NCAA XC--Shock City

The King is dead--Long live the King!
Yep, "King" Edward Chesarek LOST!!

(That's the Collegiate version of "Mo Farah LOST!".)
And it wasn't in a last 50 meter sprint!
Nope, when Patrick Tiernan made his move around 8K, Ches did retake the lead---for a moment.
Then Tiernan surged again, and that was that.
With Justyn Knight following, Ches wound up a far back third!!
Here's the Top 8 finishers, followed by a list of "names" who performed either better or worse than expected.

1. Patrick Tiernan            29:21.99

2. Justyn Knight              29:27.26

3. Ed Cheserek                29:47.93

4. Futsam Ziensellassie   29:49.80
5. Grant Fisher                29:57.90

6. MJ Erb                        29:58.51
7. Morgan McDonald         29:59.17

8. Edwin Kibichiy           29:59.51

16.  Hassan Abdi             30:10
21.  Ben Saarel                30:11

24.  Sean McGorty          30:13
29.  Matthew Maton        30:16

33.  John Dressel             30:21

54.  Jerrell Mock             30:34
66.  Olin Hacker              30:39
241. Levi Thomet            32:51  (Did he fall?  Lose his shoes?  Injured?)

Northern Arizona easily took the team title with 125 points--same total as the Women's winner!
Stanford scored 158 in 2nd, with Syracuse third with 164.
Oregon finished just 9th, with 282 points!

A Ches win wouldn't have made any difference in the score!

The Women's race was a lot closer, both in the individual and team aspects!

The group was bunched until 5000, when Anna Rohrer took the lead.
But Erin Finn passed her, and seemed on her way to her first NCAA Cross Country win!
That is, until less than 100 meters remained, and Karissa Schweizer came flying past both, and kept going to a fairly decisive margin of victory.

Here's the Top 8, with other "names" who performed either better or worse than expected!

1. Karissa Schweizer          19:41.61
2. Erin Finn                        19:44.21

3. Anna Rohrer                  19:44.59

4. Katie Rainsberger          19:51.05  (Top Frosh finish in either race!!)

5. Sharon Lokedi               19:52.18

6. Brenna Peloquin            19:54.51

7. Eleanor Purrier              19:56.82

8. Amy Eloise-Neale         19:58.27

12.  Rachele Schulist         20:07
14.  Alli Cash                     20:08
19.  Alice Wright               20:13
20.  Angel Piccirillo          20:13
23.  Peyton Bilo                20:14
29.  Lauren LaRocco        20:17
37   Fiona O'Keefe           20:23
38.  Christina Aragon       20:23

47.  Wesley Frazier           20:29  (Will the REAL Wesley Frazier please stand up??)
54.  Sarah Disanza            20:33
115.  Ryen Frazier             20:54
133.  Erin Clark                 ??
158.  Elise Cranny             21:06

That 2nd by Finn--instead of the win--decided the team race!
As did Oregon's FIFTH finisher!!
In the end--after a 35 minute wait, the team title went to the DUCKS!!
By ONE point!
They scored 125 to Michigan's 126!
Favored Colorado ended in 3rd with 134 points!
Stanford was 5th with 255 points!!

Well, folks, that much-promoted (by me!) JDL All-Comers meet---fizzled!!
No fast HS Mile times!
No fast times at all!
The "best" mark was Alina McDonald's PV of 13-7.25.
Not bad---In fact VERY good!---IF she were still in High School.
But she's a Collegiate now, even if her "unattached" means she's redshirting!
But 13-7.25 for a Collegiate is close to a foot away from being noteworthy!
The times indeed have changed among Women PV'ers!!

So I guess we'll have to wait for that first great mark that indicates the 2016-2017 INdoor T&F season has really begun!!

Eliud Kipchoge won the New Delhi Half-Marathon, as my schedule post indicated he would!
But he didn't get the course record, as his pacers fell off in the 2nd 10K!!

His winning time was still fast--59:44!
Yegrem Demelash was 2nd in 59:48, with Augustine Choge 3rd in 60:01.

The Women's race went to Worknesh Degefa, time of 67:42.
She won by 10 seconds over Abebel Yeshunah!
Back in 7th was Gelete Burka, time of 69:32!!

Heads up on the November 24th (Thanksgiving Day) Manchester 10K Road Race!
There's some big names on the entry list.
For the Men, we have Galen Rupp!

For the Women, there's Mary Cain!

Okay, so Cain ain't a "big" name anymore!

But she WAS!!
And NOT over 10000 meters, track or road or XC!!
So what's the deal?
Is she moving up?
Is this a one-off, soon to return to 1500's?
This blogger's opinion is that she'll need to run sub-34:00 to have people say she's "back"--or even has ANY potential in longer races!
Of course, weather and the course have a lot to do with times in road races!
But having Cain even entered in this race is intriguing!!
Of course, this blog will have that race COVERED!!

Coming soon are more INdoor T&F Previews!!

2017 INdoors--AGE Records-Pt 2

For all the mumbo-jumbo about Rules & Regs & such, refer to my previous Age Records post!
But simply, these records are based on actual birthdates, not just the year!
This post goes from Age 29 down to "Age 0 to 17"!
Both Men and Women are included in each Age!

Age 29
Barbara Pierre needs to race the 60 in a speedy 7.01.
Brenda Martinez has a 1500 of 4:00.72 and a Mile of 4:24.98 to aim for!
Yarisley Silva has the almost impossible task of reaching 16-5.25 in the Pole Vault!
Abdelaati Iguider, as does almost every distance runner, has 3 marks to chase--a 3000 in 7:28.29, a Two Mile of 8:06.61, and a 5000 in 13:15.64!!
Dimitri Bascou need run the 60H in "just" 7.38 to tie this record!
Does Ashton Eaton intend to do a Heptathlon INdoors--maybe at USATF?
If so, the point total he needs to at least match is 6438!!

Age 28
As of December 17th, David Rudisha will have a trio of Age records to think about--the 600 in 1:16.02, the 800 in 1:45.12, and the 1000 in 2:16.76!
Taoufik Makhloufi can get the 1500 (3:34.99) and the Mile (3:50.6), if he chooses!
Beginning February 19th, Jeff Henderson needs to LJ 27-8!
Dong Bin has a TJ target of 58-0.50!
Colin Dunbar has a WT mark of 79-8 to shoot for!
Melissa Bishop--the top-rated 800 Woman from OUTdoors 2016--has three marks to run down--a 600 in 1:26.23, her specialty in 1:58.85, and the 1000 in 2:34.67!
Kate Grace has the above-listed 800 and 1000 records to shoot for!
Betsy Saina--IF she races INdoors--can aim for Age records in the 3000 (8:27.86), the Two Mile (9:18.35), and the 5000 (14:55.94)!!
Brianne Theisen-Eaton--IF she competes INdoors--needs to score 4877 Pentathlon points for a record!
Nia Ali and Queen Harrison have it easy.
As my Age 28 slot for the 60H is currently vacant (due to a clumsy error by yours truly!!), they need race the event just once to net a record!
Hopefully, they'll make it a good one--undisputed!!

Age 27
Jeff Henderson has until February 18th to LJ 27-8.25--just a quarter-inch more than his Age 28 target!!
Adam Kszczot needs to run the 600 in 1:16.08, the 800 in 1:44.91, and the 1000 in 2:15.50!
As of February 4th, Ekaterina Stefanidi needs to PV 15-10.
(BTW, it was just announced that Stefanidi and Sandi Morris will duel at the Millrose Games--so Stefanidi will have her chance then!!)
A threesome of American Women have the WT mark of 80-2 to chase!
They are Gwen Berry, Jeneva Stevens, and Felicia Johnson!
Berry currently holds the Age 24 and 26 records, so she's shooting for her third!
Alina Fodorova needs to score 4881 Pentathlon points for the record!
Will Helen Obiri compete on an INdoor oval?
If she does, she has--as usual--three marks to race after--the 3000 in 8:36.91, the Two Mile in 9:13.16, and the 5000 in 14:39.89!
Starting from the late INdoor date of March 6th, Derek Drouin needs to HJ a mighty 7-11.25!!
Bogdan Bondarenko has the same target, but has the entire INdoor season to do so!
Joe Kovacs has the SP mark of 72-9.25 to go for!
Dejen Gebremeskel has the 3K, Deuce, and 5K marks of 7:32.03, 8:07.39, and 13:01.26 to run down!
I'm sure you know that the 5K mark belongs to Galen Rupp!!
Matthew Centrowitz has the 1500 and Mile records to contemplate--3:34.20 and 3:52.9--but he can't depend on a final 400 sprint to get them!!
Ryan Hill can think about the same records as Gebremeskel--See above!--but only as of January 31st!

Age 26
Chris Lemaitre needs to race the One Lap (INdoors, that's a 200!!  LOL) in 20.42!
Tony McQuay has a 400 target of 45.11.
As noted above, Derek Drouin will have until March 5th to HJ 7-10.50!
Christian Taylor must TJ 58-2 for a record!
Tori Bowie has tough marks of 6.92 (60) and 22.10 (200) to go after!
Speaking of tough records, Ivana Spanovic needs to LJ a mere 23-11.50 for her record!
What are Genzebe Dibaba's plans--if any!--for INdoors??
One to make early World Record attempt announcements--she's been silent thus far!
But if she decides to go for some Age records, she has the 1500 (4:01.26), Mile (4:22.01), 2000 (5:34.52), 3000 (8:24.46), Two Mile (9:12.35), and the 5000 (14:24.79) to aim for!
But that's as of February 8th, when she turns 26!!
And Ekaterina Stefanidi has until February 3rd (See above!) to PV a whopping 16-4.75!!

Age 25
Ms G Dibaba has until February 7th to get any or all of the following Age records--1000 in 2:34.68, 1500 & Mile in 3:56.46 & 4:13.31, the 2000 (No mark in that slot!), the 3K & Deuce in 8:22.50 & 9:06.26, and the 5000 in 14:24.37!
The first three listed above already belong to her--from earlier this year!!
Almaz Ayana--IF she races INdoors--can shoot for the longer trio of marks listed with G-D!!
Brianna Rollins has the 60H record of 7.69 to shoot for!
Will Demi Payne begin her comeback INdoors??
If so, she needs to PV  16-2.75!
Beginning on the late INdoor date of February 27th, Jimmy Vicaut needs to race 60 meters in 6.43!
Ameer Webb has the 200 mark of 20.32 to aim at.
Orlando Ortega and Pascal Martinot-Legarde have the same 60H time of 7.41 as their target!
Will Claye has both horizontal jump marks to go after--LJ of 27-7.75, and the TJ of 57-9.75!
Casimir Loxsom can think about a 600 of 1:15.86, or an 800 in 1:44.71.
Mutaz Barshim has the HJ mark of 7-10.75 to reach!

Age 24
Wayde Van Niekerk, Deon Lendore, Bralon Taplin, and Kirani James--IF they compete INdoors!--have the 400 time of 45.05 to aim for!
Boris Berian (as of December 19th) and Ayanleh Souleiman (as of December 3rd) have the 600, 800, and 1000 marks of 1:15.75, 1:44.82, and 2:17.06 to shoot for.
Add the 1500 (3:31.76) and One Mile (3:51.8) for Souleiman!
Marquis Dendy needs to LJ 28-2.75!
Gianmarco Tamberi has to HJ 7-10.50!
Sam Kendricks has a PV mark of 19-9.25 as his target!
As of December 18th, Ryan Crouser can plop the SP out to 71-6 for a record!
Dafne Schippers and Elaine Thompson has the duo targets of 6.92 and 22.15 in the 60 & 200!
Starting on January 9th, Katarina Johnson-Thompson has the LJ mark of 22-10.75 and/or the Pentathlon score of 4944 to chase!
Sandi Morris needs to PV 16-2--maybe at the Millrose Games!  (See above!)
Kendra Harrison needs to sprint the 60H in 7.75 for a record!
Sifan Hassan has 5 records to take seriously--the 1500 in 4:04.42, the Mile in 4:23.53, the 2000 in 5:38.76, the 3000 in 8:25.27, and the Two Mile in 9:10.50!

Age 23
Felicia Brown needs to race the 200 in 22.26!
Ashley Spencer has a 400 time of 50.57 to aim for!
DeAnna Price needs to loft the WT out to 78-8.50 for the record!
Laura Muir has the 1500 & Mile marks of 3:57.91 and 4:20.5 to go after!
As of January 1st, Mohammed Aman needs to run the 800 and 1000 in 1:44.78 and 2:14.20 for records!
Beginning December 16th, OG Champion Thiago Braz Da Silva needs to PV 19-9!
Stephen Mozia and Darrell Hill have the same SP mark of 72-0.25 to go for!

Age 22
Nafissatou Thiam has KJT's mark of 5000 Pentathlon points to dream about!
Kyra Jefferson needs to run the 200 in 22.27!
Courtney Okolo has the 400 time of 50.29 to chase!
Cindy Ofili needs a 60H time of 7.84!
Ajee Wilson has an open slot at 600 meters!
But she'll need 800 and 1000 times of 1:57.67 and 2:36.40 for a record!
Alexandra Weston has a LJ mark of 22-9 to aim for!
Andre DeGrasse has times of 6.45 and 20.26 in the 60 & 200 to go for!
Omar McLeod and the newly-turned Pro Devon Allen have a 60H time of 7.40 to aim for!
Hagos Gebrhiwet has the 3000 time of 7:30.72, the Deuce time of 8:15.49, and the 5000 time of 13:12.00 to chase!
Clay Murphy needs to wait until February 26th to go after the 600 (1:15.80), 800 (1:44.57), and the 1000 (2:17.26).
Shawn Barber has the PV mark of 19-6.25 to aim at!
Rudy Winkler needs to throw the WT out 80-0.25!

Age 21
Trayvon Bromell needs to dash the 60 in 6.45 for the record!
Michael Cedenio needs to time 45.03 in the 400!
Akela Jones and Kendell Williams will both be trying to score 4727 Pentathlon points!
Yulimar Rojas and Keturah Orji (Ain't it great to put both in the same sentence?!!) must TJ 48-5.25--although Orji must wait until March 5th to do so!!
Dina Asher-Smith has two times to chase--a 60 in 7.09 and a 200 of 22.43!
Senbere Teferi has the usual trio of distance marks to run down--3000 in 8:23.74, 2 Miles in 9:39.4, and 5000 in 14:27.42!

Age 20
Abdelelah Haroun needs to do the 400 in 45.03 for the record!
Gudaf Tsegay (as of January 23rd), Alexa Efraimson (as of February 20th), and Dawit Seyaum have the same marks to go after--a 1500 of 4:01.47 and a Mile of 4:23.50!
For Tsegay, add the empty 2000 slot, the 3000 of 8:33.44, and the 2 Mile of 9:29.03.
For Efraimson, add the 1000 time of 2:37.89!
Raevyn Rogers has the 600 time of 1:26.35 to go for!
Keturah Orji has until March 4th (See above!) to TJ 48-2.50!!
For some reason, my Age 20 LJ slot is empty, so Kate Hall can fill it if she chooses!
Both Eliza McCartney and Lexi Weeks have the PV mark of 15-11.25 to reach!
For McCartney, her chase begins on December 11th!

Age 19
The Teen Explosion continues!!
Ewe Swoboda and Teahna Daniels have the 60 and 200 times of 7.08 and 22.40 to go for!
Vashti Cunningham has to wait until January 18th to HJ 6-6.75!!
Rosbaslys (??) Peinado has the PV target of 15-1.
Morgan Lake has the Pentathlon score of 4681 to go after!
Konstanze  Klosterhalfen has until February 17th to run 3000 in 8:37.47 and the 2 Mile in 9:59.06!!
Alexa Efraimson (See above!) has until February 19th to run the following times--800 in 2:00.30, 1000 in 2:38.93, 1500 in 4:00.28, and the Mile in 4:24.98!
Habitam Alemu has the same 800 and 1000 targets as Efraimson, but she'll have all INdoor season!!
Noah Lyles has the 60 & 200 times of 6.50 and 20.19 to chase!
Kurtis Marschall, Adam Hague, and Chris Nilsen have the same PV mark of 19-1.50 to reach, but Nilsen's window opens on January 13th!
Konrad Bukowiecki has the SP mark of 69-9.75 to go after!
He turns 20 on March 20th!
Grant Holloway must run 60H in 7.46!
Drew Hunter would need to PR by over 5 seconds for the Mile record of 3:52.66!
Adam Kelly has the WT target of 72-3!
Lazaro Martinez needs to TJ 57-3.25!
Yomif Kejelcha has the normal distance marks of 7:34.05 (3000), 8:08.39 (2 Mile), and 13:04.18 (5000) to run down!
Donavan Brazier has a shorter trio of marks to go for--the 600 in 1:15.60, the 800 in 1:44.15, and the 1000 in 2:16.23!

Age 18
I have NO Men at this age capable of breaking any records--IMHO!!
But I do have some Women!!
Beginning February 11th, Candace Hill has to race the 60 and 200 in 7.07 and 22.80!!
Tonea Marshall (beginning December 17th) and Alexis Duncan have the same 60H time of 8.07 to chase!
Vashti Cunningham (See Age 19!) has until January 17th to match her own record of 6-6.25!
Wilma Murto has to PV 15-1 to get this record!
Remember, she went a few inches higher as a 17 year old!
Katie Rainsberger--currently tearing up XC courses!--has the 2 Mile time of 9:34.03 to aim for!

0-17
As noted above, Candace Hill has until February 10th to do the 60 & 200 in 7.20 and 23.09!!
Lauren Rain Williams has the same targets!
Sydney McLaughlin--who just signed with the University of Kentucky, so is seemingly NOT turning Pro right away!!--has 3 times to go after--a 200 of 22.80, her own 400 mark of 51.84, or the 60H time of 8.02!
Chanel Brissett and Tia Jones have that same 8.02 mark to go for!
Sammy Watson has to run 600 in 1:28.87, 800 in 2:01.02, or Mary Cain's 1000 PR of 2:35.80 to get records!
Kate Murphy (who I believe greatly resembles the actress who plays the 15 year old daughter in the TV show "Better Things"!!) has a slough of times to run down-- that same Cain mark of 2:35.80, as well as other Cain marks of 4:06.63 (1500), 4:24.11 (Mile), and 9:38.68 (2 Mile)--AND the empty 2000 slot, the 3000 time of 8:46.01, and the 5000 of 16:11.85!!
Lisa Gunnarson has a hearty PV target of 15-5.50 to chase!
Alyssa Wilson has until February 19th to tie Raven Saunders's HSR (and Age 17) mark in the SP of 56-7.50!!
Tara Davis is Double Trouble in the LJ and TJ!
Her records to chase are 21-8.75 and 45-1.50!!
Maykel Masso needs to LJ 26-7.75!
Mondo Duplantis and Emmanouil Karalis have the same PV mark to reach--18-2.50!
Brandon McGorty has until February 22nd to run the 600 in 1:19.05!
Brian Herron and Tyrese Cooper have a couple of the same event marks to go for--the 200 in 20.83 and the 400 in 45.24!
Add the 60 time of 6.62 for Cooper!!

And that does it for AGE Records!!!
WHEW!!

Next up should be Class Records for HS'ers and Collegiates!
But not sure exactly when!!

2017 INdoor Previews--AGE Records, Pt 1

Predicting records--even for those athletes who announce their intent--is a dicey business.
But individual year Age Records are maybe the easiest.
You first look at the Record, then see if any athletes in that particular Age are capable of breaking it, and will get the opportunity.
Without all those ingredients, a Record will be one year older!
(Sic!)
My criteria for Age Records are simple.
The athlete's age is based on their actual birthdate!
One minute past, and the window slams shut!
One day early, and you're dealing with an entirely different record!!

Some athletes--Jenn Suhr is one example--might have TWO Age Records to challenge!
She was born February 5, 1982.
So she'll have her own Age 34 record of 16-0.75 to break--but only through February 4th!!
Then, beginning on February 5th, she will SET the Age 35 record, as I have none listed!
Fabiana Murer, who certainly would have set that record, has retired!
Apparently, Stacy Dragila wasn't active when she was 35!!

My Age Records go from Age 17 to Age 40--although my youngest is called "0 to 17", and my oldest is called "40 & over".
Every age between---from 18 to 39--has their own set of records!!
All of the following are INdoor Records ONLY!
No marks run on Oversize Tracks are eligible!!
The Men's Shot Put and Weight Throw records are from Professional weighted implements, as is the height of the hurdles in the 60H!
This first part will go from "40 & over" down to Age 30!
The second part will go from Age 29 down to "0 to 17"!
Each Age includes Men's AND Women's Record possibilities!

40 & over
Well, Bernard Lagat has ended his Track career!
He ended with FOUR event records--the 1500, Mile, 3000, and 2 Mile--only the 5000 eluding him!
But Kim Collins is still spinning his wheels at Age 40.
And since I don't even have an Age 40 record for the 60, IF he runs one, he GETS it!!

Age 39
I have NO athletes to list here!

Age 38
As with the "eldest", this Age has but one name to offer--Chris Brown of the Bahamas!
He now holds FIVE Age records in the 400--Ages 31, 33-35, and Age 37!
One 400, Chris, that's all it takes to add to your collection!

Age 37
Ruth Beitia is like fine wine, blah, blah!!
Her target is an easy one--6-2.75!
So is Cleopatra Borel's in the SP, it being just 61-4.25!

Age 36
Assuming she hasn't retired, April Steiner-Bennett's PV target is a mere 13-10.50!!

Age 35
As noted above, Jenn Suhr turns 35 on February 5th!
And the PV slot is empty!
As is the WT space for Amber Campbell, who will be gunning for her TENTH INdoor WT Age record!!
She holds the marks for Age 23, then Ages 27 through 34!!
Justin Gatlin turns 35 on February 10th, and his aim will be to run the 60 in 6.50!!

Age 34
Gatlin will have until February 9th to run 6.47!
So will Asefa Powell--that is, if any Jamaicans turn up on the circuit!
(Powell will have the entire INdoor season to do that time!)
David Oliver--if recovered from injury--is shooting for a 60H in 7.48!
And Jenn Suhr--as I said--has her own 2016 mark of 16-0.75 to aim at--until February 4th!!

Age 33
Three Women of this Age will have three solid targets to go after!
The records for the 3000 (8:31.50), the 2 Mile (9:31.68), and the 5000 (15:25.02) are there for Meseret Defar, Vivian Cheruiyot, and Viola Kibiwot to race for!
Kibiwot turns 33 on December 22nd!
If the Deuce and 5K marks survive, I'm gonna cry!!
Two HJ'ers have a 2.00 (6-6.75) mark to chase--Blanka Vlasic, and as of January 12th, Chaunte Lowe!!
Caterine Ibarguen has a toughie--a TJ of 49-3.75--but only as of February 12th, when she turns 33!
But maybe not tough for her!!
Nick Willis has a few marks to go for--the 1500 (3:35.23), the Mile (3:57.04), 3000 (7:34.65), the 2 Mile (8:15.02), and ANY time he might run over 5000 meters, as that slot isn't filled!
Fabrice LaPierre has a sturdy LJ mark of 27-8.75 to aim at!
Will Mo Farah race INdoors--even at the European Championships?
He'll have the above-listed 3K, 2 Mile, and 5K marks to go after--IF he runs!!

Age 32
Donald Thomas has to HJ 7-8 to tie this mark!
Churandy Martina must sprint the 200 in 20.44!
Shannon Rowbury can get SEVEN Age records--if she goes after them!
For the 1000, 1500, Mile, 2000, 3000, Two Mile, and 5000, she'll have the following times to chase--
2:34.19 (The American Record!!), 4:02.66, 4:25.46, NO mark for the 2000!!, 8:30.83, 9:28.29, and 14:46.94!!
Up through February 11th (See above!), Ibarguen has a slightly softer TJ mark to go for--49-2.50!
But not unless Olga Rypakova gets there first!!
Valerie Adams has an easy 62-8.25 SP mark to go after.

Age 31
Gelete Burka (beginning January 23rd) and Tirunesh Dibaba (IF she races INdoors!!) have the same targets--3000 in 8:37.91, Two Miles in a VERY soft 9:38.06, and the 5000 in 14:54.73!
(Didn't Tiru run TWO 5000's--back-to-back!!--FASTER than the above-listed time--in Rio??!!)
Janay DeLoach has a couple of records to gun for---a 60H in 7.83 and/or a LJ of "just" 23-7.25!!
Nery Brenes has to race a 400 in 45.96 for this record!
Oleksiy Kasyanov has to score 6246 points in a Heptathlon for a record!

Age 30
Will LaShawn Merritt run INdoors?
IF he does, his targets are a 200 and 400 in 20.32 and 45.94!
Come on in, LaShawn, the water's fine!!
Same question goes to Galen Rupp, who MIGHT be saving his efforts for Marathons and 10K's!!
IF he races INdoors, his targets are VERY difficult!!
1500 in 3:33.34, a Mile in 3:49.78, 3000 in 7:29.34, Two Miles in 8:08.65, and a 5000 in 12:58.67!!
Up to the challenge, Galen??
Michel Torneus and Greg Rutherford will both be aiming to LJ 27-10.25!
Renaud Lavillenie has one of the easier Sergey Bubka marks to chase--19-10.25 in the PV!
Kamila Licwinko must HJ 6-7.50 to get this record!
Brittney Reese has to LJ 23-3.25.
And Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou has to PV 15-7.25!

The next installment of my Age Records predictions may not follow immediately!
But no later than tomorrow!

See ya!

2017 INdoor Previews--The Schedule

No, XC ain't over!
And Marathons & other Road races continue!
BUT--the 2016-2017 INdoor Track and Field season is just THREE DAYS away from being (hopefully) kickstarted at JDL's annual All-Comers meet!
The past couple of years has seen good HS Mile times run by Ryen Frazier (in 2014) and Nevada Mareno (2015), and we're hoping for more of the same THIS year!
But that's just the FIRST meet--the opening shot, if you will--of what COULD be a Record-setting--if not a TREND-setting--year of T&F in the United States, and around the World!!
To get a glimpse as to WHERE and WHEN these marks might be run, thrown, or jumped, following is a Schedule of meets, as well as could be gleaned from various sources, by me!

Remember, however, that I'm a one-person operation, dependent on OTHERS for much of my information.
In last year's Schedule, I said (initially) that Boston's important New Balance meet was scheduled for February 7th!
That was in error!
It took place at a later date!
To that end, please take this Schedule as it's presented--my INITIAL attempt to give you an idea of what to look forward to this INdoor season!
(While most of it is for INdoors, I'm including some OUTdoor meets & Races, if they fall within the time period included below!)

November
19th     JDL All-Comers
20th     New Delhi Half-Marathon (Eliud Kipchoge will be going for a fast time!  Possibly sub-59!)

December
2nd     Metro Season Opener (Ocean Breeze)
4th     California International Marathon (Stephanie Bruce will run this!)
          Fukuoka Marathon
10th    Jim Mitchell Invite (Armory)
           TX A&M Reveille Invite  (A&M has several meets scheduled, most included here!)
17th    Boston U Mini-Meet (Will include all of them!)
           Bishop Loughlin Games  (Ocean Breeze)
30th    Track University Invite  (Armory)
           Holiday Festival (Ocean Breeze)
31st    Boston U Mini-Meet

January
6th-7th  TX A&M High School Classic
6th-8th  Dartmouth Relays
7th         Boston U Mini-Meet
13th       Aggie Team Invite (A&M)
             Arkansas Invite (Women's PV Central--so to speak!)
14th      UW Preview  (Seattle!!  I'm including SOME meets to be held on Oversize Tracks!!)
             TX A&M Team Invite
15th      Houston Marathon & Half-Marathon
20th      Dubai Marathon  (FAST times!  Men AND Women!!)
20th-21st  Vanderbilt Invite
                 New Balance Games  (Armory)
21st       TX A&M Invite
22nd      Greater Boston TC Invite
27th       Villanova Invite
27th-28th  David Oliver Classic
               Razorback Invite  (More great PV'ing??)
               UW Invite  (Seattle's OT!)
28th       Big Apple Challenge  (Armory)
              Boston New Balance  (The BIGGIE!!!  Part of IAAF World Tour!)
              USATF 50000 Walk Championships  (Women too??)

February
1st          Dusseldorf  (2nd stop on IAAF World Tour!!  Consider these the DL's of INdoors!!)
3rd-4th   Camel City Invite  (Should be best CCI yet!!)
               Armory Track Invite  (The Armory, of course!)
               TX A&M Charlie Thomas Invite
4th          Wildcat Invite  (Ocean Breeze)
               Karlsruhe  (IAAF World Tour continues!!)
               USATF Cross Country Championships
               UW High School Invite  (Seattle again!)
9th-11th  INdoor T&F Classic (A MAJOR NEW meet--at Ford Center, home of Dallas Cowboys practices & headquarters!!  To feature Collegiate & HS athletes--3000 of them!!)
10th        Fast Track National Invite  (Ocean Breeze)
               Torun  (IAAF World Tour!  Torun is in Poland!  Had to look it up!  LOL)
10th-11th    Husky Classic  (Seattle's OT!)
11th        Millrose Games  (SHOULD be part of IAAF World Tour!!)
12th        UW Open  (Seattle!  Let's hope fast times are NOT run on OT's!!  Save them for LEGAL tracks!!)
18th       TX A&M Last Chance
              Birmingham  (Final stop on IAAF World Tour!!
23rd-25th  NCAA Collegiate Conference meets  (SEC, Big 12 & 10, ACC, etc etc!  Always a MAJOR source of top Collegiate marks--in EVERY event!!)
25th-26th  Ivy League Championships  (The Armory)

March
3rd-4th  New York State HS Championships  (Ocean Breeze)
3rd-5th  USATF Indoor Championships  (WHO will be there??)
              European Championships  (Belgrade!  Same question as above--WHO will show?)
10th-11th  NCAA Championships!!!
10th-12th  NBIN  (THE HS meet of the year!  How many HSR's WILL be broken here??)

Also during this time, look for good meets at Penn State, small European venues, as well as other Road races, and OUTdoor meets in Australia and New Zealand, AND some early OUTdoor meets--mainly Collegiate & HS level--in the Sun States--Florida, Texas, California, etc!)

I'm responsible for any errors!
But I'll try to report any changes--or additions--as they become available!

Next posts will continue my series of INdoor Previews!

Who will win NCAA's?

First, a note.
I've been slower in posting this fall, as you might have noticed.
Even though I normally slow down during XC, this year's production has been the slowest--and the least!
It's partially due to health issues, but also to an awareness of a lack of real interest in my blog!
Who are my readers?
How many do I actually have?
Do my readers NEED this blog to continue?
Do you WANT it??
Many blogs I read get numerous comments.
During the entire (almost!) 3 years of this blog, only one man (Marco) has consistently commented--and praised!--what I've tried to do!
That is, to provide a serious look at the Records & Lists of T&F, in a way that's easy to understand, and entertaining to read!
I occasionally editorialize, but I try to keep that to a small percentage of my posts!
Assuming I continue posting, you can expect the next few days to be LOADED---with Age Records, Class Records, as well as the "generic" records of the World, US, Collegiates, and HS'ers!
I'll also reveal what marks are needed to make my Top 24 Performers lists for INdoors!
In fact, all of the above will focus on INdoor marks ONLY!!

But XC is still going!
The Regional races were held last weekend, and the Championship race will be in just 5 days!!
So let's see what happened at those Regionals, and what it tells us about who will be the top INDIVIDUAL contenders at the NCAA's!!

Justyn Knight took the Northeast Regional, his 30:30.52 defeating Colin Bennie by 2 seconds!
(Pay little attention to times!  Not important!)
Steepler Eleanor Purrier won over Courtney Smith, her 20:08.70 about 5 seconds in front!
Sarah Collins, a force in past years, finished 4th, 14 seconds behind Purrier!

The South races were taken by Anne-Marie Blaney's 20:07.2 and Jacob Choge's 30:19.8.
Veronica Eder finished one second back of Blaney, while MJ Erb was just  7th, 14 seconds behind the winner!

South Central's Men's race was taken by Emmanuel Rotich's 29:58.9, with Andrew Ronoh just over one second behind!
Devin Clark's 20:17.4 was 4 seconds in front of Maggie Montoya.
Destiny Collins was 22nd, a full 57 seconds behind Clark!

The Mountain Regional saw Futsam Ziensellassie's 30:54.10 defeat Jonah Koech's 30:58.60, with John Dressel ending in 5th, just one second behind Koech!
Jerrell Mock finished in 9th!
Alice Wright tore the Women's field apart, her 19:59.90 winning by 18 seconds!!
Erin Clark was 7th!

Luke Traynor and Joshua Thompson had a battle to the end of the Midwest race, both running in the 30:18-lows!
Karissa Schweizer, strong all season, continued looking good, her 19:54.4 beating Sharon Lobedi by 6 seconds!
Miler Kaela Edwards finished 6th, but 29 seconds in back of the winner!

The Mid-Atlantic Regionals were won by Patrick Tiernan's 30:33 and Tessa Barrett's 20:00!
Tiernan beat Scott Carpenter by 10 seconds, while Barrett won over Jillian Forsey by nine!
Angel Piccirillo was 8th, but 42 seconds behind the winner!

The Southeast races were taken by Annie Bothma and Aman Terer (??).
Erika Kemp was 2nd for the Women, while Lawrence Kipkoech won Silver for the Men.
Bothma ran 20:15.4, while Terer zipped a 28:48.7, but just one-tenth of a second in front of Kipkoech!
Ryen Frazier finished 10th, 27 seconds behind the winner!
Her older sister Wesley didn't run!

Malachy Schrobiljen took the Men's race at the Great Lakes Regionals, while 2nd placer Morgan McDonald was handed the same time of 30:22.2!!
(Based on the results sheet, it was NOT declared a tie!!)
Olin Hacker, son of miler Tim, took 12th!
Erin Finn continued her season as the leading contender for NCAA's, her 19:27.8 defeating Anna Rohrer's 19:35.7!

I saved the West Regional for last, for maybe obvious reasons!
Ed Cheserek ran as he pleased, his 29:23.7 taking care of business by 21 seconds over Matt Maton!!
Two "unknowns"--Fred Huxham and Alex Short--were 3rd and 4th, both 3 seconds behind Maton.
Sean McGorty was 9th, 32 seconds behind the King, while Grant Fisher ended right behind McGorty, but 2 places back!
Levi Thomet was just 78th, almost two full minutes behind Cheserek!!

The West Women's race was taken--decisively!!--by Amy Eloise-Neale's 19:27.8.
Over 12 seconds back was Charlotte Taylor in 2nd.
Brenna Peloquin was another 2 seconds back, just ahead of Lauren LaRocco!
Bethan Knights finished 8th, with Charlotte Prouse in 9th.
Following--in 11th, 13th, and 17th--were three Super Frosh--Katie Rainsberger, Fiona O'Keefe, and Christina Aragon!

Sooooo, what does the NCAA's Leaderboard look like, a few days before the fact?
Ches looks to win the Men's race---at ANY pace!
Justyn Knight, Futsam Ziensellassie, and Pat Tiernan look to be his only real "foes".
Watch for Sean McGorty and Grant Fisher, as well as Matt Maton, MJ Erb and Jerrell Mock to be in the Top 15 or 20!

The Women's race should be a Classic---a much tighter race than the Men's!
I'm picking Erin Finn for the win, with Brenna Peloquin and Anna Rohrer making it as tight a finish as we saw a few years back between Betsy Saina, Abbey D'Agostino, and Jordan Hasay!!
Dark Horse candidates include Washington's Amy Eloise-Neale and Charlotte Prouse, as well as Top 2016 XC Frosh Katie Rainsberger!!
Watch also for Tessa Barrett and Eleanor Purrier, with Alice Wright a SUPER candidate for a Top 10 finish!!

I have 3 OUTdoor items to report!!
Sally Pearson began what might be one of her last campaigns with a couple of OUTdoor wins.
She ran the 60 (Yes, this was OUTdoors!!) in 7.43.
She also ran a 150 in 17.95, but finished 2nd to a 16 year old!!
Riley Day ran 17.60!

New Zealand produced the other marks.
Erin Talcott competed in the NZ National 50K Walk Championships---and WON the race!!
Yes, she beat both women AND men!!!
Her time of 4:42:15 wasn't a PR, but WINNING the race was most unusual!!

Watch out, Eliza McCartney!!
Sixteen year old Olivia McTaggart Pole Vaulted 13-10 in a recent OUTdoor meet!
Eh?, you might say??
Well, how about if I tell you her mark broke McCartney's NZ Age Record??!!
Seems like all those stories about McCartney's getting the Rio Bronze being inspiring for NZ's young girl PV'ers is paying VERY early dividends!!

Watch for some INdoor Preview posts---soon!

NYC Cuddles Huddle

In the unofficial "end" to the 2016 OUTdoor season, today's New York City Marathon was over-hyped with predictions of what 26.2 rookie Molly Huddle would do.
After all, being America's foremost distance runner, Huddle would automatically be a raging success at a distance twice-over in distance what she'd ever raced!
Well, she was and she wasn't.

After the lead uphill bridge mile of 6:28, with most of the female elites banding together, the pace dipped into the 5's.
Through most of Brooklyn, Huddle stuck with Mary Keitany and Company, never more than 2 or 3 seconds back.
Then Keitany threw in a few sub-5:10's, blasting off to a huge lead, reaching the Half in 1:12:37, a full 55 seconds up on Huddle, who came through in 1:13:32.

At that point, Joyce Chepkurui was hanging tight with Keitany.
But the surge deadened the legs of Chepkurui, and red meat odor drifted back to the track rivals pairing of Huddle and Sally Kipyego!
(Remember their great 10000 at Payton Jordan, when Kipyego beat Huddle, 30:42 to 30:47!)
As Huddle moved closer to the fading Chepkurui, Kipyego was gaining on Molly!

Going north through Manhatten towards the Bronx, Huddle passed Chepkurui, but Kipyego passed both of them!
Not sure whether she was having problems, but Huddle slowed to near-6 minute pace for a couple of miles, allowing Kipyego to pass her.
Reviving, she actually ran a mile or two faster than Kipyego, but it wasn't enough.

Keitany won her 3rd straight NYC race in almost the same time as in 2015---2:24:26!
Kipyego--after DNF'ing her initial NY race last year, ended 2nd in 2:28:01.
Huddle hung in for a good debut of 2:28:13.
This makes her 17th A-T US!!

Yes, she was VERY successful in finishing "on the podium".
But with a potential for breaking the American Record, a time over 8 minutes slower dims her glory a bit!
Hopefully, she'll race her next marathon on a flat and fast course, and run the time we hoped for today!

Dathan Ritzenhein LED the Men's race for a few miles.
But not just led!
He was doing it at sub-5 mile pace---even over the first long bridge!
Also running well for the US was surprising Abdi Abdirahman.
I'd thought he'd retired--or at least was finished as an "elite" athlete!

Don't know what caused it, but Ritz DNF'ed somewhere past Halfway--maybe around 16 miles?
Might have been earlier.
Whatever the case, the top-rated US Male was out!
Abdi was still in, running with a lead pack of Africans past 13.1 in 1:04:27, just 5 seconds behind the leaders.

A few miles in the 4:30's dropped the others, leaving young Ghirmay Ghebrelassie on his way to a fast win in 2:07:51, his second half a negative split of 1:03:29!
Lucas Rotich finished 2nd in 2:08:53.
Abdi faded in the final 13.1, but ended 3rd anyway, 2:30 behind Rotich, time of 2:11:23.
Not bad for someone 39 years old!!

Tatyana McFadden won the Women's Wheelchair race easily, her 16th win over the distance!
Time of 1:47:43.

A couple of famous Walkers were in the race, one running it, the other---er---walking it!
Retired Robert Korzienowski--now 48 years old---ran the course in 2:47:53!
Australian Jared Tallent Walked it in 3:43:14!
(His wife Claire RAN it in 3:19:09!!)

NYRR Prez Mary Wittenberg ran the course for the first time in 3:41:09.
Canadian Record holder Lani Marchant ran 2:33:50, the fastest-ever by a Canadian in this race!!

Speaking of Walkers, the USATF 30000 race was held today, with Maria Michta-Coffey winning her 32nd USATF race (of any distance), AND breaking TWO American Records!
She was timed at 25K enroute in 2:03:34---an AR---leading to her 30K AR of 2:29:18.
BTW, if she continued to 50K at the same pace, her final "time" would be 4:08:50---a WORLD Record!!!

Mary Cain finished just 6th in the NY 5K, held yesterday!
Karoline Grovdal won it in 15:40, with Alexi Pappas 2nd in 15:54.
Stephanie Bruce, in training for December's Sacramento Marathon, was 3rd in 16:06.
Mary's time was 16:32.

Donn Cabral took the Men's race in a sluggish 14:18 over Scott Fauble's 14:21.

Today's Pittsburg 10 Miler saw Buze Diriba win in a speedy 51:38.
Upwardly mobile Emily Sisson continued her hot streak of road racing, taking 2nd in 52:03!!
Len Korir took the Men's race in 47:13.

I normally wait until year's end (December 31st!) to compile figures that measure the worth of that year!
But with just 1 or 2 "big" marathons left, and MAYBE 1 or 2 good marks coming in from Down Under when their OUTdoor season begins in December, I've decided to present some "final" numbers for 2016 OUTdoors!

How many marks dated as 2016 made my DDD's, or Top 24 Performers lists?
(Molly Huddle's 17th-ranked US time from today is included!!)

One constant is that the Women completely dominated this sector of my Record Book this OUTdoor season!

The overall totals were 240 DDD marks for the Women, with the Men getting just 125!!
Broken down, here's the numbers---

High School Men have 32 marks, while HS Women have 57!
Collegiate Women more than doubled the Men's total of 25, with their 56!
US Women have 72 marks, while US Men accumulated just 32!
The World totals were the closest, but the Women still dominated--55 to 36!

I'm still waiting for that "season"---whether OUTdoors or INdoors---that surpasses the 400 barrier!
Maybe 2017 INdoors??

With that in mind, my next posts will  be a series of INdoor season Previews!
(With more XC and Road Race results thrown in!!)

Conference Call

As long-time readers know, I don't cover XC to the extent I do T&F.
But Collegiate Conference races do tell us some of what we need to know regarding the upcoming NCAA Championship, as well as who might be running fast distance races---especially 5000's---INdoors in December, as has happened in recent years!
Also, while overall times aren't really important in XC, margins of victories are!
(See the ACC Men's results to know why times are fairly meaningless over Hill & Dale!)
Onward!

The SEC was won by Alex George in 23:24, a 9 second margin over Sean Tobin, and 15 over MJ Erb!
The Women were led by Karissa Schweizer's 20:10.
She beat Devin Clark by 8 seconds!
Arkansas took both team battles!

The Big East races were won by Angel Piccirillo's 20:49 and Patrick Tiernan's 24:18.
Sarah Collins finished 4th, 21 seconds behind Piccirillo!
The Providence Women beat Villanova, while Georgetown's Men prevailed!

The Mountain West Women's race saw an upset of sorts, as Brenna Peloquin's 20:27 was 25 seconds behind winner Alice Wright's 20:02.
Peloquin, an early season projected NCAA Champ, faded at the end!
Yusuke Vahikoshi (sp?) took the Men's race in 23:48.
Jerrell Mock was 9 seconds back!

Bernard Keter's 25:28 led the Big 12 Men.
Sharon Lokedi's 20:18 won for the Women!
Oklahoma State and Iowa State took the respective team races!

Erin Finn won again!!
And by another HUGE margin!!
Her 20:37 controlled the Big 10 Women's field by 25 seconds!
Sarah Disanza was 24th, a full 1:12 behind Finn!
Morgan McDonald took the Men's race in 24:35.
Finn's Michigan team won, while Wisconsin took the Men's side!

Edward Cheserek---YAWN!!--took the PAC-12 Men's race by 15 seconds over Grant Fisher!!
Ches's time was 23:58.
Ben Saarel was 3rd, while John Dressel took 6th in 24:20, with Sean McGorty two seconds behind Dressel!
Amy Eloise-Neale's final kick prevailed for the Women in 20:22, with just a second's spread back to Erin Clark in 2nd, and Dani Jones in 3rd another second back!
Katie Rainsberger led the Oregon Ducks in 5th, with Charlotte Prouse in 6th, Fiona O'Keefe in 11th, and Christina Aragon in 14th!
Colorado won both team battles, beating Stanford's Men, 41 to 47, and beating the Women  UDubbers, 33 to 74!!

The ACC Men's course (the Women too??) must have been anywhere from 200 to 500 meters short!
Justyn Knight led the Men's "8K" with 22:50.
While not outrageously fast, it WAS about 30 seconds to a minute or more faster than all other Conference Men's times!
Knight is certainly worthy of such a time, but check out what followed!
Ed Kibichiy was just 2 seconds behind in 2nd, with a 3rd runner also dipping under 23:00!!
But 27 (!!!) running under 24:00---in one race on one course??
Doubtful!!
For the Women, Anna Rohrer's 19:26 for the 6000 meter course was much more believable, as she's also a strong favorite for the NCAA's!
Isabelle Kennedy's 19:51 took second.

Special note!
That ACC Women's race saw the startling return of Wesley Frazier!!
With just the occasional race (of any quality!) since her great final year of HS, she finished 10th, although her 20:21 was 55 seconds behind Rohrer!!
The "other" Frazier--Ryen--improved greatly over her far-back (around 100th or so) finish in an early season race.
She was 14th, seven seconds behiind Wesley!
They helped North Carolina State to the team victory!!
Syracuse took the Men's title!

Some Road Race news.

Tirunesh Dibaba won the Great South 10 Miler in a solid 51:49.
Chris Thompson won the Men's race in 47:23.

The Valencia Half-Marathon was taken by Stephen Kibet's 59:27 and Peres Jepchirchir's 67:09!

Today's Frankfort Marathon saw Mark Korir's 2:06:48 prevail.
Bobby Curtis moved from 16th to 4th as leading American, time of 2:11:20.
Mamitu Daska won the Women's race, but fading badly over the final 2K, moving from 2:21 pace to her final time of 2:25:27.
Fate Tola's 2:25:42 was 15 seconds behind, but she closed strongly, and with another 400 meters or so, might have won!!
A Flanagan Woman led the American charge--but it wasn't Shalane!!
Lindsay Flanagan--25 years old--ran a PR by well over 3 minutes, her 2:29:28 in 4th missing my DDD by 35 seconds!!

Mary Cain ran the Mayor's Cup XC race again, finishing 3rd behind Liz Westphal and Amy Van Alstine--times of 16:53, 16:57, and Cain's 17:08.
But a post on her website made Cain's "return" to racing more interesting than the result!
She announced her official SPLIT from the Nike Oregon Project!!!

She said she's a full-time student at Fordham University, is being coached by John Henwood, and plans to remain in New York for the indefinite future!!
She said her split from NOP---and from Alberto Salazar as her coach!!!--was amiable and friendly.
She said she intends to race more this fall on XC courses and a road race or two, before heading to INdoor tracks!!

My opinion?

While she said her decision was based mainly on the logistics of living on one coast, while training on the other, I think there's also a divide between Salazar's personality and demeanor and Cain's---a HUGE divide!!
She was just too nice to mention that!!

Does this mean a return to her form of 2011-INdoors 2014, when she rewrote the HS Record Book?
Her great forward movement of those years was due mostly to her youth, and the unfettered freedom she had BEFORE Dr Frankenstein got his draconian claws into her innocent psyche!!

It wasn't until early 2014 that we began to see the negative effects AlSal had on her!!
He must take ALL the blame for her failings of OUTdoor 2014, ALL of 2015 AND 2016!!
Let's hope her Exodus from Salazar and NOP will see a whole set of new PR's--and World Class times from this still-20 year old Woman!!

Australian Pole Vaulter Alana Boyd---her 15-9.25 PR ranking her 14th A-T World OUTdoors---has retired!

As for future posts, the 2016-2017 INdoor Track and Field season is just 20 days from kickstarting at the JDL All-Comers meet on November 19th!
My next post will cover the NYC Marathon.
I'll of course report on the big Championship XC races---NCAA, Footlocker & NXN--yet to come!
But November will also see posts PREVIEWING the INdoor T&F season!!

What it takes to make my INdoor Top 24 Performers lists!
My Age Records predictions.
A fairly complete schedule of meets.

And then the beginning of RESULTS!!

See you soon!

LIFE (& other news)

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans!"
(John Lennon)

After watching the livestream of the Toronto Marathon this morning, I went to Twitter to see what was what before beginning my newest post--which had been my plan!
There, I was blasted by the most tragic news imaginable---the death of an innocent child!
100's of tweets abounded about the death of Tyson Gay's 15 year old daughter---Trinity Gay---from a stray bullet in a gunfight between people in 2 cars outside a Lexington KY restaurant today!

I didn't even know he had a daughter!
Nothing---NOTHING!---is more tragic than the loss of a child.
Made even worse---if that's possible--is that she was an innocent bystander---caught in the middle of more ugly violence!

I will get to my "normal" material soon----Cross Country results, recent marathons---but first I'll continue with more "off-track" news.

Familiar with Suzy Favor Hamilton's story--as written about in her memoir called "Fast Girl"?
One of the greatest runners in American history, she was "outed" as a Las Vegas escort, and as a victim of Bi-Polar disorder.
Since then, she's salvaged her marriage---and as much happiness & strength as possible--even though she'd lost almost everything due to her year in Vegas!

Well, a blog by her turned up yesterday, in which she said a recent episode of the TV show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" had used HER story for ITS plot in this episode!
I watched it, and it DOES follow SFH's story---almost to a T!
The main differences---the ONLY differences!--are that "Jenna Miller" is a Pole Vaulter (the WR holder!!), and she was brutally raped by one of her clients!!
Other than that, it's Suzy's story, as SHE told it in her book!
Being a star T&F athlete, who's a part-time escort, who's afraid of losing her fans and her contracts if she's outed, and is Bi-Polar!
Watch it---Season 18, Episode 4--and see why Suzy was so upset about it!
(BTW, I highly recommend her memoir, and the particular episode---even though I hadn't watched the show for several years!)

Four more brief items--
Evan Jager got married (!!) to a Swedish beauty, Sofia Hellberg Jonson (sp??)--IN Sweden last week!!
She apparently had an okay track career at Ole Miss, running the 400, 400H, and the 800!!
Elise Cranny and Allie Ostrander are both injured--with Allie O being redshirted for the season, and according to one report, Cranny being seen on crutches at her team's recent XC meet!
Jessica Ennis-Hill has retired early---and will not be in London's World Championship next summer!
And HS star Kate Murphy tweeted she's signed on to attend the University of Oregon next year!!
(About Murphy--a new TV show called "Better Things"--about a single mom of 3 daughters--has a character--that of the teenage daughter--played by an actress whose face---especially her eyes!--strongly resembles Ms Murphy!!)

Okayyyyyy!!
This XC season's finale is being forged at a rapid pace by the results of key early meets, including this weekend's Wisconsin and Pre-Nationals!
Meaning, it appears that ALL of the NCAA meet's Top 20 or so---maybe even the Top 10---are becoming highly predictable through the above meet's results!

Look for Ed Cheserek to do battle with Justyn Knight for the win, with sub-4 HS milers of 2015--Grant Fisher and Matthew Maton in close--with Futsam Ziensillassie in the lead pack!
Add "newcomer" Jerrell Mock, plus Levi Thomet, John Dressel, and maybe MJ Erb to the mix!

For the Women, it should be a dogfight between Erin Finn, Anna Rohrer, Brenna Peloquin, and maybe Alice Wright and Erin Clark.
Add Charlotte Prouse and Amy Eloise-Neale of Washington, Courtney Smith of Harvard, and Lauren LaRocco of Portland!
(The Women's Collegiate elite list is much longer than the Men's!!)

The Wisconsin Men's race was won by Justyn Knight in 23:53.
Ziensellassie was 2nd, just 2 seconds back.
Stanford's Grant Fisher and Sean McGorty took 4th and 6th, both within 5 seconds of the winner!
Jerrell Mock finished only 29th!!
NAU took the team battle with 78 points, beating Stanford's 118!

Brenna Peloquin won the Women's race in 20:00, just one second ahead of Alice Wright, 3 in front of Anna Rohrer, with the U-Dub duo Neale and Prouse running 4th and 5th!
Courtney Smith took 6th, but Sarah Collins was just 16th, while Angel Piccirillo was 19th.
Ryen Frazier---once a rising star--ended way back in 96th place!!
UW won the meet with 124 points over North Carolina State's 166, Providence's 170, and New Mexico's 207!

The Pre-Nats meet on the Terre Haute course is where Oregon's Men--led by King Ches's 22 second win in 23:34 --prevailed!
Frankline Tanui's 23:56 took 2nd, with total unknown Amos Terer (of Campbell, wherever THAT is!!) 3rd two seconds behind Tanui!
Matt Maton was 4th, but 33 seconds behind Cheserek!
Levi Thomet, John Dressel, and Ben Saarel were 26th, 27th, and 28th, all back at least 55 seconds from Ches!
Sam Prakel was just 36th.
Brenna's brother--Tristan Peloquin of Portland--finished in 59th, while Lopez's younger brother---Alex Lomong---was back in 162nd!!

Erin Finn made it 3 of 4 on the season---her only loss to Ms Peloquin at the Griak meet---and her 3 wins by HUGE margins!!
Her 19:44 finished a full 24 seconds in front of Erin Clark (who led the Colorado team victory!).
Remember me mentioning a high place in an early season race by one Peyton Bilo of Cal Poly?
I said I'd never heard of her, and that she's a Soph!
Well, she's NOT so unknown now!!
She happened to take THIRD, just 3 seconds in back of Clark!!
(Add her to my above list of NCAA contenders!!)
Katie Rainsberger---who seems to be the top Collegiate Frosh runner this year--was 6th, but LED the UO team to its 2nd place podium spot!!
The vaunted Stanford Freshman class---Christine Aragon and Ella Donaghu--ended well back in 41st and 47th, respectively--well over a minute behind Ms Finn!!
Matt's sister--Ashley Maton--was 98th, while Hannah DiBalsi was just 113th!!

The Penn State meet saw Tessa Barrett (20:06) and MJ Erb (24:49) win.
Destiny Collins--now a Texas Frosh, formerly of the Great Oak distance factory--finished 35th in what I believe was her first Collegiate race!

The Chicago Marathon--minus professional pacers!!--was another slow one for the Men--Abel Kirui's 2:11:25 winning by 6 seconds over Dickson Chumba.
Diego Estrada was 8th in 2:13:56--in his initial 26.2 race!!

The Women's race---also no rabbits--was faster!
In a battle of the Kiplagat's, Florence's 2:21:32 prevailed over Edna's 2:23:28.
American Serena Burla was 7th in 2:30:40, while Sarah Crouch ended in 9th in 2:33:48.

The Eindhoven Marathon in the Netherlands was WON by the PACER!!!
Kenya's Festus Talam---designated rabbit--stayed in the race, winning it in 2:06:26!!
A prior credential was a Half-Marathon in 60:56!
He's 21 years old!

The Twin Cities race saw the Course Record being broken---and it dated from 1985!!--by Dominic Ondoro, his time being 2:08:51.

I watched TWO full Marathon livestreams this morning--the Amsterdam race and the earlier-mentioned Toronto race!

Daniel Wanjiru's 2:05:21 took the Amsterdam affair, his time a PR of around 3 minutes!!
Sammy Kitwara's 2:05:45 was 2nd, two seconds in front of Marius Kimutai!

Meselech Melkamu's 2:23:21 prevailed for the Women over Aselech Afework's 2:24:27.
Priscah Jeptoo took 4th, 2:35 behind the winner!

Toronto's race was won by the 2:08:28 of Philomon Rono!
Shure Demise's 2:25:15 took the Women's race!

The Women's Tufts 10K was won by Emily Sisson, who is having a GREAT end of 2016 on the roads!!
Her time of 31:47 was a full 44 seconds in front of Sarah Pagano's 32:31.
Lauren Paquette was 3rd, with ageless Jen Rhines finishing 6th in 33:31.

Finally, the Twin Cities 10 Mile race saw a "shock" winner!
Ms Jordan Hasay crushed the field with her time of 52:49!!
Aliphine Tuliamuk was 2nd some 12 seconds back!
(Former??) Triathlete Gwen Jorgensen---training for her 1st official marathon in New York---was a strong 3rd in 53:13!!
She finished some 20 seconds ahead of Sara Hall!!
Watch for her in the Big Apple!!

Sam Chelanga won the Men's race in 47:25, with Noah Droddy 3 seconds back.
Andy Bumbalough was 8th in 48:13!!

Again, sincere condolences to the family of Trinity Gay, Tyson's 15 year old daughter, killed early this morning!!

XC Leaders Emerging

While it's not this blog's specialty, I do like to keep an eye on the Cross Country results.
The times they run aren't as important as their margins of victory.
Whether they break a Course Record has no or little significance.
The Team titles?
This blog doesn't really care!

So why report XC results at all?
Why not just take a long (and deserved!) vacation from the burden of putting out over 100 posts per year?
The best reason is that XC often reveal the names of the next season's (INdoors or OUTdoors!) leaders on the TRACK in distances ranging from 1500 to 10000--and including the 3000SC!

Also, in a sort of reverse realm of thinking, we can see which Track record setters do NOT do so well over hill and dale!
Believe me, that list is long!!

All that said, here's the latest from XC--especially the Collegiates.

Anna Rohrer led Notre Dame's team with her 16:11 win at the Joe Piane Invite.
Alice Wright was 5 seconds back, with Bethan Knights another 5 behind Wright.
Sarah Collins was just 9th, 26 seconds behind Rohrer.
Sean Tobin took the Men's race in 23:31, three seconds in front of George Parsons.
Jonah Koech was 5th in 23:52.

The UDub Invite in Seattle saw Ed Cheserek dominate.
Duhhh!
He won by 19 over Jerrell Mock, who's been having a good season.
Sam Prakel and Matt Maton took 3rd and 4th, while Grant Fisher was 29 seconds in back of the King, with Blake Haney another 11 behind in 12th place!
Huskie Soph Charlotte Prouse won the Women's race in 19:36 over Oregon's stud Frosh Katie Rainsberger, who ended just 6 seconds behind!
Amy Eloise-Neale and Harvard's Courtney Smith were almost tied in 3rd and 4th, both timed in the 19:47's!

Angel Piccirillo won Paul Short by 15 seconds in 19:56.
Scott Carpenter's 23:36 led Kierin Clements's 23:37 and Gilbert Kirui's 23:39 to victory.

An interesting match of Collegiate Frosh---running unattached--saw Austin Tamagno beat Levi Thomet by 1 second, winning the Willamette Invite in 24:31!

Erin Finn is now 3 for 4--losing only last week's Griak race to Brenna Peloquin!
And she again won by a huge margin--this time, it was by 24 seconds at the Louisville Classic, her time 16:26.

John Dressel beat Ben Saarel by 36 seconds in the Rocky Mountain Shootout race, 24:37 to 25:13.
Another race there saw Joe Klecker win in 24:41.
Erin Clark's 19:53 beat Kaitlyn Benner's 20:01.

Elise Cranny's 20:02 took the Stanford Invite over the 20:06 of the unheralded Peyton Bilo, who is a Soph at Cal Poly.
Hannah DiBalsi was far back in 18th, 1:22 behind Cranny!
Thomas Ratcliffe--the 4:01 HS Miler--beat Emmanuel Rotich by two seconds, 23:17 to 23:19.
Not bad for his first Collegiate race!!

Vincent Kiprop (23:03) and Karissa Schweizer (16:09) took the Chili Pepper races!
Kiprop won by 30 seconds, while Schweizer could manage just a 2 second gap in front of Devin Clark!
Nikki Hiltz finished in 10th place, 33 seconds behind Schweizer!

Anything conclusive yet?
Ches looks to win again at NCAA's, but watch for Ratcliffe, Dressel, and Justyn Knight, whose fast win last week went unreported by me!
Sorry!
Allie Ostrander is either injured, or otherwise hurting, as she's yet to race this year!
But she's still considered one of the faves for NCAA's.
Erin Finn--despite that 1 loss (to Ostrander's Boise State teammate!!)--looks super formidable!
Rohrer and Cranny are others to watch.
Watch for Frosh Rainsberger to sneak into the Top 10.

Betsy Saina won the Great Scottish Run Half-Marathon, her 67:22 a PR by over 2 minutes!
Helah Kiprop's 68:52 in 2nd was also a PR.
Callum Hawkins set a Scottish record with his win in 60:24!
Moses Kipsiro's 60:54 was well back!

The Lisbon Marathon saw Sarah Chepchirchir PR by 6 minutes with her 2:24:12 win!

In another exhibition event---NOT legit for record or list purposes!!--Jenn Suhr wowed her hometown fans (including her mom and dad!!) with a clearance at 16-5.25 (5.01).
I have no idea what her day included---if she started at a lower height---how many bars she cleared before the 5.01---or how many attempts she was allowed at each height.
In an exhibition, rules are made to be broken!
List-making or not, it was still an astounding performance for the recently (VERY) sickly Suhr!
BTW, the bar jiggled some, but stayed on!

Finally, an interesting picture appeared on Twitter.
It showed HS Mile star Kate Murphy winning her XC race in record time.
Holding one end of the finish line tape was---Mary Cain!
Mile Split called it the "Photo of the Year".
My first thought was---if Cain had RUN that race, Murphy would have cleaned her CLOCK!!!

See you soon.

An Almost WR---Again

In London, Eliud Kipchoge (a super fast track runner of yore) came within 8 seconds of Dennis Kimetto's World Record of 2:02:57, running a superb 2:03:05, and showing a disgusted face at how he'd ALMOST had the WR.

Fast forward about 5 months to today's Berlin race.

At 5000, a field of 10 or so blazes a 14:20, the WR assault ON
When they pass 10K in 29:00, then the Half in 1:01:11, the blast of WR air attacks even the most pragmatic and skeptical.
Kimetto's pace was 1:01:45, then 1:01:12.
They were 34 seconds up on WR pace.
BUT--they'd have to match Kimetto's opening salvo--after having run half the race!

The pace was still deadly at 30K in 1:27:26.
And it was becoming a RACE!

At points along the trail, Ken Bekele had fallen back---not by much--just 10 to 20 meters.
The more experienced 26.2 man--Wilson Kipsang--with a PR coming in 1:40 faster than the speedy trackster--held the lead, and looked comfortable.

But so did Bekele.
And when he closed those gaps every time they appeared, Kipsang started to fret.
Side by side they flew, but a bit slower---now off WR pace by 20 seconds approaching 40 kilometers!
Tim Hutchings (on NBC's livestream) was saying the WR chase was done---and now it would be a race---between the Kenyan and the Ethiopian.

Then Bekele stomped the gas pedal, opening a 15 meter spread in less than a "lap" of running.
The race was over, and the 12:37.35 and 26:17.53 man was sprinting!
SPRINTING!!!

Too little too late!
As Hutchings said, if he'd begun that kick a K earlier, the WR would've been his!
And he knew it.
Breaking the tape at 2:03:04, he shook his head, flipped his hands, knowing IF---IF---and how ALMOST he'd gotten!!
A virtual repeat of Kipchoge's reaction after London!

That said, Bekele destroyed the Age 34 record, as well as Haile Gebrsellassie's Ethiopia National Record.
He is now 3rd A-T World---on my list that includes times from Boston!

Kipsang, also 34, missed that Age record by---9 seconds!
He'd been 6th A-T World.
After this race--with Bekele's time added--he's still 6th, but now is 6th, tied with 1 other!
Thus he moves DOWN the list---in a way!

Third went to Evans Chebet in a slight PR of 2:05:31.

The Women's race also started fast---with the first Half going by in 1:09:27, with Berhane Dibaba narrowly trailing Aberu Kebede.
Not much was seen of the Women's race in the last half, as NBC focused on the great Men's battle.
But I know Kebede---who had dropped Dibaba---went by 30K in 1:38:42.

Then she slowed---pretty drastically--falling from the mid-16:30's to over 17 minute 5000's.
And there went her attempt to break 2:20!

But she easily won, time of 2:20:45, a full 3:13 ahead of Dibaba's 2:23:58.
Newcomer Ruti Aga was 3rd in a 45 second PR of 2:24:41.

In the past 2 weeks or so, there have been other good races on the roads of the world!

Mo Farah took the Great North Run 13.1 Miler in 60:04.
But surprising in 2nd---and actually leading at points!--Dathan Ritzenhein finished in 60:12.
Vivian Cheruiyot took the Women's race in 67:54, one second up on Priscah Jeptoo, with Tirunesh Dibaba in 3rd with a time of 68:04.

In the Prague 10K, Violah Jepchumbo's 30:24 missed the WR by just 3 seconds!!
Abe Kipyetich took the Men's division in 27:40.

Another fast Half-Marathon was taken by James Wangari in 59:07.
And there was good depth.
Stephen Kibet was 2nd in 59:28, with Albert Kangogo another second back, and 4 others getting under an hour!!
Wangari ran his first 10K in 27:15!!

The USATF 5000 was won by Ryan Hill (13:57) and Aliphine Tuliamuk (15:22).
In the Women's race, Emily Sisson was 2nd in 15:42--her 2nd good race in a row!

That Great North City Games held a couple of oddball 500 meter races.
These were DOWNhill (overall), and was a combined road AND track race!!
But they were also fast!
David Rudisha ran the fastest 500 ever--57.69---which obviously counts as much as a 100 with a 25 MPH wind at his back!!
Mark English took 2nd in 57.91, with Martyn Rooney getting the same time in 3rd!
Lynsey Sharp took the Women's race in another "fastest ever" time of 1:06.62.
Shalayna Oskan-Clarke took 2nd in 1:06.89.

The Talence Multi's were okay--if compared to a meet composed of Collegiate Frosh!!
Nadine Broersen took the Heptathlon with 6377 points, four more than Yorgelis Rodriguez.
Aleksey Kasyanov took the Decathlon with a measly 8077 points.
But 2nd was Canadian Pierre LePage, a 20 year old, whose previous best was about 500 points less than his 8027!
He'd led the field much of the way!

Erin Finn took her first 2 XC races, each by about 45 seconds!!
But then she faced Boise State's Brenna Peloquin in the Roy Griak 6K.
Even with a mile to go, Peloquin sprinted ahead, winning by over 10 seconds in 20:49 and change.
Third went to another new face (though introduced to you in this blog earlier this year!!), Portland's Lauren LaRocco.
In fact, Portland won BOTH races--Men and Women!!
The Men's race was taken by Colorado State's Jerrell Mock in 25:06.

Sam Prakel edged Tanner Anderson in the Dellinger XC race, both running 24:36.
Emily Weber won the Women's race.
Ed Cheserek didn't run.

But RONALD Cheserek did!!
That Cheserek (Related??  Don't know!) took the Mt. Dew Gator race in 24:43, winning by 18 seconds.
He's a Frosh at St Leo's!

A HS girl named Brie Oakley ran a SUPER fast XC time of 15:53 over a 5K course!
Don't have the details, so don't know the TRUE quality of her time.
But that is FAST!!

Alana Hadley FINISHED another Marathon---barely!
Starting good--tied with eventual winner Becki Spellman at 6 miles--Hadley was hurting---her ankle again!!---and stepped off the gas.
But she managed to finish her first race (of any distance??) since her Indy win in November of 2014!!
Timed in 3:18:32, she was then carted off in a wheelchair!!

Finally, Jenn Suhr is BACK!!
Super sick from early August on, she's apparently feeling good now.
In an "exhibition"---although it had other competitors---held INdoors (!!)--Suhr cleared the bar set at 4.88, or 16 feet even!!
And I mean she CLEARED it!!
However, she missed her Age 34 INdoor record set much earlier this year of 16-0.75!!
She said she'll compete again on October 1st.

I'm working on an idea for an "extra" post, where I'll list "Questions needing Answers"---on various subjects related to our sport!
But that's in the wind---nothing definite.
Next "results" post will probably be in 2 weeks--after the Chicago Marathon!