Adams is at it again!!
She's pregnant for the 2nd time---due in April!!
Not known if she'll try for the WC--which aren't until October!!
Abbey D'Agostino is now Abbey Cooper!
Not known right now is her new hubby's name!
Shannon Rowbury gave birth last June, but she says her first big race will be the World XC Champs!!
No INdoor??
Casimir Loxsom, one of America's best at 600 and 800, has retired!
See you soon!
But let's begin with a Track 10000 recently run in Japan!
There, Richard Yator's winning 27:14.70 became the World leading mark of 2018!
In the Valencia race, Abraham Kiptum came through 10K in 28:02, after hitting the first 5K in 13:56.
Not WR material, and slower than the 27:50 pace he'd wanted!
But then he took charge, and blasted his next 5000 in 13:38!!
Another 13:38 (!!!) brought him to 20K in 55:18!
His SECOND 10000 had been run in---27:16!!
(Now you know why I mentioned Yator's World-Leading Track 10000 first!!)
From there, his next seven-tenths of a mile was run in 3:00, or sub-4:20 mile pace!!
His new WR of 58:18 is also the National Record of Kenya, and the Age 29 Record!!
Jamal Yimor's 58:33 becomes the best 2nd Place mark!
It also gives him the Age 22 Record, and Ethiopia's National Record!!
He moves from 22nd A-T World to 3rd, tied with 1 other!!
Abadi Hadis's 58:44 gives him the best 3rd Place mark!!
He's 9th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
The next 4 runners ended between 59:21 and 59:27.
Then came Suman Cheprot's 59:28, which tied him with 1 other for the best 8th Place mark!!
Abel Kipchumba got the best 9th Place mark with his 59:29!
And Josphat Boit's 59:42 gives him the best 10th Place mark!!
The Women's race went to the veteran Gelete Burka, time of 66:11.
She beat Alia Saeed's 66:13, which is the new National Record of the United Arab Emirates, or UAE!
Edith Chelimo's 66:18 took the Bronze!!
More Road running later, but the Collegiate Conferences gave up some results that might point toward a clearer picture of who the top finishers might be in Madison on November 17th!
Weini Kelati, the tiny Eritrean, beat Ednah Kurgat---again!!
And her MARGIN of victory grew---to a whopping 18 seconds.
Now, either Kurgat is holding her cards close to her chest, or Kelati has now become New Mexico's---and the NCAA's!---clear favorite!
Her 19:49 beat Kurgat's 20:11.
In 3rd and 4th came Charlotte Prouse (20:14), and Allie Ostrander (20:14)!!
Paul Roberts's 24:34 nrst Eric Hamer's 24:37 and Carson Hume's 24:39 in the Men's race!1
Another 2018 shocker might be Wisconsin's Alicia Monson, who has now established herself among the true elites with a dominant win in the Big 10 race!
Her 19:49 beat Aubrey Roberts's 19:58..
Bethany Hasz's 20:14 was back in 5th!
The Men had a fast race, with Morgan McDona;d's 23:26 beating Oliver Hoare's 23:29!
But Grant Fisher's remains---barely---in front on the Leaderboard of NCAA faves!
His 23:10 in the PAC-12 race was virtually tied by the next 3 placers!
Talia Hull matched Fisher's time, while Alex Ostberg and Alek Parsons both hit home in 23:11.
Joe Klecker was 5th in 23:12, while Cooper Teare was given basically the same time.
DJ Principe ended back in 24th, time of 23:40.
The Women's race had a LOT of top names up front!!
Dani Jones might give Ms's Kelati & Monson & maybe Kurgat some trouble, as she toyed with the field before pushing ahead to win in 19:24!!
She ended just one second in front of Jessica Hull!
Elise Cranny ran 19:29, beating Weronika Pyzik's 19:35 for 3rd!
Fiona O'Keefe was 5th in 19:43.
Katie Rainsberger was out of it back in 11th, time of 20:04.
Times at the SEC were either BOLTian, or utterly ridiculous, due to a mismeasurement of the course!!
No way a pretty much unknown woman runs 6K in 18:55---even if the course was downhill and on a perfect golf course surface with perfect weather!!
Ditto the Men's leader NOT running 22:20---at least not for a course supposed to be 8K!!
However, as I've often noted, it's the MARGIN of victory that counts much more than the time!!
Gilbert Boit ran that 22:20, beating Albert Chelanga's "22:27".
Jessica Pascoe was the recipient of that 18:55, which beat Katrina Robionson's "19:01".
Lauren Gregory ran "19:08" in 3rd!!
SEC, shame on you!!
In other Conferences---
Callie Logue ran a nifty 19:54 to beat Sabrina Johnson's 19:59 in the Big 12 race.
The Men's division went to Edwin Kurgat's 23:21.
Isai Rodriguez was 2nd in 23:26.
The ACC Men's race was close, with Peter Saufer and Zach Facioni timed in 23:31.
Dorcas Wasike took the Women's race in 20:07, beating Elly Henes's 20:16, and Anna Rohrer's 20:19.
The Big East Women's race went to Caroline Alcorta's 20:12.
Rachel McArthur took 2nd in 20:16, with Paige Hofstad further back in 3rd, time of 20:34.
Casey Comber's 23:59 took the Men's race over the 24:09 of Nick Wareham!
In the West Coast Men's race, Rory Linkletter ended just 4th, time of 23:32.
Nick Hauger took the W in 23:20 over Connor McMillan's 23:23.
Erica Birk won the Women's race in 19:46, beating Lauren LaRocco's 19:52!
And in the Big Sky Men's race, a couple of VERY key players went into battle!
Matthew Baxter beat Tyler Day, 22:46 to 22:50.
While those times also might look like outliers, the NAMES of they who ran them gives weight to the validity of the results!!
Angie Nickerson took the 5000 Women's race in 16:30.
Keep that 16:30 in mind as I report to you Katelyn Tuohy's latest pair of races!
In a race which she said was run as a workout (!!!), she still beat her own Course Record (by 7 seconds!)
Running just the final 1000 hard, her 16:46 beat the 2nd placer by 90 seconds!!
But then, in a 3 Mile race, her 15:55 did NOT break her own CR!
She missed by a mere three-tenths of a second!!
Have no idea what her race plan was there!!
This is getting long, but I have several other results to report---and some Records!!
Lawrence Cherono wiped out his own Course Record at the Amsterdam Marathon.
His 2:04:06 makes him 13th A-T World!!
Mule Wasihan took 2nd in a quick 2:04:37
Ken Bekele was up with the leaders---even led at one point---but became a VERY late race DNF---walking off the course at around 40K!!
Another Bekele won the Women's race!
Tadelech Bekele won it in 2:23:14.
But there were a couple of significant first-timers who ran some good times in their debuts!
Linet Masai ran 2:23:46, and Meseret Defar ran 2:27:25!!
The Delhi Half found Tirunesh Dibaba wallowing back in 8th at the finish line, time of 68:36!
The National Record of Canada for Men fell at the Toronto Marathon!
Cam Levins ran a sturdy and steady race, his 2:09:25 the new NR!
Benson Kipruto's 2:07:24 was the winner!
Augustino Sulle's 2:07:46 became Tanzania's new National Record!
Mimi Belete won the Women's race in a Course Record 2:22:29!
BTW, Levins's mark broke Jerome Drayton's 2:10:09, which dated from 1975!!
The Frankfurt Marathon was won by Kalhala Gezahegn's 2:06:37.
Mechamu Assefa took the Women's race in 2:20:31!
Lindsay Flanagan ran a good 2:29:35 as the lone American finisher!
Sara Hall was a DNF---reason unknown!!
Mark Kiptoo also ran in Frankfurt---at Age 42!
His 2:07:50 smashed my 40 & Over Record by 48 seconds!
Finally, on the racing front, a short course (9640 meters!!) race was run at the Reebok Women's 10K---formerly the Tufts race!!
Emily Sisson ran 30:39---which if extended that extra 360 meters, might have landed her around 31:45 or so at the end!
I'll close with some "off-track" news!
Valerie Adams is at it again!!
She's pregnant for the 2nd time---due in April!!
Not known if she'll try for the WC--which aren't until October!!
Abbey D'Agostino is now Abbey Cooper!
Not known right now is her new hubby's name!
Shannon Rowbury gave birth last June, but she says her first big race will be the World XC Champs!!
No INdoor??
Casimir Loxsom, one of America's best at 600 and 800, has retired!
See you soon!
Friday, October 19, 2018
NEW!--Record Book lists for--XC!
Yes, yes, I know!
For 40 years of my Record Book---and almost 5 years of this blog--I've said NYET to making lists of XC times!
You know all the reasons--just read some of my recent posts!
But then Katelyn Tuohy began doing more damage to XC Course Records than....fill in the blanks!
So I wondered---where does she stand in comparison to other A-T greats?
And what about other great runners in XC history?
At first, I had a HUGE project in mind---create DDD's (Top 24 A-T Performers) for the Men's 10K & Women's 6K for ALL the races ever run at those distances---in the Conferences, Regionals, the Championship race itself!
And do the same for High Schoolers---only over the 5000 distance!!
Don't focus on JUST the NCAA Champs, the NXN and Footlocker races!
BUT---then reality dug in its ugly old claws!!
The corpulent humongousness of the project became a bit overwhelming!!
So I toned it down!
I'd go for JUST the best times run at the NCAA meet, and the pair of HS events.
Since athletes peak for those meets, I figured MOST of the best marks would come from them!!
I'm going to present all the lists I compiled over the past two days below.
Used the T&FN Archives for NCAA results (the 10K distance was set in motion in 1976--the 6K for Women not until this century!!).
Both HS meets have done the 5K from their beginnings!
BTW, the Footlocker race was sponsored by Kinney from 1979 to 1992, and then by Footlocker from 1993 to today!
I'll present guidelines and a bit of commentary for each set of lists!
NCAA--Men and Women
While this meet is ancient, as noted above, the Men ran other distances before 1976!
The Women began with the 5000, and only moved to the 6K in the 21st century!
The very first Men's 10K saw Henry Rono set a Record that's never been broken!!
TWELVE of the 24 marks came from that 1976 race!
I've asked Garry Hill for confirmation that this wasn't another 6 Mile race---but the intro to the Archives SAYS they began running 10000's in 1976!!
What an incredible race!!!
The 2017 race was quite productive for the Women---with 8 of the 24 marks coming from there!!
I'll give last names, their time, and the year.
(Women's names are their married names, NOT their names in College!!)
Men on the left, Women on the right!
1. H Rono 28:06.60 1976 Kurgat 19:19.5 2017
2. Kimombwa 28:16.78 1976 Neale 19:27.0 2017
3. Virgin 28:26.53 1976 Saina 19:27.9 2012
4. Lindsay 28:30.69 1976 Kipyego 19:28.1 2008
5. Kithuka 28:31.3 2012 D'Agostino 19:28.6 2012
6. Treacy 28:34.84 1976 Hasay 19:28.6 2012
7. Salazar 28:37.4 1979 Seidel 19:28.6 2015
8. Sambu 28:38.6 2012 Taylor 19:28.6 2017
9. Waigwa 28:39.0 1976 Flanagan 19:31 2003
10. Chelanga 28:41.3 2009 Ostrander 19:31.3 2017
11. O'Shaughnessy 28:43.16 1976 Avery 19:31.6 2014
12. Lalang 28:44.1 2011 Tuliamuk 19:33.6 2012
13. Motshwaratau 28:45.6 1981 J Nilsson 19:34 2005
14. Cheserek 28:45.8 2015 Pyzik 19:34.1 2017
15. Martin 28:46.37 1976 Krumins 19:34.9 2008
16. Cheboiywo 28:47 2001 Sang 19:35.6 2017
17. Koskei 28:47.3 1979 Kelati 19:35.8 2017
18. Musyoki 28:48.4 1981 G Murphy 19:36.3 2017
19. Chapa 28:49.58 1976 Fanning 19:37.1 2008
20. Munyala 28:52.79 1976 Disanza 19:39.9 2014
21. Keflizighi 28:54 1997 Scott-Erfurd 19:40.9 2015
22. Peterson 28:54.25 1976 R Kimaiyo 19:41 2012
23. Kimeto 28:55.70 1976 Reid 19:41.2 2011
24. Deegan 28:56.9 1977 Schweizer 19:41.7 2016
NXN--Men & Women
This meet just started in 2004!
Lousy weather has spoiled some great races and slowed times, as it's held in Portland in December!!
Also, it's mainly a team event, with individuals getting secondary consideration!
But some great ones have run there!!
1. Wilmot 15:00 2013 Tuohy 16:44.7 2017
2. Zeinasellassie 15:03 2011 Efraimson 16:50.1 2013
3. Clinger 15:03.2 2015 Cranny 16:53.8 2013
4. Troutner 15:03.9 2017 Rainsberger 16:56.8 2015
5. Gedyon 15:04.5 2009 Baxter 16:57.8 2013
6. Veatch 15:04.8 2015 Oakley 17:10.1 2016
7. Parsons 15:05.6 2015 Donaghu 17:10.2 2015
8. Hasty 15:05.9 2017 Logue 17:14.2 2015
9. L Anderson 15:07.6 2017 Chmiel 17:15.4 2015
10. Haney 15:09 2013 B Hasz 17:17.1 2015
11. T Anderson 15:09 2013 Ostrander 17:19 2014
12. Lutz 15:09.2 2009 Endsley 17:19.6 2015
13. Carpenter 15:09.7 2015 Learheiser 17:20.2 2015
14. Joe Rosa 15:09.8 2009 Pendergast 17:20.8 2015
15. De La Rosa 15:10 2013 Devlin 17:22.1 2015
16. W Beck 15:10 2013 Wheeler 17:23.2 2015
17. Geberkidane 15:10 2013 Ratliff 17:23.9 2015
18. Mwaura 15:12.6 2017 Troy 17:24.2 2015
19. Hacker 15:13.0 2014 West 17:25.6 2015
20. McMillan 15:13.0 2013 G Ping 17:25.7 2015
21. Herrera 15:13.2 2015 Neal 17:25.8 2015
22. Caldwell 15:14 2013 Hofstad 17:26 2014
23. Yoho 15:14 2013 Sveinsson 17:27 2008
24. Connor 15:14 2008 (See NOTE below!)
NOTE--As I was typing this list here, I realized I had TWO marks for Kelsey Chmiel!!
As this is a PERFORMERS list, not performances, only one mark per athlete!
Since the next race is just a few weeks away, I'm NOT going to do research to find another mark to fill the 24th spot!
I'm sure the 2018 race will fill the gap!!
Sorry!
SECOND NOTE---Also, when Tuohy broke the Course Record last year, it was said she broke Rainsberger's mark by 11 seconds! But if you notice, you'll see Efraimson ran 16:50 in 2013 in winning that fabulous race against Cranny & Baxter! But then Tuohy would have broken EFRAIMSON's mark--and by just 5 seconds, not 11. So what's the deal? My guess is that the course changed after the 2013 race, so Rainsberger's mark became the NEW Course's Record!! And thus the general reference to Touhy breaking THAT CR, not Efraimson's!! But the distances were the same!!
And now for the---
Footlocker--Men & Women
As noted above, this race started as the Kinney race, then became Footlocker in 1993!
But it's the same event!!
This race has "regional teams", but the clear emphasis is on individuals!!
Also, it seems this decade has not been very good on the Guy's side, as the most recent marks on that list are from 2011.
The Gals aren't much better, as only Lane's mark comes from after 2010!!
Well, this is taking a lot of space---and time--so let's get to it!
1. Ritzenhein 14:29 1999 Trotter 16:24.07 2001
2. Reynolds 14:35.7 1982 Fairchild 16:39.2 1990
3. R Reina 14:36.8 1985 Robinson 16:40.4 1981
4. M Davis 14:38.1 1986 Stamps 16:41.9 1994
5. Solinsky 14:40.5 2002 Brommer 16:43.2 1980
6. M Mastalir 14:41.3 1985 J Smith 16:43.7 1983
7. Goucher 14:41.7 1993 Keough 16:43.8 1985
8. Connelly 14:49.5 1982 O'Brien 16:48.1 1984
9. Williams 14:49.8 1986 Cuffe 16:53 2010
10. Dameworth 14:49.9 1989 Hall 16:55 2000
11. Fout 14:50 2007 Siraki 16:58 2000
12. Fry 14:50 1984 Curtin 16:58.6 1982
13. Moore 14:50.41 2001 Strauss 16:59.9 1981
14. Dani 14:50.9 1985 L Craven 17:01.0 1981
15. Hume 14:51.41 1985 Rowen 17:02.3 1982
16. Lockhart 14:51.55 2001 Lane 17:03.4 2017
17. Alexander 14:51.9 1981 Odlaug 17:04.30 2001
18. Cheserek 14:52 2011 Schubert 17:04.6 1982
19. Henes 14:52.6 1985 Chamberlain 17:04.7 1984
20. Keflizighi 14:53.0 1993 Hasay 17:05 2005
21. Marden 14:53 1980 Roetter 17:05.14 2001
22. Zeinasellassie 14:53 2011 Volpe 17:06.2 1982
23. S Taylor 14:53.6 1982 Goethals 17:06.9 2009
24. (See NOTE below!) Sveinsson 17:07.1 2009
NOTE--As I was finishing typing these lists, I noticed I'd miscounted the number of Men's marks I had. I was one short! Again, I'll hope the 2018 race will fill the gap!!
Well, thanks for staying with me!
This was SUPPOSED to be a "vacation" for this blogger!
Some vacation, eh??!!
Hope you enjoyed this!!
See you soon!
For 40 years of my Record Book---and almost 5 years of this blog--I've said NYET to making lists of XC times!
You know all the reasons--just read some of my recent posts!
But then Katelyn Tuohy began doing more damage to XC Course Records than....fill in the blanks!
So I wondered---where does she stand in comparison to other A-T greats?
And what about other great runners in XC history?
At first, I had a HUGE project in mind---create DDD's (Top 24 A-T Performers) for the Men's 10K & Women's 6K for ALL the races ever run at those distances---in the Conferences, Regionals, the Championship race itself!
And do the same for High Schoolers---only over the 5000 distance!!
Don't focus on JUST the NCAA Champs, the NXN and Footlocker races!
BUT---then reality dug in its ugly old claws!!
The corpulent humongousness of the project became a bit overwhelming!!
So I toned it down!
I'd go for JUST the best times run at the NCAA meet, and the pair of HS events.
Since athletes peak for those meets, I figured MOST of the best marks would come from them!!
I'm going to present all the lists I compiled over the past two days below.
Used the T&FN Archives for NCAA results (the 10K distance was set in motion in 1976--the 6K for Women not until this century!!).
Both HS meets have done the 5K from their beginnings!
BTW, the Footlocker race was sponsored by Kinney from 1979 to 1992, and then by Footlocker from 1993 to today!
I'll present guidelines and a bit of commentary for each set of lists!
NCAA--Men and Women
While this meet is ancient, as noted above, the Men ran other distances before 1976!
The Women began with the 5000, and only moved to the 6K in the 21st century!
The very first Men's 10K saw Henry Rono set a Record that's never been broken!!
TWELVE of the 24 marks came from that 1976 race!
I've asked Garry Hill for confirmation that this wasn't another 6 Mile race---but the intro to the Archives SAYS they began running 10000's in 1976!!
What an incredible race!!!
The 2017 race was quite productive for the Women---with 8 of the 24 marks coming from there!!
I'll give last names, their time, and the year.
(Women's names are their married names, NOT their names in College!!)
Men on the left, Women on the right!
1. H Rono 28:06.60 1976 Kurgat 19:19.5 2017
2. Kimombwa 28:16.78 1976 Neale 19:27.0 2017
3. Virgin 28:26.53 1976 Saina 19:27.9 2012
4. Lindsay 28:30.69 1976 Kipyego 19:28.1 2008
5. Kithuka 28:31.3 2012 D'Agostino 19:28.6 2012
6. Treacy 28:34.84 1976 Hasay 19:28.6 2012
7. Salazar 28:37.4 1979 Seidel 19:28.6 2015
8. Sambu 28:38.6 2012 Taylor 19:28.6 2017
9. Waigwa 28:39.0 1976 Flanagan 19:31 2003
10. Chelanga 28:41.3 2009 Ostrander 19:31.3 2017
11. O'Shaughnessy 28:43.16 1976 Avery 19:31.6 2014
12. Lalang 28:44.1 2011 Tuliamuk 19:33.6 2012
13. Motshwaratau 28:45.6 1981 J Nilsson 19:34 2005
14. Cheserek 28:45.8 2015 Pyzik 19:34.1 2017
15. Martin 28:46.37 1976 Krumins 19:34.9 2008
16. Cheboiywo 28:47 2001 Sang 19:35.6 2017
17. Koskei 28:47.3 1979 Kelati 19:35.8 2017
18. Musyoki 28:48.4 1981 G Murphy 19:36.3 2017
19. Chapa 28:49.58 1976 Fanning 19:37.1 2008
20. Munyala 28:52.79 1976 Disanza 19:39.9 2014
21. Keflizighi 28:54 1997 Scott-Erfurd 19:40.9 2015
22. Peterson 28:54.25 1976 R Kimaiyo 19:41 2012
23. Kimeto 28:55.70 1976 Reid 19:41.2 2011
24. Deegan 28:56.9 1977 Schweizer 19:41.7 2016
NXN--Men & Women
This meet just started in 2004!
Lousy weather has spoiled some great races and slowed times, as it's held in Portland in December!!
Also, it's mainly a team event, with individuals getting secondary consideration!
But some great ones have run there!!
1. Wilmot 15:00 2013 Tuohy 16:44.7 2017
2. Zeinasellassie 15:03 2011 Efraimson 16:50.1 2013
3. Clinger 15:03.2 2015 Cranny 16:53.8 2013
4. Troutner 15:03.9 2017 Rainsberger 16:56.8 2015
5. Gedyon 15:04.5 2009 Baxter 16:57.8 2013
6. Veatch 15:04.8 2015 Oakley 17:10.1 2016
7. Parsons 15:05.6 2015 Donaghu 17:10.2 2015
8. Hasty 15:05.9 2017 Logue 17:14.2 2015
9. L Anderson 15:07.6 2017 Chmiel 17:15.4 2015
10. Haney 15:09 2013 B Hasz 17:17.1 2015
11. T Anderson 15:09 2013 Ostrander 17:19 2014
12. Lutz 15:09.2 2009 Endsley 17:19.6 2015
13. Carpenter 15:09.7 2015 Learheiser 17:20.2 2015
14. Joe Rosa 15:09.8 2009 Pendergast 17:20.8 2015
15. De La Rosa 15:10 2013 Devlin 17:22.1 2015
16. W Beck 15:10 2013 Wheeler 17:23.2 2015
17. Geberkidane 15:10 2013 Ratliff 17:23.9 2015
18. Mwaura 15:12.6 2017 Troy 17:24.2 2015
19. Hacker 15:13.0 2014 West 17:25.6 2015
20. McMillan 15:13.0 2013 G Ping 17:25.7 2015
21. Herrera 15:13.2 2015 Neal 17:25.8 2015
22. Caldwell 15:14 2013 Hofstad 17:26 2014
23. Yoho 15:14 2013 Sveinsson 17:27 2008
24. Connor 15:14 2008 (See NOTE below!)
NOTE--As I was typing this list here, I realized I had TWO marks for Kelsey Chmiel!!
As this is a PERFORMERS list, not performances, only one mark per athlete!
Since the next race is just a few weeks away, I'm NOT going to do research to find another mark to fill the 24th spot!
I'm sure the 2018 race will fill the gap!!
Sorry!
SECOND NOTE---Also, when Tuohy broke the Course Record last year, it was said she broke Rainsberger's mark by 11 seconds! But if you notice, you'll see Efraimson ran 16:50 in 2013 in winning that fabulous race against Cranny & Baxter! But then Tuohy would have broken EFRAIMSON's mark--and by just 5 seconds, not 11. So what's the deal? My guess is that the course changed after the 2013 race, so Rainsberger's mark became the NEW Course's Record!! And thus the general reference to Touhy breaking THAT CR, not Efraimson's!! But the distances were the same!!
And now for the---
Footlocker--Men & Women
As noted above, this race started as the Kinney race, then became Footlocker in 1993!
But it's the same event!!
This race has "regional teams", but the clear emphasis is on individuals!!
Also, it seems this decade has not been very good on the Guy's side, as the most recent marks on that list are from 2011.
The Gals aren't much better, as only Lane's mark comes from after 2010!!
Well, this is taking a lot of space---and time--so let's get to it!
1. Ritzenhein 14:29 1999 Trotter 16:24.07 2001
2. Reynolds 14:35.7 1982 Fairchild 16:39.2 1990
3. R Reina 14:36.8 1985 Robinson 16:40.4 1981
4. M Davis 14:38.1 1986 Stamps 16:41.9 1994
5. Solinsky 14:40.5 2002 Brommer 16:43.2 1980
6. M Mastalir 14:41.3 1985 J Smith 16:43.7 1983
7. Goucher 14:41.7 1993 Keough 16:43.8 1985
8. Connelly 14:49.5 1982 O'Brien 16:48.1 1984
9. Williams 14:49.8 1986 Cuffe 16:53 2010
10. Dameworth 14:49.9 1989 Hall 16:55 2000
11. Fout 14:50 2007 Siraki 16:58 2000
12. Fry 14:50 1984 Curtin 16:58.6 1982
13. Moore 14:50.41 2001 Strauss 16:59.9 1981
14. Dani 14:50.9 1985 L Craven 17:01.0 1981
15. Hume 14:51.41 1985 Rowen 17:02.3 1982
16. Lockhart 14:51.55 2001 Lane 17:03.4 2017
17. Alexander 14:51.9 1981 Odlaug 17:04.30 2001
18. Cheserek 14:52 2011 Schubert 17:04.6 1982
19. Henes 14:52.6 1985 Chamberlain 17:04.7 1984
20. Keflizighi 14:53.0 1993 Hasay 17:05 2005
21. Marden 14:53 1980 Roetter 17:05.14 2001
22. Zeinasellassie 14:53 2011 Volpe 17:06.2 1982
23. S Taylor 14:53.6 1982 Goethals 17:06.9 2009
24. (See NOTE below!) Sveinsson 17:07.1 2009
NOTE--As I was finishing typing these lists, I noticed I'd miscounted the number of Men's marks I had. I was one short! Again, I'll hope the 2018 race will fill the gap!!
Well, thanks for staying with me!
This was SUPPOSED to be a "vacation" for this blogger!
Some vacation, eh??!!
Hope you enjoyed this!!
See you soon!
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Cross Heats Up (& what it means)
Long time readers of this blog know I often disparage Cross Country for being a relatively meaningless sector of the greater Track & Field world!
For a few reasons--
Courses are so varied (even over the same distance) that comparing times over the various courses becomes something far more complicated than rocket science!
Weather (Read--BAD weather!!) often affects a meet's results, making predictions far more unpredictable!
There are no lists (Yearly, or All-Time) of times in XC--except maybe those kept by various schools or states--not even by the NCAA, USATF, IAAF, Tilastopaia, or T&FN!!
But CAN one find meaning in all this?
What criteria is useful (Thank you, Tim Hutchings!) in determining the quality of a XC time?
The course's terrain?
The weather?
The number of "name" athletes running?
The margin by which you win--or break records?
Or all of the above?
(Hint--It's the latter!)
Once more, I turn to Katelyn Tuohy for my example.
She's run 3 races this season, and SMASHED 3 Course Records into oblivion!
(If you go back to the NXN race of 2017, she also broke THAT record---held by Katie Rainsberger!--by 11 seconds!)
So--3 races--3 wins--3 CR's--by margins of 90, then 67, and yesterday, by 51 seconds!
And the margin between Tuohy and the 2nd place finisher was even more incredible!!
Let's face it, you just don't find that in World, USATF, or NCAA Cross!!
If a CR is broken, it might be by a mere handful of seconds!
Margin of victory?
Often seeing 2 to 5 athletes finishing within a second or three of each other!
So is the Tuohy story so phenomenal seeming because it's High School?
Sometimes--male or female--you have a stand alone athlete who CRUSHES a field--or a Record!!---but even then, it's by 10 to 20 seconds, NOT 90, 67, and 51!!
Yet even in that NXN race last fall, Tuohy beat Kelsey Chmiel by 41 seconds!!
And as we know, Chmiel had a 9:18 3000 track time to her credit!!
Speaking of Chmiel, that first race of Tuohy's beat the CR held by---Ms Chmiel!
While the second one didn't beat a "name" athlete, yesterday's did!
Ever hear of Aisling Cuffe?
She ran a Two Mile track time of 9:54.22, and in College, ran 5000 in 15:13!!
Yet--even though she was NOT seriously chasing it (as she said would be her plan!), she took care of Ms Cuffe's mark by the aforesaid 51 seconds!!
So if any meaning is to come from XC times, we must look at X athlete's MARGIN of victory--and the MARGIN by which the athlete breaks the Record!!
(And WHO held the old Record!!)
But my problem doesn't really come from comparing XC times run over different courses!
No, it comes from trying to determine what kind of TRACK times can be predicted from those XC times!!
For example, Sarah Baxter holds the Mt SAC 3 Mile CR---16:00!
Back in 2013, she was then considered the greatest Female HS XC runner of A-T---and had been undefeated all 4 years of her HS career!
But her best time at 3200 meters was "just" 10:07.
And she was almost TIED in that race!!
Tuohy ran 16:44 at NXN last year.
Then ran 15:37, 9:05, and 4:33 on IN & OUTdoor tracks!
Now she's run 16:07 (& 16:21 & 16:54).
So does that indicate far faster times during the upcoming track seasons?
Cole Sprout ran 14:33 (See previous post!).
Does that mean he'll run close to 14:00 for a track 5000?
(Note--I say YES!!)
And if that's the case, why should predicted times of 4:25, 9:25, 15:10 & 31:20 (for Tuohy) seem so Looney Tuney??
(Note--To me, they do NOT!!)
So the MEANING of XC times must take MARGINS---of victory, and of the new CR--into account!
It still would negate any value given to those times if compared to Track times!
And weather--and how it affects the course---with mud, puddles, softness or hardness, ruts (which affect how or if an athlete ATTACKS a course!) being a HUGE factor in XC outcomes!
(The team factor isn't so important--especially when it comes to the podium spots for individuals!!)
And speaking of XC times---and margins of victory---the Pre-Nationals races (held on the same courses as the NCAA's will be--in Madison Wisconsin!) shone the spotlight on the first REALLY serious races of the 2018 season!!
Pardon my ignorance, but I just have no idea why the Pre-Nats were split into 4 races--2 for each sex!
Were they seen as "Varsity" and "Junior Varsity"?
Or "B", then "A" races?
Some pretty fair runners ran in those "secondary" races!!
In the Men's (Let's call it their B race!!) B race, Rory Linkletter had some company at the line!
His 23:54 beat Aidan Tooker's 23:55, while Chris Olley also timed 23:55, with Connor Mantz's 23:56 taking 4th!
While Olley is unknown to me, the other three are good runners, not usually found in "B" races!!
(BTW, since times aren't really important in XC, I round those times up or down to the nearest full second. Thus, a 23:54.5 to 23:54.9 is rounded UP to 23:55, while a 23:54.1 to 23:54.4 is rounded down--to 23:54!)
The Women's B race went to Jessica Hull's 20:03.
She beat Arkansas Frosh--via Australia!!--Katrina Robinson by 6 seconds!
Audrey Roberts ran 20:10, with Erica Birk taking 4th in 20:12.
Bethany Hasz ran 20:18 in 5th!
The "Big Wheels" showed up in the A races!!
Grant Fisher outsprinted a Gang of Three, his 23:48 edging Tyler Day's & Matthew Baxter's same times (See above!)
Aaron Templeton ran 23:51 in 4th, with Joe Klecker's 23:55 taking 5th!
(Linkletter would've taken 5th here!!)
The Women's race saw Weini Kelati upset Ednah Kurgat---by TWELVE seconds!!--19:33 to 19:45!!
Another TEN back came Dorcas Wasike!
Elise Cranny was separated by another TWELVE seconds from Wasike--her time being 20:07.
Fiona O'Keefe (20:09) and Sharon Lokedi (20:12) followed!
Can we now say Kelati will be the NCAA Women's Champion?
If based on her TIME, then the answer is no!
But her MARGIN of victory---12 seconds--is significant.
Does it tell us Kurgat had a "bad" day?
Or that Kelati has become New Mexico's (& the NCAA's!) strongest runner??
Of course, November 17th will give us the answer, but it does offer some insight into the MEANING of XC times!!
(If that's the case with the Women, what does Fisher's razor thin margin tell you about the Men??)
BTW, the HS Women saw another interesting result!
WALKER (& Runner!!) Taylor Ewart crushed the field in an Ohio meet.
Her 16:57 was only the second time the 17 minute barrier was cracked by a Woman!!
(What would Tuohy have run??)
Again, not sure when my next post will be.
There are Conference, State, and Regional races left before the Biggies, and there's the NYC Marathon!!
But this IS my "vacation" time, so don't wake me before eleven!!
LOL
See you---whenever!
For a few reasons--
Courses are so varied (even over the same distance) that comparing times over the various courses becomes something far more complicated than rocket science!
Weather (Read--BAD weather!!) often affects a meet's results, making predictions far more unpredictable!
There are no lists (Yearly, or All-Time) of times in XC--except maybe those kept by various schools or states--not even by the NCAA, USATF, IAAF, Tilastopaia, or T&FN!!
But CAN one find meaning in all this?
What criteria is useful (Thank you, Tim Hutchings!) in determining the quality of a XC time?
The course's terrain?
The weather?
The number of "name" athletes running?
The margin by which you win--or break records?
Or all of the above?
(Hint--It's the latter!)
Once more, I turn to Katelyn Tuohy for my example.
She's run 3 races this season, and SMASHED 3 Course Records into oblivion!
(If you go back to the NXN race of 2017, she also broke THAT record---held by Katie Rainsberger!--by 11 seconds!)
So--3 races--3 wins--3 CR's--by margins of 90, then 67, and yesterday, by 51 seconds!
And the margin between Tuohy and the 2nd place finisher was even more incredible!!
Let's face it, you just don't find that in World, USATF, or NCAA Cross!!
If a CR is broken, it might be by a mere handful of seconds!
Margin of victory?
Often seeing 2 to 5 athletes finishing within a second or three of each other!
So is the Tuohy story so phenomenal seeming because it's High School?
Sometimes--male or female--you have a stand alone athlete who CRUSHES a field--or a Record!!---but even then, it's by 10 to 20 seconds, NOT 90, 67, and 51!!
Yet even in that NXN race last fall, Tuohy beat Kelsey Chmiel by 41 seconds!!
And as we know, Chmiel had a 9:18 3000 track time to her credit!!
Speaking of Chmiel, that first race of Tuohy's beat the CR held by---Ms Chmiel!
While the second one didn't beat a "name" athlete, yesterday's did!
Ever hear of Aisling Cuffe?
She ran a Two Mile track time of 9:54.22, and in College, ran 5000 in 15:13!!
Yet--even though she was NOT seriously chasing it (as she said would be her plan!), she took care of Ms Cuffe's mark by the aforesaid 51 seconds!!
So if any meaning is to come from XC times, we must look at X athlete's MARGIN of victory--and the MARGIN by which the athlete breaks the Record!!
(And WHO held the old Record!!)
But my problem doesn't really come from comparing XC times run over different courses!
No, it comes from trying to determine what kind of TRACK times can be predicted from those XC times!!
For example, Sarah Baxter holds the Mt SAC 3 Mile CR---16:00!
Back in 2013, she was then considered the greatest Female HS XC runner of A-T---and had been undefeated all 4 years of her HS career!
But her best time at 3200 meters was "just" 10:07.
And she was almost TIED in that race!!
Tuohy ran 16:44 at NXN last year.
Then ran 15:37, 9:05, and 4:33 on IN & OUTdoor tracks!
Now she's run 16:07 (& 16:21 & 16:54).
So does that indicate far faster times during the upcoming track seasons?
Cole Sprout ran 14:33 (See previous post!).
Does that mean he'll run close to 14:00 for a track 5000?
(Note--I say YES!!)
And if that's the case, why should predicted times of 4:25, 9:25, 15:10 & 31:20 (for Tuohy) seem so Looney Tuney??
(Note--To me, they do NOT!!)
So the MEANING of XC times must take MARGINS---of victory, and of the new CR--into account!
It still would negate any value given to those times if compared to Track times!
And weather--and how it affects the course---with mud, puddles, softness or hardness, ruts (which affect how or if an athlete ATTACKS a course!) being a HUGE factor in XC outcomes!
(The team factor isn't so important--especially when it comes to the podium spots for individuals!!)
And speaking of XC times---and margins of victory---the Pre-Nationals races (held on the same courses as the NCAA's will be--in Madison Wisconsin!) shone the spotlight on the first REALLY serious races of the 2018 season!!
Pardon my ignorance, but I just have no idea why the Pre-Nats were split into 4 races--2 for each sex!
Were they seen as "Varsity" and "Junior Varsity"?
Or "B", then "A" races?
Some pretty fair runners ran in those "secondary" races!!
In the Men's (Let's call it their B race!!) B race, Rory Linkletter had some company at the line!
His 23:54 beat Aidan Tooker's 23:55, while Chris Olley also timed 23:55, with Connor Mantz's 23:56 taking 4th!
While Olley is unknown to me, the other three are good runners, not usually found in "B" races!!
(BTW, since times aren't really important in XC, I round those times up or down to the nearest full second. Thus, a 23:54.5 to 23:54.9 is rounded UP to 23:55, while a 23:54.1 to 23:54.4 is rounded down--to 23:54!)
The Women's B race went to Jessica Hull's 20:03.
She beat Arkansas Frosh--via Australia!!--Katrina Robinson by 6 seconds!
Audrey Roberts ran 20:10, with Erica Birk taking 4th in 20:12.
Bethany Hasz ran 20:18 in 5th!
The "Big Wheels" showed up in the A races!!
Grant Fisher outsprinted a Gang of Three, his 23:48 edging Tyler Day's & Matthew Baxter's same times (See above!)
Aaron Templeton ran 23:51 in 4th, with Joe Klecker's 23:55 taking 5th!
(Linkletter would've taken 5th here!!)
The Women's race saw Weini Kelati upset Ednah Kurgat---by TWELVE seconds!!--19:33 to 19:45!!
Another TEN back came Dorcas Wasike!
Elise Cranny was separated by another TWELVE seconds from Wasike--her time being 20:07.
Fiona O'Keefe (20:09) and Sharon Lokedi (20:12) followed!
Can we now say Kelati will be the NCAA Women's Champion?
If based on her TIME, then the answer is no!
But her MARGIN of victory---12 seconds--is significant.
Does it tell us Kurgat had a "bad" day?
Or that Kelati has become New Mexico's (& the NCAA's!) strongest runner??
Of course, November 17th will give us the answer, but it does offer some insight into the MEANING of XC times!!
(If that's the case with the Women, what does Fisher's razor thin margin tell you about the Men??)
BTW, the HS Women saw another interesting result!
WALKER (& Runner!!) Taylor Ewart crushed the field in an Ohio meet.
Her 16:57 was only the second time the 17 minute barrier was cracked by a Woman!!
(What would Tuohy have run??)
Again, not sure when my next post will be.
There are Conference, State, and Regional races left before the Biggies, and there's the NYC Marathon!!
But this IS my "vacation" time, so don't wake me before eleven!!
LOL
See you---whenever!
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Mo, Brigid & Katelyn Show--Chicago & XC
Impossible to directly compare, but what Katelyn Tuohy did---AGAIN!!--to a Cross Country Course Record, can IMHO be placed in the same general territory as what happened on the streets of Chicago earlier today!!
Let's go to the Windy City!
(Although the wind was mostly absent, the streets were covered with rain that had fallen an hour or so before the race!)
Tough to have to follow what Eliud Kipchoge did in Berlin!
Like coming on stage after the Beatles had played!!
But SIR MoBot comes to win, and neither weather nor challengers will scare him away!
But when a group of 6-10 passed through 5000 in 14:54, you had to think that split would be SLOWER than all of Kipchoge's splits in his 2:01:39 World Record!!
Anyway, when they hit 30:10 at 10K, all bets for a fast time seemed to be off!
Farah had requested the pacers take him through the Half in 62:00!
So when they hit 63:03---with Mo a few seconds back---it became a race, not a Record chase!
The pre-race chatter was all about Mo and Galen Rupp, and who would beat who!
(Not forgetting that they were up against a pair of Kirui's--Geoff and Abel!
And their one-time NOP compadre--Suguru Osako--who wanted the Japan National Record--and the attendant million dollar award attached to an NR!)
At a couple of leaderboard checkpoints, Farah had fallen from the top 10--but most assumed he was just doing his MoBot act--waiting to KILL it over the final 400!
He didn't wait till then!
Back in the front at 35K--with Rupp a couple of seconds off--Mo was hitting the gas pedal!
The Kirui's---who had led most of the way--were now gone, though still running good times!
The Rupp vs Farah Act was back and forth--with each in front of the other throughout the race!
But Farah was doing what made him a SIR--pushing hard for the line!
Rupp was gone, though still running close to his PR!
When Farah ended, his time of 2:05:11 broke his own British National Record!
But he did NOT get the Age 35 Record--which is Geb's 2:03:59!!
He also missed my World list by 38 seconds!
His margin of victory was 13 seconds over Mosinet Geremew!!
Osako got his NR--and the million smackeroos!!
His time was 2:05:50 in 3rd!
Rupp ended 5th in 2:06:21.
The Women's race went off in similar fashion---with a group of 5 or 6 Africans up front--including Brigid Kosgei, Shure Demise, Roza Dereje, and a few others.
But surprisingly, the US group of Laura Thweatt, Sarah Crouch, and Gwen Jorgensen weren't following!
At 10K, they were already two and a half minutes behind the 33:24 of the leaders!!
A pack of 5 were still together at the Half, hit in 1:10:09!
A negative split could bring a sub-2:20 to Chicago!
The US group were now missing Thweatt, a DNF!
Crouch was about 30 seconds ahead of Jorgensen, but was running just 2:33 pace!!
Around 30K, Kosgei started smashing it!!
Her next 10 was in a startling 31:23 (15:36 & 15:47!).
That's about 2:13 pace for the full Marathon!!
And she didn't slow over the final 7195 meters!
Her 2:18:35 makes her 7th A-T World!!
(One second behind what Ruti Aga ran in Berlin!!)
Dereje was 2nd in 2:21:18!
A mea culpa about Dereje!
In researching whether any Age Records were broken (Kosgei missed Aga's Age 24 Record by 1 second!!), I noticed that Dereje had run 2:19:17 in Dubai this year!
But I'd failed to give her the Age 20 Record for that!!
OUCH!
So she got the Age 21 Record with her Chicago time, AND (retrospectively!!) gets the Age 20 Record also!!
(She was born in May of 1997!)
Shure Demise took 3rd in 2:22:15, while Crouch took 6th in 2:32:37.
(Why didn't they try for sub-2:30's, as Jorgensen and Thweatt had said they would??)
The USATF 10 Mile Championship was a good one!
Shadrack Kipchirchir took the Men's race in 46:32, three seconds ahead of Len Korir, with Stan Kebenai finishing in 46:39.
The Women's race saw Molly Huddle take the lead, but closely challenged by Sara Hall and Emma Bates!
It was Hall the winner in 52:47--by ONE SECOND over Huddle, with Bates not far back in 52:51!
Hall and Huddle are in serious Marathon training mode!!
Katelyn Tuohy's star shines the brightest---by far!!---but she's not the only HS talent out on the various XC courses!!
Cole Sprout is proving to be the MAN to beat on the HS level, as his 14:33 is now leading the nation!!
But the Great American XC Festival saw some good results!
Carter Cheeseman beat Camren Fischer, but both were given the same time of 14:50!!
Kelsey Chmiel took the Women's race in 16:43!!
She won by 45 seconds over Carmen Alder!!
And Ms Tuohy?
Oh, she just happened to SHATTER the venerable Holmdel NJ Course Record---run over DECADES by some of the best!!--by one minute and seven seconds!!
The old record was 17:28.
Tuohy ran SOLO to a time of 16:21!!
Only a few MEN ran faster than her--in all the various divisions!!
She hit the first Mile in 5:23.
Slow?
Yes, until you take into account that the first 800 was UPhill!!
Her second mile---over a flatter route--took the same--5:23!
The last 1.1 miles has a downhill finish--gradual, not steep!---which took her 5:35---so a last Mile took about 5:02!!
I saw the last 200 meters--and she looked VERY strong all the way to the line!!
So what to make of this youthful marvel??
And how can she possibly be compared to the Mo's of this world??
Well, SIR Mo stuck to his MoBot ways---and didn't take the lead until 40K!
Tuohy was ALONE from the gun!!
(Second place was MORE than 2 minutes back!!)
I repeat what I said in earlier Tuohy comments--She can right now compete on an equal level with the best the NCAA Collegiate scene has to offer!!
Not much to report on until the NYC Marathon!
But I'm sure I'll find SOMEthing to rant and/or rave about before then!!
See you soon--ish!
Let's go to the Windy City!
(Although the wind was mostly absent, the streets were covered with rain that had fallen an hour or so before the race!)
Tough to have to follow what Eliud Kipchoge did in Berlin!
Like coming on stage after the Beatles had played!!
But SIR MoBot comes to win, and neither weather nor challengers will scare him away!
But when a group of 6-10 passed through 5000 in 14:54, you had to think that split would be SLOWER than all of Kipchoge's splits in his 2:01:39 World Record!!
Anyway, when they hit 30:10 at 10K, all bets for a fast time seemed to be off!
Farah had requested the pacers take him through the Half in 62:00!
So when they hit 63:03---with Mo a few seconds back---it became a race, not a Record chase!
The pre-race chatter was all about Mo and Galen Rupp, and who would beat who!
(Not forgetting that they were up against a pair of Kirui's--Geoff and Abel!
And their one-time NOP compadre--Suguru Osako--who wanted the Japan National Record--and the attendant million dollar award attached to an NR!)
At a couple of leaderboard checkpoints, Farah had fallen from the top 10--but most assumed he was just doing his MoBot act--waiting to KILL it over the final 400!
He didn't wait till then!
Back in the front at 35K--with Rupp a couple of seconds off--Mo was hitting the gas pedal!
The Kirui's---who had led most of the way--were now gone, though still running good times!
The Rupp vs Farah Act was back and forth--with each in front of the other throughout the race!
But Farah was doing what made him a SIR--pushing hard for the line!
Rupp was gone, though still running close to his PR!
When Farah ended, his time of 2:05:11 broke his own British National Record!
But he did NOT get the Age 35 Record--which is Geb's 2:03:59!!
He also missed my World list by 38 seconds!
His margin of victory was 13 seconds over Mosinet Geremew!!
Osako got his NR--and the million smackeroos!!
His time was 2:05:50 in 3rd!
Rupp ended 5th in 2:06:21.
The Women's race went off in similar fashion---with a group of 5 or 6 Africans up front--including Brigid Kosgei, Shure Demise, Roza Dereje, and a few others.
But surprisingly, the US group of Laura Thweatt, Sarah Crouch, and Gwen Jorgensen weren't following!
At 10K, they were already two and a half minutes behind the 33:24 of the leaders!!
A pack of 5 were still together at the Half, hit in 1:10:09!
A negative split could bring a sub-2:20 to Chicago!
The US group were now missing Thweatt, a DNF!
Crouch was about 30 seconds ahead of Jorgensen, but was running just 2:33 pace!!
Around 30K, Kosgei started smashing it!!
Her next 10 was in a startling 31:23 (15:36 & 15:47!).
That's about 2:13 pace for the full Marathon!!
And she didn't slow over the final 7195 meters!
Her 2:18:35 makes her 7th A-T World!!
(One second behind what Ruti Aga ran in Berlin!!)
Dereje was 2nd in 2:21:18!
A mea culpa about Dereje!
In researching whether any Age Records were broken (Kosgei missed Aga's Age 24 Record by 1 second!!), I noticed that Dereje had run 2:19:17 in Dubai this year!
But I'd failed to give her the Age 20 Record for that!!
OUCH!
So she got the Age 21 Record with her Chicago time, AND (retrospectively!!) gets the Age 20 Record also!!
(She was born in May of 1997!)
Shure Demise took 3rd in 2:22:15, while Crouch took 6th in 2:32:37.
(Why didn't they try for sub-2:30's, as Jorgensen and Thweatt had said they would??)
The USATF 10 Mile Championship was a good one!
Shadrack Kipchirchir took the Men's race in 46:32, three seconds ahead of Len Korir, with Stan Kebenai finishing in 46:39.
The Women's race saw Molly Huddle take the lead, but closely challenged by Sara Hall and Emma Bates!
It was Hall the winner in 52:47--by ONE SECOND over Huddle, with Bates not far back in 52:51!
Hall and Huddle are in serious Marathon training mode!!
Katelyn Tuohy's star shines the brightest---by far!!---but she's not the only HS talent out on the various XC courses!!
Cole Sprout is proving to be the MAN to beat on the HS level, as his 14:33 is now leading the nation!!
But the Great American XC Festival saw some good results!
Carter Cheeseman beat Camren Fischer, but both were given the same time of 14:50!!
Kelsey Chmiel took the Women's race in 16:43!!
She won by 45 seconds over Carmen Alder!!
And Ms Tuohy?
Oh, she just happened to SHATTER the venerable Holmdel NJ Course Record---run over DECADES by some of the best!!--by one minute and seven seconds!!
The old record was 17:28.
Tuohy ran SOLO to a time of 16:21!!
Only a few MEN ran faster than her--in all the various divisions!!
She hit the first Mile in 5:23.
Slow?
Yes, until you take into account that the first 800 was UPhill!!
Her second mile---over a flatter route--took the same--5:23!
The last 1.1 miles has a downhill finish--gradual, not steep!---which took her 5:35---so a last Mile took about 5:02!!
I saw the last 200 meters--and she looked VERY strong all the way to the line!!
So what to make of this youthful marvel??
And how can she possibly be compared to the Mo's of this world??
Well, SIR Mo stuck to his MoBot ways---and didn't take the lead until 40K!
Tuohy was ALONE from the gun!!
(Second place was MORE than 2 minutes back!!)
I repeat what I said in earlier Tuohy comments--She can right now compete on an equal level with the best the NCAA Collegiate scene has to offer!!
Not much to report on until the NYC Marathon!
But I'm sure I'll find SOMEthing to rant and/or rave about before then!!
See you soon--ish!
Sunday, September 30, 2018
XC Begins (& Record Book Stuff)
This is the time of year I go on a sort of vacay!
In other words, it's Cross Country season--one facet of our sport I don't cover---much!
So when the main part of the T&F season ends (around mid-September) until it's time to post my INdoor season Previews (around mid-November), I slow the pace of my postings rather drastically!
And here's why!
While XC can be a VERY exciting sport, it just doesn't fit the parameters of what this blog is about--Records & Marks!
The many courses are different--in terrain, running surface, and weather conditions--and thus difficult to quantify as to quality of times run!
As far as I know, there are no lists of A-T best times--except maybe those kept by various High Schools and Colleges, or by the various venues where races are held!
(Yet even then, courses often change!
And the weather can vary from snow to rain to wind to cold sunshine, making some courses into mud pits!)
Long story short, I've never found it viable to keep accurate lists of times for XC!
(That said, I'll have a brief report of the weekend's action below!)
I'm not sure of the numbers, but I believe this blog has welcomed some new readers recently!
While some of you may have gone into the Archives and read some of my previous 500-plus posts, this blog has changed some over the years, and thus may need a more up-to-date "Intro" to what it's all about!
The data presented is mostly sourced from my own self-compiled Track & Field Record Book!
As I've often-stated, it's NOT an actual "book", but rather a collection of sheets of 8X10.5 college rule lined notebook paper, separated into 28 manila folders!
While I first compiled the "book" in the mid-60's, it's gone through several changes!
Even in the past 5 years, I've added events to my DDD lists, expanded my Meet Records section, added a Combined Events section for the US only, added more events to my Place Records section, and made the "book" more complete, and thus more informative for my loyal readers!
I always have stated that my Record Book has 600 pages!
But I was curious to see how many pages might have been added in recent years, due to all the above changes!
I was slightly stunned to discover that my Record Book now numbers 712 pages!!
Here's the rundown--divided into INdoor & OUTdoor, as well as Men & Women!!
The numbers match for OUTdoors---219 pages for each sex!
For INdoors, the Men's page count is 4 less than the Women's---135 to 139.
Total of 712 pages!
While it's exciting to discover I've somehow added over 100 pages since 2014, it's also daunting to know how much WORK is involved in keeping such a "book" updated--and the pages neat enough to read!!
I'm proud to say it's looking nicer than it ever has!!
(My cramped hand as proof!! LOL)
I have some "rules" I use that makes my Book & blog different from others out there!
For example, I have SEPARATE lists for INdoors & OUTdoors!
There is NO overlap!
I ignore HS times for the 1600 and 3200, or times converted from them!!
Thus, Katelyn Tuohy's 9:47.88 for 3200 (at 2018's OUTdoor Loucks Games) is NOT included on my HS Women's Two Mile list!!
For INdoors, there are NO marks made on Oversize Tracks on my lists!
I ignore all marks run by Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui, and Francine Niyonsaba--as I believe they do NOT fit the strict criteria that would make them eligible for All-WOMEN's races!!
In a FEW cases, I've also ignored USADA, USATF, or IAAF rulings about drug bans, or other reasons for non-ratification of Records!
These included Emma Coburn's 9:11.42 AR, Gwen Berry's AR of 251-4, and Ajee Wilson's AR of 1:58.27 for INdoors!
Well, friends, XC HAS begun!
As reported in my previous post, Katelyn Tuohy ran a remarkable time on a 5000 meter course last week!
And based on what I'm about to report, it remains THE best mark of the young season!!
But here's some results from the key meets of the weekend---
The Dellinger meet saw Reuben Kiprono take the Men's 8K in 24:40!
Cooper Teare was 2nd 14 seconds back!
Reed Brown took 7th with his 25:14!
For the Women, Susan Ejore's 19:33 edged past Weronika Pyzik, also timed in 19:33 on the 6000 meter course!
Jessica Hull was 3rd--also in 19:33!!
The Chile Pepper races went to Frankline Tanoyo and Katrina Robinson!
Tanoyo's 24:05 nipped Gilbert Boit's same time!
Robinson's 5K time was 16:15.
(Remember that Ms Tuohy ran 16:07 last week!!)
In 6th came London Culbreath's 17:07!
The Wisconsin Nuttycombe meet was considered THE meet of the week!
Australia's Morgan McDonald took the Men's 8K in 23:17, with Edwin Kurgat one second back, and Tyler Day 3rd in 23:21.
The Women's race saw a slight upset, as last year's NCAA Champion--Ednah Kurgat--lost to New Mexico teammate Weini Kelati--19:36 to 19:38!!
But that was for 2nd & 3rd place!!
Alicia Monson--a Wisconsin athlete--won on her home course in 19:33!!
Right behind Kurgat came Dani Jones's 19:39 and Allie Ostrander's 19:40!
The Roy Griak Men's 8K went to Kieran Tuntivate's 24:33!
Ty Mogan's 24:34 was 2nd.
The Women's race saw a sister duo take the top 2 spots, as Bethany Hasz's 20:47 beat sister Megan Hasz's 20:54!!
No one else ran under 21:31!!
This meet also had HS races!!
The Men's race went to Maxwell Manley's 15:46!
The Women's race was won by Emily Covert in 17:28.
Tierney Wolfgram's 17:51 was 2nd.
But back in 4th and 6th came the Ping sisters, with Lauren's 18:15 beating Grace's 18:18!!
The Men's Rim Rock Farm race was won by Joe Moore's 24:07.
Sharon Lokedi had no competition, as her 19:49 won the 6K race by a mere 107 seconds!!
Finally, we have the Stanford Invite!
Robert Brandy won the Men's race in 23:46.
Sydney Didabuday's 23:55 was 2nd, with Alek Parsons 3rd in 23:58.
DJ Principe was 8th in 24:17.
Grant Fisher didn't run!!
Elise Cranny won the Women's race in 20:32.
She beat Katie Rainsberger's 20:39!!
Fiona O'Keefe took 3rd in 20:41.
A Woman named Poppy Tank (I kid you not!! LOL) was 6th, time of 21:06!
Former HS 800 and Mile stud Caitlin Collier ended way back in 58th, time of 22:37.
So what does all that tell you?
That Morgan McDonald and Alicia Monson should be seen as the early favorites for the individual titles at the NC's??
But what about Grant Fisher, Vanessa Fraser, and other MIA's from this weekend's meets??
And just WHERE would Kaitlyn Tuohy finish in such a race??
The Chicago Marathon is coming next week!
See you soon!
In other words, it's Cross Country season--one facet of our sport I don't cover---much!
So when the main part of the T&F season ends (around mid-September) until it's time to post my INdoor season Previews (around mid-November), I slow the pace of my postings rather drastically!
And here's why!
While XC can be a VERY exciting sport, it just doesn't fit the parameters of what this blog is about--Records & Marks!
The many courses are different--in terrain, running surface, and weather conditions--and thus difficult to quantify as to quality of times run!
As far as I know, there are no lists of A-T best times--except maybe those kept by various High Schools and Colleges, or by the various venues where races are held!
(Yet even then, courses often change!
And the weather can vary from snow to rain to wind to cold sunshine, making some courses into mud pits!)
Long story short, I've never found it viable to keep accurate lists of times for XC!
(That said, I'll have a brief report of the weekend's action below!)
I'm not sure of the numbers, but I believe this blog has welcomed some new readers recently!
While some of you may have gone into the Archives and read some of my previous 500-plus posts, this blog has changed some over the years, and thus may need a more up-to-date "Intro" to what it's all about!
The data presented is mostly sourced from my own self-compiled Track & Field Record Book!
As I've often-stated, it's NOT an actual "book", but rather a collection of sheets of 8X10.5 college rule lined notebook paper, separated into 28 manila folders!
While I first compiled the "book" in the mid-60's, it's gone through several changes!
Even in the past 5 years, I've added events to my DDD lists, expanded my Meet Records section, added a Combined Events section for the US only, added more events to my Place Records section, and made the "book" more complete, and thus more informative for my loyal readers!
I always have stated that my Record Book has 600 pages!
But I was curious to see how many pages might have been added in recent years, due to all the above changes!
I was slightly stunned to discover that my Record Book now numbers 712 pages!!
Here's the rundown--divided into INdoor & OUTdoor, as well as Men & Women!!
The numbers match for OUTdoors---219 pages for each sex!
For INdoors, the Men's page count is 4 less than the Women's---135 to 139.
Total of 712 pages!
While it's exciting to discover I've somehow added over 100 pages since 2014, it's also daunting to know how much WORK is involved in keeping such a "book" updated--and the pages neat enough to read!!
I'm proud to say it's looking nicer than it ever has!!
(My cramped hand as proof!! LOL)
I have some "rules" I use that makes my Book & blog different from others out there!
For example, I have SEPARATE lists for INdoors & OUTdoors!
There is NO overlap!
I ignore HS times for the 1600 and 3200, or times converted from them!!
Thus, Katelyn Tuohy's 9:47.88 for 3200 (at 2018's OUTdoor Loucks Games) is NOT included on my HS Women's Two Mile list!!
For INdoors, there are NO marks made on Oversize Tracks on my lists!
I ignore all marks run by Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui, and Francine Niyonsaba--as I believe they do NOT fit the strict criteria that would make them eligible for All-WOMEN's races!!
In a FEW cases, I've also ignored USADA, USATF, or IAAF rulings about drug bans, or other reasons for non-ratification of Records!
These included Emma Coburn's 9:11.42 AR, Gwen Berry's AR of 251-4, and Ajee Wilson's AR of 1:58.27 for INdoors!
Well, friends, XC HAS begun!
As reported in my previous post, Katelyn Tuohy ran a remarkable time on a 5000 meter course last week!
And based on what I'm about to report, it remains THE best mark of the young season!!
But here's some results from the key meets of the weekend---
The Dellinger meet saw Reuben Kiprono take the Men's 8K in 24:40!
Cooper Teare was 2nd 14 seconds back!
Reed Brown took 7th with his 25:14!
For the Women, Susan Ejore's 19:33 edged past Weronika Pyzik, also timed in 19:33 on the 6000 meter course!
Jessica Hull was 3rd--also in 19:33!!
The Chile Pepper races went to Frankline Tanoyo and Katrina Robinson!
Tanoyo's 24:05 nipped Gilbert Boit's same time!
Robinson's 5K time was 16:15.
(Remember that Ms Tuohy ran 16:07 last week!!)
In 6th came London Culbreath's 17:07!
The Wisconsin Nuttycombe meet was considered THE meet of the week!
Australia's Morgan McDonald took the Men's 8K in 23:17, with Edwin Kurgat one second back, and Tyler Day 3rd in 23:21.
The Women's race saw a slight upset, as last year's NCAA Champion--Ednah Kurgat--lost to New Mexico teammate Weini Kelati--19:36 to 19:38!!
But that was for 2nd & 3rd place!!
Alicia Monson--a Wisconsin athlete--won on her home course in 19:33!!
Right behind Kurgat came Dani Jones's 19:39 and Allie Ostrander's 19:40!
The Roy Griak Men's 8K went to Kieran Tuntivate's 24:33!
Ty Mogan's 24:34 was 2nd.
The Women's race saw a sister duo take the top 2 spots, as Bethany Hasz's 20:47 beat sister Megan Hasz's 20:54!!
No one else ran under 21:31!!
This meet also had HS races!!
The Men's race went to Maxwell Manley's 15:46!
The Women's race was won by Emily Covert in 17:28.
Tierney Wolfgram's 17:51 was 2nd.
But back in 4th and 6th came the Ping sisters, with Lauren's 18:15 beating Grace's 18:18!!
The Men's Rim Rock Farm race was won by Joe Moore's 24:07.
Sharon Lokedi had no competition, as her 19:49 won the 6K race by a mere 107 seconds!!
Finally, we have the Stanford Invite!
Robert Brandy won the Men's race in 23:46.
Sydney Didabuday's 23:55 was 2nd, with Alek Parsons 3rd in 23:58.
DJ Principe was 8th in 24:17.
Grant Fisher didn't run!!
Elise Cranny won the Women's race in 20:32.
She beat Katie Rainsberger's 20:39!!
Fiona O'Keefe took 3rd in 20:41.
A Woman named Poppy Tank (I kid you not!! LOL) was 6th, time of 21:06!
Former HS 800 and Mile stud Caitlin Collier ended way back in 58th, time of 22:37.
So what does all that tell you?
That Morgan McDonald and Alicia Monson should be seen as the early favorites for the individual titles at the NC's??
But what about Grant Fisher, Vanessa Fraser, and other MIA's from this weekend's meets??
And just WHERE would Kaitlyn Tuohy finish in such a race??
The Chicago Marathon is coming next week!
See you soon!
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Opinions, Facts, and Hypocrisy
Katelyn Tuohy ran 16:07 on a XC course a few days ago, smashing Kelsey Chmiel's Course Record by 90 seconds, and beating the 2nd place runner by over two minutes--in her first XC race of the 2018 season!
And then the Old Windmill of opinions, facts,and hypocrisy blew its mighty winds on the Message Boards of Track & Field News & Let's Run---with the latter actually being the voice of reason and positivity, while the Old Farts at the T&FN site merely threw out their usual attacks on anyone who chose to CELEBRATE Tuohy's achievement, rather than become paranoid about her potential for injury & a short-lived career destroyed by her Record-chasing tendencies!
These folks roll out the numbers--saying it's a RARE bird who beats the odds of young phenoms who are HOT for a year or 2, then become injury-prone and-or just disappear from the scene!
And you know what?
I agree!
It IS that rare bird who keeps on keeping on--year after year, and even decade after decade.
But isn't that the case in ANY field of endeavor!
For every super successful actor, writer, musical band, artist, athlete, you have 10's of 1000's who might keep acting, writing, competing, etc--but who 99% of the populace can't even match their name to anything they might have done!
Yes, young athletes do tend to shine for a season or 2 or 3, then basically disappear!
Just in the past 15 years, the list is long---
Brianna Jackucevitz (Can't even remember how to spell her name!!)
Kaylin Whitney
Trentavis Friday
Sarah Baxter
Mary Cain
Wesley Frazier
Cayla Hatton
etc, etc, etc
Who and what is to blame?
A natural tendency to change their life's direction?
Bad coaching, parenting, education?
Unexpected tragedies in their lives?
Falling in love--or out?
It's odd how NARROW the scope of T&FN people is!
Three other young athletes (from 2016 on) are talked about on the MB at T&FN---a LOT!!
Vashti Cunningham
Mondo Duplantis
Sydney McLaughlin
Cunningham won the INdoor WC High Jump in 2016!
While not progressing like we hoped, she remains the US's top female HJ'er!
(Of course, that's not really saying much!! LOL)
She'll turn 21 in January!
Mondo will turn 19 on November 10th!
As we know, he's become one of the World's elite PV'ers, and has progressed as one would expect for his entire High School career!
(He just became a college Frosh at LSU!)
McLaughlin went the Pro route after a sensational Frosh year at Kentucky!
She turned 19 in early August!
Katelyn Tuohy, meanwhile, won't turn 17 until after the end of the INdoor season, as her birthdate is March 18th, 2002!
So maybe it's okay to wonder if Tuohy will follow the teenage path of success enjoyed by the above named!
Or if she'll go the way of Cain, Hatton, Frazier, Baxter et al!!
(BTW, Australia's late Ron Clarke was a teen phenom also!
Then he started living a "normal" teen & early 20's life!
But by 1963---at the age of 26, he returned, and became one of the A-T greats!!)
Not much is known about Tuohy's "regular" life!
Is she a top student?
Does she have a fun hobby, such as juggling (as McLaughlin has!)?
Does she have close friends who have her back?
My own opinion of her "future" is that BOREDOM might overpower her enthusiasm and motivation!
She just began her 11th Grade year!
That means she's due to graduate HS around June of 2020!
She's already SMASHED several Records--INdoors, OUTdoors, and on several XC courses!
She wins her races NOT by 1 or 3 or 5 seconds, but by 30, 60, 90, or even 120 or more seconds!!
She broke that 5000 HSR not by 1 or 2 seconds, but by 18 seconds!!
And she does it with NO rabbits, having to pass numerous lapped runners, taking the lead and running a basically SOLO race over 99% of the distance!
Remember, the girl whose Course Record she recently broke (by 90 seconds!!) was no slouch!!
Kelsey Chmiel is one of the current 3 or 4 best female HS distance runners, although she's now a HS Senior!
So if Tuohy can do that to a Chmiel Record, what will she do to a Record held by someone far less talented than Chmiel??
One thought (attacked when posted by me on the T&FN MB!!) is that her 16:06 over a 5000 meter XC course would probably see her well under 20:00 in a 6000 meter race, as most Collegiate XC courses are!
In other words, she seems ready to hang with the very best the Collegiate scene has to offer---and yet she won't BE a Collegiate athlete until the XC season of 2020!!
(Unless she turns Pro!! LOL)
So let the Negative Nelly's of the T&FN MB go on about all the potential career-stultifying disasters that might befall poor little Katelyn Tuohy!!
Meanwhile, I will remain a Preacher of the Positive, and say I can't wait to see---not IF Tuohy will smash a Record--but by HOW MUCH!!
(And then appear as nonchalant as a 16 year old can be in her interviews, saying "I didn't know the course, or I would have broken 16!"!!)
So what will it be?
Will she continue to shatter HSR's like panes of glass under a tank---or will I, by 2020, not even remember how to spell her name??
See you soon!
And then the Old Windmill of opinions, facts,and hypocrisy blew its mighty winds on the Message Boards of Track & Field News & Let's Run---with the latter actually being the voice of reason and positivity, while the Old Farts at the T&FN site merely threw out their usual attacks on anyone who chose to CELEBRATE Tuohy's achievement, rather than become paranoid about her potential for injury & a short-lived career destroyed by her Record-chasing tendencies!
These folks roll out the numbers--saying it's a RARE bird who beats the odds of young phenoms who are HOT for a year or 2, then become injury-prone and-or just disappear from the scene!
And you know what?
I agree!
It IS that rare bird who keeps on keeping on--year after year, and even decade after decade.
But isn't that the case in ANY field of endeavor!
For every super successful actor, writer, musical band, artist, athlete, you have 10's of 1000's who might keep acting, writing, competing, etc--but who 99% of the populace can't even match their name to anything they might have done!
Yes, young athletes do tend to shine for a season or 2 or 3, then basically disappear!
Just in the past 15 years, the list is long---
Brianna Jackucevitz (Can't even remember how to spell her name!!)
Kaylin Whitney
Trentavis Friday
Sarah Baxter
Mary Cain
Wesley Frazier
Cayla Hatton
etc, etc, etc
Who and what is to blame?
A natural tendency to change their life's direction?
Bad coaching, parenting, education?
Unexpected tragedies in their lives?
Falling in love--or out?
It's odd how NARROW the scope of T&FN people is!
Three other young athletes (from 2016 on) are talked about on the MB at T&FN---a LOT!!
Vashti Cunningham
Mondo Duplantis
Sydney McLaughlin
Cunningham won the INdoor WC High Jump in 2016!
While not progressing like we hoped, she remains the US's top female HJ'er!
(Of course, that's not really saying much!! LOL)
She'll turn 21 in January!
Mondo will turn 19 on November 10th!
As we know, he's become one of the World's elite PV'ers, and has progressed as one would expect for his entire High School career!
(He just became a college Frosh at LSU!)
McLaughlin went the Pro route after a sensational Frosh year at Kentucky!
She turned 19 in early August!
Katelyn Tuohy, meanwhile, won't turn 17 until after the end of the INdoor season, as her birthdate is March 18th, 2002!
So maybe it's okay to wonder if Tuohy will follow the teenage path of success enjoyed by the above named!
Or if she'll go the way of Cain, Hatton, Frazier, Baxter et al!!
(BTW, Australia's late Ron Clarke was a teen phenom also!
Then he started living a "normal" teen & early 20's life!
But by 1963---at the age of 26, he returned, and became one of the A-T greats!!)
Not much is known about Tuohy's "regular" life!
Is she a top student?
Does she have a fun hobby, such as juggling (as McLaughlin has!)?
Does she have close friends who have her back?
My own opinion of her "future" is that BOREDOM might overpower her enthusiasm and motivation!
She just began her 11th Grade year!
That means she's due to graduate HS around June of 2020!
She's already SMASHED several Records--INdoors, OUTdoors, and on several XC courses!
She wins her races NOT by 1 or 3 or 5 seconds, but by 30, 60, 90, or even 120 or more seconds!!
She broke that 5000 HSR not by 1 or 2 seconds, but by 18 seconds!!
And she does it with NO rabbits, having to pass numerous lapped runners, taking the lead and running a basically SOLO race over 99% of the distance!
Remember, the girl whose Course Record she recently broke (by 90 seconds!!) was no slouch!!
Kelsey Chmiel is one of the current 3 or 4 best female HS distance runners, although she's now a HS Senior!
So if Tuohy can do that to a Chmiel Record, what will she do to a Record held by someone far less talented than Chmiel??
One thought (attacked when posted by me on the T&FN MB!!) is that her 16:06 over a 5000 meter XC course would probably see her well under 20:00 in a 6000 meter race, as most Collegiate XC courses are!
In other words, she seems ready to hang with the very best the Collegiate scene has to offer---and yet she won't BE a Collegiate athlete until the XC season of 2020!!
(Unless she turns Pro!! LOL)
So let the Negative Nelly's of the T&FN MB go on about all the potential career-stultifying disasters that might befall poor little Katelyn Tuohy!!
Meanwhile, I will remain a Preacher of the Positive, and say I can't wait to see---not IF Tuohy will smash a Record--but by HOW MUCH!!
(And then appear as nonchalant as a 16 year old can be in her interviews, saying "I didn't know the course, or I would have broken 16!"!!)
So what will it be?
Will she continue to shatter HSR's like panes of glass under a tank---or will I, by 2020, not even remember how to spell her name??
See you soon!
Sunday, September 16, 2018
A Historic Day
My title might be a slight understatement!
It's September 16th!
A day when the Talence Multi's would--for all intents--end the 2018 OUTdoor Track & Field season!
With only the fall marathons left, we could basically wrap-up the season into a neat little bundle--and feel good about our conclusions!
Then September 16th happened!
And we suddenly have TWO WORLD RECORDS to consider!
Just hours ago, the Berlin Marathon began, with Eliud Kipchoge saying he would attempt a WR---on a course common to WR's!!
Tirunesh Dibaba also hinted at a WR attempt--but her target of 2:15:25 was seen as not as clear-cut as Kipchoge's!
And there were those Talence Multi's--where Kevin Mayer was competing.
Sure, he had DNF'ed the Euros Dec because of a 3-foul in the LJ--so MIGHT be wanting to redeem himself here!
But it's September 16th (& the 15th, the Dec's 1st day), the end of the season!
Did he still have his shape, his fire??
Berlin's is a "fast" course!
Meaning, you go there not for the scenic wonders, or even for the aromas of German cuisine!
You go there to attempt World Records!
Which is something Eliud Kipchoge is familiar with.
But all his tries had failed!
He'd WON, but winning wasn't his first intent--it was using the Berlin course to run--FAST!
So when the first 10K passed in 29:01, you knew yet another attempt was on!
But wait!
What can one say?--How does one react?--when you discover, at race's end, that his 29:01 was his SLOWEST of the 4??
This was a run where the pacers were doing their job, but Kipchoge was wanting more!
He had to yell at them (because of the crowd noise) to pick it up!
His 1st two 5's were in 14:24 and 14:37.
He calmed himself behind his rabbits with another 14:37, hitting 15K in 43:38.
But then his deep-seated, hard race-toughened, yet incredibly stoic veneer demanded he run his next 5000 in 14:18!!
He had run his second 10K in 28:55!!
He reached the Half in 1:01:06--pretty close to the 61 he'd asked for!
And he was now his own pacer!
He SLOWED to 14:28, reaching 25K (15.6 Miles) in 1:12:24!!
Clear of his rivals--which included Wilson Kipsang!!--his only "barrier" was Dennis Kimetto's WR of 2:02:57!
(Please do NOT raise his FAKE 2:00:25 as his "real" target!! That run was ILLEGAL in every sense of the word!!)
He then raised the ante again--to a 14:21, and 30K in 1:26:45!
His THIRD 10000 had been run in 28:49!!
And then he ran faster!!
His 5000 between 30 & 35K matched his earlier 14:18!!
At a place where previous Berlin's had slowed, preparing for the "kill" over the final 7195 meters, Eliud Kipchoge was running FASTER!!
Could he sustain it?
Would he crash & burn?
His last measured 5K was "only" 14:29---but he'd run his FOURTH consecutive 10000 in 28:47!
His four 10K's were 29:01, 28:55, 28:49, and 28:47!
His pair of 20K's were 57:56 and 57:36!
His second Half had been run in 1:00:33!!
World Record of 2:01:39
Age 33 Record
National Record of Kenya
Moves from 4th A-T World to 1st!
The numbers alone seem so dramatic, so fantastic!
Yet to SEE him do it was STUNNING!!
Foot step after foot step, yard after yard, K after K--he never let up!
He WANTED the World Record--and he GOT it!!
Amos Kipruto was a far back 2nd in 2:06:23, followed by Kipsang's 2:06:48.
This wasn't a race against MEN, but a race for the History books!!
The Women, however DID have a RACE!!
Dibaba's "WR" desires were out the window after the initial K.
But she had a small contingent of serious opponents to contend with!
Edna Kiplagat, Ruti Aga, and Gladys Cherono!
Reaching 15K in 49:08--well under 2:20 pace--we found Dibaba leading, with Aga and Cherono not far behind--hidden behind and between a legion of male pacers!
The Half was passed in 1:09:03!!
25K was timed at 1:21:52, making the previous 10K's time as 32:44.
Now Cherono had the lead, tagged by Aga, with Dibaba faded out of the visuals!
The next 5000 saw a pick-up to 16:12!!
The move had been made, and Dibaba was just hanging on!
It was Cherono vs Aga!
But Cherono was too much for the young Aga!
She won Berlin in 2:18:11, her 2nd Half of 69:08 almost matching her first!
She got the Age 33 Record!
She moves from 10th A-T World to 4th!
Aga's 2:18:34 is the new Age 24 Record!
It makes her 6th A-T World!
But Tiru didn't go home empty-handed!
Her time of 2:18:56 is the best 3rd Place ever!!
As for the venerable Kiplagat, Edna's 2:21:18 gives her the Age 38 Record!
And makes her the oldest Woman to run a sub-2:22!!
As noted, September 15th began the DecaStar Talence meet!
And when Kevin Mayer--a name that doesn't SOUND French!!--PR'ed his 1st pair of events, you knew a serious WR attempt was ON!!
After his 10.55 in the 100, and 25-7.25 LJ,, his SP of 52-6 fell short of a 3rd PR!
But he was now over 100 points ahead of his Rio score of 8834 points!!
And he was well clear of his nearest rivals, the most serious of whom was Germany's Arthur Abele!
He HJ'ed a measly 6-8.75--stopping after that height!
Whispers of a possible injury were being thrown about!
Would he even finish??
So sighs of relief were heard when he ran his 400 in 48.42--considered "slow" for a World Class Decathlete!!
But Mayer is a different species of Dec animal!
At a reported 170 pounds, he's not supposed to be a good thrower!
Yet it's in his Throws where he really shines!
After another PR in the 110H--13.75--he threw the Discus 165-10!!
The WR--Ashton Eaton's 9045--was in his sights--with the ever-dangerous Pole Vault coming up!!
He'd Vaulted 5.60--and even 5.70 in an exhibition!
If he could reach just 5.30, the race to the WR would be on!
5.05--5.25--5.35!
Excitement was building!
He'd passed the most fearsome test of the 10 events!
And he wasn't done!!
He cleared 5.45--or 17-10.50!!
He was now on target for a World Record that wouldn't just "nip" Eaton's mark, but would definitively put an END to the entire Ashton Eaton Era!!
(Speaking of marks here, not Medals!)
So when his JT measured 235-11, his points total was now over 8400!!
Think about this!
After just nine events, his score would be enough to have won a vast majority of NCAA Dec's!!
And get him on the podium in quite a few international Dec's!
The question now was--By how much?--!!!
The answer is 81 points!
His 9126 (after a 1500 in 4:36.11) is the WR!
It's the Age 26 Record.
He breaks his own National Record of France!
He moves from 6th A-T World to 1st!
Abele's 8310 took the Silver!
The Women's Heptathlon was a decent competition, but there was no record chase!
Carolin Schafer won it with 6457 points.
Geraldine Ruckstahl was 2nd with 6391 points.
This breaks her own National Record of Switzerland!
Katarina Cachova took 3rd with 6381 points!
Yes, a truly HISTORIC stunner of a day!
Yet there was also the Half-Marathon in Copenhagen!!
Where Sifan Hassan ran her longest race over 5000 meters!!
Where Ms Hassan's 65:15 Winner suddenly makes her 8th A-T World!
She gets the Age 25 Record!
And the Netherlands National Record!!
She now has a range of times from a sub-2 in the 800, to a 4:14 Mile, to a 5000 in 14:22--to a Half in 65:15!!
Abebel Brihana took 2nd in 65:46.
This makes her 13th A-T World!!
Joan Melly's 66:15 in 3rd wasn't a PR, but Zaneba Yimer's 66:21 makes her 23rd A-T World!
The Men's race was much closer, but not up to DDD list-making standards!!
Daniel Kipchumba's 59:06 took the W from Abraham Kiptum's 59:09!
Jamal Mekonnen was 3rd in 59:14, followed by the Track-man--Yomif Kejelcha, whose 59:17 was his initial Half!!
Felix Kibitok's 59:21 wasn't far behind!
Yes, a truly stunning historic day in the sport of Track and Field!!
One that will resonate for years--maybe decades--to come!!
See you soon-ish!
It's September 16th!
A day when the Talence Multi's would--for all intents--end the 2018 OUTdoor Track & Field season!
With only the fall marathons left, we could basically wrap-up the season into a neat little bundle--and feel good about our conclusions!
Then September 16th happened!
And we suddenly have TWO WORLD RECORDS to consider!
Just hours ago, the Berlin Marathon began, with Eliud Kipchoge saying he would attempt a WR---on a course common to WR's!!
Tirunesh Dibaba also hinted at a WR attempt--but her target of 2:15:25 was seen as not as clear-cut as Kipchoge's!
And there were those Talence Multi's--where Kevin Mayer was competing.
Sure, he had DNF'ed the Euros Dec because of a 3-foul in the LJ--so MIGHT be wanting to redeem himself here!
But it's September 16th (& the 15th, the Dec's 1st day), the end of the season!
Did he still have his shape, his fire??
Berlin's is a "fast" course!
Meaning, you go there not for the scenic wonders, or even for the aromas of German cuisine!
You go there to attempt World Records!
Which is something Eliud Kipchoge is familiar with.
But all his tries had failed!
He'd WON, but winning wasn't his first intent--it was using the Berlin course to run--FAST!
So when the first 10K passed in 29:01, you knew yet another attempt was on!
But wait!
What can one say?--How does one react?--when you discover, at race's end, that his 29:01 was his SLOWEST of the 4??
This was a run where the pacers were doing their job, but Kipchoge was wanting more!
He had to yell at them (because of the crowd noise) to pick it up!
His 1st two 5's were in 14:24 and 14:37.
He calmed himself behind his rabbits with another 14:37, hitting 15K in 43:38.
But then his deep-seated, hard race-toughened, yet incredibly stoic veneer demanded he run his next 5000 in 14:18!!
He had run his second 10K in 28:55!!
He reached the Half in 1:01:06--pretty close to the 61 he'd asked for!
And he was now his own pacer!
He SLOWED to 14:28, reaching 25K (15.6 Miles) in 1:12:24!!
Clear of his rivals--which included Wilson Kipsang!!--his only "barrier" was Dennis Kimetto's WR of 2:02:57!
(Please do NOT raise his FAKE 2:00:25 as his "real" target!! That run was ILLEGAL in every sense of the word!!)
He then raised the ante again--to a 14:21, and 30K in 1:26:45!
His THIRD 10000 had been run in 28:49!!
And then he ran faster!!
His 5000 between 30 & 35K matched his earlier 14:18!!
At a place where previous Berlin's had slowed, preparing for the "kill" over the final 7195 meters, Eliud Kipchoge was running FASTER!!
Could he sustain it?
Would he crash & burn?
His last measured 5K was "only" 14:29---but he'd run his FOURTH consecutive 10000 in 28:47!
His four 10K's were 29:01, 28:55, 28:49, and 28:47!
His pair of 20K's were 57:56 and 57:36!
His second Half had been run in 1:00:33!!
World Record of 2:01:39
Age 33 Record
National Record of Kenya
Moves from 4th A-T World to 1st!
The numbers alone seem so dramatic, so fantastic!
Yet to SEE him do it was STUNNING!!
Foot step after foot step, yard after yard, K after K--he never let up!
He WANTED the World Record--and he GOT it!!
Amos Kipruto was a far back 2nd in 2:06:23, followed by Kipsang's 2:06:48.
This wasn't a race against MEN, but a race for the History books!!
The Women, however DID have a RACE!!
Dibaba's "WR" desires were out the window after the initial K.
But she had a small contingent of serious opponents to contend with!
Edna Kiplagat, Ruti Aga, and Gladys Cherono!
Reaching 15K in 49:08--well under 2:20 pace--we found Dibaba leading, with Aga and Cherono not far behind--hidden behind and between a legion of male pacers!
The Half was passed in 1:09:03!!
25K was timed at 1:21:52, making the previous 10K's time as 32:44.
Now Cherono had the lead, tagged by Aga, with Dibaba faded out of the visuals!
The next 5000 saw a pick-up to 16:12!!
The move had been made, and Dibaba was just hanging on!
It was Cherono vs Aga!
But Cherono was too much for the young Aga!
She won Berlin in 2:18:11, her 2nd Half of 69:08 almost matching her first!
She got the Age 33 Record!
She moves from 10th A-T World to 4th!
Aga's 2:18:34 is the new Age 24 Record!
It makes her 6th A-T World!
But Tiru didn't go home empty-handed!
Her time of 2:18:56 is the best 3rd Place ever!!
As for the venerable Kiplagat, Edna's 2:21:18 gives her the Age 38 Record!
And makes her the oldest Woman to run a sub-2:22!!
As noted, September 15th began the DecaStar Talence meet!
And when Kevin Mayer--a name that doesn't SOUND French!!--PR'ed his 1st pair of events, you knew a serious WR attempt was ON!!
After his 10.55 in the 100, and 25-7.25 LJ,, his SP of 52-6 fell short of a 3rd PR!
But he was now over 100 points ahead of his Rio score of 8834 points!!
And he was well clear of his nearest rivals, the most serious of whom was Germany's Arthur Abele!
He HJ'ed a measly 6-8.75--stopping after that height!
Whispers of a possible injury were being thrown about!
Would he even finish??
So sighs of relief were heard when he ran his 400 in 48.42--considered "slow" for a World Class Decathlete!!
But Mayer is a different species of Dec animal!
At a reported 170 pounds, he's not supposed to be a good thrower!
Yet it's in his Throws where he really shines!
After another PR in the 110H--13.75--he threw the Discus 165-10!!
The WR--Ashton Eaton's 9045--was in his sights--with the ever-dangerous Pole Vault coming up!!
He'd Vaulted 5.60--and even 5.70 in an exhibition!
If he could reach just 5.30, the race to the WR would be on!
5.05--5.25--5.35!
Excitement was building!
He'd passed the most fearsome test of the 10 events!
And he wasn't done!!
He cleared 5.45--or 17-10.50!!
He was now on target for a World Record that wouldn't just "nip" Eaton's mark, but would definitively put an END to the entire Ashton Eaton Era!!
(Speaking of marks here, not Medals!)
So when his JT measured 235-11, his points total was now over 8400!!
Think about this!
After just nine events, his score would be enough to have won a vast majority of NCAA Dec's!!
And get him on the podium in quite a few international Dec's!
The question now was--By how much?--!!!
The answer is 81 points!
His 9126 (after a 1500 in 4:36.11) is the WR!
It's the Age 26 Record.
He breaks his own National Record of France!
He moves from 6th A-T World to 1st!
Abele's 8310 took the Silver!
The Women's Heptathlon was a decent competition, but there was no record chase!
Carolin Schafer won it with 6457 points.
Geraldine Ruckstahl was 2nd with 6391 points.
This breaks her own National Record of Switzerland!
Katarina Cachova took 3rd with 6381 points!
Yes, a truly HISTORIC stunner of a day!
Yet there was also the Half-Marathon in Copenhagen!!
Where Sifan Hassan ran her longest race over 5000 meters!!
Where Ms Hassan's 65:15 Winner suddenly makes her 8th A-T World!
She gets the Age 25 Record!
And the Netherlands National Record!!
She now has a range of times from a sub-2 in the 800, to a 4:14 Mile, to a 5000 in 14:22--to a Half in 65:15!!
Abebel Brihana took 2nd in 65:46.
This makes her 13th A-T World!!
Joan Melly's 66:15 in 3rd wasn't a PR, but Zaneba Yimer's 66:21 makes her 23rd A-T World!
The Men's race was much closer, but not up to DDD list-making standards!!
Daniel Kipchumba's 59:06 took the W from Abraham Kiptum's 59:09!
Jamal Mekonnen was 3rd in 59:14, followed by the Track-man--Yomif Kejelcha, whose 59:17 was his initial Half!!
Felix Kibitok's 59:21 wasn't far behind!
Yes, a truly stunning historic day in the sport of Track and Field!!
One that will resonate for years--maybe decades--to come!!
See you soon-ish!
Monday, September 10, 2018
A Sweet Mix & A Humongous MESS
While the Talence Multi's is yet to come--plus all the Road stuff--for all intents, the 2018 OUTdoor T&F season is finished!!
In the week following the DL's last 2 meets (See previous posts!), the Continental Cup was the "last" meet people were anticipating!
And that turned out to be A HUMONGOUS MESS!!
But let's save that for my closer!
Because before that, we saw some pretty fine results trickle in from here, there, and everywhere!!
Berlin's ISTAF meet had a good Women's Mile!
Marta Freitas won it in 4:22.45, getting the Portugal National Record!
Kate Grace was 2nd in 4:23.23, with Konstanze Klosterhalfen taking 3rd in 4:24.27.
Alexa Efraimson got a PR of 4:24.82, making her 11th A-T US!!
Knocked FROM the US list was one Molly Huddle, her 4:26.84 dating from 2014!
While South Africa's "CS" was doing whatever up front, the Women's 1000 was being won by Halimu Nakaayi's 2:34.88!
That's the National Record of Uganda!
Nelly Jepkosgei also got an NR, her 2:35.30 getting Kenya's!
Colleen Quigley ended her Track season with a solid PR of 9:10.27 in the 3000SC!
(She apparently ran her final K in 2:59!!)
She moves from 4th A-T US to 3rd!!
And she becomes 20th A-T World!!
Daisy Jepkemai was 2nd in 9:14.66.
In 4th came MaruSa Mismas, whose 9:28.61 is the National Record of Slovenia!
Other ISTAF events--
Christina Schwanitz took the SP with 63-2, while Raven Saunders could only finish 6th, not even reaching 60 feet!
Tim Cheruiyot's 3:32.47 beat Ferguson Rotich's 3:33.21 in the 1500.
And Marie Josee Ta Lou took the 100 in 11.08!
The Padua meet saw Genzebe Dibaba run a quick Mile of 4:20.51.
Anzhelika Sidorova took the PV, clearing 15-7!
The Asian Games last days saw Neeraj Chopra's JT of 288-11 break his own National Record of India!
Zagreb had a solid little meet!
Meet Records were broken by---
Fedric Dacres's DT of 223-9
Nijel Amos's 800 of 1:44.08
Timur Morgunov's PV of 18-10.50
Luvo Manyonga's LJ of 27-9.25
And Lillian Rengerek's 3000 time of 8:33.37!
But in 2nd came Norah Tanui's 8:33.61, a PR!
On my World Combined Events list for the 3000 & 3000SC, her times of 8:33.61 and 8:59.62 adds to 17:33.23!
She is 3rd A-T!!
In other Zagreb news---
Ryan Crouser's SP lob of 72-5.75 beat Tom Walsh's 71-5.50!
Marie Josee Ta Lou's 11.05 took the Women's 100, while Michael Rodgers's 10.08 took the Men's!
Salwa Naser again had her way with the 400 Women of the World--winning that event in 50.54.
Sandra Perkovic took the DT with her 221-9.
And Elijah Manangoi won the 1500 in 3:32.52.
But Yomif Kejelcha got a small PR, time of 3:32.59.
When added to his 5000 time of 12:46.79, it adds to 16:19.38.
On my World C-E list for those events, he moves from 6th A-T, tied with 1 other, to 5th!
Before I turn to that CC fiasco, let's look at some Road action (& a Special Track Mile)!
In the latter, the race being dubbed the David Torrence Memorial, Chris O'Hare's 3:55.53--and Shannon Osika's 4:29.91 took the W's!
Ben Blankenship took 4th in the Men's race, time of 3:57.29.
Rachel Schneider's 4:30.18 beat Emma Coburn's 4:31.08 for 2nd in the Women's division!
The New Haven 20K, the USATF Championship, the winners were Len Korir (60:17) and Sara Hall (69:04).
Haron Lagat's 60:29 was 2nd in the Men's race, with Kiya Dendena taking 3rd in 60:34!
Allie Kieffer was 2nd behind Hall, her 69:20 sending Emma Bates (69:42) into 3rd!
Mo Farah ain't dead!!
His 59:26 took the Great North Half over Jake Robertson's 59:57!
Vivian Cheruiyot won the Women's race in 67:43!
Brigid Kosgei was 2nd in 67:52, with Joyciline Jepkosgei taking the Bronze in 68:10!
Rhonex Kipruto stormed through the Prague 10K in a near-Road WR time of 26:46!!
He's still a teenager!!
Caroline Kipkirui took the Women's race in 30:19!
Finally (on the Road, that is!), we have the venerable Fifth Avenue Mile!
And Jenny Simpson continues to make this HER race, winning for the 7th time in 4:18.9.
But Colleen Quigley--having a great year!--came on strong at the end, but her 4:19.2 fell short of stopping the Simpson train!
Melissa Courtney took 3rd in 4:20.3, just ahead of Emma Coburn's 4:20.5, and Alexa Efraimson's 4:21.0!!
The Men's race was a snorer, relatively speaking!
But it did produce an upset of sorts, as Jake Wightman's 3:53.6 beat this race's Male equivalent of Simpson--Nick Willis--who ran 3:54.2.
Eric Avila was the first US finisher, time of 3:54 something in 4th!
Matthew Centrowitz--recovering from a slight injury--finished just 12th!
That Continental Cup!
Oh my!
(For the best account of this IAAF TRAVESTY, please read Alan Shank's lengthy rundown on the T&FN Message Board!)
As a Blogger whose main purpose is to report Top End Marks--and the variety of Records broken, I looked at the CC results as just marks to be reported!
All the incredibly INSANE format rules created by Sebastian Coe & Co (aka the IAAF) were ignored by me!!
(You'll get a massive migraine if you try to read the dozens of comments on the T&FN MB about the FORMAT!!)
I will NOT try to explain them here!
But you'll get the gist of them by two examples--
The distance races were a "devil take the hindmost" circus!
Because of how the field events were held, the results page showed the athlete having the longest throw sometimes NOT winning!!
(Although apparently the $30,000 prize for 1st was given to the REAL winners!!)
Anyway......!!!
First, some Meet Records were broken!!
Abderahman Samba TIED the Meet Record (Edwin Moses ran 47.37 in the 1981 World Cup, this meet's precursor!), his 47.37 a VERY decent time!
DeAnna Price's 247-7 not only got her the MR, but she whomped 2nd placer Anita Wlodarczyk by 2 meters, AW hitting 240-11!
Sifan Hassan won the 3000 in 8:27.50, another MR!
The 3 other finishers (Don't ask!! LOL)--besides Hassan--included Senbere Teferi (8:32.49), Helen Obiri (8:36.20), and that German lass known as KK, her time being 8:38.04!
Beatrice Chepkoech sailed through the 3000SC in the MR time of 9:07.92!
Courtney Frerichs was a far back 2nd in 9:15.22.
The Women's PV ignored the rules, and gave us a SOLID competition!
Anzhelika Sidorova, Sandi Morris, and Ekaterina Stefanida all topped the bar set at 15-11!!
But Sidorova claimed the W--and the MR!
Morris was given 2nd, with Stefanidi getting the Bronze!
Morris's mark ties the best 2nd Place mark, while Stef's gets sole possession of the best 3rd Place mark!
Once again, this blog is interested only in the Marks--the rules be damned!!
So here are the rest of the REAL winning marks, divided by sex---
Men
Darlan Romani's 71-10 took the SP!
Emmanuel Korir jogged his 800 in 1:46.50.
Alonzo Edward took the 200 in 20.19.
That was run INTO a wind of 1.6!!
Fedric Dacres took the DT with 223-0.
Consesius Kipruto "ran" the 3000SC in 8:22.55.
Dilshod Nazarov won the HT with his 253-9.
Christian Taylor won the TJ with 57-8.50!
Sergey Shubenkov took the 110H in 13.03.
Sam Kendricks beat Renaud Lavillenie in the PV, 19-2.25 to 19-0.25!
Abdelelah Haroun won a sluggish 400 in 44.72.
Thomas Rohler won the JT with his 285-8!
Another MoBot affair was the 1500, with Elijah Manangoi's WALK of 3:40.00 finding Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 3rd, 0.80 seconds back!
Paul Chelimo was 1st in the 3000, time of 7:57.13.
Noah Lyles took the 100 over Bingtian Su, 10.01 to 10.03!
The "Americas" team took the 4X100 Relay in 38.05.
Women
Danielle Williams upset Kendra Harrison in the 100H, 12.49 to 12.52!
Marie Josee Ta Lou beat Dina Asher-Smith in the 100, 11.14 to 11.16.
The 1500 was a (literal??) walk in the park for Winny Chebet, her embarrassing time of 4:16.01 beating Shelby Houlihan's 4:16.36!
But their finishes were solid--1:46.66 for the last 700, and 42.59 for the last 300!
Salwa Naser sped the 400 in 49.32!!
The Americas 4X100 Relay team won in 42.11.
Sandra Perkovic took the DT with 224-6.
Mariya Lasitskene (Yawn!) won the HJ, clearing 2 meters, or 6-6.75!
While "CS" was doing "her" thing somewhere up front, Ajee Wilson won the WOMEN's 800 in 1:57.16 over Natoya Goule's 1:57.36.
SMU--aka Shaunae Miller-Uibo--won the 200 in 22.16, beating Dafne Schippers's 22.28!
Janieve Russell won the 400H in 53.62, beating Shamier Little, who ran 53.86.
Raven Saunders beat some big ones--her 64-9.25 prevailing over Christina Schwanitz's 64-8.75, and Lijiao Gong, who was in the high-63's!
Huihui Lyu won the JT with 209-7.
And then there's Caterine Ibarguen, who doubled--taking her Triple Jump specialty, and the LJ!!
Her TJ measured 48-5.25.
But her 22-9 LJ broke her own National Record of Colombia!!
On my World Combined Events list for the Horizontals, her 22-9 and 50-3 adds to 73-0!
This makes her 4th A-T!
The ending event of this Circus of Horrors was a MIXED (or co-ed!) 4X400 Relay!
The Americas team won it in 3:13.01!
After the Men (Christian Taylor and Liguelin Santos) hit the half in 1:31.44, Stephanie McPherson and SMU ran the Women's parts in around 51x & 50x, their splits adding to 1:41.57!
In the Sad News Department, Michael Johnson suffered what was described as a "mini-stroke"!
But he's reportedly (He tweeted about it!!) okay now!
He's in his early 50's!
A Reminder--Read Alan Shank's perspective on the CC meet on T&FN's Message Board!!
The Berlin Marathon is next week, but reports are that the heat might be too high for its usual speedy WR chase!
Also upcoming is the Talence Multi's--entrants unknown!
And of course the Cross Country season is up and running!
The "heavy hitters" have yet to toe the line, so nothing to report from that sector!!
See you soon-ish!
In the week following the DL's last 2 meets (See previous posts!), the Continental Cup was the "last" meet people were anticipating!
And that turned out to be A HUMONGOUS MESS!!
But let's save that for my closer!
Because before that, we saw some pretty fine results trickle in from here, there, and everywhere!!
Berlin's ISTAF meet had a good Women's Mile!
Marta Freitas won it in 4:22.45, getting the Portugal National Record!
Kate Grace was 2nd in 4:23.23, with Konstanze Klosterhalfen taking 3rd in 4:24.27.
Alexa Efraimson got a PR of 4:24.82, making her 11th A-T US!!
Knocked FROM the US list was one Molly Huddle, her 4:26.84 dating from 2014!
While South Africa's "CS" was doing whatever up front, the Women's 1000 was being won by Halimu Nakaayi's 2:34.88!
That's the National Record of Uganda!
Nelly Jepkosgei also got an NR, her 2:35.30 getting Kenya's!
Colleen Quigley ended her Track season with a solid PR of 9:10.27 in the 3000SC!
(She apparently ran her final K in 2:59!!)
She moves from 4th A-T US to 3rd!!
And she becomes 20th A-T World!!
Daisy Jepkemai was 2nd in 9:14.66.
In 4th came MaruSa Mismas, whose 9:28.61 is the National Record of Slovenia!
Other ISTAF events--
Christina Schwanitz took the SP with 63-2, while Raven Saunders could only finish 6th, not even reaching 60 feet!
Tim Cheruiyot's 3:32.47 beat Ferguson Rotich's 3:33.21 in the 1500.
And Marie Josee Ta Lou took the 100 in 11.08!
The Padua meet saw Genzebe Dibaba run a quick Mile of 4:20.51.
Anzhelika Sidorova took the PV, clearing 15-7!
The Asian Games last days saw Neeraj Chopra's JT of 288-11 break his own National Record of India!
Zagreb had a solid little meet!
Meet Records were broken by---
Fedric Dacres's DT of 223-9
Nijel Amos's 800 of 1:44.08
Timur Morgunov's PV of 18-10.50
Luvo Manyonga's LJ of 27-9.25
And Lillian Rengerek's 3000 time of 8:33.37!
But in 2nd came Norah Tanui's 8:33.61, a PR!
On my World Combined Events list for the 3000 & 3000SC, her times of 8:33.61 and 8:59.62 adds to 17:33.23!
She is 3rd A-T!!
In other Zagreb news---
Ryan Crouser's SP lob of 72-5.75 beat Tom Walsh's 71-5.50!
Marie Josee Ta Lou's 11.05 took the Women's 100, while Michael Rodgers's 10.08 took the Men's!
Salwa Naser again had her way with the 400 Women of the World--winning that event in 50.54.
Sandra Perkovic took the DT with her 221-9.
And Elijah Manangoi won the 1500 in 3:32.52.
But Yomif Kejelcha got a small PR, time of 3:32.59.
When added to his 5000 time of 12:46.79, it adds to 16:19.38.
On my World C-E list for those events, he moves from 6th A-T, tied with 1 other, to 5th!
Before I turn to that CC fiasco, let's look at some Road action (& a Special Track Mile)!
In the latter, the race being dubbed the David Torrence Memorial, Chris O'Hare's 3:55.53--and Shannon Osika's 4:29.91 took the W's!
Ben Blankenship took 4th in the Men's race, time of 3:57.29.
Rachel Schneider's 4:30.18 beat Emma Coburn's 4:31.08 for 2nd in the Women's division!
The New Haven 20K, the USATF Championship, the winners were Len Korir (60:17) and Sara Hall (69:04).
Haron Lagat's 60:29 was 2nd in the Men's race, with Kiya Dendena taking 3rd in 60:34!
Allie Kieffer was 2nd behind Hall, her 69:20 sending Emma Bates (69:42) into 3rd!
Mo Farah ain't dead!!
His 59:26 took the Great North Half over Jake Robertson's 59:57!
Vivian Cheruiyot won the Women's race in 67:43!
Brigid Kosgei was 2nd in 67:52, with Joyciline Jepkosgei taking the Bronze in 68:10!
Rhonex Kipruto stormed through the Prague 10K in a near-Road WR time of 26:46!!
He's still a teenager!!
Caroline Kipkirui took the Women's race in 30:19!
Finally (on the Road, that is!), we have the venerable Fifth Avenue Mile!
And Jenny Simpson continues to make this HER race, winning for the 7th time in 4:18.9.
But Colleen Quigley--having a great year!--came on strong at the end, but her 4:19.2 fell short of stopping the Simpson train!
Melissa Courtney took 3rd in 4:20.3, just ahead of Emma Coburn's 4:20.5, and Alexa Efraimson's 4:21.0!!
The Men's race was a snorer, relatively speaking!
But it did produce an upset of sorts, as Jake Wightman's 3:53.6 beat this race's Male equivalent of Simpson--Nick Willis--who ran 3:54.2.
Eric Avila was the first US finisher, time of 3:54 something in 4th!
Matthew Centrowitz--recovering from a slight injury--finished just 12th!
That Continental Cup!
Oh my!
(For the best account of this IAAF TRAVESTY, please read Alan Shank's lengthy rundown on the T&FN Message Board!)
As a Blogger whose main purpose is to report Top End Marks--and the variety of Records broken, I looked at the CC results as just marks to be reported!
All the incredibly INSANE format rules created by Sebastian Coe & Co (aka the IAAF) were ignored by me!!
(You'll get a massive migraine if you try to read the dozens of comments on the T&FN MB about the FORMAT!!)
I will NOT try to explain them here!
But you'll get the gist of them by two examples--
The distance races were a "devil take the hindmost" circus!
Because of how the field events were held, the results page showed the athlete having the longest throw sometimes NOT winning!!
(Although apparently the $30,000 prize for 1st was given to the REAL winners!!)
Anyway......!!!
First, some Meet Records were broken!!
Abderahman Samba TIED the Meet Record (Edwin Moses ran 47.37 in the 1981 World Cup, this meet's precursor!), his 47.37 a VERY decent time!
DeAnna Price's 247-7 not only got her the MR, but she whomped 2nd placer Anita Wlodarczyk by 2 meters, AW hitting 240-11!
Sifan Hassan won the 3000 in 8:27.50, another MR!
The 3 other finishers (Don't ask!! LOL)--besides Hassan--included Senbere Teferi (8:32.49), Helen Obiri (8:36.20), and that German lass known as KK, her time being 8:38.04!
Beatrice Chepkoech sailed through the 3000SC in the MR time of 9:07.92!
Courtney Frerichs was a far back 2nd in 9:15.22.
The Women's PV ignored the rules, and gave us a SOLID competition!
Anzhelika Sidorova, Sandi Morris, and Ekaterina Stefanida all topped the bar set at 15-11!!
But Sidorova claimed the W--and the MR!
Morris was given 2nd, with Stefanidi getting the Bronze!
Morris's mark ties the best 2nd Place mark, while Stef's gets sole possession of the best 3rd Place mark!
Once again, this blog is interested only in the Marks--the rules be damned!!
So here are the rest of the REAL winning marks, divided by sex---
Men
Darlan Romani's 71-10 took the SP!
Emmanuel Korir jogged his 800 in 1:46.50.
Alonzo Edward took the 200 in 20.19.
That was run INTO a wind of 1.6!!
Fedric Dacres took the DT with 223-0.
Consesius Kipruto "ran" the 3000SC in 8:22.55.
Dilshod Nazarov won the HT with his 253-9.
Christian Taylor won the TJ with 57-8.50!
Sergey Shubenkov took the 110H in 13.03.
Sam Kendricks beat Renaud Lavillenie in the PV, 19-2.25 to 19-0.25!
Abdelelah Haroun won a sluggish 400 in 44.72.
Thomas Rohler won the JT with his 285-8!
Another MoBot affair was the 1500, with Elijah Manangoi's WALK of 3:40.00 finding Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 3rd, 0.80 seconds back!
Paul Chelimo was 1st in the 3000, time of 7:57.13.
Noah Lyles took the 100 over Bingtian Su, 10.01 to 10.03!
The "Americas" team took the 4X100 Relay in 38.05.
Women
Danielle Williams upset Kendra Harrison in the 100H, 12.49 to 12.52!
Marie Josee Ta Lou beat Dina Asher-Smith in the 100, 11.14 to 11.16.
The 1500 was a (literal??) walk in the park for Winny Chebet, her embarrassing time of 4:16.01 beating Shelby Houlihan's 4:16.36!
But their finishes were solid--1:46.66 for the last 700, and 42.59 for the last 300!
Salwa Naser sped the 400 in 49.32!!
The Americas 4X100 Relay team won in 42.11.
Sandra Perkovic took the DT with 224-6.
Mariya Lasitskene (Yawn!) won the HJ, clearing 2 meters, or 6-6.75!
While "CS" was doing "her" thing somewhere up front, Ajee Wilson won the WOMEN's 800 in 1:57.16 over Natoya Goule's 1:57.36.
SMU--aka Shaunae Miller-Uibo--won the 200 in 22.16, beating Dafne Schippers's 22.28!
Janieve Russell won the 400H in 53.62, beating Shamier Little, who ran 53.86.
Raven Saunders beat some big ones--her 64-9.25 prevailing over Christina Schwanitz's 64-8.75, and Lijiao Gong, who was in the high-63's!
Huihui Lyu won the JT with 209-7.
And then there's Caterine Ibarguen, who doubled--taking her Triple Jump specialty, and the LJ!!
Her TJ measured 48-5.25.
But her 22-9 LJ broke her own National Record of Colombia!!
On my World Combined Events list for the Horizontals, her 22-9 and 50-3 adds to 73-0!
This makes her 4th A-T!
The ending event of this Circus of Horrors was a MIXED (or co-ed!) 4X400 Relay!
The Americas team won it in 3:13.01!
After the Men (Christian Taylor and Liguelin Santos) hit the half in 1:31.44, Stephanie McPherson and SMU ran the Women's parts in around 51x & 50x, their splits adding to 1:41.57!
In the Sad News Department, Michael Johnson suffered what was described as a "mini-stroke"!
But he's reportedly (He tweeted about it!!) okay now!
He's in his early 50's!
A Reminder--Read Alan Shank's perspective on the CC meet on T&FN's Message Board!!
The Berlin Marathon is next week, but reports are that the heat might be too high for its usual speedy WR chase!
Also upcoming is the Talence Multi's--entrants unknown!
And of course the Cross Country season is up and running!
The "heavy hitters" have yet to toe the line, so nothing to report from that sector!!
See you soon-ish!
Friday, September 7, 2018
2018 OUTdoor Collegiate AOY's
As with the HS'ers, we have one person winning all 3 major categories, and a somewhat tougher choice to make among the other sex!
However, there WERE differences, as will be explained below!
The Collegiate OUTdoor season ended with the final event of the NCAA Championship meet back in June!
NO INdoor marks were considered!
Let's start with the Men!
Collegiate Records went to Michael Norman (43.61 in the 400), Michael Saruni's 1:43.25 in the 800, Josh Kerr's 1500 time of 3:35.01, Rai Benjamin's 400H time of 47.02, and USC's 2:59.00 in the 4X400 Relay!
There were no Frosh or Senior Class records!
Soph Class records fell to Norman, Saruni, and Gleb Dudarev's HT of 256-0!
Junior Class records went to Kerr and Benjamin!
NCAA Meet Records were set by Norman, Benjamin, USC, Chris Nilsen (19-1.50 in the PV), and Anderson Peters's 271-9 in the JT!
My AOY pick really came down to two Men---Michael Norman and Rai Benjamin.
Norman ran on USC's Relay (See above!), sped a quick 200, and broke the CR in the 400.
But RAI BENJAMIN gets my Collegiate Athlete of the Year award for his incredible 47.02 in the 400H!!
Second only to Kevin Young's 46.78 WORLD Record, and TIED with the most venerable Edwin Moses, only, say, a 43.20 or so by Norman might have tilted this award to him!
Getting HM's were Norman, Dudarev, Kerr, Nilsen, and Grant Holloway!
As noted above, one athlete garnered all 3 of my Awards--and his name is Rai Benjamin!!
For my Performance of the Year, I had to go with Benjamin again!
Tying Moses was the deal-breaker!
But Norman's 43.61 was spectacular!
So he leads the Honorable Mentions!
Other HM's go to Kerr, Dudarev, Saruni, Nilsen (but for his PR of 19-2.75), Holloway's 13.15 in the 110H, and Houston's 4X100 Relay time of 38.17!
As for my Personality of the Year award, it goes to Norman!
For being TALKED about more than any other Collegiate athlete this year!
Speculation of what was possible for him dominated the T&FN Message Board all spring!
(After his 47.02, lots of commentary went Benjamin's way also!)
Event of the Year for the Collegiate Men--
The 400 led with 5 marks from 2018!
The 1500 got 4.
With 3 each were the 100, 110H, 400H, PV, JT, HT, 4X100 Relay, and the DMR!
With a pair were the 200, 800, SP, Decathlon, and the 4X400 Relay.
The 5000 and LJ have one.
With ZERO are the Mile, 10000, 3000SC, HJ, TJ, and DT!
Following are all the marks from 2018 on my various DDD's!
Events with NO marks are NOT listed!
100 Bacon (9.97 14th, tied with 5 others) Ewers (9.98 20th, tied with 3 others) K Williams (9.99 24th, tied with 4 others)
200 Titi (20.00 13th, tied with 1 other) Norman (20.06 23rd)
400 Norman (43.61 CR 1st) Bloomfield (43.94 3rd) N Allen (44.13 6th) Strother (44.34 11th, tied with 1 other) St Hilaire (44.55 19th)
800 Saruni (1:43.25 CR 1st) I Harris (1:44.76 12th)
1500 Kerr (3:35.01 CR 1st) Knight (3:36.07 7th) Dominic (3:36.33 9th) Prakel (3:36.84 17th)
5000 Trouard (13:21.07 16th)
110H Holloway (13.15 2nd) D Roberts (13.27 10th, tied with 1 other) Walters (13.31 16th)
400H Benjamin (47.02 CR 1st) Selmon (48.12 5th) Kendziera (48.42 13th)
LJ Bazile (27-5.50 8th, tied with 1 other)
PV Nilsen (19-2.75 4th, tied with 1 other) King (19-0.25 8th, tied with 2 others) Richartz (18-8.25 20th, tied with 7 others)
SP Otterdahl (68-9.25 19th) Comenentia (68-6 20th, tied with 1 other)
JT A Peters (271-9 7th) S Gudmundsson (264-1 17th) Quuara (263-2 18th)
HT Dudarev (256-0 4th) Comenentia (250-8 10th) Eriksson (243-5 21st)
Dec Duckworth (8336 7th) Saluri (8137 24th)
4X100R Houston (38.17 2nd) Ohio St (38.67 16th) Southern Miss (38.89 24th)
4X400R USC (2:59.00 CR 1st) Houston (3:01.82 19th)
DMR Notre Dame (9:35.18 19th) Princeton (9:35.74 22nd) Florida (9:35.90 23rd)
Now for the Women!
Collegiate Records went to Sydney McLaughlin (52.75 in the 400H), Keturah Orji's 47-11.75 TJ, Maggie Ewen's 63-10.25 in the SP--AND her 244-6 in the HT!!--as well as LSU's 4X100 Relay time of 42.05!
Frosh Class records go to McLaughlin, Twanisha Terry's 10.99 in the 100, Lynna Irby's 49.80 over 400 meters, Weini Kelati's 5000 time of 15:22.71, and Shannon Wasike's 10000 time of 32:11.81.
NO Soph Class records!!
Lexi Jacobus (15-3 in the PV), and Makenzie Little's JT of 198-0 got Junior Class records!
Orji, and both of Ewen's marks got Senior Class records!!
NCAA Meet Records fell to Irby, Sharon Lokedi's 10000 of 32:09.20, and LSU's 4X100 Relay of 42.09!
There was a 3-way tie for my Event of the Year!
The 400, 1500, and HT all got 5 marks dated 2018 on my DDD's!
With 4 apiece were the 100, 5000, 10000, TJ, PV, and the Heptathlon!
With 3 each were the 800, 3000SC, 100H, SP, JT, and the 4X100 Relay.
Getting a pair each were the 200, LJ, DT, and the 4X400 Relay.
With 1 each are the 400H and the DMR.
Getting NONE were the Mile, 3000, and the HJ!
As with the HS Men, one person was dominant in my AOY ratings!
However, she came nowhere near the dominance of Mondo Duplantis, despite a GREAT season!!
That said, SYDNEY McLAUGHLIN---as with Mondo--wins ALL THREE of my Awards--the Athlete of the Year, Performance of the Year, and Personality of the Year!!
Just tone down the SHINE around her aura by several notches from that produced by Mr Duplantis among the HS crowd!!
Her 400H time of 52.75, as well as her 50.07 400, 22.39 over a Half Lap, and her sensational Relay splits--as well as the breadth and depth of her popularity--made her a fairly easy choice for AOY!!
But the HM's were pretty strong!
Maggie Ewen came much closer to McLaughlin than anyone came to Mondo!
Her Throwing talents saw TWO Collegiate Records, plus a decent DT!!
Other HM'ers include Irby, Orji, Jacobus, and Lokedi!
The latter gets Special Mention for taking down the 30 year old NCAA Meet Record in the 10000, a rarity in distance events!!
McLaughlin, as noted, also gets my Performance of the Year!!
Her 52.75 took 1.07 seconds off her 2017 PR, and was a solo run!!
Speculation on a World Record immediately followed!!
And she did this as a FROSH!!
But for my HM's you can't ignore Irby's 49.80, Orji's TJ, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn's 12.40 over the 100H, both of Ewen's CR's, as well as Lokedi's 10K!
(Again, Lokedi gets VERY Special Mention here also!!)
McLaughlin takes my Personality of the Year hands down!!
NOT for her magnificent athletics ability, but for how she handled the MASSIVE attention thrown her way from Day One of her only Collegiate season!!
In fact, I'm not certain who got more---Syd the Kid--or Mondo!!
Her serious yet playful demeanor throughout her entire year makes her's a personality to die for!!
Hang on to your hats, Friends!
My list of all the 2018 marks making my various Collegiate DDD's is MASSIVE!!
Again, only events WITH 2018 marks are included!!
Also remember that NO marks made AFTER the end of the NCAA meet are included here!!
100 Henderson (10.98 9th, tied with 2 others) S Collins (10.98 9th, tied with 2 others) T Terry (10.99 12th, tied with 1 other) T Clark (11.02 17th, tied with 1 other)
200 Irby (22.25 10th) Thomas (22.32 14th, tied with 1 other) McLaughlin (22.39 24th, tied with 1 other)
400 Irby (49.80 2nd) K Ellis (49.99 3rd) McLaughlin (50.07 4th) Dunmore (50.63 20th, tied with 1 other) Barnett (50.69 24th)
800 Southerland (2:00.72 12th) Wilson-Perteete (2:01.14 20th) J Fray (2:01.18 24th)
1500 Hull (4:08.75 9th) Hiltz (4:09.14 11th) Cranny (4:09.49 14th) C Aragon (4:09.59 18th) Pocratsky (4:10.03 24th)
5000 Schweizer (15:19.65 13th) E Kurgat (15:20.06 14th) V Fraser (15:20.10 15th) Kelati (15:22.71 16th)
10000 Schweizer (32:00.55 8th) Lokedi (32:09.20 13th) Wasike (32:11.81 15th) Wright (32:15.73 19th)
3000SC Ostrander (9:38.57 8th) Bouchard (9:41.32 14th) Prouse (9:45.45 23rd)
100H Camacho-Quinn (12.40 2nd) Charleton (12.70 16th, tied with 3 others) P Seymour (12.72 22nd, tied with 2 others)
400H McLaughlin (52.75 CR 1st)
LJ Orji (22-4.25 9th, tied with 2 others) T Brooks (22-3 14th, tied with 3 others)
TJ Orji (47-11.75 CR 1st) David (46-4.25 7th) Ebwea-Bile (45-11.25 12th) C Cook (45-7 17th)
PV Jacobus (15-3 3rd) Gunnarsson (15-1 7th, tied with 3 others) Gruver (14-11 12th, tied with 2 others) Guy (14-7.50 22nd, tied with 2 others)
SP Ewen (63-10.25 CR 1st) Woodard (61-3.50 9th) Giger (59-4.25 23rd, tied with 1 other)
DT Allman (206-1 10th) Ewen (204-11 12th)
JT Little (198-0 5th) Olin (191-6 15th) Gray (187-11 21st)
HT Ewen (244-6 CR 1st) Andersen (243-5 2nd) Stewart (239-3 4th) Scarvelis (226-8 15th)
Kassanavoid (223-9 22nd)
Hept Ellenwood (6173 9th) Schultz (6133 14th) Gittens (6074 18th, tied with 1 other) Grauvogel (6074 18th, tied with 1 other)
4X100 Relay LSU (42.05 CR 1st) Kentucky (42.30 3rd) USC (42.53 5th)
4X400 Relay Kentucky (3:25.99 7th) Purdue (3:26.91 11th)
DMR Missouri (11:07.59 23rd)
And that's a wrap on my AOY's---until December 31st, when I'll choose my AOY's etc for the US and the World!!
The Continental Cup is next up on the fading OUTdoor T&F schedule!
It's been getting lots of "thumbs down" comments on the T&FN Message Board!
But the provisional entry lists shows it COULD be a GREAT meet!!
My detailed report should follow soon after its end!!
The 5th Avenue Mile is also upcoming!!
See you soon!
However, there WERE differences, as will be explained below!
The Collegiate OUTdoor season ended with the final event of the NCAA Championship meet back in June!
NO INdoor marks were considered!
Let's start with the Men!
Collegiate Records went to Michael Norman (43.61 in the 400), Michael Saruni's 1:43.25 in the 800, Josh Kerr's 1500 time of 3:35.01, Rai Benjamin's 400H time of 47.02, and USC's 2:59.00 in the 4X400 Relay!
There were no Frosh or Senior Class records!
Soph Class records fell to Norman, Saruni, and Gleb Dudarev's HT of 256-0!
Junior Class records went to Kerr and Benjamin!
NCAA Meet Records were set by Norman, Benjamin, USC, Chris Nilsen (19-1.50 in the PV), and Anderson Peters's 271-9 in the JT!
My AOY pick really came down to two Men---Michael Norman and Rai Benjamin.
Norman ran on USC's Relay (See above!), sped a quick 200, and broke the CR in the 400.
But RAI BENJAMIN gets my Collegiate Athlete of the Year award for his incredible 47.02 in the 400H!!
Second only to Kevin Young's 46.78 WORLD Record, and TIED with the most venerable Edwin Moses, only, say, a 43.20 or so by Norman might have tilted this award to him!
Getting HM's were Norman, Dudarev, Kerr, Nilsen, and Grant Holloway!
As noted above, one athlete garnered all 3 of my Awards--and his name is Rai Benjamin!!
For my Performance of the Year, I had to go with Benjamin again!
Tying Moses was the deal-breaker!
But Norman's 43.61 was spectacular!
So he leads the Honorable Mentions!
Other HM's go to Kerr, Dudarev, Saruni, Nilsen (but for his PR of 19-2.75), Holloway's 13.15 in the 110H, and Houston's 4X100 Relay time of 38.17!
As for my Personality of the Year award, it goes to Norman!
For being TALKED about more than any other Collegiate athlete this year!
Speculation of what was possible for him dominated the T&FN Message Board all spring!
(After his 47.02, lots of commentary went Benjamin's way also!)
Event of the Year for the Collegiate Men--
The 400 led with 5 marks from 2018!
The 1500 got 4.
With 3 each were the 100, 110H, 400H, PV, JT, HT, 4X100 Relay, and the DMR!
With a pair were the 200, 800, SP, Decathlon, and the 4X400 Relay.
The 5000 and LJ have one.
With ZERO are the Mile, 10000, 3000SC, HJ, TJ, and DT!
Following are all the marks from 2018 on my various DDD's!
Events with NO marks are NOT listed!
100 Bacon (9.97 14th, tied with 5 others) Ewers (9.98 20th, tied with 3 others) K Williams (9.99 24th, tied with 4 others)
200 Titi (20.00 13th, tied with 1 other) Norman (20.06 23rd)
400 Norman (43.61 CR 1st) Bloomfield (43.94 3rd) N Allen (44.13 6th) Strother (44.34 11th, tied with 1 other) St Hilaire (44.55 19th)
800 Saruni (1:43.25 CR 1st) I Harris (1:44.76 12th)
1500 Kerr (3:35.01 CR 1st) Knight (3:36.07 7th) Dominic (3:36.33 9th) Prakel (3:36.84 17th)
5000 Trouard (13:21.07 16th)
110H Holloway (13.15 2nd) D Roberts (13.27 10th, tied with 1 other) Walters (13.31 16th)
400H Benjamin (47.02 CR 1st) Selmon (48.12 5th) Kendziera (48.42 13th)
LJ Bazile (27-5.50 8th, tied with 1 other)
PV Nilsen (19-2.75 4th, tied with 1 other) King (19-0.25 8th, tied with 2 others) Richartz (18-8.25 20th, tied with 7 others)
SP Otterdahl (68-9.25 19th) Comenentia (68-6 20th, tied with 1 other)
JT A Peters (271-9 7th) S Gudmundsson (264-1 17th) Quuara (263-2 18th)
HT Dudarev (256-0 4th) Comenentia (250-8 10th) Eriksson (243-5 21st)
Dec Duckworth (8336 7th) Saluri (8137 24th)
4X100R Houston (38.17 2nd) Ohio St (38.67 16th) Southern Miss (38.89 24th)
4X400R USC (2:59.00 CR 1st) Houston (3:01.82 19th)
DMR Notre Dame (9:35.18 19th) Princeton (9:35.74 22nd) Florida (9:35.90 23rd)
Now for the Women!
Collegiate Records went to Sydney McLaughlin (52.75 in the 400H), Keturah Orji's 47-11.75 TJ, Maggie Ewen's 63-10.25 in the SP--AND her 244-6 in the HT!!--as well as LSU's 4X100 Relay time of 42.05!
Frosh Class records go to McLaughlin, Twanisha Terry's 10.99 in the 100, Lynna Irby's 49.80 over 400 meters, Weini Kelati's 5000 time of 15:22.71, and Shannon Wasike's 10000 time of 32:11.81.
NO Soph Class records!!
Lexi Jacobus (15-3 in the PV), and Makenzie Little's JT of 198-0 got Junior Class records!
Orji, and both of Ewen's marks got Senior Class records!!
NCAA Meet Records fell to Irby, Sharon Lokedi's 10000 of 32:09.20, and LSU's 4X100 Relay of 42.09!
There was a 3-way tie for my Event of the Year!
The 400, 1500, and HT all got 5 marks dated 2018 on my DDD's!
With 4 apiece were the 100, 5000, 10000, TJ, PV, and the Heptathlon!
With 3 each were the 800, 3000SC, 100H, SP, JT, and the 4X100 Relay.
Getting a pair each were the 200, LJ, DT, and the 4X400 Relay.
With 1 each are the 400H and the DMR.
Getting NONE were the Mile, 3000, and the HJ!
As with the HS Men, one person was dominant in my AOY ratings!
However, she came nowhere near the dominance of Mondo Duplantis, despite a GREAT season!!
That said, SYDNEY McLAUGHLIN---as with Mondo--wins ALL THREE of my Awards--the Athlete of the Year, Performance of the Year, and Personality of the Year!!
Just tone down the SHINE around her aura by several notches from that produced by Mr Duplantis among the HS crowd!!
Her 400H time of 52.75, as well as her 50.07 400, 22.39 over a Half Lap, and her sensational Relay splits--as well as the breadth and depth of her popularity--made her a fairly easy choice for AOY!!
But the HM's were pretty strong!
Maggie Ewen came much closer to McLaughlin than anyone came to Mondo!
Her Throwing talents saw TWO Collegiate Records, plus a decent DT!!
Other HM'ers include Irby, Orji, Jacobus, and Lokedi!
The latter gets Special Mention for taking down the 30 year old NCAA Meet Record in the 10000, a rarity in distance events!!
McLaughlin, as noted, also gets my Performance of the Year!!
Her 52.75 took 1.07 seconds off her 2017 PR, and was a solo run!!
Speculation on a World Record immediately followed!!
And she did this as a FROSH!!
But for my HM's you can't ignore Irby's 49.80, Orji's TJ, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn's 12.40 over the 100H, both of Ewen's CR's, as well as Lokedi's 10K!
(Again, Lokedi gets VERY Special Mention here also!!)
McLaughlin takes my Personality of the Year hands down!!
NOT for her magnificent athletics ability, but for how she handled the MASSIVE attention thrown her way from Day One of her only Collegiate season!!
In fact, I'm not certain who got more---Syd the Kid--or Mondo!!
Her serious yet playful demeanor throughout her entire year makes her's a personality to die for!!
Hang on to your hats, Friends!
My list of all the 2018 marks making my various Collegiate DDD's is MASSIVE!!
Again, only events WITH 2018 marks are included!!
Also remember that NO marks made AFTER the end of the NCAA meet are included here!!
100 Henderson (10.98 9th, tied with 2 others) S Collins (10.98 9th, tied with 2 others) T Terry (10.99 12th, tied with 1 other) T Clark (11.02 17th, tied with 1 other)
200 Irby (22.25 10th) Thomas (22.32 14th, tied with 1 other) McLaughlin (22.39 24th, tied with 1 other)
400 Irby (49.80 2nd) K Ellis (49.99 3rd) McLaughlin (50.07 4th) Dunmore (50.63 20th, tied with 1 other) Barnett (50.69 24th)
800 Southerland (2:00.72 12th) Wilson-Perteete (2:01.14 20th) J Fray (2:01.18 24th)
1500 Hull (4:08.75 9th) Hiltz (4:09.14 11th) Cranny (4:09.49 14th) C Aragon (4:09.59 18th) Pocratsky (4:10.03 24th)
5000 Schweizer (15:19.65 13th) E Kurgat (15:20.06 14th) V Fraser (15:20.10 15th) Kelati (15:22.71 16th)
10000 Schweizer (32:00.55 8th) Lokedi (32:09.20 13th) Wasike (32:11.81 15th) Wright (32:15.73 19th)
3000SC Ostrander (9:38.57 8th) Bouchard (9:41.32 14th) Prouse (9:45.45 23rd)
100H Camacho-Quinn (12.40 2nd) Charleton (12.70 16th, tied with 3 others) P Seymour (12.72 22nd, tied with 2 others)
400H McLaughlin (52.75 CR 1st)
LJ Orji (22-4.25 9th, tied with 2 others) T Brooks (22-3 14th, tied with 3 others)
TJ Orji (47-11.75 CR 1st) David (46-4.25 7th) Ebwea-Bile (45-11.25 12th) C Cook (45-7 17th)
PV Jacobus (15-3 3rd) Gunnarsson (15-1 7th, tied with 3 others) Gruver (14-11 12th, tied with 2 others) Guy (14-7.50 22nd, tied with 2 others)
SP Ewen (63-10.25 CR 1st) Woodard (61-3.50 9th) Giger (59-4.25 23rd, tied with 1 other)
DT Allman (206-1 10th) Ewen (204-11 12th)
JT Little (198-0 5th) Olin (191-6 15th) Gray (187-11 21st)
HT Ewen (244-6 CR 1st) Andersen (243-5 2nd) Stewart (239-3 4th) Scarvelis (226-8 15th)
Kassanavoid (223-9 22nd)
Hept Ellenwood (6173 9th) Schultz (6133 14th) Gittens (6074 18th, tied with 1 other) Grauvogel (6074 18th, tied with 1 other)
4X100 Relay LSU (42.05 CR 1st) Kentucky (42.30 3rd) USC (42.53 5th)
4X400 Relay Kentucky (3:25.99 7th) Purdue (3:26.91 11th)
DMR Missouri (11:07.59 23rd)
And that's a wrap on my AOY's---until December 31st, when I'll choose my AOY's etc for the US and the World!!
The Continental Cup is next up on the fading OUTdoor T&F schedule!
It's been getting lots of "thumbs down" comments on the T&FN Message Board!
But the provisional entry lists shows it COULD be a GREAT meet!!
My detailed report should follow soon after its end!!
The 5th Avenue Mile is also upcoming!!
See you soon!
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