Verticals Strong---Again!

Seems the years since this blog began (December 9, 2013) have been dominated by the Verticals!
While most of the other events have seen incredible Records & Marks, and frequent Record Book revisions, it's been the Pole Vault and High Jump that have most often been joined in title by "Year of....."--both INdoors & OUTdoors!!
And for the Indoor-loving crowd, December & January have seen athletes soaring over high bars earlier than other events have seen their athletes do the same!

If what's taken place this 2nd week of January is any indication, we may be seeing the birthing of yet another "Year of..."!!

The INdoor World Record holder for the Men--Renaud Lavillenie--began his year with his best opener in years---a 19-0.75 jump in Tignes.
(More on the Monsieur in a moment!)

The Reno Summit raised the bar--so to speak!
First, it was Sandi Morris who opened her 2018 with a 16-0.75 mark---not her PR, but not bad for a rust-buster!
Katie Nageotte had a good run too--hitting 15-1.50--before missing her tries at 15-7.25!
Annie Rhodes and Morgann LeLeux both reached 14-9.50 before X'ing out!

But the Reno meet was far from over!

Mondo did it again!!
19-1.50!!
Breaking his own High School Record.
Getting the Senior  Class  record!
Becoming the 1st athlete in awhile (Since Amy Acuff in the 90's??) to hold all four Class Records for either HS or College!
Breaking the Age 18 record!
Getting his own National Record of Sweden!
He remains 1st A-T HS!
He then tried 19-5, but using a bigger pole, wasn't able to get it---this time!!

In second came Devin King with a PR of his own--18-11.50!!
Scott Houston was 3rd with 18-7.50!

The HS portion of the meet (Mondo was in the elite section, NOT the HS!!) saw a very interesting story develop!
Ever hear of Sondre Guttormsen?
Neither had I!
He was born in Davis CA in 1999  when his father was attending grad school---or something!
But soon after, they moved back to Norway, their home.
They would return again, then leave.
After a 7 year absence, Sondre came back, and is now a HS Senior, with UCLA apparently set as his College of choice for next year!
There was some question of his eligibility, because of CA HS rules!
But  this was apparently resolved in December, and he became eligible to compete for his Senior year here!

A former European Junior medalist, he soared over 18-0 in the Reno HS Vault!!
And suddenly, he is 2nd A-T HS--and after Mondo, only the 2nd HS'er to reach 18 feet INdoors!!

Zach Bradford had a good day also, clearing 17-8.
This makes him 7th A-T HS!
KC Lightfoot reached 17-4--not a PR!

The HS Women saw Morgann LeLeux's sister--Reagann--clear 13-10!
This makes her 10th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
It also gives her the family record for the INdoor event, as Morgann's best was 13-8.25!
Ellie Talius was 2nd with 13-6.
She's 22nd A-T HS, tied with 2 others!

Now back to Renaud!!
In a meet a couple of days later, he cleared 19-2.75, re-taking the World lead from Mr Duplantis!!

And while we're on those Verticals, let's clear the slate!!
Trey Culver is suddenly a 7-7.75 HJ'er!!
After making 7-5.25, 7-6.50 and his new PR on 1st tries, he then took 3 shots at 7-8.75!
His 2.33 leap makes him 4th A-T Collegiate, tied with 4 others!!
And 12th A-T US, tied with 3 others!!
Bradley Atkins got over 7-4.25!

Other "Vertical" goodies--
Olivia Gruver broke the Junior Class record with her 15-1 PV--thus erasing the last of the Collegiate Class Records of sub-15 feet!
That was Tina Sutej's 14-11.50 from 2011.
She moves from 16th A-T Collegiate to 4th, tied with 2 others!
And she's now 13th A-T US, tied with 6 others!!

Robbie Grabarz HJ'ed 7-6.50.
Yuliya Yevchenko got over 6-5.50--her INdoor PR!
In Houston, Jeron Robinson reached 7-6.50, while Frosh Vernon Turner cleared 7-3.75!
Also in Houston, Andrew Irwin PV'ed 18-7.25.
Tori (Weeks) Hoggard won the Arkansas PV with 14-0.75, then missed her tries at 14-2.25!
Sister Lexi (Jacobus) was a DNS, as was Desiree Freier!
Chris Nilsen got over 18-4.50.

Virginia Tech's Dynamic Duo--Lisa Gunnarsson & Rachel Baxter--went 1-2 in the PV--Lisa clearing 14-6, Rachel 14-0!
Madison Heath got over 14-1.75.
Nicole Greene reached 6-2 in the HJ--which I believe is a PR!!

Before  returning to INdoor T&F, let's cover a series of Half-Marathons where Americans did quite well!!
Leading off with the Doha race, Mo Farah was a DNS!!
The featured entrant, he claimed Achilles problems as his excuse!

But nothing stopped NYC heroine Allie Kieffer!!
Following her 5th in the Big Apple's 26.2 (See previous post!), she WON this Doha race with a PR of 1:10:40!
(If you recall, she negative split the NY race, her 2nd Half being a low 1:13!!  Thus, she slashed her unofficial PR by over two minutes!!)
This makes her 18th A-T US!!
She beat a couple of good ones--Gemma Steel and Faith Chepkoech--both of whom ended about 2 minutes behind!!
Emma Bates took 4th with 1:12:52.
BTW, Alex Kibet's 61:53 took the Men's race--in Mo's absence!!

Eilish McColgan won the Doha 10K in 31:50!

Houston's Half was billed as a "race" for the American Record--with Molly Huddle and Jordan Hasay being the key figures!
No contest!!
Huddle's 67:25 broke Deena Kastor's "official" AR of 67:34!
BUT---Kara Goucher ran 66:57 on the Great Shields slightly (33 meters drop) downhill course, and is "unofficially" the AR holder--just as Ryan Hall's 2:04:58 in Boston is the "unofficial" AR for the Marathon!!
I have Goucher's time on my list, and as the AR holder!!
But Huddle's performance was great, nonetheless!!
Enroute, she is said to have broken 2 other US records---10 Miles in 50:52, and 20K in 63:48!!
(I don't have Kara's splits, but she probably ran faster at those 2 points than did Molly!!)
Oh, and Huddle whomped on Hasay, the latter's time of 68:38 not a PR!

Huddle won the US division, but the overall winner was Ruti Aga's 66:39!
She misses the World list by just 10 seconds!
Caroline Chepkoech (66:48), Mary Wacera & Buze Diriba (both 66:50), and Eunice Chumba (67:18) all ended ahead of 7th placer Huddle.
Hasay was overall 8th!
Becky Wade ran 71:15, missing my US list by 14 seconds!

Zane Robertson won the Men's Half--his 60:01 tying his PR!!
(Oh so close!!)
Sam Chelanga PR'ed with 60:37, moving him from 19th A-T US to 7th!
Haron Lagat ran 61:01, which makes him 11th A-T US!
I've heard that Bernard Lagat (No relation to Haron??) ran 62:00--at Age 43!!

In the Phoenix Rock & Roll Half, the Women's winner was Stephanie Bruce, time of 72:32.
She nipped Elias (?) Kibet by one second!

In the Great Edinburgh XC races, the results showed---
Len Korir won the Men's race in 24:32, with Kaan Ozbilen 2nd in 24:35.
Garrett Heath finished 6th in 25:03.
The Women's Senior race was won by Yasmin Can, her 20:58 beating Emilia Gorecka by 2 seconds.
In 3rd came Molly Seidel's 21:04!!
Chelsea Blaase and Natosha Rogers finished 12th & 13th, close to 40 seconds back of Seidel!

The Junior Women's race was taken by Kelsey Chmiel!!
Her 14:10 took the measure of the field, including 7th placer Claudia Lane, who ended in 14:30.
The Junior Men's race was won by Simen Haugen's 19:13.
In 4th came American Danny Kilrea's 19:24!

Now let's finish off my INdoor results--by group!!

Sprints
The Arkansas Invite saw a good Men's 200, with Marqueze Washington's 20.64 beating Fred Kerley's 20.68.
Steven Gardiner (Spelled "Gardner" in the results, but I'm fairly certain it's the Bahaman flash!!) sprinted a 300 in 32.51.
This makes him 15th A-T World, tied with 1 other.
That meet was in Birmingham AL!
Jessica Beard ran a non-PR 37.35 over the same distance!
Christina Manning did the 60H in 8.02.
(In an OUTdoor race in Australia, Sally Pearson sped the 100H in 12.73, wind of 1.4!)

In Seattle, a pair of Super-Vets performed well!
Aries Merritt won the 60H in 7.65.
And Brittney Reese took the 60 flat in 7.31.
At Texas Tech, Mike Rodgers sped a 60 in 6.60!
Mikiah Brisco ran her 60 in 7.15.
She moves from 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 5 others, to 13th, tied with 6 others!!
Aleia Hobbs ran 7.21.

Distances (600 on up!)
In a mixed race in Glasgow, Laura Muir opened her season with a solid 3000 in 8:37.21.
It's not a PR!
Katelyn Tuohy followed up her spectacular 3K of 9:05.26 (See previous post!) with a Mile of 4:43.62.
This was a cruiser, as she just wanted to qualify for the Millrose HS Mile!
While basically a tempo run, it did make her 15th A-T HS!!
She missed the Soph Class record by 0.39 seconds!!
Her enroute 1500 time of 4:25.42 moves her from 18th to 16th on the A-T HS list!
All this in a---jogfest!!  LOL
Next week comes her HSR attempt over 5000 meters!!
BTW, she doesn't turn 16 until March 18th!!

Karissa Schweizer also cruised---a 1000 in 2:44.12.
Samantha (Almost called her Sammy!!!) Watson anchored her A&M DMR team to a school record time of 11:12.0--her 1600 split being 4:42.97.
At the Arkansas meet, Chrishuna Williams sped a 600 in 1:26.99.
This makes her 10th A-T US!!
Alena Brooks took 2nd in 1:27.56.

Nick Willis inaugurated the new Michigan INdoor 200 meter track with a Mile win in 3:57.99.
He beat Hamish Carson's 3:58.68, and Mason Ferlic's 4:00.31.
Nicole Sifuentes won the Women's Mile in a solid 4:27.69.
Shannon Osika was 2nd in 4:28.30, while Erin Finn got the Collegiate leader with her 4:40.17!

In the Ocean Breeze facility, Ajee Wilson and Charlene Lipsey went longer than normal, their Mile times being 4:36.83 and 4:38.30, respectively!
Does Vanderbilt have an Oversize Track?
If so, then Michael Saruni's 800 of 1:45.92 counts for nothing!!
If it's legal-size, then he claims the World lead!!
(Will let you know in my next post!)

Field Events (other than the PV & HJ---see above!)---
Jordan Geist has a SP mark of 63-9.75!
(Let's not forget he threw a HSR of 68-4 a year ago!!)
Maggie Ewen exploded out to 60-6 in the SP!!
Better known as a Hammer Thrower, this moves her from 12th A-T Collegiate to 9th!
(Yes, she's still a Collegiate!!)
It also makes her 17th A-T US, tied with 1 other.
She threw the WT 68-2.25!
Janeah Stewart had a WT of 74-3.50--not a PR!
Daniel Haugh's WT measured 71-10!
Adrian "Tripp" Piperi's SP flew out a good 63-11.75!
Chuk Enechwechi's SP was 66-3.
Stamatia Scarvelis had a WT of 73-0.75!
She misses the Collegiate DDD by 1.75 inches!

The Horizontals saw the following marks--
Chris Carter TJ'ed 54-11.25 in Houston!
Charles Brown LJ'ed 26-4.25!
In Michigan, Donald Scott TJ'ed 55-11.75!
And Jasmine Moore TJ'ed 41-8.75.
She's in the 11th Grade!

I have one of those EXTREMELY questionable marks that our old friend TFRSS sometimes produces!
(I'm sure you recall me mentioning some of them before!)
The latest is a "21-6.25" LJ by one Ayesha Champagne!!
Well, don't break out the bubbly just yet!!  LOL
Her previous best is listed as being in the 18's---as in 18 feet!!
Unless she literally SOARED to a new (Beamonesque!) PR of over 3 feet, this mark probably (Certainly??) is FALSE!!
Will let you know!!

That Seattle meet gave up a few good times---NONE of which are legal!!-- on its 307 meter OT---
Olivia Baker ran 600 meters in 1:28.72.
And in the Women's 3000--
Shalane Flanagan won in 8:55.11.
Mel  Lawrence was 2nd in 8:57.03.
Amy Eloise-Neale was 3rd in 9:01.96.

In OTHER news---
Allie Kieffer is a Oiselle-sponsored athlete now!!
And Cam Levins--late of Nike's NOP--now runs for Hoka One One!!

See you all soon!!!