No weather delays during Thursdays NCAA action as a handful of finals were mixed in with more qualifying in preparation for the barrage of finals coming our way today and tomorrow. Though the weather was more cooperative than Wednesday, the results were pretty tame in comparison. The one standout being Texas A&M speedster Porscha Lucas. Porscha lived up to her name Thursday as she hit her gears around the track in the 200 meter rounds. First with a collegiate leading 22.58 in the first round – taking over the top time from Baylor’s Tiffany Townsend. In her semifinal heat she really opened up with a blazing 22.38 – just missing…

The NCAA Champs started yesterday, and although there were just rounds of qualifying, they were some of the hottest rounds since the Olympics themselves. The distance runners conserved energy in their prelims of the steeple, and 5000 meters for men and women. Running just enough to get through. But the short sprinters went nuts in the first round! In the 4×1 Texas A&M’s women blew it out with yet another sub 43 second clocking cruising to a 42.93 and showing that they are clearly the class of the field. Similarly on the men’s side the Texas A&M men screamed a school record 38.51 to win their heat while the Florida…

The quest for NCAA Championships starts tomorrow in Fayetteville Arkansas. And as usual there are stories aplenty when trying to figure out who will win titles. On the Men’s side the teams to watch should be Florida, Oregon, Texas A&M, Arkansas and LSU. On the Women’s side the teams to watch should be Oregon, LSU, Texas A&M, Arizona State and Tennessee. The US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association maintains an ongoing ranking of schools. The current rankings can be found below. There are several hot athletes heading into the meet. Galen Rupp (OR) is perhaps the hottest distance runner on the men’s side and will be key…

This weekend I think we saw several break through performances, starting with Reggie Wyatt of La Sierra High School in Southern California smashing the HSR in the 300H with a stunning 35.02! The previous record was 35.28 set by Jeshua Anderson back in 2007. Video of this outstanding performance can be seen here. Wyatt also won the 400 meters in 46.13. This young man is a raw talent with tons of room to grow. He reminds me of a young Kevin Young – tall, lanky, with lots of speed. London 2012 is easily within his reach – and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in Daegu in 2011. Wyatt’s…

Men’s 400 Hurdles – Bershawn Jackson wins a deep hurdle field by making a strong move down the backstretch after hitting hurdle #2. Winning time of 48.38 was close to the yearly lead but still a bit from the 47 second range that we would expect from this level of hurdlers which included yearly leader Isa Phillips in second, Kerron Clement in third and Olympic Champion Angelo Taylor in fourth. Women’s 1500 – The field went out in 2:08 behind the pace setter with no one really wanting to make a move in the first half of the race. Geleta Burka (ETH) took over before the bell lap and Shannon…

Prefontaine and Reebok have become the two preeminent meets in the US. Just as we saw some outstanding performances last week in New York I expect that there will be a few events that should be outstanding in Eugene. I’ll be most looking forward to: Women’s 800 Meters – This should be one hot race as we get to see defending World Champion Janeth Jepkosgei (KEN) vs Olympic Champion Pamela Jelimo (KEN)! No mark so far this year for Jepkoskei, Jelimo has only run 2:02.46, but both have the ability to run away from a field and tend to do their best running from the front. If both are in…

While the elite are competing in Eugene this weekend at the Prefonataine Invitational, many of the country’s top high school athletes will be strutting their stuff at the California and Texas State Championships. These meets annually are among the best that the high schools have to offer. Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards, Jeremy Wariner, Lashinda Demus and German Fernandez are among the many current stars of the sport that have recently competed in these two great meets. Below are the links to the results sites for both meets, as well as a link to the top high school marks in the country. Check them this weekend to see how well young…

According to a Reuters News article Prefontaine Classic meet director Tom Jordan is trying to get a Tyson Gay/ Asafa Powell head to head at the meet this coming weekend. Tyson’s manager Mark Whetmore is quoted as saying that Tyson wants to run at Pre the only question being whether or not he feels like he is ready to run as the original plan was that his next competition was scheduled to be at the National Championships June 25. While I would love to see a Tyson v Asafa matchup, not sure there is much to be gained right now. Asafa Powell has yet to show the signs of a…

After watching the meet again, actually a couple of times, as well as some video on You Tube, this was one hot meet that deserves some additional comments. But before I comment on the meet, I want to beg NBC, and any others that will be televising meets, to do everything in their power to televise the FULL meet! We missed some outstanding races – men’s 110H and women’s 200 – as well as some outstanding field event competition that could have been shown in between running events. This was a high class competition and every chance we have to showcase the best of this sport to viewers in the…

Tyson Gay was triple World Champion in 2007 winning the 100/200 and running on the gold medal 4×1 relay. Last year in New York he had his first set back on his way to Beijing – running second to Usain Bolt’s first WR of the season (9.72) with his early season 9.85. Gay looked to have rebounded nicely from the loss at the Olympic Trials as he blazed an American Record 9.77, then the fastest ever 100 with a windy 9.68. But then he suffered his second, and most severe set back of the season when he pulled up in his first round of the 200 meters. After spending his…