An "I Told You So!" Commentary

As the Doha World Championships =enters  its fifth days, I feel the need to present this  opinion piece on a couple of issues in our sport!1
Thank you for ypir indulgence!

I TOLD YOU SO!!! indeed!!

In a ruling handed down today, USADA hashanded  Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar a four yyear ban from coaching!!

FINALLY!!

Long suspected of using Performance Enhancing Drrugs as coach of some of the World's greatest athletes--and top Amerivcan stars--Salazar's loss to our favorite sport is most welcomed by this blogger!!

But what about his athletes--past and present??

Galen Rupp and Jordan Hasay
Shannon Rowbury and Trenier Moser
Mary Cain and Mo Farah

Even current members of NOP such as Konstanze Klosterhalfen and Yomif Kejelcha!!

What dark cloud of suspicion might hang over these elite athletes's marks over the past several years??

Can my strong opinion that Salazar RUINED the promising career of then-High Schooler Mary Cain finally be validated??
Is HE the reason why Cain has disappeared from the sport, for all intents??

Mo Farah--and Cain--and Rowbury--as well as older stars such as Kara Goucher--all left the dangerous clutches of this vile person!!
They too must feel validated--and congratulated--for leaving the group and its coach!!

Unknown at this time is what these athletes--past and present--will say about Salazar's sentence!!

Also unknown is what--if any--punishment--might be brought against these athletes!!

Should they be investigated further--with whatever consequences come down--or left alone??

Whatever the future brings for them, they are now tainted by the poisonous cloud of sus[picion that must hang over their World Class marks over the past several years!!

Just as Genzebe Dibaba and Almaz Ayana and others are living with the knowledge of their former coach Jada having been found with TONS of drug paraphanalia in his hotel room  awhile back!!
Is THAT the reason Ayana and Dibaba are NOT in Doha??

Yres, I told you so!!
I repeatedly stated that Cain's problems BEGAN when Salazar took over her training in Portland in 2014!
Even though--and maybe because--her NY area coach has been  John Henwood--, not Salazsar!!

Henwood is --or was--0Salazar's associate!!

Ultimately, it's sad that this once great athlete went the way of a common criminal!!

A four year ban is NOT enough!!

Pardon me for adding the following--even though it's a different subject--and one I've echoed in this blog several times!!

Television's so called"coverage" og Track and Field!!
Or lack thereof!!

I'm also a baseball fan, and have watched or listened  to most of the Seattle Mariners games this season!!
And in every one of those games I watched on TV (via my computer) saw EVERY pitch and EVERY swing of the bat covered!!

Not one pitch or swing was missed due to ads or features or any other reason!!
In other words, 100% of the action was shown!!

NOIT so with T&F!!

I don't know what the Gold Channel provides, as I'm unwilling to pay the price for subscription!!
Same with Flotrack, Runner Space, and USATF-TV livestreams--all calling for a fee!!

As noted many times before, TV (meaning NBC and NBCSN--do NOT show any race lasting longer than five minutes in its entirety--and without at least one break for ads, features, or other events!!
Not even the 8 or 9 minutes it takes to run the Steeplechase!!

Even in the World Championships!!

In the Women's SC, they cut away after the first 400 meters--or maybe 500--after the initial water jump!1

Ads etc lasted until the race was more than half over!1
They did show the final 2 or 2 and a half lapos uncut--but missed was all the mid-race strategizing, the surges, who moved up, who faded, who fell, and so on!!

Imagine the same done to your baseball coberage of an average 9 inning game!@

They show the first inning and a half intact!
Then they break away for ads and other stuff!!

Seen next is the 4th and 5th innings!

Then another breakaway!

Finally, you see the last 2 and a half innings intact!!

You miss HALF of the game!@

Would you like that??

NO!!!!!

So imagine my DECADES long frustration at NOT seeing HALF of any race that lasts longer than 5 minutes!!

Why can't NBC place their ads and other cutaways AROUND these distance races--and not WHILE they are happening??

You see EVERYTHING ion baseball, football, basketball, golf, auto racing, and probably most other sports shown on TV!!

Track and Field should be given the same respect--and coverage!!\

For FREE!!

Enjoy the remainder of the World Championships!1

See you soon!

Doha WOMEN's Preview

As with the Men, events are listed in order of the Finals!!

September 27
The Marathon leads off the Finals--from both sexes!!
As with the Men, no top guns are here!
Ruth Chepngetich could take it in their absence!
Ruti aga is given a few points!
Israel's Lori Salpeter might surprise!!

September 28
Hammer Throw
JEEZ, can the Americans actually SWEEP this event??
With Anita Wlodarczyk MIA, and other Europeans fairly quiet, the US trio of DeAnna Price, Gwen Berry, and Brooke Anderson just might cover the podium with US flags!!
BTW, anyone know ther reason for Wlodarczyk's absence?

10000
Questions here too!
Why isn't WR holder Almaz Ayana here?
Sifan Hassan will be doubling back in the 5000, but give her the W here!!
Given her steamrolleer season, a sub-30 is possible!1
Helen Obiri, Letesenbet Gidey, and Agnes Tirop will challenge!
The Americans have Emily Sisson and Molly Huddle, but they'll be far removed from the podium!

50K Walk
No sub-4 hours here!
Don't have their names available, but watch a pair of Chinese, an Italian, and one from Spain!!
Sorry to leave themn nameless!1
They won't be AFTER the race!!

September 29
Polr Vault
Why does T&FN's last formchart give Sandi Morris just fifth place??
I know her summer has been tough, and her wedding is coming soon, but I'm slating her to compete for the podium!!
Kat Stefanidi might argue with that, as will Anzhelika Sidoriva, Alysha Newman, Holly Bradshaw, and evn ancient Jenn Suhr!!
Angelica Bengtsson, Yarisley Silva, and Katie Nageotte also are high bar peiople, making tthis a GREAT comp--if conditions are good!!
MIA is Elizaa McCartney!

100
Will the Initial Ladies of Jamaica match their earlier 10.73's?
If Elaine Thompson and Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce do, the race will be over before the gun's echo fades!!
Tori Bowie is here, but can't tell what shape she's in!
Blessing Okagbare, Marie Josee Ta Lou, Dina Asher-Smith are serious conters!!
What about English Gardner and Morolake Akinosun, the latter of whom shocked at USATF??
MIA is 10.75 youngster ShaCarri Richardson!!

20K Walk
The Chines have Hong Liu and Janyu Yang!1
No MR, but could be a hot race!!
Maria Michta-Coffey is MIA, having recently given birth!!

September 30
High Jump
Mariya Lasitskene hasn't been perfect this year, but she should prevail!
Yyliya Levchenko is a rising (pun intended!) youngster, clearing 6-7.50 recently--a height normally reserved for Lasitskene!
And Vashti Cunningham finally reached two meters, so consider her a possible podium contender!

3000SC
Forget that brilliant run in 2017 by the Americans!
Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs return, but the outcome will almost certainly be different!!
Beatrice Chepkoech should win, but she's been a bit rough around the edges this summer!!
Celiphine Chespol is a young veteran, and should be taken seriously!
Hyvin Hiyeng is always in there!
Daisy Jepkemei is another to watch!
Colleen Quigley should be in the final this time--and her 1500 speed could move her a LOT closer to the other Americans!!

800
This will be the first ALL-WOMEN's 800 at the WC or OG in quite some time!!
No more unnamed!!
YES!!!!
So watch for a possible YS sweep!!
Only Lynsey Sharp and Natoya Goule might stop Ajee Wilson, Raevyn Rogers, and Hanna Green from taking total control of the podium!!

October 1
Javelin Throw!
The only Women's Final this day!
It's an open contest, with maybe Huihui Liu given a slight edge!!
Watch for Sara Kolak, Tatiana Khaladovich, and maybe America's Kara Winger vying for podium spots!!

October 2
200
While Shaunae Miller Uibo's 21.74 not a real shocker, the finalists won't have to worry about her!!
This gives the Jamaican duo of SAFP and ET an open field!!
Except for Dina Asher-Smith, whose win here would NOT be a surprise!!
Dafne Schippers might be challenged by Mujinga Kambundji for the 4th spot!!

October 3
Shot Put
Valerie Adams ain't here!
And Christina Shwanitz hasn't been her self this year!
Neither has Anita Marton or Michelle Carter!
Liljao Gong has won most everything, so make her the favorite!
But watch for Chase Ealey, who could be chasing (sic!) Gong to the Gold position!
Danielle Thomas-Dodd, Maggie Ewen, and even Fannie Roos and Brittany Crew should be watched!

400
Can Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Salwa Naser repeat their 48.97 and 49.08 times here?
Or go even faster??
That will be the ultimate question!
No one else has been close this season, not even breaking 50 seconds!!

Heptathlon
This is this event's second day!
Nafi Thiam should prevail here, but can she top 7000 points?
Will Katerina Johnson-Thompson get a solid LJ?
Thje key Americans--as always, are Erica Bougard and Kendell Williams!
Where in this picture will they appear??

October 4
Discus Throw
Will the NORMAL Sandra Perkevic please stand up?
She's been good--and by normal athlete standards, even VERY good--this year, but those 230 foot tosses haven't been there!
Thus, watch closely for Yaime PPerez and Denia Caballero!!
And what about Valerie Allman??
A 220 throw would be nice!!

October 5
Yulimar Rojas is less than a finger's length from the World Record!!
Don't bet against her!!
Caterine Ibarguen is doing both Horizontals, but she's beyond her best!
Ana Peleteiro is here, as is hot Shaneika Ricketts!
The US duo of Keturah Orji and Tori Franklon will be hunting for PR's, which could bring them within sight of the podium!
1500
This could be a fast one, with the MR going down!
Or it could be tactical!
It appears Sifan Hassan has chosen the 5K-10K double, leaving this race to the Hoi Polloi!!
They include Laura MMuir, Faith Kipyegon, Konstanze Klostergalfen, Americans Shelby Houlihan and Jenny Simpson, as well as Gudaf Tsegay and Canadian stud Gabby Stafford!!

5000
As noted above, Sifan Hassan has chosen to toe THIS line!!
So give her the race!!
But Helen Obiri, and Letesenbet Gidey will keep it tight!!
KK is listed here as well as in the 1500, so I'm guessing she'll choose this distance!!
And what about Canada's Stafford?
Will she also select the longer distance??
Don't know!1
Will any of the Americans go sub-15??

4X100 Relay
As with the Men, chances of failure are many!!
Especially for the Americans!
But give this to them anyway!!
Jamaica--with ET and SAFP--will make them tremble!1
Others to watch are the British, the Germans, and the Japanese and Chinese!!

October 6
MOTE--O messed up, and lost my schedule page that included the 400H!!
Can't remember what day that race is, so I'm going to preview it here--BUT I'm 100% sure it's NOT scheduled this day!!

400H
Delilah Muhammed vs Sydney McLaughlin!!
Toss a coin!
I'm going to give it to McLaughlin--as well as the World Record!!
Zuzana Hewjnova is a veteran, but nowhere near this dupo!
The other Americans are Ashley Spencer and Kori Carter!!
Also watch for Janeive Russell!!

Long Jump
This could be a VERY tight field!!
Britney Reese will habe Malaika Mihambo and Ivana Spanovic as key contenders!!
It could all go down in the final round!!

100H
Danielle Williams should be the clear leader here, but this event is always dangerous!!
Janeek Brown has had a very long season, but her 12.40 makes her a serious contender!
The Americans are always touigh, with Brianna McNeal, Kendra Harrison, and Nia Ali vying for podium positions!!

4X400 Relayy
The Americans will have to fight off Poland, Jamaica, and Great Britain!
Will Allyson Felix run in the final??
Probably, but no 47.72 splits for her here!!

That's a wrap!!
Sorry for the typos, and the brevity!!

Enjoy the meet, and see you soon with RESULTS!!

Doha MEN's Preview

This is a briefer and less detailed Preview than this blog normally provides!
Due to problems with researching!
That said, my format remains the same--
Events listed in order of the Finals, with Meet Record odds, and a few key names to watch!
Incredibly enough, I see a BUNCH of MR's yp for grabs!1
Only hindrances might be Doha's weather, lack of late season conditioning, and that old standby--strategic races in the distances!!

September 27
NO Finals!!

September 28
Long Jump
The MR of 29-4.50 actually could fall, as Juan Echavarria and Luvo Manyonga go head to head!!
But odds are low, at 20-80!

100
As noted in a previous post, Christian Coleman competes here under a cloud of suspicion!
But he IS here, and might win it!!
No MR!
Watch for Justin Gatlin, Akani Simbine, and Andre De Grasse!!

50K Walk
Just one name--Yohan Deniz!
If he's on, he'll win--easily!!
Give the MR 10-90 odds, even though it's his own!!

September 29
Triple Jump
This could be a great 4 way clash, with MR odds at 30-70!!
The quartet is Christian Taylor, Will Claye, Omar Craddock, and good old PPPP, aka Pablo Pichardo!!

September 30
\5000
This event has a skimpy list of top elites!!
So give this one to Selemon Barega!!
But can Jakyb Ingebrigtsen pull a major upset??
And what will Payl Chelimo run??
Where's Woody Kincaid when you moost need him??
Meet Record is VERY safe!

Discus Throw
The MR is given 20-80 odds!
Daniel Stahl has Fedric Dacres as his prime foe!!

400H
OH MY GOD!!
And yes, I hope to be saying that  AFTER the race also!!
It's Rai Benjamin vs Abderrahman Samba vs Karsten Warholm!!
Toss the proverbial coin!1
If conditions are ripe, Kevin Young could be just FOURTH A-T World after the dust settles!!

October 1
The Pole Vault is today's first final!
Can Mondo beat Sam??
Mondo Duplantis renews his rivalry with his friend Sam Kendricks!!
The MR is possible, with 65-35 odds!
Watch for Pawel Wojcieckowski and Piotr Lisek!
What shape is Renaud Lavillenie in??

800
T&FN picks Donavan Brazier to beat Nijel Amos!1
I don't!1
But I think the time is ripe for Johnny Gray's AR to fall finally!!
The MR is soft, so let's hope for a good first 600!!
Give it 74-25 odds!!
Amel Tuka should be watched!1
Brandon McBride and Wesley Vazquez should also be watched!

200
Noah Lyles might find himself closely shadowed by Ramil Guluyev and Christian Coleman, who is said to be doubling back from the 100!!
Watch for Andre De Grasse and Divine Oduduru!!

October 2
The Hammer Throw is this day's first final!
Wojnieck Nowicki and Pawel Fajdek should prevail, but watch for Nick Miller and Bence Halasz to surprise!!

110H
The main question is about Grant Holloway!
With the only sub-13 time this year, his summer races have been WAY below par!!
And what about Daniel Roberts, who has also had a VERY long year??
So watch for Orlando Ortega, Omar McLeod, and Serget Shubenkov--veterans all--to show these children what 110H'ing is all about!!
Or will they??

October 3
The Decathlon ends this day, and that's why I listed it as the event's final!!
The WR holder is here in Kevin Mayer, and he might be ready for another go at it!
Give him odds of 40-60!
Watch for Damien Warner, Lindon Victor, and SMU'ss hubby, Maicel Uibo!!

October 4
High Jump
Do I dare not give this World Championship's "face" the respect he needs to get to SAVE this WC from utter disaster??
T&FN dared--giving him second in their final formchart!!
But I have a feeling about Mr Barshim!!
He'll come through, and might even challenge the WR!!
Okay, so the odds of that are BELOW zero!!
And even a "lowly" 2.40 metric gets just 1-99 odds!!
But he's GOTTA win this, right??

3000SC
Consesius Kipruto and Evan Jager aren't here!
The MR will remain slower than 8:00!
The race should go to Soufiane El Baakkali!
but watch for Getnet Wale, Hillary Bor, and Ben Kigen!

400
Michael Norman's 43.45 is so far removed from this late season date as to be almost invisable!!
No MR here!!
But Norman and Fred Kerleu both could PR in the desert heat!!
Steven Gardiner could shock!
And Kirani James suddenly appeared in 2019 results with a 44/47!!
Was that just a rust buster??
Watch for Akeem Bloomfield!

20K Walk
Toshihaya Yamasushi (sp?_) see,s to be the key figure here!!
But Mossimo (last name??) should be watched!
He's from Italy!!

October 5
Shot Put
This could be the best competition of the meet!!
There are THREE 74 footers in the field, and all of them have lost this season!!
Ryan Crouser, Tom Walsh, and Darlan Romani are the trio!1
But don't neglect late season PR guy Konrad Bukowiecki!!

4X100 Relay
Baton IN hand, runners IN their lanes, passes IN the zones will see the United States win this one!!
But LOTS of chances for DQ's or DNF's!!
That said, watch for Japan, China, Great Britain, and Jamaica to win in the final if the US falters!!

Marathon
Eliud is missing, of course!
These WC races normally go to the second or third tier elites!!
Meseret Geremew could win it!
So could Lelisa Desisa!
Watch for Mule Wasihun!
He's a stubborn runner!!
HaHa!!

October 6
1500
Can the pair of Ingebrigtsen brothers here beat Tim Cheruiyot??
Jakub and Filip will give it their best shot!!
So will Anyanleh Souleiman!!
Is Ronald Masagala the real thing??
And what about Matthew Centrowitz??
He recently ran 13:00 in the 5000, but ended third there!!
And this race won't be a 3:50 affair!!
But watch him anyway!!

Javelin Throw
Magnus Kirt seems to be for real!
In the absence of Thomas Rohler, watch for Andreas Hofmann, Julius Yego, and Johannes Vetter!!
Where are all those 300 foot plus throws of recent years??

10000
Selemon Barega is apparently doubling here!
But he'll be challenged by Hagos Gebrhiwet, Rhonex Kipruto, , Josh Cheptegei, Tomif Kejelcha, and maybe even double USATF champ Lopez Lomong!!

4X400 Relay
The US should prvail, but the MR is safe!!
Jamaica, might challenge--from 20 to 40 meters back!!

Be bacjk with my Women's Preview ASAP!





.

Last Marks Before Doha

Woody Kincaid?
Really??
Yes, in an astounding time trial on a mostly hidden behind trees track ub Portland, Kincaid PR'd by a humongous amount, ending in 12:58.10 in a great 5000!!
He's now 5th A-T US!
Lopez Lomong outdueled Matthew Centrowitz to take 2nd in 13:00.19 to Centro's 13:00.39!
They are 9th and 10th A-T US!!

OFF the list is Centro's Daddy--Matt--whose 13:12.91 dated from 1982!!
Add Dad and Son's times & you get 26:13.30!!
Fastest ever Father-Son combo???

Kpmrad Bukowiecki has been inching further out in the SP, finally reaching 73-0, making him 18th A-Y World!!
He also had other good Puts around the 72 foot marker!
Darrell Hill reached 73-4, but it wasn't a PR!
In other SP news, Jacko Gill finally wentt over 70 feet, at 70-5.25!!

A World Record for Geoff Kamworor!!
His Win in the Copenhagen Half took just 58:01!!
THe passed 20K in 55:00--or a pair of 27:30's back to back--then adding seven teenths of a mile at about 4:18 pace to close it off!!
Hee gets the Kenya National Record and the Age 26 Record!
Berhane Dibaba took the Women's race in 65:57!!

Yulimar Rojas--on fire all season--burned down the whole house in TJ'ing 50-6.25, moving her to 2nd A-T World!!
She also gets the Age 23 Record and the Venezuela National Record!!

I want to do my WC Previews BEFORE they start later today, so the rest of my late results will be in briefer format/!!

Shannon Osika suddenly ran 4:01.80 to win a race in Europe!

She's 14th A-T US!
Kate Grace improved a bit to 4":02.49!!

Elise Cranny PR'ed twice--at 4:05.83 and 9:00.17, winning the latter race!!

Cut OFF the US list was Patti Sue Plumer, whose 4:03.42 dated from 1982!!
JHeer sister Polly used to hold the OUTdoor HSR in the MMile!!

Steven Gardiner ran a 400 in 44.14!
But even more interesting was the return of Kirani James!!
I hadn't seen his name in results for a long time, but he recently ran 44.47!!
Where was he??

In the Pole Vault--
Mondo Duplantis went over 19-2.25!
In a European comp, Anzhelika Sifdorova went over 15-11, while Ekaterina Stefanidi, Katie Nageotte, and Angelica Bengtsson all cleared 15-5!!

In separate comps, Jenn Suhr cleared 15-7--then Iryna Zhuk topped 15-5 for the NR of Belarus!!


Pawel Fajdek reached 264-9 in the HT!
Johannes Vetter sent the Javelin out 195!
Michael Shuey improved to 273-0!!

Yuliya Levchenko HJ'edd 6-7.50, missing the World list by a half inch!
But she best Mariya Lasitskene's 6-6 in the process!!


Javier Cienbfuegos sent the Hammer flying 260-5 for Spain's NR!!

Maggie Ewen added a quarter unxh to her best of 63-10!1
Sandra Perkovic Discused 221-11!1
Kara Winger sent the Javelin flying 212-0!!
In that SP comp, Fannie Roos improved her own NR of Sweden to 62-6.50!!


Morgan McDonalf won the Hoka Mile in 3:54.63!
Amanda Eccleston took the Women;s race in 4:32!!
Allyson Felix won a 400 in a slow 51,47!!

Some very sad news!!
Tom O'Hara, one of America's finest early sub-4 Milers, died at the age of 77!!
He's best known for his one time Indoor Record of 3":56.4!!
His Irish carrot colored hair reminded one of Dave Wottle!!
Rest in Peace!!

Christian Coleman may have escaped punishmewnt for supposedly missing 3 \random drug tests, but I doubt he'll escape suspicion as he heads for a double in Doha!!
These things seem to stick--guilty or innocent!!

Brianna Williams's case is still to be decided, but her camp says she didn't take drugs on purpose!!
Hmmmm!


I seem to have made a BIG error regarding Tony Martin!!
He's the HS kid who supposedly LJ'ed 26-6 in the early OUTdoor season!!
But I noticed his name missing from T&FN's lists, and their final rankings!!
They say his mark was of "questionable measurement"!!
First I heard of that!!
IF true, then remove him from the list, and from my Honorable Mention in my recent AOY post!!


See you soon!

Collegiate & High School AOY's

It's September and their OUTdoor seasons are in the bag!
The Collegiate ended when the final event finished at the NCAA Championships in June!
The High School season ended on August 31st, or when an athlete began competing for their College or turned Professional!

This will be a shortened version of my Athlete of the Year format-0-when I did separate posts for the two seasons!
I'll begin with the Collegiates--and will also choose my Performance and Personality of the Year!!
I welcome all comments, whether you agree withmy choices--or not!!
Enjoy!

Collegiate Athlete of the Year--MEN
For the first time, I am calling this a tie!!
While GRANT HOLLOWAY was  the first Collegiate to go sub-13 in the 110H, DANIEL ROBERTS ran 13.00, and beat Holloway once or twice!
No way to separate them!
Honorable Mentions go to Divine Oduduru, Devin Dixon, Chris Nilsen, Mondo Duplantis, and Anderson Peters!

Collegiate Performance of the Year--MEN
They were so magnificent, I'm also calling it a tie here--with GRANT HOLLOWAY and DANIEL ROBERTS winning for their 12.98 and 13.00 times!
Honorable mention goes to Oduduru's 19.74 in the 200, Peters's 288+ in the JT, Nilsen's 19-6/25, Mondo's various high heights, and Tripp Piperi's SP leader!
Special Mention goes to Florida's 37.97 in the 4X100 Relay!!

Personality ogf the Year
DABIEL ROBERTS!!  Yes, I chose the OTHER 110H here!!
Why?
Because Holloway, while a terrific personality, as well as a great athlete, was EXPECTED to be who he was!
Roberts surprised us all--from INdoor season through OUTdoors!
That he performed way beyond anybody's expectations told me we had a personality that can't be shut down!!
Holloway gets a pretty close Special Mention!

Collegiate Athlete of the Year--WOMEN
Let me remind you--the 2019 Collegiate season ended at the close of the NCAA Championships!
Unlike the HS'ers, NOTHING that happened after that counts as a Collegiate Record or Mark!

Thus, my Collegiate Women's AOY is SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON--despite her comparatively average marks post NCAA's!!
Her 10.99 tied the Frosh Class Record!
But no one could have predicted her incredible 10.75 Collegiate Record!!
And such a confident woman!!
HM's go to Olivia Gruver, Sinclaire Johnson, Jessica Hull, Yanis David, Allie Ostrander, and Janeek Brown!

Performance of the Year--WOMEN
Richardson's 10.75!
Unlike Dawn Sowell's old CR, this was run at sea level, and destroyed the field!!
Honorable Mentions to Griver's CR, Johnson & Hull's great race at the NC's, as well as Brown's 12.40 in the 100H!!

Personality of the Year--WOMEN
Who else but SHA'CARRI RICHARDSO?!
The best athlete, the most confident, yet humble, the most dynamic presence, and despite her lack of height, a giant personality!!
Special Mention goes to Allie Ostrander for the statement she put on Twitter against body shaming--which went viral!!

High School Athlete of the Year--MEN
Despite failing to break aany HSR's, MATTHEW BOLING dominated the entire HS OUTdoor season like no other!!

His marks were very good in 3 events (100-200-LJ), but for not setting any records, his name wins the Most Talked About award!!
I hope he gives us leading marks in 2020, but he does win my 2019 AOY!!
Honorable Mentions to Justin Robinson, Kurt Powdar, Tony Martin, Tripp Piperi, and Trey Knight!

Performance of the Year--MEN
As noted above Boling didn't break any Records!
Neither did my Performance of the Year winner for 2019!
But JUSTIN ROBINSON gets the Award for his 44.84, ranked 2nd A-T HS!!
He also ran 45.07!
HM's to Boling, Martin (had a better LJ than Boling!), , Pipero, and Knight--for his marks in the Pro and HS weight HT's!!

Personality of the Year--MEN
MATTHEW BOLING!!
As stated above, no name was mentioned more in HS Track & Field in 2019!!
For that alone, he gets this award!!


High School Athlete of the Year--WOMEN
Oh my!!
This was by far THE most difficult decision I had to make!!
Taylor Ewert was outstanding in the Walks--from the Mile to the 20K!!
Brianna Williams broke the HSR in the 100, and ran fast in the 200!
Chloe Cunliffe got the OUTdoor HSR in the PV--to add to her INdoor Record!!
BUT--this award goes--by the thinnest of margins possible--to ANNA HALL!!
Hall's HSR in the Heptathlon stands out, and she HJ'ed very high, and won everything!!

A VERY Special Mention to Ewert--who was my Winner--until I decided that a HSR in the Hept was worth a bit more than Ewert's 20K--Walked for the first time by a HS athlete, as fatr as I know!!
(Did Trevor Barron do a 20K while in HS also??)
Other HM's to Cunliffe, Williams, Athing Mu, Jasmine Moore, Skylar Ciccolini, Ericka VanderLende, Kayla Davis, and Victoria Starcher!!

Performance of the Year--WOMEN
This may change!!
But for now, I've chosen BRIANNA WILLIAMS's HSR of 10.94 as my 2019 OUTdoor Performance of the Year!!
As most know, she was charged with use of drugs!
But I read recently that Jamaica is putting her on their team for Doha!
Does that mean she's been cleared??
Or just that they have yet to be adjudicated??
We'll see!
But her 10.94 topped a fantastic season of speedy times and runaway victories!
So--for now at least--she takes home this Award!!
HM's to Hall, Ewert, Jasmine Moore, Cunliffe, Kayla Davis, Athing Mu, Skylar Ciccolini, and Ericka VanderLende!

Personality of the Year--WOMEN
TAYLOR EWERT--in a WALK--or RUN-away!!
This Gal is absolutely sensational!!
Best ever HS Walker--at any distance!
Top Steeplechaser and flat runner!
And just a quietly spoken, yet supremely strong confidence!
Not only a great athlete, but a VERY interesting person!!
She truly Walks--and Runs--alone here!!

Hope you enjoyed this--agree with me or not!!

See you soon!!

Last of the DL's--continued

As promised, here's the second part of my Zurich and Brussels report--mainly all the field events!
Rather than highlight the best up front, I''ll put these in my usual order of events!
I left off with the distances, so let's begin with the 110 & 100 Hurdles!
(See previous post for the one lap hurdles!!)

110H--100H
Omar McLeod took the ISTAF meet in 13.07, about the best that can be expected this season--outsideof Grant Holloway and Daniel Roberts!
And Holloway apparently didn't qualify for the DL final, while Roberts was a mysrterious last minute no-show!!
Tobi Amusan was the Women;s winner in Berlin--in 12.51.
Danielle Williams won Van Damme in--for her!--an average time of 12.46!!
Consistency is more dependable than one brilliant flash!!


High Jump
Not much to talk about here, except that Mariya Lasitskene keeps winning, and Doha's "face" of their WC's ain't showing a happy face in 2019!!
Will he rise to the occasion when it counts--literally??
Zurich saw Andriy Protsenko HJ 7-7 50!
Barshim ended in 10th (!!!) at 7-2.50!!

Yulia Levchenko hit 2.00 (6-6/75)!!
Meanwhile, Lasitskene could reach just 1.99 (6-6/25) in another meet!!
Actually BELOW average for the Russian!!

Long & Triple Jumps
Juan Echevarria hit 28-4.50 for the Weltklasse Meet Record!
Shareika Ricketts is leaping forward (HA!!) in this world, hitting 48-11.75 to take Zurich's TJ over Yulimar Rojas's 48-4.50!
In 3rd was American Keturah Orji's  47-4/75!!

Malaika Mihambo hit some good marks--22-11.25 at ISTAF--and 23-0.25 in Brussels!

I'm gonna tease you and save the Pole Vault and Shot Put for last!!
So here's my Discus, Javelin, and Hammer Throw report!!

NOTE!!!
I just realized my complete results I THOUGHT were being typed here for the long throws were NOT typed!!
I threw away the notes I had, so the following is strictly from memory!
I'm very sorry, but I'll try to get it all as close as possible!!

Danial Stahl threw the Discus 227 and 225, the latter to win one of the DL'd!!
Yaime Perez beat Sandra Perkovic, about 223 to 216!
But Perkovic then reached 222-4 in another meet!

Huihui Liu threw the Javelin 219-5--below average for her!

Johannes Vetter, Magnus Kirt, and Chao Cheng all reached the 292's in the JT!
Julius Yego heit 287 and change!!
Remember him??

Nothing new in the HT, except the notable absence of Anita Wlodarczyk!!
Sorry for this messed part of this report!!

Shot Put
Another section LOST to cyberspace!!
But Ryan Crouser and Tom Walsh hit the high 73's!!
Both hit other good marks!
But Crouser lost a meet to Walsh and Darlan Romani.!
He ended 3rd, with Konrad Bukowiecki taking 4th!!

Bob Bertemes hit a Lusembourg NR of 72-10.75!
That makes him 18th A-T World!!
(See, my memory isn't totally gone!!  LOL)

Jacko Gill--a one time "youth" star--hit a pair of PR's recently--69-4 and 69-7!!
Liljao Gong hit a World Leader of 66-7.25!!
Chase Ealey was 2nd with a quarter inch PR of 64-6.75!1
She remains 5th A-T US!!
Chuk Enekwechi has hit a few 70-plus SP's recently!!
(See previous post!)
Can't remember anything else from this event, except noting the absence of Valerie Adams!!
Is she not going to Doha??
Sem,s likely she's NOT!!

Pole Vault
Only lost part of thois event's reporting notes!!

Sam Kendricks won a comp with a good 19-5.50!
Mondo Duplantis was 2nd with 19-1.50!
Also reaching 19-1.50 were Piotr Lisek and Cole Walsh!
Walsh is now 18th A-T US, tied with 1 other!!

Katie Nageotte won a recent European comp with her 15-7.25!
Sandi Morris was 2nd with 15-5, while Emily Grove surprised in 3rd with her 15-2.25!!

Okay, now back to my NOT lost notes!!
Again, many apologies for the screw up above!!
But I think I remembered most of it!!

As always, Zurich held its event INdoors, so all marks or records are for INdoors!!
Anzhelika Sidorova won it with her 15-11.25 clearrance!!
Nageotte was a solid 2nd with her 15-9.75 topper!
Alysha Newman reached the same height, and that makes her 12th A-T World, tied with 1 other!1
That's for INdoors!!
Hitting 15-5.75 were Sandi Morris, Holly Bradshaw, and Jenn Suhr!1
Ekaterina Stefanidi could clear just 15-1.50!!

In the Sweden vs Finland dual meet, Armand Duplantis's 19-8.25 tied the A-T International Dual Meet Record!!
Angelica Bengtsson's 15-1 and change took the Womenn's event!
Mondo also tied the Age 19 Record!

Holly Bradshaw hit 15-6.25 somewhere!
At ISTAf,, Mondo defeated Kendricks by2 inches in the low 19-s!

Brussels saw a VERY deep field of Female finishers, but no Place Records were broken or tied!
Here's the  names and numbers---
Ekaterina Stefanidi and Anzhelika Sidorova cleared 15-10!
Alyshe Newman topped 15-7!
Katie Nageotte cleared 15-5!
ALSO going over 1`5-5 were Hollly Bradshaw Robelys Peinada, and Yarisley Silva!!
Topping 1`5=2.25 were Sandi Morris, Jenn Suhr, Ling Li, and Angelica Bengtsson!!
WOW!!

A few news items--
Christian Coleman has been cleared of allegedly missing 3 random drug tests!
He'll be in Doha!!

High School Frosh star (She's now a Soph!!) Kayla Davis has apparentlystated she Will turn Professional by the time she's 17!
I believe she's still just 15!

Finally, been wondering why Walk star Maria Michta-Coffey has been MIA this season?
Saw a photo of her on Twitter pushing a baby stroller--walking, of course!!
Back soon, I assume!
Congratulations, Maria!!

See you soon!

Last of the DL's (I WISH!!)

Yes, my title had a bit of snark in it!
But you know my take on the entire Diamond League concept--MOT good!
But Zurich's Weltklasse and Brussels's Van Damme Memorial do mark the finish line of the 2019 DL season--and they did produce many great marks worthy of reportage!

Leading these were both 400H races--Men's & Women's!!

Only Kevin Young's World Record is faster than the duo who gave us a brilliant sprint finish to the incredible double-dip ever seen in this event!!
In the end, it was Norway's Karsten Warholm--on a spectacular streak all year--who edged past America's Rai Benjamin at the line!!
It nearly took his lean to win this race!
His 46.92 cut 0.20 off the latest of his NR's--maybe the 4th this season!
(I lost count!!)
Benjamin's 46.98 moves him away from the legendary Edwin Moses--by 0.04 seconds!!

Warholm gets his NR, Zurich's MR, the Age 23 Record, and ranks him 2nd A-T World!
His Combined Events total for the 400-400H is now 1:31.79 (44,87 & 46.92))!

For Benjamin, he gets the Age 22 Record, is 3rd A-T World, tied with Abderrahman Samba!!
He's 2nd A-T US!!
His C-E total is 1:31.29 for the same events (44.31 & 46.98)!
He moves 0.01 ahead of Angelo Taylor's 1:31.30 (44.05 & 47.25).

If those 2 and Samba show up in Doha in shape, O-M-G!!!

You know Delilah Muhammed recently cracked the WR with her 52.20!
You also know that about 99.99% of the guesses on who would break the WR were with Sydney McLaughlin!!

Muhammed ran 54.13, out of it before the race was half over!
And there was The Kid--streaming down the straight on her way to the most prestigious DL win of her brief Pro career!!
Her 52.85  nabbed her the Age 20 Record--probably the SIXTH Age Record she holds in this event (15-20)!!
She missed the MR by a mere 0.01 seconds!!
(Why the slow time from Muhammed??)

Shaunae Miller-Uibo--her colorful hair flying behind her--grabbed the 200 by the proverbial short hairs (Sic!~  LOL) and didn't let go!
Her 21.74 broke her own Bahamas NR, and gave her the Age 25 Record!
Her C-E time for the 100/200/400 is 1:21.90 (11.19, 21.74, 48.97)!!
She's 11th A-T World, tied with 3 others!
BTW, the MR she broke was Marita Koch's 21.76, dating from 1985!
Dina Asher-Smith took Silver with 22.08!!

Okay, friends, that's it for the descriptive stories of the top events!
No room for that to continue here!
BUT--I will give you ALL the other marks I have--and more!--in my Event Group format!

100-200-400
Noah Lyles won the Brussels 200 in 197.4, and the Zurich 100 in 9.98!
In the 200, Ramil Guliyev edged Andre De Grasse for 2nd, 19.86 to 19.87!
Salwa Naser was a runaway Zurich winner in the 400--time of 50.24!
Mujinga Kambundji continues her fine season!
She timed 11.00 and 22.26 recently, the latter mark getting her Switzerland's National Record!!

Remember Ewe Swobooda?  She just ran a PR 100 time of 11.07 at the ISTAF meet!
(I thought she'd run faster!!)

Germany's Women ran the 4X100 Relay in a great time of 41.67!!
China took 2nd in 42.31!
Justin Gatlin seems to be over whatever niggle he had, as he ran 9,97 somewhere in Europe!!
Michael Norman cruised the Brussels 400 in 44.26 to best Fred Kerley's 44.46!
I think wind affected the times!
Dina Asher-Smith"upset" SAFP in Brussels, 10.88 to 10.95!
But was it really an upset??
Andre De Grasse took ISTAF's 100 in 9.97!
Germany's Relay squad also ran 42.22 to beat the Nrtherlands 42.28!

Distances (Track & Roads)
Donavan Brazier came THIS close to beating Johnny Gray's AR!
His 1:42.70 puts him just 0.10 behind Gray, and 2nd A-T US!!
Nijel Amos was way ahead into the final straught but faded badly while Brazier was kicking from about 6th place off the curve!!
He's 24th A-T World!!
Amos ended in 1:42.98!
Brandon McBride, Emmanuel Korir, and Clay Murphy all ran under 1:44!
After some slow early laps, Josh Cheptegai beat Hagos Gebrhiwet, 12:57.41 to 12:58.65!
Three more dipped under 13!

Eunice Sum won in Zurich also, her 2:00.46 beating Kate Grace in a non-DL race!
BTW, where has Ms Sum been>"
She's run and won 2 or 3 races recently, so is obviously back!
Sifan Hassan is still winning, taking the Zurich 1500 in 3:57.08 off a sub-60 last 400!
She beat KK's 3:59.02!!
Klosterhalfen is 9th on my C-E list for the 1500-3000!
Her 3L59.02 & 8:20.07 adds to 12:19.09!
Gabby Stafford shattered yet another NR of Canada, becoming that nation;s first sub-4 female!!
Her time was 3:59.59!
Genzebe Dibaba finished 4th, while Jenny Simpson had a poor day in 8th!!

Now would be a good time to report on the Fifth Avenue Mile on NYC's streets!
In a VERY tight race, Simpson led most of the way, but JUST beat oncoming Eleanor Oueeier!
Her event Record 4:16.02 beat Purrier's 4:16.09!!
(Purrier's time was first reported as the same as Simpson's, but Jenny was clearly ahead at the line!
Nick Willis and Chris O'Hare both ran 3:51.7, with the Kiwi getting the nod!
Also on the Roads, Len Korir ran 59:06 to win the USATF 20K Champs, with Sara Hall running 66:47 for her Win!

Zurich's Women's SC went off fast, but at the end, Beatrice Chepkoech's 9:01.71 sufficed!
Hyvin Kiteng's 9:03.93 took 2nd, with Norah Januto following in 9:05 and change!
Then came Daisy Jepkemei's 9:06.06, which makes her 12th A-T World!
Gesa Krause's NR of Germany followed, time of 9:07.41!
She beat her old mark by about 6 seconds!!
She ranks 17th A-T World!
Cut OFF my World list was one Jenny Barringer Simpson, whiose mark of 9:12.50 dated from 2011!
BTW, Emma Coburn ended 6th in 9:10!

Sondre Moen got Norway's 10000 NR with his 27:24.78!
Easy pickings for any of the Ingebrigtsen's!
Josh Thompson may be a new American find, as he won a race in 3:35/01 (ISTAF)
ISTAF saw a World Record of sorts, at least as reported by T&FN's eTN!!
Gesa Krause (See above!) set a "WR" of 5:52.80 in the 2000SC at ISTAF!!
Note that Beatrice Chepkoech probably ran faster than that enroute to her 3000SC WR!!


ISTAF's 5000 saw Daisy Jepkemai just nip Norah Tanui--14:51,72 to 14:51,73!!
But more interesting names came in 4th and 5th!
Recent Oregon grad Jessica Hull chopped her 5K best down to 15:00.22!!
If run at NCAA's or earlier, it would have been the Collegiate Record!!
Back from giving birth last year, Shannon Rowbury umproved her 2019 best to 15:05 and change!!
Tim Cheruiyot improved his 800 PR to 1:43.11!
Speaking of Cheruiyot, he won the Van Damme 1500 in 3:30.22!
Jakob Ingebrigtsen was 2nd exactly one second behind!
Craig Engels was 5th, but his PR of 3:34.04 ranks him 22nd A-T US!!
Getnet Wale took the Sc in 8:06.92!
Sifan Hassan just keeps rolling!!
Her 14:26.26 easily beat Letesenbet Gidey (14:29.54) and KK (14:29.89)!!
And yes, Gabrielle Stafford racked up one more Canadian NR!!
Her 14:44.12 nailed her own mark by 7 seconds!!
BTW, Helen Obiri ended in 14:33.90!

While this post isn't too long now, it would break all records if I went on here!
Thus, stay tuned for my NEXT post, which will have all the field event and other assorted results from the two DL's and elsewhere!
See you soon!

WOW, So Much!

AaronK to AaronK--WAKE UP!!
AaronK to AaronK--Don't bother me!!

Well, you get the idea!!
I've gotten LAZY!!

BUT--I got a S--Tload of marks to report!
I'm going to stop (here) before the Zurich meet!
Thus, below find results from the Birmingham and Paris DL
d, the Pan Am Games, and assorted other meets!!
Mea culpa, mea culpa and so on!!

Because of the lateness, let's divide the marks by event groups, not meets!
The B'ham DL can pretty much be ignored!!  LOL)

Sprints
Shaunae Miller-Uibo ran the one lap in 49.59 somewhere!
Karsten Warholm continued his siege of fast 400H marks with a 47.43!
Ho hum.
Third in the Pan Am Games 400 was HS'er Justin Robinson, timed in 45.07!
But he's run 44.84!!!

Also in Lima. Preru, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce nabbed an ancient mark with her 22.43 W in the 200!
Evelyn Ashford held the old Pan Am Meet Record with 22.45 from 1979!!!

Akeem Bloomfield jogged the B'ham 400 in 45.04!
SMU (See above!) ran 22.24  tobeat Dina Asher-Smith's 22.36 and SAFP
's 22.50 in B'ham!
Danielle Williams continued to dominate the 100H scene with hewr 12.46 winner in Birmingham!
J Takayama got the Japan Nationsal Record with his 110H mark of 13.25!
Noah Lyles sped the Paris DL 200 in 19.65!
This broke Usain Bolt's MR!!
Ramil Guliyev took Suilver in 20.01.
Daniel Roberts beat some big names with his 13.08 W in Paris!
Orlando Ortega was 2nd in 13.14, with Grant Hollowway taking  6th in 13.25!!

Warholm won again, this time in 47.26!
When you're hot, you're HOT!!

Elaine Thompson took the Paris 100 in 10.98!


Distances
Konstanze Klosterhalfen is racking up Germany NR's!!
One of her latest is in the 5000!
Her 14:26.78 at the German Nationals ranks her 14th A-T World!!
Go KK!!
Marco Arop took fown the Pan Am Meet Record with his 800 time of 1
:44.25!!
Christian Pacheco ran 2:09:31 in the Pan Am Marathon for another Meet Record!!
(First to go sub-2:10 there!!)

A pair of Canadians got Pan Am Meet Records!
Genevieve Lalonde got the 3000SC mark with her 9:41.45!
Natosha Wodak took the 10000 mark with her 31:55.17!

KoKo got the Germany NR in the Milre also--4:21.11 in Birmingham!
She won by over 3 seconds!!
She misses the World DDD by less than 2 seconds!!
Yes, it now takes a sub-4:20 to make that list!!

Beatrice Chepkoech won the SC in 9:05.55!
Yawn.

Helen Schlachtenhalfen won a 1500 in a PR of 4:03.50!
(Is she a 2nd cousin of Klosterhalfen??  LOL)
She misses the US list by 0.20 seconds!!
Second went to Cory McGee's PR of 4:04.14!!
Third was Shannon Osika's 4:094.22, then Emma Coburn's 4:04.40!!

Brandon McBride took the Paris 800 in 1:43.78!
A close 2nd was Puerto Rico's Wesley Vazquez in 1:43.83--a new National Record for this very steady runner!!

Uganda's Ronalf Masagala--a hot item lately!!--took the Paris 1500 in 3:30.58!
Ayanleh Souleiman--making a good comeback!--was 2nd in 3:30.66!
Filip (3:31.06) and Jakob (3:31.33) Ingebrigtsen took the next 2 places!
Fifth through tenth all ended with sub-3:32 times!!
PR's were run by Stewart McSwewn (8th) anbd Marcin Lewindowski (10th)!
The latter smashed his own National Record of Poland with his 3:31.95!!

Soufiane El Bakkali took the Steeplechase in 8:06.64!

Hanna Green won her first Diamond League race with 1:58.39, not a PR!
Seven went under 2 minutes!!

Horizontals
Felix Haynes (??) TJ'ed 57.5!
Malaika Mihambo LJ'ed 23-6!!
She is 23rd A-T World, tied with 3 others!

The Pan Am Women's Triple Jump was a goodie!!
Yulimar Rojas took the MR and her own Venezuela National Record with her 49-7 bounder!!
She's 16th A-T World!!
Second went to Shaneika Ricketts's 48-5.50!

A stud-loaded LJ  came in Birmingham's DL!
Nafi Thiam got the Belgium NR and the W with her 22-6.25!
Ivana Spanovic and Katerina Johnson-Thompson took 2nd & 3rd, both with 22-5.25 marks!!

S Sharuyama (sp??) got Japan's NR with his LJ of 27-6.25!

Queen Harrison Claye's new husband--Will--won the Paris TJ with a massive 59-3!!
It's the Paris Meet Record!
He's now tops on the US Combined Events list for the LJ-TJ with his marks of 27-2.50 and 59-3--adding to 86-5.50!!
He's 3rd on the World & US C-E lists!
He's 5th A-T World and 3rd A-T US A-T!~!
He also gets the MR and the Age 28 Record!!
Christian Taylor was 2nd with his 58-5.75!!

Yulimar Rojas won the Paris Women's TJ with 49-4.50!!
But Keturan Orji in 3rd finally topped her Rio PR!!
Her 48-3.50 got it by a quarter inch!!!
She remains 2nd A-T US!!

Let's go to the Verticals--aka the Pole Vault, since we have just one or two HJ marks to report!!
Renaud Lavillenie showed some form with a W of 19-2.25!!
Stefano Sottelo (??) HJ'ed 7-7.75 in the weakest Men's event of 2019!!

Anzhelika Sidorova raised her PR to 15-11.25 for 9th A-T World!!

Yarisly Silva's 15-7 beat  Katie Nageotte's 15-5 at the Pan Ams!!
Tina Sutej broke her own NR of Slovenia with her 15-5 clearance!

Ekaterina Stefanidi's 15-7 got the Birmingham MR!
Clearing 15-3 were Alysha Newman, Silva, and Jenn Suhr, who ciontinues to rock and roll at Age 37!!

Mondo Duplantis also is ready for Doha, as he recently cleared 19-4.25!!

Sam Kendricks won the Paris DL with 19-8/25!
But even more signifantly, he tied Sergey Bubka's MR from 1985!!!

Alysha Newman broke her own National Record of Canada with a topper of 15-9.75!!
She ranks 13th A-T World, tied with 3 others!!
Stefanidi, Sandoi Morris, and Sidorova all went over 15-7!!

Shot Put
(I'm separating this from the other Throws, as it's been by far the most productive!!)
Michel Haratyk's 73-2.75 equals his PR!
Ryan Crouser went 73-7.50 somewhere!!

Darian Romani's 72-5 is the new Pan Am Games Meet Record!!

Danielle Thomas-Dodd's 64-1.75 breaks her own NR of Jamaica!
It's also the Pan Am MR!!
Brittany Crews threw 62-6.75 to take doiwn her own NR of Canada!!
(Are Canadians breaking a TON of their NR's--or what??!!)

Tom Walsh got the Paris DL Meet Record with his 73-7.50!!
Joe Kovacs showed his old form with a solid 72-6.50 in 2nd!!
It was a deep field, as Bob Bertemes's 69-6.75 got the 8th Place Record!!

Somewhere in Europe, Chuk Enekwechi (Remember him from Collegiate T&F in the States??) threw 71-6.25 for a new NR of Nigeria!!

Other Throws--and the Decathlon
A dude with the intials of EM (I'll try to get his full name for you!!) threw the Javelin 292-6!!
He--whoever he is!!  LOL) now ranks 22nd A-T World, tied with 2 others!!
BTW, it's the Lithuania National Record!!
Jeez!!

Huihui Liu AGAIN broke her own NR of China with a Jav toss of 223-0!!
She's adding just a few inches at a time!!
But she's now 9th A-T World!!

Fedric Dacres nabbed the Pan Am MR with his DT of 222-0!!

Anderson Peters won Pan Am's JT with a good 286-5!!
Yaime Perez's 218-5 got the Pan Am MR in the DT!!

Kara Winger threw the Javelin 213-0 to win the Pan Am's with one of her best throws ever!!

Dania Caballero took the Paris DT with her 219-6 lob!!
She beat Sandra Perkovic's  213-3!!

Gleb Dudarev (Remember him?) got a smallish PR with his HT of 256-10!!
Finally--in the results department--Damian Warner took the Pan Am Decathlon with a score of 8513 points!!

I DO have some news items to report!!

I'm sure you've heard most of this!!
Reported in an earlier post is that Sally Pearson has retired!!

Christian Coleman apparently missed three drug tests, and MIGHT be banned for awhile!!
He's challenging the accusation!!

Also in the "I heard this on Social Media!" is the report that HS stud sprinter Brianna Williams hastested positive!!
I HOPE that's NOT true!!
It would be a super sad end to a brilliant HS career!!
As you know, she broke the HSR for the 100 earlier this year with her 10.94!!

Danieal Rudisha was ina fatal car accident, but he's fine--not even injured!!
Thank God!!

You probably know Evan Jager won't be in Doja!!

Sandi Morris--quite ubiquitous on Twitter--says she thinks a place in Switzerland is the "most mystical" place she's ever seen!!
Okayyyy, Sandi!!

And that--I beliieve--is the end of THIS post!!

See you soon with the DL "finals" report--half of which is finished already!!

I know, I know, I'm gonna be late with Zurich's results also!!
Kille me!!

See you soon--or thereabouts!!
LOL

USATF Tops Busy 3 Weeks

Hasn't been 3 weeks since my last post, but it has been three weeks since the USA Championships began!!
Again, apologies for the delayed  report!
But aside from a WR and a few other solid marks, our Nationals were only average--not the best--or the worst!

Sydney McLaighlin smashed her own Age 19 Record with a fantastic 52.88 in the Women's 400H at USATF in Des Moines!

And ended SECOND--0.68 behind the new WORLD RECORD holder--Delilah Muhammed!!

Her brilliant 52.20  eassily defeated the NJ youngster--whom most experts believed would be the one to do what Muhammed did---and even slip into the 51's!!
(Next time??)

Muhammed gets the WR, American Record, Age 29 Record, and the Meet Record!!
She also improves her placings on my Combined Events lists for the 100H-400H and the 400-400H C-E's!!
Her 13.33 and 52.20 adds to 65.53, making her 3rd A-T World, and 2nd A-T US!!
For the longer C-E, her 50.60 and 52.20 adds to 1:42.80, making her 4th A-T World, and FIRST A-T US!!

Ashley Spencer was 3rd in 53.11, equaling her PR, and Shamier Little ran 53.91 in 4th!

Sam Kendricks nailed the American Record in the PV with his 19-10.50!!
It's a MR , AR, and the Age 26 Record!!
(It also moves him past Mondo--by a quarter inch!!
He's 2nd A-T OUTdoors now!
Cole Walsh and KC Lightfoot ended with 18-10.25 clearances--a PR for Lightfoot!!

Noah Lules sprinted the 200 in 19.78!!
He beat Christian Coleman's 20.02!
Early season sensation Kenny Bednarek made it to the final, but came up injured!!

Coleman took the Century in 9.99, but Justin Gatlin False Started!!
He's going to Doha anyway!!

Fred Kerley's 43.64 PR got Michael Norman's 43.79 in a hot 400 battle!
It's a USATF Meet Record!!
Nathan strother ran 44.29, but misses the US list by 0.02 seconds!
Blake Leaper was next in 44.38, while Vernon Norwood followed in a PR of 44.48!!

Ryan Crouser defeated Joe Kovacs in a great SP!!

He beat him by a full foot--74-2.50 to 73-2.50!
For Kovacs, it was one of his better Puts in recent times!!
In fact--according to MY Records, it's the best 2nd Place mark!!
But T&FN's eTN did NOT mention that!!
Darrell Hill was also good, hitting 72-6.50!!

While I'm concentrating on Men's marks, let me put the rest of them in briefer form---
Rai Benjamin took the 400H in 47.27!
Donavan Brazier had a great negative split of 55 and 50 (!!), but his 1:45 was slow!!
Clay Murphy and Bryce Hoppel followed!
Craig Engels jogged 3:44 in the 1500 to defeat Matthew Centrowitz!!

Lopez Lomong took a long double, timing 13:25 and 27:30.06 in the 5000 and 10000, the latter a PR!
That makes him 14th A-T US!!
Hillary Bor timed 8:18 to take the 3000SC!!

In an upset that really wasn't an upset, Daniel Roberts took care of Grant Holloway in the 110H---13.23 to  13.36!!

Nick Christie took the 10K Walk--on the track!--in 41:56!!
Jeron Robinson and Shelby McEwen HJ'ed 7-6.50!!
Sam Mattis took the dT with his 218-9!!
Conor McCullough PR'ed in the HT with his 256-4, making him 8th A-T US!!
Michael Shuey's 271-10 edged Riley Dolezel's 271-9 in the JT!!
Shuey is 17th A-T US!!

And the Decathlon had a trio of good marks!
Devon Williams took the Gold with his 8295!
Solomon Simmons  scored 8227 points, while Harrison Williams got 8188 points!!

The Women's sprints were slow!
Teahna Daniels took the Century  in 11.20, while Dezerea Bryant won the 200 in 22.47!!
Shakima Wimbly won the 400 in a good 50.21 , but ran 50.20 in her Semi!!
Allyson Felix ran decently, her fastest being in the Semi--51.45--timing the final in 51.94!

Athing Mu ran solidly in all 3 of her races, timing either 2:01 or 2:02 in all three!!
Her best of 2:01.17 is a PR,, but leaves her 6th A-T HS!!
She didn't make it to Doha!!

But Ajee Wilson and Hanna Green did!!
Ajee's 1:57.72 took care of the big PR by Greem--her 1:58.19 --getting her on the US list in 20th Place!1
Raevyn Rogers took the Bronze in 1:58.91!

The 1500 saw Shelby Houlihan beat Super Vet Jenny Simposon--4:03.18 to 4:03.41!
She used her devastating final 50 meters kick to do the job!!
Nikki Hiltz took 3rd in 4:03.55, missing the US DDD by 0.13  seconds!!
Recent Collegiate Sinclaire Johnson had a huge PR in 4th--4:03..72!!
The distances were all relatively slow!!
Emma Coburn jogged her Steeple in 9:25, with the expected Courtney Frerichs and Colleen  Quigley following!!
Shelby Houlihaan also won the 5K, timed in 15:15, with Karissa Schweizer two seconds back!
Elinor Purrier also timed in the `5:17's!!
Molly Huddle speed dialed in her 31:58 win in the 25 lapper!!
Emily Sisson ended 4 seconds behind!

Kendra Harrison's 12.44 beat  Nia Ali's 12.55 in the 100H!

Katie Burnett's 56:12 (??) took the Women's 10K track Walk!!
Where were Maria Michta-Coffey and Taylor Ewert???

Brittney Reese took the LJ with a good 22-11.25!
Keturah Orji's 47-9/25 defeated Tori Franklin's 47-1 in the TJ!
Vashti Cunningham dialed it in with her 6-5 in the HJ!!

The Women's PV saw the usual  suspects take the podium spots!
Sandi Morris won with her 15-11!
Katie Nageotte's 15-9 took 2nd, while SUPER Vet Jenn Suhr SUHRly took third with her 15-5 clearance!!
(Sorry, couldn't resist!!  LOL)

Emily Grove's 15-3 PR makes her 13th A-T US, tied with 3 others!!
Tori Hoggard and Lexi Jacobus were among the listed No Heighters!!

Chase Ealey's 64-2.25 easily took the sP, but Shot Diva Michelle Carter made the team with her 2nd place 61-4!!
Valerie Allman's DT of 211-1 won the Gold, as did Ariana Ince's 200-11 in the Javelin Throw!1
She beat Kara Winger;s 195 and change!!

And NO, I haven't overlooked the American Record by DeAnna Price in the HT!!
Her 256-8 adds 5 inches to her previous best!!
It's also the Meet Record!!
Gwen Berry didn't embarrass herself with her solid 250-10 in second!!

Brooke Anderrson took the Bronze with her 247-0, while Maggie Ewen PR'ed with 246-2, making her 6th A-T US!!

And that Heptathlon!!
(Which the eTN amusingly labeled "Decathlon"!!!

Anyway, Erica Bougard won it with her 6663 point toal!!
She needed all of it to narrowly beat Kendell Williams's new PR of 6610!!
That makes her 5th A-T US!!
Bougard was ahead by just 2 points after the first day!!

Chari Hawkins shocked with her score of 6230!
I'd never heard of her before!!
It makes her 22nd A-T US!!
Annie Kunz scored 6153 for another good score!!

I have the Pan American Games results ready to report, plus several more good marks, but I'm going to do those in a later report!!
Canadian TV's coverage of today's Birmingham DL meet is about to start!!
Want towatch that!!

See you soon!!!

London's Bridge to Doha

Again, apologies for the slow rate of posts!
I'll try to follow this one with me USATF post ASAP!

Maybe the IAAF shutting down distance runners by cancelling anything over a Two Mile in their DL series inspired the elite multi-lappers to scrabble for whatever they can get prior to Execution Day!!
(Only half joking!!

Helen Obiri and a few others gave their middle finger to Sir Coe by running a super speedy 5000 at the London stop on the Diamond League circuit!

Kenyan Policewoman Obiri got the London Meet Record and the Age 29 Record with her winner of 14:20.36!!
SShe needed all of it to beat Agnes Tirop's  14:20.68!!
This gave Tirop the best 2nd Place mark in history!!
(Surprising to me!!)
She ranks 6th A-T World!!

The Runner of the Year (so far!!), Sifan Hassan, ran a great 14:22.12, nabbing her the Netherlands NR!!
She gets the besst 3rd Place mark, and gives her 8th A-T World!!
All told, FIFTEEN Women broke 15 minutes in this race!!
(Again, SCREW YOU, Sebastian!!)

Danielle Williams is on fire!!
Speeding a 12.41 in her 100H heat, she came back with Gold in 12.32, the fastest time of the year!!
This makes her 6th A-T World, and makes her Jamaica's National Record holder!!
Nia Ali was a farback 2nd, but in a good time of 12.57!!

Akani Simbine's 9.93 beat Zharnel Hughes's 9.95 in the Men's 100!
Zhange Xie sped 19.88 to win the 200, becoming China's first ever sub-20 Man, and of course their NR holder!!

A good Men's Mile saw Sam Teferi (Remember him from INdoors??!!) beat Filip Ingebrigtsen--3:49.45 to 3:49.60!
The latter gave him Norway's NR--and I believe their initial sub-3:50!!

Speaking of Norway's version of Belgium's Borlee clan, Jakob Ingebrigtsen ran a PR over the 5000 distance at London!!
Hagos Gebrhiwet took the Gold in 13:01.36, but young Jakob took 2nd in in 13:02.05!
BTW, that happens to also be Norway's National Record for the teenager!!

Despite Obiri et al, maybe the Star of this DL was Norway's Karsten Warholm!!
He's been PRing all season, and he smashed his bestt time again!!
His 47.12 broke his own NR, gave him the London Meet Record, and ranks him 6th A-T World!!

In the Men's 400, Akeem Bloomfield's 44.40 beat Jonathan Jones's 44.64, which is now the Barbados National Record!

Ferguson Cheruiyot's 1:43.14 took a good 800, beating the 1:43.48 of Wycliffe Kamyamel, and the 1:43.78 of Marcin Lewandowski!
Nine runners finished under 1:45!

Other London results---
Luvo Manyonga LJ'ed 27-5/50!
Great Britain's 37.60 beat Japan's 37.78 in the Men's 4X100 Relay!
Taking 3rd was the Netherlands 37.94, their National Record!!
A trio of athletes that go mainly by their initials took 3 events--
SAFP took the Women's 100 in 10.78!
Dina Asher-Smith was 2nd in 10.92!
She ran 10.91 in her heat!!
ET took the 200 in 22.15!
And PPPP won the Men's TJ with his  57-6.25!
(Do I really have to give you their full names??!!)

As noted in a previous post, Lynsey Sharp is running sharp (Sic!!) these days, and showed it by taking the 800 here!
Her 1:57.61 beat C Bassett's 1:58.68!
That happens to be Australia's new National Record!!

Laura Muir's 3:58.25 beat  Winnie Chebet's 3:59.93 in the 1500!
Gabby Stafford took down yet another of Canada's NR's--this time the 1500 with her time of 4:00.26!!
Four others got under 4:01, including Konstanze Klosterhalfen!!

Anzhelika Sidorova won the PV, but Ekatterina Stefanidi matched her height of 15-7!
Malaika Mihambo won the LJ with her  23-0/50!
Britney Reese reached 22-4.50!

At the Heusden-Zolder meet, Ed Cheserek ran his quickest 5K so far--13:04.44!!
The Pan Am Juniors meet saw some great performances from the Americans!!
Matthew Boling took the 100--200 double, times of 10.11 and 20.31, both PR's!!
His 100 ranks him 6th A-T HS, while the 200 rates him 8th A-T HS!!
(Remember, HS'ers can get listed through August 31st, as loing as they haven't turned Pro or started their Collegiate season!!

Anna Hall PR'ed in the Heptathlon, with her windy point total of 5847!!
It's the HSR, the Senior Class Record, and the Pan Am Jr Meet Reciord!!

The Men's Relay teams ran 38.52 and 2:59.30, both MR's!!
(The latter is also a "World Junior" record, but I don't pay attention to those oddities!!

The US Women's 4X400 team also got a MR--time of 3:24.04!!

Elsewhere, Elise Cranny PR'ed in the 1500, time of 4:06.03!
In a Portland meet, comebacking from giving birth Shannon Rowbury ran a solid 15:19 in a track 5000!
Arthur Crisse's 9.93 gave him the NR of the Ivory Coast!!
Sondre Guttormsen's 19-0.25 PV matched the winning height of some guy named Black--or Block!!
Will have to check to see the status of Guttormsen--both age & school class!!
Sorry!


Someone named Brittany Anderson recently won a 100H race somewhere!
But in 2nd came Animarie Korte, a beautiful and ubiquitous presence on Twitter!!
Her time of 12.72 gave her Finland's NR!!

And that last result segues VERY well into a bulletin type of announcement--which I'm pretty sure you all know about already!1

The greatest Australian hurdler of All Time--Men or Women--Sally Pearson--has told the world she is officially RETIRED--after 16 years of competition!!

Definitely an All Time great--and not just in Australia!!
We will miss her very much!!

BTW, does that mean that Michelle Jenneke is now that Down Under Nation/Continent's BEST 100 Hurdler??
O--M--G!!!!!

LOL

See you ASAP with my USATF report!!

#BraveLikeGabe Mile Makes Monaco

Sorry for the delay but hospital visits do that to you sometimes!
Lots to catch up on, and what better place to begin than with a World Record
yes, lets begin with the Women's Mile that produced a WR, a deep list of finishers, all as a stirring tribute to Gabe Grunewald, who recently passed!!  (See earlier post!)

Sifan Hassan led a class field while breaking the 23 year old WR of Scletlana Masterkova by 0.23 seconds!
Using impressive negative splitss to run 4:12.33, she ran 2:08 & 2:04, with a final lap of about 60.8!!

She gets the WR, the Netherlands National Record, the Monaco Meet Record, and the Age 26 Record!
Her Combined Events time for the 800 & Mile adds to 6:09.14, which moves her to 2nd A-T on that list!

\Second went to Layra Wightman's 4:17.60, which just misses the National Record of Great Britain!
Third is Gabby Stafford's 4:17.87, which smashes the NR of Canada!!
Wightman is now 14th A-T World, while Stafford is now 16th A-T World!

Fourth was Gudaf Tsegay's 4:18.31!
She has a better mark!
Next came Rababe Arafi's 4:18.43!
That's the best  5th Place time, and ranks her 20th A-T World!
Axumawit Embaye's 4:18.58 ranks her  21st A-T World, and fives her the best  6th Place mark!!

Next came Winnie Nanyondo's 4:18.65, which ranks her 22nd A-T World, and gave her the best 7th Place mark!
The best 8th Plave mark goes to Ciara Magaaen's 4:19.03!
She ranks
She ranks 23rd A-T World!
Following this crowd was American Rachel Schneider, whose 4L20.91 ranks her 3rd A-T US!!

Thank you Gabe for your life well lived & your inspiration!!

What can we do for an encore?
How about Sydney McLaughlin's runaway victory in the 400H , time of 53.32!!
This breaks her own Age 19 Record!

Tonea Marshall ran a quick 1`00H time of 12.57 at the NACAC meet!!

At Monaco, Justin Gatlin edged out Noah Lyles in the 100--9.91 to 9.92!

Shaunae Miller-Uibo broke open the 200 with her fast time of 22.09!!

She beat Elaine Thompson's 22.44 and Dafne schippers's 22.45!
Kendra Harrison sped the 100H in 12.43!!

The Men's 800 saw Nijel Amos return the event to the world of sub-!:42's!
His 1:41.89 was a Monaco Meet Record!
He recently ran a 400 in 44.99, so add that to his PR of 1:41.73, and you get a C-E total time of 2:26.72, which ranks him 2nd on that list!!

Second in the 800 went to  Ferguson Cheruiyot's 1:42.54, which ranks him 15th A-T World!!
Amel Tuka followed in 1:43.62!
Then came Michael Saruni's 1:43.70!
Next was Wes Vasquez's 1:44.40, which is the National Record of Puerto Rico!!

Tim Cheruiyot ran the 1500 in 3:29.97, beating the precocious youngster Jakob Ingebrigtsen!
His 3:30.57 nipped  the 3:30.58 of Ronald Mungals, who got yhe National Record of Uganda!!

Next came GB's Charlie Grice, whose 3:30.62 was a huge 3 second PR for the Brit!!

The Men's 3000SC had a deep field offinishers!!

The winning time of 8"04.82  was run by Soufiane El Bakkalo!1
Second went to the 8:05.50 of Ben Kigen!
Third went to Getnet Wale's 8:05.51, which is the National Record of Ethiopia!!


Fourth goes to Spain's Fernando Carro!
His time of 8:05.62 is his new National Record!!
Abe Kibowot followed in 8:05.72, which is the best ever 5th Place mark!!
Hillary Bor's 8:09.23 took 6yj!
T Nagote's 8:09.50 is the best 8th Place mark!!

In some impressive Monaco field events, Piotr Lisek cleared 19-9, which breaks the Poland NR, and ranks him 10th A-T World!!
He was followed by Mondo Duplantis, whose height of 19-5 was the same as third placer Thiago Braz!!
Pawel Wojciekowski cleared 19-3, while  19-1 clearances went to the Lavillenie brothers--Renaud and Valentin, as well as Sam Kendricks!!

Christian Taylor's TJ of 58-5.50 beat Will Claye's 58-3!!

Ajee Wilson's 1L57.73 beat Natoya Goule's 1:57.90 in the 800!
Third went to Laura Muir's PR of 1:58.42!!
Lynsey Sharp seems to be on the comeback trail, as she followed Muir in 1:58.76!!

Hang in there--I got more good stuff from other meets!!

Kelsey Barber, a relative Australian unknown, got a JT of 222-1!1
This suddenly makes her 11th A-T World!!
The China's Huihui Liu nailed a measure of 222-6, breaking the Chinese National Record!!

A meet in Azuza CA saw some good distance marks by Americans!!

Bryce Hoppel's 1:44.58 edged Craig Engels's PR of 1:44.62!!

Donavan Brazier didn't win the 1500, but his 3:37.18 was a significant PR for the 800 specialist!!

Shelby Houlihan ran 1:59.92 in the 800, dipping under two minutes for the first time!!

Karissa Schweizer imprioved her 5000 time slighly, her 15:01.53 beating Marielle Hall's PR of 15:02.27!
Vanessa Fraser improved to 15:07.58 in 3rd!!

Nell Rojas won the Grandma's Marathon in a solid PR of 2:28:06--splitting 1:15 & 1:13!!

Alysha Newman and Tina Sutej got new National Records in the PV!!
Newman's 15-7/50  ranks her 21st A-T World, tied with 1 other!
Sutej's 15-2.25 nabs her the NR of Slovenia!!

Yulimar Rojas TJ'ed 48-4.25!
Tobi Amusan improved to 12.49 over the 100H!

There was a great Discus Throw competition recently!
Yaime Perez's mark of 227-3 beat Denia Cabellero's 226-8!!

Finally, the Ethipian WC Trials produced a classy list of 10K times!1
Letesenbet Gidey took the Women's race in a quick 30L27..89!!

The Men were led by Hagos Gebrhiwet's  26:48.95!
He was followed closely by Seleman Barega's 26:49.45, and Yomif Kejelcha's  26:49.91!!
Gebrhiwet now ranks 18th A-T World, while Barega gets the caboose position on my Top 24 A-T list!!
Kejelcha just missed the World list!!

Be back as soon as I can with the next post, featuring the London Diamond League!!

See you soon!!

Changes for NCAA Track & Field

Alysson Felix & Ajee Wilson
Mary Cain, Alexa Efraimsom, Kaylin Whitney & Candace Hill
Drew Hunter, Christian Coleman, Divine Oduduru & Noah Lyles
Kenny Bednarek, Lynna Irby & Sha'Carri Richardson
Rai Benjamin, Donavan Brazier, Mondo Duplantis & Sydney McLaughlin

Quite the entry list for the best of meets!!
Imagine these athletes at the peak of their form going for Records and high listed Marks!!

All of the above named have something in common---
They all went Pro in High School or before graduating College, mostly after their Frosh or Soph year!!

The problem is--Was going Pro the right idea?
What did they give up to do so?
And should they have had to give up anythuing!!

Since Mary Cain's phenomenal years of 2013 & 2014, it's been apres moi le deluge!
One HS or Collegiate superstar turning Pro not long after they broke some Record or otherwise startled the world with their extraordinary talents!!
One regret--if you want to call it that--is that by going Pro early, they all lost the chance to movce the Collegiate or HS Records beyond the stratosphere!!
After McLaughlin's 52.75 in the 400H, speculation was rampant about when, not if she would smash the World Record!1
Same with Mondo's 19-10.25 as a HS'er, or after Benjamin ran that 47.02!
And when they break these WR's, they'll have to do so as Professionals--and won't also break the Collegiate Record!!

But what about those marks--the 47.02, the 52.75, the 6.05 PV, or even Cain's INdoor Mile of 4:24.11 from 2014?
The latter is listed only as a HS PRO Record!
Should these marks--and all the others--be allowed on Collegiate lists, or HS lists, or as Records?

Maybe the NCAA should insist they remain as Collegiate athletes for at least TWO years before certifying their marks as Records!

In some sense, the McLaughlin's & Mondo's are like "ringers"--meaning they're not really members of a team, but get to play anyway for just one game!!

Besides it not being ethical, it kills the pleasure of anticipation and speculation!
Fans can't predict an easy win for McLaughlin in her SOPH year, knowing she has every intention of ending her Collegiate athletic career after that first---and ONLY---season!!

We can only wonder what Cain or Efraimson would've done as Collegiate athletes!
Conference & NCAA Championships?
The exact same set of successes & failures they wound up having?

One way to live in both worlds is to compete for a Collegiate team, but be allowed to compete against Pro's during the Collegiate season!

A ruling could be made that they can go against Pro's, but can't win money!
So they DON'T turn Pro, but get to compete against them, while remaining an "amateur" Collegiate athlete!!

Or the prize money can be placed in a trust fund until they graduate!!

Europe has it right!
I don't know the details of the system in Europe or Asia or Africa or Down Under, but I do know they have NOTHING similar to the US Collegiate system!!
They have a series of clubs, which serve as the base of operations for athletes in the HS or Collegiate age brackets!!
Thus, Mondo can compete for Sweden with all the other Swedish Professionals, while maintaining his amateur status while in a US High School or College!!
Of course, now that he's turned Pro, none of that matters!

What if the NCAA finally admitted that their football players and basketball players are getting paid--in some, or every, way?
What if they allowed T&F athletes the same courtesy?

What if signing a shoe contract, or competing for DL prize money was okay with the NCAA??

What if Mondo could return to the LSU team in 2020?
Or Syd the Kid ran again next year for Kentucky?
Imagine a COLLEGIATE race between Lyles and Coleman and Oduduru??
Wow!!

The NCAA could insist they compete in a certain number of Collegiate meets, while allowing them to compete in --let's say---the Drake Relays, Payton Jordon, and the Pre Classic!

And they would have to wear their team uniform in those meets!!

What about insisting they compete against other Collegiate athletes in these Professional meets?
Some meets have HS Miles or 100's, where only HS athletes compete!
Why not do the same for Collegiates??

Maybe make it possible to break the CR only in events where only other Collegiates are entered??

Janny Simpson--then Barringer--set the still standing CR of 3:59.90 in the 1500 at the Prefontaine meet in 2009!!
If the ruling was changed to CR's being set only against other Collegiates, the new CR would be Sinclaire Johnson's 4:05.97 from this past season!!

What other changes would be made with the same ruling??
Goodbye to several current HS and Collegiate Records!!

A special note should be admitted that Age Limits should also erase some Records!!
The most onorous of these are those of Henry Rono from 1978!!
He was a Soph at Washington State that year!
At TWENTY SIX years of age!!
Not far!!i
At 26, your "normal" elite athlete is in their 3rd year of being a Professional!!
THIRD year!!!
While athletes as talented as Rono was can attend College, is it fair tio have them compete against people who are normally 19, 20, or 21 in their Soph year??
We get to see athletes compete against equals!
Peers!
Not kids against adults!
In any other system, Rono would be in a different classification!
You don't have Little Leaguers swinging the bat against Major Leaguers--or even Minor Leaguers!

You don't pit Heavyweight boxers against middle or bantam weights!!
I would suggest stopping one's Collegiate career the second they turn 24!
And let's end the allowance of sixth year Seniors!
One year of redshirting--and that's it--no matter the circumstances!!

Read again the list of athletes at the top of this post!
Were their going Pro early a cause of the weakening of Collegiate T&F?

Syd was gone, and the winning tiime for the Women's 400H at the 2019 NCAA was over two seconds slower!!

Several of those events saw new studs emerge!
In face, Mondo even lost this year!
New faces eru[t every year, every season!
Who saw Richardson going from 10.99to 10.75???
The Men's 800 saw Michael Saruni, Donavan Brazier, and Emmanuel Korir go Pro early!
So who comes along but Devin Dixon??!!
This trend--of star athletes going Pro early--will only increase in size and speed!
When will the fans get angry?
When will the NCAA see the possible dangers?
When will we join the rest of the World, creating a Club system, as in Europe and elsewhere??


I admit I get excited when an athlete turns Pro early!
Thinking how thwy'll do against athletes 5 or 10  or even 15 years older!!
Against Olympic and World Champs medalists!
Against the Usain Bolts, Genzebe Dibabas, or Daniel Stahls of this world!

I've outlined what's good or not--what's fair or not--about the NCAA Collegiate T&F system!
It will survive without these changes!
I hope!!

But let's at least think about it!

See you soon!

Speed Rules in Lausanne

Following that Distance Extravaganza at Stanford was tough--sort of like following the Stones on stage!!

But Noah Lyles and Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce proved the exception to the rule!!

After her 11.39 (!!) at Stanford, SAFP returned to her form shown in spectacular fashion at the Jamaican Champs!!
Her 10.74 was beautiful to watch!
She beat a class field, with Dina Asher-Smith and Marie Josee Ta Lou following in 10..91 and 10.93!

Lyles blasted off the curve in the 200 already moving into high gear!
His 19.50 beat his old PR by 0.15 seconds!
He also beat the Lausanne Meet Record.

He's 2nd A-T US and 4th A-T World!

His C-E total for the 100 & 200 is 29.36 (9.86 & 19.50)

Alex Quinonez ended 2nd in a new Ecuador National Record of 19.87!
Andre DeGrasse and Aaron Brown--two Canadians--followed in 19.92 and 19.95!!

Justin Gatlin continued to shine, his 9.92 winner the sole sub-10!!

The Women's 400 was a blazer, with Salwa Naser outleaning Nigerian find Amanatou Seyni!
It was 49.17 to 49.19!!

Naser's 2nd best time got her the Lausanne MR!!
But it was Seyni who truly shocked--as her previous best was over 50 seconds!!

She's 22, and apparently only began her career a couple of years ago--so major PR's shouldn't be too shocking!!

But here's the thing--and this may be my own Caster Semenya-bred paranoia!!--but I have a sense we may be approaching a deja vu situation with Seyni!

She appears tall, with strong shoulders and long legs!
Now, many female athletes have the same build!
And her vast improvement--in one race--can be put aside the norms of HS studs improving fast in their Frosh and Soph years!
Seyni is 22, but in her 2nd year or so of running!!

Also, a comment about her was deleted by Garry Hill from the T&FN Message Board!1
My guess is that this person came to the same observations as I did~~
We'll see how this develops---IF it develops!!

But watch her closely!!
49.19 is nothing to ignore!!

BTW, this makes her 17th A-T World, tied with 1 other!!

The Men's 1500 saw Tim Cheruiyot run away with the race, time of 3:28.77!!
This also broke the Meet Record!
Jakob Ingebrigtsen got a PR of 3:30.16!!

Ayanleh Souleiman--who seems to be back full form--was third in 3:30.79, edging Filip Ingebrigtsen's 3:30.82!!
Ronald Mungala broke his own Uganda National Record with his 3:31.33!!

The Men's PV took a jump-off at 19-8.50 to decde!!
Piotr Lisek cleared it, while Sam Kendricks had to settle for his earlier clearance of 19-6.25!!

Mondo Duplantis and Renaud Lavillenie both cleared 19-0.75 ub 3rd and 4th, with this being the Frenchman's best of the year!!

For Lisek, he got his own NR of Poland, and the Lausanne MR!!

Actually, this DL wasn't really bad--it just lacked that "Spirit of Pre" that sparked the meet at Stanford!

Here's the rest of the best from Lausanne---
Mariya Lasitskene won again, this time at 6-7.50!
No one broke 13 in the Men's 5000, but Yomif Kejelcha won in 13:00.56, beating Selemon Barega!
Josh Cheptegai was 3rd in 13:03.
Paul Chelimo ran an American Leader, his 13:05 taking 6th!

Orlando Ortega sped 13.05 to beat the 13.11 of Daniel Roberts in the 110H!

Shamier Little took the 400H in 53.73!
"In 2nd and 3rd came Zuzana Hwjnova and Ashley Spencer, both in 54.11.
Hejnova may be returning to form with her fastest time in awhile!!

Katie Nageotte won the Women's PV--held on a street!!--with her 15-9.50 clearance!1
Anzhelika Sidorova and Holly Bradshaw both topped 15-5.75!!

Ekayerina Stefanidi and Alysha Newman both No Heighted!!

The Women's TJ saw Caterine Ibarguen break her own Age 35 Record with her 48-10.50!!
She beat Yulimar Rojas's 48-7.50!
Ana Peleteiro ended far back with her 46 & change!1
Christin Hussong threw the Javelin 218-5!!

Elsewhere, Daniel Stahl erupted in the DT out to 235-8, tying him for 3rd A-T Wold with Gerd Kanter!!


Taylor Ewert Walked her initial 20000 meters race in New York!!

It was at the USATF Junior Champs Walks!
Her 1:38:55 SHATTERED the old "American Junior" record by several minutes!
T&FN didn't even know what the old HSR was---or even if there was one!!

But Ewert certainly obliterated that one alsp!!

She's now just 8 minutes shy of Maria Michta-Coffey's American Record!!
She beat 2nd place by many minutes!!

Bernard Lagat ran an American "Masters" record in the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia!
His 2:12:10 would rank VERY high on the current 2019 US list!!
At Age 44 and a half!!

A British teen named Amy Hunt  (age in the "youth" group) sped the 200 in 22.42!!
That's faster  than either Kaylin Whitney or Canadace Hill ran at that stage of life!!

Wojcieck Nowicki got a World Leader in the HT with his 268-2!!

Emmanuel Korir sped the 400 in 44.55 at the Kenya Champs!

Sydney McLaughlin won the 400H easily, her 53.72 beating 2nd by 2 seconds!!
This was in Marseille on July 2nd!1
It beat her own Age 19 Record, although she was tied wwith Jane Pittman there!!
She has until August 6th to break it again!!

The USATF Women's Decathlin was held again, with Jordan Gray scoring 7931 points!
She gets the American Record, and is now  3rd A-T World in this developing event!!

I have some additional material from the Women's 3000 race at Pre!!
Three additional Age Records were broken--besides Sifan Hassan's Age 26 Record!!

KK got the Age 22 Record with her 8:20.07.
Letegesnet Gidey's 8:20.27 got the Age 21  Rcord!
And Ganzebe Dibaba's 8:21.29 got her the Age 28 Record!!

I've outlined some thoughts on the NCAA Collegiate T&F system I want to share with you!!
It asks questions and provides some answers!
But I strongly doubt the NCAA will change!1

So expect that "extra" post soon!!

Steve would go "DUDE!"

VERY late with this report!
My eyesight is getting worse, becoming more difficult to see results, or even my own Record Book scribblings!
That said, this is a truncated report,going in order of my notes!
The title comes because I'm sure Steve Prefontaine, the Pre Classic's namesake, surely would have been proud of the distance races there!!
Not forgetting to remind you the meet was at Stanford, not in Eugene!!

Rai Benjamin destoyed the 400H field with his 47.16 best as an American athlete!
Combined with his 44.31 for the flat 400, his 1:31.47 makes him 2nd US Combined Events!
Also the Meet Record and Age 21 Record!He's 3rd A-T US!!

Beatrice Chepkoech was close to WR pace for the first K, but slowed to "just" 8:55.51.
New MR.
Emma Coburn fell hard during the race, but got back yp and moved to race speed fairly fast!
But she lost maybe 4 seconfs, so her 9:04.42 was good!
Hyvin Jepkemoi took 3rd in 9:05.81
Courtney Frerichs and Colleen Quigley ended 5th & 7th, times of 9:09 and 9:11.
Allie Ostrander ran a 6 second PR of 9:31.44, making her 19th A-T US!

The Women's 100 featured Sha'Carri Richardson and SAFP, but the newbie Pro ended 4th in 11.15, and the Super Vet was LAST in 11.39!!
A blip??
BTW, Marie Josee Ta Lou and Aleia Hobbs eneded 1-2, times over 11 seconds!

The Men's Two Mile was won by Josh Cheptegai's 8:07.54!
He barely beat Paul Chelimo's 8:07.59!!
This makes Chelimo 3rd A-T US!
Selem0on Barega was 3rd in 8:08.60!
Ge's 11th A-T World, and gets the Age 19 Record!
Six Guys ended between 8:15 & 8:19, among them Mo Ahmed and Justyn Knight!

Eric Jenkins ran 8L22.27, making him 18th A-T US!

Liljao Gong's 64-11 tookk the Women's SP over the 63's of Danielle Thomas-Dodd and Chhase Ealey!

Orlando Ortega and Michael Norman won their specialties, but the times were too slow to mention!!


The WOMEN's 800 saw a US sweep!!
Ajee Wilson beat Raevyn Rogers and a slightly surprising Hanna Green!
Ajee ran 1:58.31, while Green ran her initial sub-2---1:58.75!!


Then came THE race of the meet!!
After a 4:13 first 1500, Sifan Hassan sped a 4:05-ish to run 8:18.49!!
This was the first OUTdoor sub-8:20 since the Chinese invasion of the 90's!!
She gets the Netherlands National Record, the Pre MR, and the Age 26 Record!!

Konstanze Klosterhalfen was brilliant in 2nd, her 8:20.07 destroying the NR of Germany!!
Hassan's C-E times of 3:55.93 and 8:18.49 adds to 12:14.44!
Sorry I don't have her place there!

Who got the NR of Ethiopia??
Letesenbet Gidey!!
Her 8:20.27 beat Genzebe Dibaba's 8:21.29!!
But G-D gets the Age 28 Record!

Fifth was GB's Laura Wightman's 8:26.07!
This makes her 2nd A-T GB, behind only Marathoner Paula Radcliffe---but ahead of Laura Muir!!

Helen Obiri and Agnes Tirop ran in the 8:27's!
Karissa Schweizer's 8:42.15 was a PR for the new Pro!


The Women's 200 saw Blessing Okagbare startle the favorites with her 22.05!1
Second went to Elaine Thompson's 22.21, with Bronze going to Dina Asher-Smith's 22.42!
Next came Salwa Naser's 22.51, breaking her own NR of Bahrain!


The Men's PV saw The Kid--Mondo Duplantis--beat Sam Kendricks, 19-5.25 to 19-3.25!

The Men's SP saw an upset of sorts!
Darian Romani blasted one out 74-2.50, getting the Brazil NR and the Pre Meet Record!
Ryan Crouser was next with 72-9!

In her rust-buster race --after giving birth and not racing for 2 years (!!!), Faith Kipyegon ran 3:59.04 to beat a classy field of 1500 Ladies!!Laura Muir took2nd with 3:59.47!
Shelby Houlihan came charging down the last 60 meters, going from 6th or 7th to 3rd, her 3:59.64 nipping Gudaf Tsegay's 3:59.65!!

A bit of a shock came from recent Oregon Duck grad Jessica Hull!!
She'd begun the year barely sub-4:10, then ran 4:06 at the NCAA's!
But she dropped her PR to 4:02.62 here!!
Kate Grace improved to 4:02.99, making her 18th A-T US!

Christian Coleman impressed with his 9.81 winner in the 100!
But impressing even more was Justin Gatlin, whose 9.87 gets him the Age 37 Record!

Mariya Lasitskene was her usualbrilliant self, winning the HJ with her 6-8.25!
But Vashti Cunningham had an ON day, hitting 2 meters for the first time!
Her 6-6.75  makes her 5th A-T US!
Yaroslava Mihuchikh  cleared 6-6.25 in 3rd!

The Bowerman Mile was taken by Tim Cheruiyot's 3:50.49!!
Ayanleh Souleiman ran 3:51.22 for the Silver!
Filip Ingebrigtsen beat his younger sibling Jakob--3:51.28 to 3:51.30!!

Craig Engels was first American with his 3:51.60 in 5th!
This makes him 17th A-T US!

Another good comeback came from Matthew Centrowitz, whose 3:52.26 was his 2019 rust buster!!

Ben Blankenship PR'ed behind him in 3:52.51!

Yomif Kejelcha ended just 12th in the 3L57 range!

Removed FROM my US list was Marty Liquori, his 3:52.2 dating from the year of Pre's death, 1975!!


Sorry for the late & shortened report from PRE!
There were several marks that emerged from the Throws elsewhere!!

Jeneva Stevens had a sP of 61-5!
DeAnna Price's 254-0 HT is the World Leader!!
Janeah Stewart's 247-5 makes her 5th A-T US!!

Dani Hill's sP measured 61-9!

Ariana Ince PR'd again in the JT--to 208.5!!
This makes her 4th A-T US!

Will Claye TJ'ed 59-6.25, moving to 2nd A-T US, and 3rd A-T World!!

Jon Jones improved in the SP to 70-7!
Alex Young had a HT PR of 250-7!

Brittney Reese LJ'ed 22-9.25!
And Brianna McNeal doubled in the 100 & 100H---11.20 and 12.71.

Rhonex Kipruto and Brigid Kosgei broke the Peachtree 10K Course Records, winning 50 G's in US dollars each!!

Kipruto ran 27:01, while Kosgei ran 30:22!!

Powerful Pre-Pre

For those confused by my title, please note the Prefontaine Classic DL is just 5 days from today!
So THIS is the time we might call "pre-Pre"!
Ha Ha!!

One thing's for sure--the Jamaican Championships Women's 100 Final WAS quite powerful!!

You had two super veterans vs the most blazing HS sprinter we;ve seen in this Olympic cycle!!

Elaine Thompson and Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce had already displayed their wares this season--so what they did wasn't a total shock!
Same with the Kid--Brianna Williams!!
She'd already run the 2nd A-T HS time of 11.02.

Watch the video and hear how exited the Jamaican announcers were as they lined up for the start!
And they were off, with ET & SAFP getting great starts, but just barely ahead of a crowd, with Williams among them--at 50 meters!

But ET & SAFP have been there & done that--many times--in the most intense and important meets!
So when they EXPLODED from the 2nd half gate, we just thought--NICE!!

And they were GONE!!
In the space of 45 meters, they gained 15 or more on the field!!

At the tape, you neded am emhanced photo to decide the winner!
It was Thompson--by the thinnest of hairs!
10.73 to SAFP's 10,73, minus 3 thousandths!!

For Fraser-Pryce, she gets the Age 32 Record and the best 2nd Place mark!!

As for the youngster, she nabs the HSR, the Junior Class Record, and the Age 17 Record!!
Their heats were run in 10.89 (ET), 10.93 (SAFP), and 11.01 (BW)!!
So now we have TWO High Schoolers at sub-11.--!!

The 200 wasn't bad either!!
That one went to ET's 22.00--the new World Leader!
SAFP sped 22.22, while Williams was done!

Moving to Ostrava, we have a World Record!!
OK, so it's rather obscure, but a WR is a WR!!

Shaunae Miller-Uibo--who likes this distance INdoors, shattered the OUTdoor WR for the 300 meters, timing 34.41 at the tape!!
I don't keep records or lists for this event OUTdoors, but she gets the WR, her NR, the Ostrava Meet Record, and the Age 25 Record!!

Brittany Brown was a quick 2nd, timing 35.91!
Jaide Stepter took 3rd in 36.12!!

Mariya Lasitskene and Sam Kendricks dominated the Vertical Jumps this week (and all year!!).

Lasitskene's first this week was a 6-7.50!
Good--even great!!
Then came her 6-9!
This ties the Age 26 Record, and gives her the Ostrava MR!!
She remains 5th A-T World!!
Second went to Karina Taranda (sp?) of Belarus at 6-6!

Kendricks got the Ostrava MR with his best of 2019--19-5.59!1
But he's been steady--with his heights, and in getting W's!!
He also jumped 19-2.25 in another meet!!
BTW, Lasitskene made 3 attempts at the WR height of 6-10.75!!

Magnus Krt and Tom Walsh were strongest in the Throws!
The Kiwi giant competed in a pair of meets!
His first was won with 72-9.25, but he had tough competition!
Michal Haratyk's 72-1.50 took the Silver, while Darian Romani's 71-5.25 took the Bronze, with Konrad Bukiwiecki's 70-9.25 missing the podium!

Then Walsh blew the ball out  73-0.75 to get the Ostrava MR over Haratyk's 71-5.50!

Kirt flew the Javelin out past the 90 meter mark--twice!1
First was his Estonia National Record of 296-5!
He followed that with another NR of 297-3!

The Best of the Rest---
The re-scheduled Talence Multi's were good, but missing the excitement added to it being the bookend at the end of the OUTdoor season!!
Anyway, Nafi Thiam was the big star there--winning with 6819 points!
Even better, she broke the Hept WR for the HJ with a smooth 6-7.50--missing the World list by a half inch!1
Second went to Xenia Krizsan's 6619--the National Record of Hungary!!
Laura Ikauniece took 3rd with her 6518 score!
P Le Page of Canada won the Decathlon with a modest 8453!
Second went the USA's Zak Ziemak, with 8344 points!

Denia Caballero threw the Discus out 227-0!
Yulimar Rojas improved her NR of Venezuela with her TJ mark of 49-5!
It makes her 19th A-T Woorld!

Arianna Ince improved 1 inch in the JT to 201-5!
There were some good marks from the adidas Boost meet on a Boston street--with a straightaway track built above the street!
I don't consider such marks legit, but among the more interesting were--
Akani Simbine's 9.92
SMU's 150 of 16.27
Noah Lyles's 14.69
Sharnal Hughes's 20.00
Murielle Ahoure's 11.09,
and Kete Hall's LJ of 22-3!

In Europe, Florentina Iusco LJ'ed 22-6.50!
The Czech Republic Men's 4X100 Relay team sped 38.63 for their National Record!

Pawel Fajdek won a HT comp with 265-4, second going to Wojcieck Nowicki's 260-11.

Gwen Berry's 248-8 beat Anita Wlodarczyk's 246-5!
Delilah Muhammed finally got a quick flat 400--her 50.60 added to her 52.64 for the 400H adds to 1:43.24!
This makes her 4th A-T US on that C-E list!!

Andre DeGrasse's 19.91 beat Christian Coleman's 19.97 in a significant battle of past & current speedsters!


Juan Echevarria LJ'ed 27-3.25!
Hadn't seen any results for Sara Kolak recently, but her 211-5 JT at Ostrava indicates she's back in the mix!


The USATF Junior Champs had some decent marks for United States HS'ers!
As you know, this being a "Junior" event, it's open to Frosh Collegiates as well as the HS crowd!!

Taylor Ewert broke her own MR in the 10K Walk with her 48:24.61 cruiser!
Matthew Boling was one of the featured stars, and came through!
His best effort was his 20.36 in the 200, making him 10th A-T HS!
He added wind aided marks of 10.15 and 20.30!
Athing Mu beat Roisin Willis in a slowish 800!
Justin Robinson took the 400 in 45.58, well off his recent 44.84!!

The Men's 110H are run with the HS height barriers of 39 inches, despite the presence of Collegiates!
Anyway, a Collegiate got the MR with 13.21, but J Marshall was the first HS'er, his 13.22 ranking him 2nd A-T HS!, tied with 2 others!
He also gets the Junior Class Record!

Justin Forde's 52-10 TJ makes him 11th A-T HS!

Thelma Davies sped the 100 in 11.25, making her 23rd A-T HS, tied with 1 other!
Frosh (HS Frosh, that is!!) Kayla Davis ran the one lap in 51.28 for the win!
Marlee Starliper won the 3000 in 9:29 and change!
Jasmine Jones took the 100H in 13.19, making her 15th A-T HS!
And Anna Hall easily won the Heptathlon with 5646 points!!

Back to Jamaica for a bit--
Yohan Blake was the sole Man under10 seconds--winning the 100 in 9.96!
Shericka Jackson PR'ed in the 400 with her 49.78!
And Shaneika Ricketts took the TJ with 48-4!!

As noted above, the Pre meet is the next biggie--June 30th at Stanford!!
Interesting that it's still called the Eugene DL, even though moved this year to California!!

I won't be providing a Preview this year, but there's some HOT HOT stuff awaiting the faithful!!
Too much to review here, but if everything goes right, I might need TWO posts to cover all the results!!
A caveat or two---
I'm not sure whether the sprints will be fast--or as fast as you'd expect from DL races!
The Stanford track is most known for its distances!
The Throws might be good too, as the Cardinal team has had a few great Throwers!

Also, there's a Two Mile for Men--but NOT for Women!1
WHY????

See you soon!!