The NCAA Championships start today and it should be a doozy! With the NCAA moving to a pair of Regional qualifying meets this year (East & West) the meet starts with semi finals in all the events. But with each Regional meet sending 12 athletes there will be three heats for each semifinal instead of two. The result is a rather brutal 2 + 2 qualifying system to the finals for all events 800 and under – first two finishers plus the next 2 fastest times. This will have a profound effect on the outcome of the meet as making it out of the semis will be very tough. And…

Recently during an interview about the upcoming NCAA championships, Oregon coach Vin Lananna stated “I think for the sport of track and field, and for every sport, you need a home,” he said. “I think it would be fantastic for Hayward Field to be the permanent home for the NCAA championships.” While I understand the motivation behind Mr. Lananna’s statement, I don’t think he could be more off in his assessment. Certainly it would be nice for Oregon to have the NCAA Championships as a “home” meet to go along with the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic. And if he gets his wish he will also get the dual with UCLA…

We’re just days away now from the start of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. With no World Championships or Olympics on the slate this year, this meet could be the best championship meet on the schedule this summer. Both indoor team champions – Florida for the men and Oregon for the women – have arrived at this point in the season looking ready to produce strong efforts to add outdoor titles to their trophy cases. There have been relatively few injuries to the top athletes and squads this year, so we enter Eugene with a full complement of high caliber athletes ready to do battle – making it…

Oslo is often a distance runners paradise and today was no exception as several fast middle and long distance events stole the spotlight in Oslo. The event that drew the most pre meet interest was the men’s 800 featuring David Rudisha (KEN) and Abubaker Kaki (SUD). The race was a burner from the beginning as the rabbit took the field through a fast 48.97 first lap. Rudisha and Kaki were just off the pace and went by the rabbit down the final backstretch. Both athletes sizzled around the track but Kaki was never able to make a serious challenge to Rudisha as they ran 1-2 on the final lap, well…

The third installment of the Diamond League takes to the track tomorrow in Oslo. It will mark the beginning of a nine day period where we’ll get a blitz of three Diamond League events – Oslo, Rome and New York. Oslo has a rich history of strong distance running and field event performances, and I don’t see that changing much tomorrow as the best matchups seem to be in those disciplines. There will be some individuals of note competing, with Asafa Powell (JAM) in the 100; Carmelita Jeter (USA) in a rare appearance over 200; Carolina Kluft (SWE) in the long jump; and local hero Andreas Thorkildsen in the javelin.…

With the Championship season upon us, I thought it would be a good time to update the Thirty Watch List. A chance to take a look at the season to date before everyone begins to peak for the heart of the season. Even without the season peaking, there has been a lot of activity (or lack of) affecting the list – and not all on the track. So I will be looking at the list and adjusting it based on four areas: deletions, additions, and athletes on the bubble – either potentially being added or dropped in the future. The current iteration of the list shows a net gain of…