A Quiet Weekend?

Not quite!
Though definitely less noisy than the 3 weeks during when my computer was taking a siesta!
Maybe quieter in the quantity of Records & Marks, but not so much in the quality!

But before I begin, I need to make an addition to my Jumps post!
Remember Pablo etc etc Pichardo's 58-10.75 TJ at Doha??
Well, I didn't know--or had forgotten--that he's representing a new country after leaving Cuba!
He's in Portugal now!
Thus his mark gave him its National Record!!
(He joins former Cuban Orlando Ortega in that regard--as Ortega holds both the Cuba and Spain NR's for the 110H!!)

I'm going to lead with a HS mark!
Not because it's the best mark of the weekend!
Nor even that it's the best HS mark of the year!
But it represents a campaign that I've been ranting about for a few years now--the lost opportunities on the Women's side to break Polly Plumer's 1982 HSR in the Mile!
Think of how many HS Girls who COULD have taken that venerable Record down these past few years!
Mary Cain, Alexa Efraimson, Elise Cranny, Kate Murphy, Christina Aragon, Katie Rainsberger, Ella Donaghu!
And this year, we have possibles in Katelyn Tuohy, Katelynn Hart, and now Caitlin Collier!
(How many different ways to spell the same-sounding name!!!)

First, let me report that she PR'ed in the 800 during my absence!
In the Florida State meet on May 4th, she ran the 800 in 2:02.77
She moved from 15th A-T HS, tied with 1 other, to 9th!
Well, now she's PR'ed in the Mile!
At the adidas Boston meet, she ran 4:38.48 to take the HS Mile from London Culbreath's 4:43.41.
It all came in the final 400!
Only slightly ahead at the bell, Collier sped a 65.91 final lap, as opposed to Culbreath's 70.17!

Think about that!
She has 2:02.77 800 speed!
(Faster later??)
And now she just kicked with a 65.91 in a Mile where her average 440's were 69.6's!
She can nail Plumer's HSR!
As can Tuohy, and probably Hart!!
But WILL they take that serious shot--or will 2018 be another year of lost opportunities??

The women's Hammer Throw in the US continues to--uh--hammer away!!
And DeAnna Price is now the main player!
In a meet in Jamaica, she added a foot to her PR, her 250-2 the best of a 4-throw series where all her throws were in the high 240's!!
While she remains 2nd to Gwen Berry on the US list, she moves from 22nd A-T World to 18th!!

Sean Donnelly got a significant PR in the Hammer also!
His 252-6 in the Tucson Elite meet makes him suddenly 9th A-T US!
He had not been among my Top 24 before!

That Boston meet was a 2-day event.
The first day was on the stadium track, and covered mainly distances.
The second day (today!) was on a track laid down on Charles Street, and was completely straight!

And that allowed Shaunae Miller-Uibo to break a World Record!
(Though I assume they're talking of WR's set on portable tracks on city streets, NOT regulation tracks inside stadia!)
Anyway, her time of 16.23 (over 150 meters) is at least faster than any other Woman has run on such a device, and in such a venue!
Michelle Lee-Ahye was 2nd in 16.57.
Hannah Cunliffe came in 4th with 16.95!

The Men were speedy over the same distance!
Noah Lyles won in 14.77, beating Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake's 14.81.
He had to finish strong to nail NMB!

Steven Gardiner continued his strong season with a 19.88 in the straight 200!
Alonzo Edward and Jereem Richards had the same time--20.03--but finished 2nd & 3rd, respectively!
A surprise in the Women's 200 found Anastasia Le-Roy--a journeywoman Jamaican Age 30--winning in 22.16!!
Joanna Atkins was 2nd in 22.31, with Shakima Wimbley following in 22.43!

They held a 200H race too--also on the straight!
And that produced an "AR", with Ebony Morrison surprising Shamier Little, 25.80 to 25.90!
(What could Sydney McLaughlin run on that kind of track??)

Other 2nd day marks were---
Eric Futch's 22.55 beating Byron Robinson's 22.62 over the 200H!
Orlando Ortega winning the 110H in 13.29!
Tori Bowie taking the Women's 100 in 11.05.
Sharika Nelvis beating Danielle Williams in the 100H, 12.76 to 12.78!

The HS'ers ran good 100's also!
KeSean Carter beat Austin Kratz, 10.31 to 10.33!
And 15 year old phenom Brianna Williams crushed the field with her 11.35!

The only wind-aided mark came in the Men's 100, where a 2.4 helped Great Britain's Zharnel Hughes to a 9.99, with Akani Simbine 2nd in 10.03.
In 4th came Tyson Gay's 10.29.

The best distance marks came in the Women's 800 and 1500.
Ajee Wilson took the 2 lapper in 1:59.27.
Natoya Goule's 1:59.43 took the Silver!
Dawit Seyaum's 4:04.65 beat the PR 4:04.98 by Charlene Lipsey!

Drew Hunter gained his first win as a Pro!
His 3:56.72 won the Mile, with Nick Willis's 4:00.29 getting him just 6th!
Brandon McBride took the 800 in 1:45.18, beating Marcin Lewindowski's 1:46.11.
Back in 8th came HS'er Josh Hoey's 1:48.37!
This makes him 21st A-T HS!

In the Men's 3000, Cyrus Rutto beat Hagos Gebrhiwet and Muktar Edris with his 7:45.64.
The other two were in the 7:46's.

The Osaka GP meet saw some decent marks.
Shiying Liu's Javelin Throw of 220-2 moves her from 24th A-T World to 19th, tied with 1 other!
Huihui Lyu's 211-9 took 2nd!

Isaac Makwala sped the 200 in 19.96, wind of 0.9.
He beat Zhenye Xie's National Record of China--his 20.16!

Justin Gatlin won the 100 in 10.06, against a wind of 0.7!!
Pawel Fajdek had a HT of 257-7, beating the 253-5 of Bence Halasz!
Kristin Hixson took the PV with her 15-1.50.
Queen Harrison also fought a wind (-0.6) in winning the 100H in 13.01.
Ryan Gregson took the 1500 in 3:37.72!

A slight shock came in the Women's 100, where Yangli Wei's 11.17 beat Aaliyah Brown's 11.24!
In 3rd came Candace Hill, but far back in 11.43!!

The Tucson Elite meet had other good marks!
In a separate HT comp, Brooke Andersen reached 233-1.
Tom Walsh's SP of 71-3.50 beat Darrell Hill's 70-2.50!
This being a 2 day meet, with the days separated by a rest day, Hill had an earlier mark of 69-1.50!
Sam Mattis had a DT of 217-7.
In a different comp, Reggie Jagers reached 215-10.
Kelsey Card's DT sailed out 198-3.
BTW, where has she been recently?
Haven't heard anything from her for awhile--maybe a year or more!!
And Rachel Dincoff PR'ed in the DT with her 200-8!

One more mark from Tucson--
Tyson Jones threw the HS SP (12 pounder) 71-8.75, making him 15th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!

That Jamaica meet also had a few other decent marks--
Janeive Russell took the 400H in 54.26.
Elaine Thompson ran home (Heh.) in 11.06, despite a wind of 0.2 against her!
Ronnie Baker used a max 2.0 to run the 100 in 10 flat!
Jessica Beard's 50.52 beat Jaide Stepter's 50.72 in a quick 400.

In the Women's LJ, Nigeria's Ese Brume beat a good field with her 22-4.50.
Among them was 6th placer Tianna Bartoletta, who leapt 21-4.25!

The former Oxy meet (now the USATF something or other!) had some okay marks--
Ce-Aira Brown won the Women's 800 in 2:00.38.
Hanna Green's 2:01.40 sent bell leader (58+) Brenda Martinez to 3rd in 2:02.03.
Lauren Paquette won the 5000 in 15:19.17, beating Canada's Rachel Cliff, who ran 15:20.66.

In separate races, Johnny Gregorek and Matthew Centrowitz ran 3:36.95 and 3:38.99 to take their respective sections!

In a significant windy mark, Brittney Reese reached 23-7.25 in the LJ, but she had a 3.0 wind blast propelling her!
A mark from a meet in Poland found Darlan Romani having a SP reach 71-11.75!
This breaks his own National Record of Brazil!
He falls just 3.25 inches short of making the World list!!
Michel Haratyk's 71-1.25 took 2nd!

I have a series of old (but not too old!) HS marks to report, thanks to FINALLY checking the lists on T&FN's website!!

Tamari Davis sped a 100 in 11.29!
Skylar Ciccolini added 10 more inches to her PR in the JT, reaching 173-11.
She moves from 11th A-T HS to 9th!
Trinity Clark's 165-3 JT makes her 20th A-T HS!

Three Women's HT marks made me revise my list--
Samantha Kunze's 195-6 makes her 7th A-T HS.
Shelby Moran's 191-9 makes her 16th A-T HS.
And Gianna Rao's 188-1 moves her from 24th A-T HS to 20th!

The Great Manchester Road 10K found BIG names winning--
Mo Farah's 28:27 nipped Moses Kipsiro by one second!
And Tirunesh Dibaba sped 31:08 to beat Joyciline Jepkosgei's 31:57 by 49 seconds!!

Finally, the "Night of 10000 PB's"--put on by GB's Highgate Harriers--saw a few good times--
Richard Ringer took the Men's race in 27:36.52, just edging Morad Amdoumi's 27:36.80.
GB's Andy Vernon was 6th in 27:52.32.
The Women's main race was taken by Israel's Chemtai Lonah Salpeter in 31:33.03.
This is the new National Record of Israel!
She beat Romania's Ancuta Bobacel's 31:43.12.
In 3rd came GB's Charlotte Arter, time of 32:15.71.

That is the wonderfully whimsical event that has a long tent on the track, under which the runners run, and the fans stand (4th lane & back?), sipping beers or whatever!
And this year, they added a "bridge overpass" over part of the track, where fans could also stand!!
Who says the Brits aren't inventive??!!

The Prefontaine Classic DL will be upon us in a few days.
Watch for my annual Preview of that fine meet sometime before the action begins on Friday night!!

One more thing--even if self-promoting!
I began a thread on the T&FN Message Board (in the Current Events section) titled "Will HS 10K Records ever be broken?".
I use stats from my Record Book to urge meet directors to hold track 10K's for HS'ers, and for top HS distance stars to give it a shot!
Check it out!

See you soon!