Doha DL Return to Form

 The return to the 2019 World Championships city was all the medicine it took to bring the wounded Diamond League system back to form!

Rai Benjamin toured a lap with hurdles in 47.38, getting the Meet Record.
Brazil's National Record was broken again by Alison Dos Santos, who is proving a consistent giant of the event!
His 47.57 makes him 22nd A-T World.
Kyron McMaster was 3rd in 47.82!

In the absence of Sha'Carri Richardson (a DNS), Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce took control, and took just 10.84 to cross the finish line!
Blessing Okagbare was 2nd in 10.90!
Tim Cheruiyot brought the 1500 World Lead down to 3:30.48!
Stew McGregor (3:31.57) and Soufiane El Bakkali (3:31.95) followed!

Katie Nageotte and Sandi Morris both cleared 15-10.50 in the PV, with Nageotte getting the W.
Both claimed ties of the Meet Record!
Holly Bradshaw, Tina Sutej, Kat Stefanidi, and Iryna Zhuk all went over 15-6.50, placing in that order!
Zhuk gets the Belarus NR also!
Anzhelika Sidorova was 7th with 15-2.75!

Yulimar Rojas TJ'ed 49-8.50, beating Shaneika Ricketts (49-1.75), and Kim Williams (48-2.50).
In 5th came Keturah Orji's 47-1.75!
Michael Norman won the 400 in 44.27.
Anthony Zambrano ran 44.57 to beat 3rd placer Fred Kerley, who ended in 44.60.
Kenny Bednarek edged Andre De Grasse, 19.88 to 19.89!
Justin Gatlin's 20.49 only gave him 5th, but that time makes him the Age 39 Record holder!!

The Women's 3000SC saw Norah Tanui winning in 9:00.67.
Makalis Demewez (sp??) got Ethiopia's NR with her 9:02.52.
She's 9th A-T World!
Winfred Yavi was 3rd with 9:02.64.
She's 10th A-T World!
Hyvin Kiyeng fell over the final water jump, ending 4th in 9:07.58!
Emma Coburn opened her Steeple season with 9:08.22 in 5th.
M Mismas-Zrimsek was 6th in Slovenia's NR time of 9:16.82!

Beatrice Chebet (8:27.49), Margaret Kipkemboi (8:28.27), and Lillian Rengeruk (8:28.96) took the podium spots in the flat 3K!
Wycliffe Kinyamel won the 800 in 1:43.91.
The Women's race went to Faith Kipyegon in 1:58.26.
Natoya Goule was 2nd in 1:59.70.
Femi Ogunode won a 100 race there in 10.00.

Armin Sinancevic took the SP with his 71-9.50.
Tom Walsh threw just 70-11.75 in 2nd!
I won't explain what the WA did with the throws--it's too bizarre!!
Suffice to say, it was Valerie Allman who won the DT with her 215-1!
And the Home Hero--Mutaz Barshim--HJ'ed 7-6.50, but lost to the 7-7.75 of Ilya Ivanyuk!

The Women broke all but 1 of the Distance Meet Records at the Portland Track Festival!
But the Men had the flashiest result!

High School Senior Hobbs Kessler destroyed the HSR in the 1500 meters with his amazing 3:34.36.
The fact he ended in 5th place merely reminds me I was there when Alan Webb set the Mile and 1500 HSR's in 2001 at the Pre Classic, but ended in 5th also!!
Craig Engels PR'ed in 3:33.64 to take the win.
This makes him 17th A-T US!
A pair of Brits were next--Charlie Grice in 3:33.91, and Jake Heyward in 3:33.99!
Henry Wynne also PR'ed--time of 3:34.08.

Then, at the end of a blazing last 400, Kessler crossed the line to instant fame and adulation!
He gets the HSR, the Senior Class Record, but misses the US list by 0.25 seconds!
Lots of speculation in the past few days about his chances to go to Tokyo in a few weeks!

The deepest field goes to the Women's 800, where two women went sub-2:00 for the first time!
Canada's Gabby Stafford won it in 1:58.70.
Sabrina Southerland ran 1:58.82 in 2nd.
Kate Grace and Chanelle Price followed in 1:59.04 and 1:59.12.
Cory McGee followed in 1:59.17.
Then came Raevyn Rogers in 1:59.72.
Ms's Southerland and McGee, Welcome to the 1:59 club!!

MR's also went to Courtney Frerichs, Elise Cranny, and Jessica Hull!
Frerichs's time in the 3000SC was 9:21.13.
Val Constien was 2nd in a fine 9:25.53, making her 10th A-T US!
Great Britain's Lizzie Bird was 3rd in 9:26.73.
Veteran Mel Lawrence was 4th in 9:27.34, making her 11th A-T US!
Sara Vaughn PR'ed with her 5th place time of 9:38.52!

Cranny's 4:02.62 makes her 20th A-T US!
Dani Jones PR'ed with her 4:04.26 in 2nd!
Hull's 14:57.00 won the 5000, but not by much!
Andrea Seccefien was next in 14:57.07, with fellow Canadian Julie Ann Staehli timing 14:57.50!
Karissa Schweizer--she of 14:26.34 fame--could end only 4th in 15:00.44!
The only Men's Meet Record fell to Suguru Osako's 27:56.44!
In fourth came Galen Rupp in 28:00.37!
No MR in the Women's 10K, however, as Caroline Kipkirui won it in 31:44.06!
Molly Seidel took 3rd in a PR of 32:02.19.
She's on the Marathon team for Tokyo!

More from PTF--
Donovan Brazier won the 800 in 1:45.09!
Matthew Centrowitz was 5th in 1:46.23!
Mason Ferlic kept steady with his 3000SC win in 8:18.79!
Bernard Keter took 2nd in 8:20.46, followed by neophyte Sean McGorty in 8:22.75!
Grant Fisher took the fast heat of the 5000 in 13:19.52.
Woody Kincaid was a few seconds back in 13:24.65!
Lopez Lomong was slower--13:26.11--but he won his section!

Chula Vista was the site of the USATF Field Festival!
Jeff Henderson took the LJ with 27-6.50!
Marquis Dendy and Corey Crawford both reached 27-2.50, with Dendy taking 2nd!
Esa Brume got Nigeria's National Record with her 23-6.25!
She ranks 22nd A-T World, tied with 2 others!
Brittney Reese's best measured 23-3.50, but it was wind aided!
Her best legal effort was 22-5.
Chantel Malone's best was 23-2.50!
Rudy Winkler led some solid HT'ers with his 258-5!
Alex Young's PR of 256-11 makes him 11th A-T US!
Sean Donnelly threw 252-7!

But check this out, Field fans--
Vashti Cunningham took over the World Lead in the HJ, clearing 6-7.50 (2.02).
She is ranked 4th A-T US!
And she's just one half inch off the World list!!
Jelena Rowe was 2nd with 6-4!

And then there's Maggie Malone!!
On fire all season, she blasted the spear out 219-3, an American Record by 7 inches!
Liz Gleadle was far back with a good 207-9!

The venerable Gotzis Multi's saw Damian Warner take a very serious shot at 9000 points, missing only because his JT was a bit sub-par!
But his 8995 final score won the meet by 461 points over the 8534 of fellow Canadian Pierce LePage!!
Warner got the Age 31 Record, as well as breaking his own NR by 200 points!
He leapt 27-2 in his LJ, taking over another Canada NR!!
Thomas Van der Plaetzen's 8430 took 3rd!
Vitali Zhuk scored 8331 in 4th!

The Heptathlon went to Xenia Krizsan's 6651, the new National Record of Hungary!
It broke her own mark!
Anouk Vetter took 2nd with 6536 points.
Kendell Williams was 3rd with 6383!
Erica Bougard was a DNF!!

Other Records & Marks--
Johannes Vetter blew his Javelin 315-11 across the field!
This breaks his own Germany NR (broken earlier in his series with a 309-2), and is of course the World Leader!
Pawel Fajdek got off a solid HT, his 272-3 leading the World!
Christina Hussong threw 227-0, making her 8th A-T World!

Daniel Stahl threw his Discus 226-9, but he lost to Simon Pettersen's 227-11.
But he made up for that by winning another meet with 228-8!
It was during this series that he fouled a throw measuring 242-2, or 73.83!
The WR is 74.08, or 243-0!
No one--not even Stahl--has come so close to this mark in this century!!
How bad was the foul?
The video shows he stepped outside the ring by maybe 6 to 8 inches!
Think of a LJ measuring, say, 29-3, in which the Jumper steps maybe 6 inches over the plasticine!
Or a Women's 10.60 in the 100, but with a wind of 2.2!
Can he get the World Record?
That foul says--maybe!

In Cuba, L Povea TJ'ed 48-11.75, less than 3 inches removed from my World list!
She  went 48-10 in another meet!
Teen Leyanis Perez reached 47-6.25 in 2nd!
Jordan Diaz TJ'ed 57-3.50!
Andy Diaz went out 56-4.75!
Yaime Perez's DT sailed 226-4!
In Georgia, Katie Nageotte took over the World Lead in the PV, clearing 16-2!
She gets the Age 29 Record.
She ranks 5th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
She ranks 2nd A-T US, tied with 1 other!
Roberta Bruni PV'ed 15-5, getting Italy's NR!

The PV had to be moved INdoors because of bad weather, so make sure you note Chris Nilsen's 19-4.25 is an INdoor mark!
So is Kyle Pater's 2nd place mark of 19-0.25!

Rachel McCoy HJ'ed 6-5, making her 14th A-T US, tied with 4 others!
Maykal Masso LJ'ed 27-6.50.
Daniel Jasinski threw the Discus 221-4 in Germany!
Fanny Roos broke her own National Record of Sweden in the SP with 63-4!
Remember Jarrion Lawson?
Looks like he's back, as measured by his 27-0.75 LJ in Georgia!

Femke Bol continues to rock and roll!
She broke the Netherlands NR in the 400 with her 50.56!
Purity Rionoripu won the Prague Marathon in 2:20:14!
In Botswana, Isaac Makwala took the double, his 200 and 400 wins coming in 20.15 and 44.65!
Gift Leotlefa won a South Africa 100 in 9.94!

Emily Sisson cruised a 5000 in Massachusetts in 14:59.12.
But what happened to Molly Huddle, who was far back in 5th with 15:24.12??

Finally, on the HS front--besides Hobbs Kessler's HSR!!--
Paige Sommers broke her own HSR in the Pole Vault by clearing 14-9, adding half an inch to her OUTdoor best!

Logan Coles threw the Hammer 235-0, ranking him 19th A-T HS!
And then there's Jaylen Slade, who gets the Junior Class Record with his 10.09.
This ranks him 4th A-T HS, tied with 1 other!

I'll try to have my report on the NCAA Regionals up in a few hours!
Until then...!!