Monday, February 19, 2018

Global Preps for World's

The fantastic Records & Marks didn't start & end in Albuquerque!
The only reason I didn't incorporate what's below into my report on the USATF meet was space--or lack thereof!
So much good stuff happened in NM that I chose not to try to cram all the other stuff I had into one post!
So hang on, folks,  because you won't believe what went on globally in the preparation for Birmingham England's World Championships--now just 10 days away!!

First, some additional info on a couple of already-reported marks!
Meref Bahta's 8:42.44 over 3000 meters in Madrid breaks her own National Record of Sweden!
And Beatrice Chepkoech's 4:04.21 in the Dusseldorf 3000 is the National Record of Kenya!!

Genzebe Dibaba ran a quick 3K in Spain--8:31.23!
But she'd wanted to go faster!!

Sticking to the Distances--
Ayanleh Suleiman beat Abdelaati Iguider in a 1500--3:35.39 to 3:35.79!
Silimon Baraga took the 3000 in 7:36.64!
Habitam Alemu ran the 800 in 1:59.69, tying the World leader!

In the Russian Championships, Anna Belokobylakaya ran the fastest 5000 of the year--14:56.22.
This makes her 15th A-T World!

On the short end of the distance spectrum, Josh Hoey ran 1:51.49 over 800 meters in a Penn State meet, making him 22nd A-T HS!

In a JDL flat track race, Elly Henes ran 15:43.84 over 5000 meters!
She's a North Carolina State Soph!!

But maybe the most promising distance mark came from the German lady I refer to as KK--aka Konstanze Klosterhalfen!!
On her 21st birthday, she pretty much solo'ed a 3000 in 8:36.01--matching the time run recently by Shelby Houlihan!!
She broke the 30 year old (!!) National Record of Germany!!
It makes her 22nd A-T World, tied with--Houlihan!!

The 5th stop (of 6!) on the IAAF's World INdoor Tour took place in Torun, Poland!!
Most marks were of a "Blah!" nature--relatively speaking--but don't tell that to Konrad Bukowiecki!!
This massive SP phenom sent the 16 pound ball out 72-2.25!!
It's the Age 20 Record!
He broke his own National Record of Poland!
But he remains 11th A-T World!!
Tomas Stanek threw a good 71-7.50 in 2nd!

Lea Sprunger continues as the "find" of 400 meter running in Europe--whether over hurdles or on the flat!
Her 51.28 in Torun is the National Record of Switzerland--and before USATF, was the World leader!!
In 2nd came Justyna Swiety's 51.78, which takes over as the National Record of Poland!

Helen Obiri came into the 1500 saying she wanted a sub-4 time!
But as distance races often happen, it became a tactical race!
It was Rabebe Arafi's 4:04.76 which took the W, with Obiri's 4:05.04 just 3rd behind Meref Bahta's 4:04.89!

Mariya Lasitskene kept her winning streak alive--her top height being 6-6.75!
Pam Dutkiewicz won the 60H in 7.85.
Anzhelika Cichocka took the 800 in 2:00.76.
Marie Josee Ta Lou won the 60 in 7.11, with Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith 2nd in 7.14!

But maybe the best mark out of Torun came from Piotr Lisek!
His 19-4.75 easily took the PV!!

The Women's sprints were top-heavy with speedy marks--from various National Championships!!

It began in Switzerland, where the athlete with one of my A-T favorite names--Mujinga Kambundji--finally reached the promise she first showed at the 2014 OUTdoor European Championships!
Her 7.03 at the Swiss Champs broke her own Switzerland National Record--and for a moment, made her the World leader!!
She is now 23rd A-T World, tied with 2 others!

The German Championships saw Tatjana Pinto win in 7.06!
Then Dafne Schippers followed suit at the Netherlands Champs--but with a time of "only" 7.09!!

Other track times included---
Rai Benjamin's 20.55 in an Arkansas 200!

In my USATF report, I spoke of Emily Sloan's 8.07 becoming the 2nd fastest HS time ever!
But before that, Grace Stark sent her time down from a previous 8.22 all the way to 8.12!!
This gave her the Junior Class Record!
It moved her from 12th A-T HS to 3rd!
And the girl she beat?
Just one Tia Jones, the OUTdoor 100H HSR holder!!
Jones finished in 8.23!

At the Simplot Games, there was a good Women's 400!
Arria Minor improved to 53.47, moving her from 20th A-T HS to 15th!
She beat Meghan Hunter, whose 53.92 makes her 21st A-T HS, tied with 1 other!!

Also at Simplot, Lexi Ellis TJ'ed 42-7.75, moving her from 14th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 9th!
And Sondre Guttormsen PV'ed 17-8.50!!
BTW, this was on the same day KC Lightfoot PV'ed 17-7.75 at the USATF meet (See earlier post!)!
And would you believe that Mondo Duplantis Vaulted 18-8.25--also on that day--making it the best day ever for male HS PV'ers!!

Speaking of the PV, Chris Nilsen finally reached 19 feet---actually 19-0.25!!
This moves him from 10th A-T Collegiate to 5th, tied with 3 others!
He also becomes 14th A-T US, but tied with ELEVEN others!!
In Russia, Anzhelika Sidorova soared over the bar set at 15-11.75!!
This moves her from 7th A-T World to 6th, tied with 1 other!
The Men's event was taken by Tomas Morgunov's 19-2.25!
Keeping with the Russia--and PV'ing theme--I'm happy to report that Yelena Isinbayeva gave birth to her 2nd child on February 13th--a boy!

Back to the active Vaulters--
Kat Stefanidi cleared 15-10 in a recent meet!
Finally, Anicka Newell--who's having a solid year--reached 14-8.75 at an LSU meet!

Ja Mari Ward LJ'ed 26-1.75!
Trey Knight continued producing 80 foot-plus marks in the WT--his latest being "just" 80-5.50!

But maybe the best move upward in the WT was from Annette Echikunwoke!
She threw 81-3.75, which made giant strides up on 3 A-T lists!!
She moves from 7th A-T Collegiate to 2nd!!
From 10th A-T US to 3rd, tied with 1 other!
And from 13th A-T World to 3rd, also tied with 1 other!!

Thea LaFond TJ'ed 46-2.50, becoming the National Record holder of Domenica!!

A couple of OUTdoor marks of note--
Sally Pearson ran the 100H in 12.73.

And Fedric Dacres heaved the Discus out 228-10, breaking his own National Record of Jamaica!
He also gets the Age 23 Record!
But he misses the World DDD by 10 inches!!

So, after that HOT meet in Albuquerque, and all the other great marks from around the world--How is this season going so far??

Well, I'm not sure!
Meaning, I don't have counts made at the same time last INdoor season, so direct comparisons to 2017 can't be made!!

However, I just did a tally of the Records broken this season, as well as the number of marks on my various DDD's dated as 2018!!

We have 3 Men's WR's, and 2 Women's!
There are 2 US Men's Records, and 5 by US Women!
Collegiately, we have 3 Men's and 2 Women's CR's!
For the younger set, there are just 2 HSR's for the Men so far, while the Women number 6!

On my Top 24 Performer's lists, the numbers are---
The Women's HS count is 31, with the Men having 20.
Female Collegiates have 36 marks, while the Men number 25!
On the US lists, The Women clearly are dominant--with 52 marks to the Men's 23!!
But on my World DDD's, the Men outdo the Ladies, 24 to 21!

The Grand Totals are 92 for the Men, and 140 for the Women!
Bottom line total is 232.

If you recall, I counted a whopping 465 such marks for the 2017 INdoor season!
But keep this in mind--
BIG numbers are expected from the Collegiate Conferences and the NCAA's!
For the HS set, the NBIN ALWAYS produces a humongous number of list-worthy marks!
Hopefully, 2018's version will match previous years!
And with the WC's yet to happen (Plus the 6th IAAF World INdoor Tour meet next week!), we can expect several more marks for the World--and maybe the US!

In 2017--as mentioned in another post--many marks came from the "new" events--the 300 and 600!
"New" in the sense that I'd just begun lists for those events, and 2017 was a GREAT year for those events--the combination making for a huge growth in my DDD numbers!!
That's not happening this season!!

Well, that does it for this weekend!
See you soon!





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