With one of the US’s top meets on tap for tomorrow, I thought I would take an event by event look at the Reebok Grand Prix. Women’s Long Jump – We get a rare shot of Carollina Kluft (SWE) here in the US. Kluft is arguably one of the best female athletes in the sport as a former Olympic and reigning World Champion in the Heptathlon. The long jump is her best event, but she should have all she can handle from Grace Upshaw and Tianna Madison. Don’t be surprised if Kluft’s visit to the states is a successful one. Women’s Pole Vault – Jenn Stuczynski has only one peer…

USA Track and Field filled its position of Chief of Sports Performance by hiring former hurdler Benita Fitzgerald Moseley last week. Fitzgerald Moseley will be responsible for overseeing USATF’s High Performance and Sports Science Programs, and the person that will ultimately be responsible for seeing that CEO Doug Logan’s goal of 30 track and field medals in London (2012) comes to fruition. Not sure exactly what “High Performance” and “Sports Science Programs” really means, although her oversight will include USATF’s athlete development, USA team management, national relay management, elite athlete services, sport science programs, coaching education, and management of meet officials. But the bottom line in plain speak, is that…

The Memorial Day weekend is typically quiet on the elite scene, and was an off weekend for Division I colleges as they rested between Conference meets and Regionals, but there was a lot of action in the lower collegiate divisions, low level open meets and high schools. The hottest action, however was at the National Junior College Championships, as the young sprinters made their case for why they should be running for upper level schools. Rend Lake’s Ryan Bailey set a new JCR of 10.05 in the 100 meters in the heats before winning the final in 10.07. He also ran 20.45 in his semi before returning to run 20.47…

The buzz last night in the world of sports was not the NBA Playoffs, or even the Draft lottery to determine which order NBA teams will be selecting players in next months college draft. The buzz in the sports world was the release of Michael Vick from prison and just where he will fit in upon his return to the NFL! Sports announcers, analysts and others have been taking a look at his skills and how long he has been away, in an effort to estimate just which team he may fit best with, and what position may best suit him. You see, the NFL, and the sporting world in…

Two Time Olympic Gold Medalist Jon Drummond is conducting a Speed Clinic in Clarksville, TN June 8th & 9th. Coaches Monday June 8th 12-5pm Presentation: Training MethodologyPresentation: Speed Training Coaches & AthletesTuesday June 9th 10-4pm Presentation: Drills Acquisition Demonstration: Mechanics Demonstration: Block work analysis Registration: $200 for coaches if registered before June 1. $75 for students with proof of student id or drivers license. Late registration: $225.00 after June 1. Location: Kenwood High School, 251 E. Pine Mt, Clarksville, TN 37042Clinic Director: Erin Walden, nedlawme@hotmail.com, 931-542-8018 For a registration form, and additional information contact Event Director Erin Walden.

The weekend’s big meet on the elite side was the Adidas Classic in Carson. Great competition but the times were hampered by negative winds all day. In spite of the conditions, some athletes still distinguished themselves, and showed that they will play a factor on the road to Berlin. The best on the day for my money was Lashawn Merritt who improved on his own world leading time in the 200 with a 20.07 win into a slight headwind (-0.5). Merritt dominated all phases of the race and won going away, with second place Xavier Carter a well back 20.71. Merritt chose to run the 200 here to work on…

I settled down to watch the Adidas Classic yesterday. Always a great meet, this year it seemed that almost every event under 400 meters involved some issues with false starts. More irritating than the false starts themselves was the attitude of the announcers, as the First words out of the announcers mouth, repeatedly, was that we should go to a no false start rule. Which is indicative of why track and field keeps treading water in its attempt to become a major sport – we always look in the wrong direction to solve our problems in my opinion! What’s wrong with the false start rules? Well for my money there…

The Visa Championship Series always hits its stride this time of year with the trio of Carson, New York and Eugene leading into the National Championships. This year Carson will kick this stretch run off in fine style with stars galore this weekend. Previous Carson winners World Champion sprinter Tyson Gay and Olympic Champion sprinter Veronica Campbell Brown have both pulled out of the meet to spend a bit more time training and rehabbing from early season injuries, yet their absence should go unnoticed so deep is the quality of this year’s meet. Potential Highlights: Men’s 100 – The field includes the Olympic silver medalist (Richard Thompson) the most recent…

The road to the NCAA Championship shifts into high gear this weekend as conference championships abound. The hottest meet should be the SEC Championships in Gainesville with Florida, Arkansas, LSU, and South Carolina competing, as all should play a roll in the National meet come June. The Pac10 meet won’t be as deep but will feature the Oregon Ducks who should be in the thick of the National championship race. And in the mid west the Big12 will feature the Texas AM Aggies, another national contender. Athletes to watch include: Trindon Holliday – LSU – Trindon currently leads the collegiates in the 100 meters at 10.12. He is the most…

In Lashawn Merritt’s recent entry on his IAAF diary he outlined his upcoming schedule: • 200 this weekend at the Adidas Classic• 400 at the Reebok Grand Prix• 300 at the Prefontaine Classic• 400 at Nationals Knowing what Merritt was running I took a look at Jeremy Wariner’s website to find out when we would get our first match up between the two. According to the schedule on Jeremy’s site his upcoming meets will be: • 400 at the Adidas Track Classic• 200 at Nationals Which would mean that we won’t see these two compete against each other until perhaps some time in Europe! Currently Merritt leads the world in…