Pre, Those Prelims, and Gotzis

The one US-based Invitational meet always revs the engines of athletes and fans!
Well, almost always!
This year's version of the Prefontaine Classic ran amiss of that quality Friday evening, and never fully recovered.
The NCAA's idea of the "Prelims" meet (Formerly called Regionals!) truly SUCKS!
(Even if there WERE a few performances worth noting!)
And Gotzis?
Please, Ashton, return, and bring with you the several Hyphenated Females!

That said, this weekend DID have several DL-level results, even if not all of them were in the Eugene Diamond League meet!
And it's my great honor to report those to you!
I'll begin, however, with a series of OLD marks that came in prior to Friday!

Andreas Hofmann became the 3rd German this year to hit 300 feet in the Javelin Throw!
Exactly that, in fact!
He moves from 14th A-T World to 12th!
In Estonia, Andrius Gudzius's 226-9 DT became the World Leader!
On May 20th, Lukas Weisheidinger's 226-4 DT became Austria's new National Record!
Emily Sloan, who emerged INdoors as a HS hurdles find, ran the 300H in 40.60, probably in the Top 15 A-T!
She also sped the 100H in 13.48.
In Colorado's State meet, Arria Minor ran a "major" (Heh.) time over 400 meters--51.92!
It moves her from 21st A-T HS to 15th!
In the rarely-run 800 Medley Relay (100, 100, 200, 400), Denver East's Women ran the HSR time of 1:42.63!
Minor, a student there, almost certainly ran the anchor leg!
Dana Baker improved her JT mark to 175-6, moving her from 12th A-T HS to 7th!
And Sam Walsh threw the Discus a HS-leading distance of 212-9, missing my HS list by 4 inches!
In Chula Vista (on May 20th), Katie Nageotte PV'ed 15-5.50, with 2nd going to Emily Grove's 15-1.50!
The Osaka Women's 100--where Yangli Wei won in 11.17--was windy (2.3)!
And in the same meet where Brittney Reese got her 23-7 wind-aided mark, Kendell Williams also produced a solid mark--22-8--but also wind-aided!!

I was going to lead in to the Pre meet by saying "fast forward", but that Two Mile race was anything BUT fast!!
At least if you believed all the talk about wanting the Meet Record of 8:03.50!!
The first lap was 61, but then a gap widened between the rabbits and the field!
You just don't run an 8:03--or even a sub-8:10!--off a 4:15 opener!
So it was that a race that COULD have drastically revised both the World and US A-T lists, instead gave up just 2 US marks that BARELY made my US DDD!!
Eighteen year old (Questionable age??) Selemon Barega sprinted hardest at the end to win in 8:20.01.
Paul Chelimo also ran his trademark finish, ending 2nd in 8:20.91.
He becomes US A-T 15th!
Berhanu Berlew was 3rd in 8:21.54.
Ryan Hill was the other American to make that list, his 8:22.36 in 6th making him 23rd A-T US!
Eric Jenkins's 8:23.50 didn't make the list ONLY because of the two Americans who made the list ahead of him!
He missed by 0.34 seconds!
Cut OFF my list were a pair of vaunted runners of yore--Jim Spivey's 8:24.14 dating from 1986, and Doug Padilla's 8:23.6 coming out of 1982!

The pair of PV's were good--even GREAT in some ways--but again could have been so much better!
What MADE the Men's event was Mondo Duplantis's 2nd place finish--his 18-8.75 behind only Sam Kendricks's 19-1.50 winner!
Piotr Lisek matched Mondo's height in 3rd, while Renaud Lavillenie had his problems, ending just 5th at 18-3!  That's been his OPENING height quite often!

The Women's event lost Ekaterina Stefanidi early--after 15-1--which gave her just 7th!
Two of the 16 Girls--Sandi Morris and Katie Nageotte--could clear just 15-5, with Morris getting 3rd to Nageotte's 4th!
Then we come to the "Age Queens"--aka 36 year old Jenn Suhr, and 21 year old Eliza McCartney!
(A joke remark from Jenn on Twitter said she could be Eliza's mother!!)
Well, it was no joke when they became the only ones to clear 15-11, the mark for Eliza breaking her own National Record of New Zealand, and giving her the 3rd Age Record of her young career--Ages 19, 20, and 21!
It also moves her from 12th A-T World, tied with 3 others, up to 8th, tied with 1 other!
For Jenn, her 15-11 merely broke her own Age 36 Record, and gave her sole hold on the Pre Meet Record!

Noah Lyles used the max 2.0 wind to run the 200 in 19.69, winning by 0.36 seconds over Jereem Richards, with Aaron Brown's 20.07 another 0.02 back!
Lyles moves from 12th A-T US, tied with 1 other, to 7th!
And he's now 10th A-T World, tied with 1 other!

Shaunae Miller-Uibo had no problem dominating the Women's 400--her 49.52 blazer winning by almost 1.3 seconds!!
Genzebe Dibaba was another who had little to do to win the 5000!
Wanting a WR--and getting one--are two entirely different babies!
By lap 2, that idea was dead!
But her 14:26.89 winner was still a decent rust-buster for this Goddess of the Distances!
In 2nd came Getesenbet Gidey's PR of 14:30.29!
This makes her 18th A-T World!
Helen Obiri let a gap form a few times, but always closed most of it, thus producing a MUCH better result than in her Doha 3K--her 14:35.03 taking 3rd!
In 8th came Dominique Scott's PR of 15:10.23!

The Men's SP's quality field produced quality results, despite Joe Kovacs and Konrad Bukowiecki being sub-par!
Ryan Crouser's 5th round 73-11 broke his own Pre Meet Record!
All 5 of his fair throws reached 71-7.25 or longer!!
Michal Haratyk's 72-1 broke the National Record of Poland!!
But it's 2 inches short of making the Top 24 World list!!
Two and three-quarter inches off that World list was Darlan Romani's 72-0.25, which did break his own National Record of Brazil!!
In 4th was Tom Walsh, whose 71-8 becomes the new 4th Place Record!!
If only Kovacs and Bukowiecki, as well as David Storl and Darrell Hill, had hit 70 feet.....!!!

The SHOCKER of the meet---but not really!!--came when Shelby Houlihan raced from 9th to 1st over her 59.86 final 400--hitting the W line in 3:59.06!!
This moves her from 19th A-T US, tied with 1 other, all the way to 5th!!
And on my US Combined Events list for the 1500 & 5000, she's now 6th, her times of 3:59.06 and 15:00.37 adding to 18:59.43!
Also well back at the bell (7th) was Scotland's newest Doctor Veterinarian--Laura Muir--her 3:59.30 edging past Jenny Simpson's 3:59.37!
Simpson had been the leader with 1 to go!
In 4th was Rababe Arafi's 3:59.51.
Linden Hall's 4:00.86 in 6th is Australia's new National Record!
Brenda Martinez ran decently in 7th, her 4:02.65 a good start to a maybe better summer!

In the other events of note---
Marie Josee Ta Lou's 10.88 held off Murielle Ahoure's 10.90 for the win!
The wind of 1.9 couldn't bring Elaine Thompson any closer than 3rd, time of 10.98!
Dafne Schippers's 11.01 outran Tori Bowie's 11.03 for 4th!
Thomas Rohler won a wind-eroded JT with his Pre Meet Record effort of 294-10.
Johannes Vetter took 2nd at 293-1.
Christian Taylor's final round 58-2 took the TJ over Will Claye's 57-3.50!
That was wind-aided, but Claye's best legal jump was 57-2.75, still good for 2nd!
Ben Kigen took the 3000SC in a PR time of 8:09.07.
Consesius Kipruto and Evan Jager ended just thousandths of a second apart, both being given 8:11.71's!
In the windy (2.4) 100, Christian Coleman got a shock when Ronnie Baker sped past him over the last 15 meters, his 9.78 prevailing over CC's 9.84.
Great Britain's Reece Prescod ran 9.88 in 3rd!
Mutaz Barshim had no trouble taking the HJ at 7-8.75, before missing his 3 tries at 7-11.25!
Despite "CS" running a "MR" time of 1:55.92, the REAL WOMEN's winner was Ajee Wilson's 1:56.86!!
Habitam Alemu's 1:57.78 took 2nd over Charlene Lipsey's 1:58.35!
Raevyn Rogers was a good 4th in 1:59.36!

Emmanuel Korir was another who allowed the pace to crawl, but he won the 800 in 1:45.16 over Nijel Amos's 1:45.51.
This despite taking SIX steps on the infield due to a push by someone!!
Natoya Goule took the National 800 in 2:00.84!
And the redshirting Dani Jones--of Colorado--won the National 1500 in 4:07.74 over Alexa Efraimson's 4:08.70!
Jones's time would have made her 8th A-T Collegiate--if not for her redshirt status!
But NEXT year??!!
The National Mile saw Drew Hunter's 3:57.29 losing to Luke Mathews's 3:57.02.
Brodey Hasty ran 4:04.73, but finished last!!
Janieve Russell sprinted best (or leaned best!!) at the end of the 400H, winning in 54.06 over Delilah Muhammed's 54.09!
Omar McLeod won a wind-aided 110H (3.0) in 13.01 over RUSSIA's Sergey Shubenkov, who ran 13.08!
And in the vaunted Bowerman Mile, Tim Cheruiyot was the only runner to go sub-3:50, his 3:49.86 a winner over Sam Teferi's 3:51.26!
Teferi's reported age of 20 is disputed, even though it still didn't get him the Age 20 record!
Elijah Manangoi had to finish hard to outrun 17 year old (for real!!) Jakob Ingebrigtsen, whose "HS age" time of 3:52.28 was faster than either Alan Webb or Jim Ryun ran while HS'ers!
But the Age 17 record eluded him also!
Clay Murphy's 3:53.40 took 5th over Matthew Centrowitz's 3:53.61.

The Gotzis Multi's meet saw some classy performances over the 2 days of action--all on free livestream, albeit with "foreign language" commentary!!
Damian Warner was steady over both days, his 8795 adding 100 points to his own National Record of Canada!!
He moves from 20th A-T World up to 10th!!
Mr SMU--aka Maicel Uibo--produced another PR, his 8514 a good Silver!
Three others were over 8300--Pieter Braun at 8342, Kai Kazmirek with 8329, and Mathias Brugger with 8304!
Zach Ziemek's 8124 was Top American!
For the Women, it was all Nafissatou Thiam---that is, until a poor JT of just 47 meters made it a bit tighter at the end!
She'd HJ'ed a World-Leading 6-7 (2.01), and making that look easy!
However, she still won--with 6806 points!
Yorgelis Rodriguez broke her own National Record of Cuba with her 2nd place score of 6742 points!!
She also takes up the caboose position on my A-T World list!!

In 3rd came Erica Bougard, again producing a brilliant PR!
Her 6725 was helped by a 100H of 12.80, and an 800 in 2:08 and change!
She moves from 6th A-T US to 4th, but misses the World list by 17 points!!
Anouk Vetter's 6426 took 4th, while two other Americans performed well--Alison Reaser hitting 6144, and Alex Gochenour reaching 6111.
But dropped FROM my World list was the most venerable Heike Drechsler, her 6741 dating from 1994!
Perhaps she was better known as a Long Jumper and Sprinter!!

Those NCAA "prelims" DID give up some GREAT marks---but for the most part produced yawns and trips to the kitchen or bathroom for most observers--however many of THEM there were!!
This is a meet where who DOESN'T make the cut becomes more relevant than who does!!
To that end--the MIA's at the NCAA's will be---
From the East--Erin Finn, a DNS in the 10K, Bella Burda from the 5 & 10K, Stamatia Scarvelis from the SP, Kortnei Johnson, who got a FS in the 100, and Darius Carbin, who missed out in the HJ with a No Height!
From the West--Maggie Ewen fouled out of her CR event, the HT--Jerrell Mock from the 10K, Lauren Rain Williams from the 100, Ionannis Kyriazis from the JT, Kiana Phelps from the DT, Ben Saarel and Reed Brown from the 1500, as well as Katie Rainsberger from the Women's 1500, Teahna Daniels and Jada Berlark from the 200--the latter a DNF--and Brie Oakley and Fiona O'Keefe from the 5000!
But let's visit the goodies!!

Despite a bad stumble off of a hurdle, Syd McLaughlin easily made the cut with her 55.50 time--although her opening round took just 54.78!
Two Men dropped 100's under 10 seconds to make my Collegiate list!!
Andre Ewers used a wind of 1.9 to hit 9.98, making him 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 3 others!
Jaylen Bacon's 9.97 (0.9) makes him 14th A-T Collegiate, tied with 4 others!
Lynna Irby had a solid meet!
Her 400's were 50.77 in the opening round, and 50.44 in Round 2.
The latter makes her 12th A-T Collegiate!!
Removed FROM my Collegiate list was one Shaunae Miller-Uibo--her 50.70 dating from 5 years ago!
In a super windy (5.4!!!) 200, Shania Collins ran a still-tremendous time of 21.97--though probably worth 22.50 or so without that zephyr!!
Irby ran in a separate heat, but her 22.06 was affected by a wind of 2.4!

Karissa Schweizer took the 5000 and 10000, times of 15:19.65 and 32:14.36!!
The latter time WOULD have broken the NCAA Meet Record, but the IDIOTS who created this FARCE of a "meet" don't allow for marks produced here to be eligible for NCAA MR's!!
IDIOTS, I tell you!!
Anyway, 2nd in the 10K was Alice Wright's 32:19.03, while in 3rd and 4th came Charlotte Taylor's 32:20.25, and Sharon Lokedi's 32:21.55--all of which would also have broken Sylvia Mosqueda's 32:28.57 NCAA MR from 1988!!
Which I saw in person!!
Schweizer's 5K moves her from 17th A-T Collegiate to 13th!
Ednah Kurgat took 2nd in a well back 15:25.25, while Lokedi followed in 15:27.09, with Vanessa Fraser running 15:27.36, with Allie Ostrander right behind in 15:27.46!
Seven broke the 15:30 barrier!!
Will Schweizer and Company run as fast in June??

Several other quality marks, but this is getting rather lengthy, so let's gather them together in a bunch!!
Rai Benjamin sped the 400H in 47.98, giving him the Junior Class Record!!
He also breaks his own National Record of Antigua, and he moves from 10th to 4th on the A-T Collegiate list!
Sabrina Southerland ran yet another PR, winning the 800 in 2:00.72.
This makes her 12th A-T Collegiate!
A total unknown (to me!) in 2nd was Avi Tal Wilson-Perteete (!!!), her time of 2:01.14 making her 20th A-T Collegiate!!
That much-ballyhooed Frosh--Sammy Watson--took 3rd in 2:02.20!
Chopped OFF my Collegiate list were two former UO venerables--Claudette Groenendaal's 2:01.20 dating from 1985, and Leann Warren's 2:01.30 dating from 1981!
Both ladies can be seen extensively in the great documentary "We Grew Wings"--about UO Women's teams of 1985 and 2011.
Highly recommended!!

Brooke Andersen took the West HT with 233-9--in the event where Maggie Ewen XXX'd out (See above!)!!
Two great Frosh SP'ers battled for supremacy in the West--Tripp Piperi's PR of 66-11.50 prevailing over Jordan Geist's 66-6!
Shanae Lawrence led the DT with her 203-9.
Allie Ostrander led all the 3000SC'ers with her 9:40.20.
But running good times were (East--Paige Stoner, in 9:48.73, missing the Collegiate list by 2.43 seconds--and West--Val Constien's 9:47.97)!
The latter is a Junior at Colorado!
A Soph at Oklahoma State ran 4:11.57 to take the 1500--her name being Sinclaire Johnson!!
Dwight St Hilaire, U of Kentucky runner from Trinidad, ran a quick 400 of 44.55!
This makes him 18th A-T Collegiate!
Nathan Allen ended 2nd in 44.76, while Akeem Bloomfield finished 3rd in 44.90!
Michael Norman ran 44.67 in the West!

Tara Davis had a terrific meet, leading East & West in the LJ with her 21-0.25, and making it to Eugene in the 100H as well!
Aleia Hobbs ran two fast 100's--a 10.98 opener, wind of 1.8--then 10.90 (1.9) in Round 2!
Shania Collins ran 11.00 in 2nd, but in a separate race, wind of 1.2.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn's 12.60 took the 100H, wind of 0.7!
Gabby Thomas ran 10.99, but with a wind of 2.8!
She also ran the 200 in 22.42, wind of 0.5!
Pedrya Seymour's 12.80 in the 100H had an aiding wind of 1.5, while 2nd went to Chanel Brissett's 12.86, same race!
David Kendziera's 13.40 in the 110H's missed the Collegiate list by 0.04 seconds!
Elinor Purrier took the 1500 in 4:10.90, missing my Collegiate DDD by 0.46 seconds.
Second went to Danae Rivers's 4:11.75!
Keturah Orji "jogged" (LOL) to a TJ win of 46-1.50!
Janeah Stewart threw her Hammer out 224-3, making her 19th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!
Divine Oduduru (20.21 with an 0.6 wind) and Rodney Rowe (20.26 with a wind of 0.1) ran quick 200's!
Maggie Ewen kind of made up for her foul-out in the HT by easily claiming the SP with her 62-9.25!
Susan Aneno ran the 800 in 2:02.71.
She's a Junior at Connecticut!
Grant Fisher won over Andy Trouard in the 5000, times in the 13:47's!

Relays went to--
LSU's 42.42 over Kentucky's 42.49!
USC's 3:01.11 over Texas A&M's 3:01.23.
Oregon's 3:29.94--
and Purdue's new School Record of 3:26.91.
They move from 18th A-T School up to 11th!!

Still with me??
Great!!
Just 3 more items!!!

Pawel Fajdek threw the Hammer a World Leading 264-9!
Huihui Lyu's JT of 222-1 breaks her own National Record of China!
She moves from 12th A-T World to 10th, tied with 1 other!
And FINALLY, we have Sara Hall taking 3rd in the Ottawa Marathon (behind Gelete Burka's 2:22:17 winner!!) in a PR time of 2:26:20!!
She moves up the US list from 15th to 9th!!
Yermane Tsegay's 2:08:52 took the Men's race!

This was a LONG one, but I guarantee you, IF that damn Two Mile at Pre had lived up to its pre-meet hype, I would have spread all the above over TWO posts!!
Alas!

See you soon!