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Hot Weekend After Ostrava
This weekend was a reminder that this support is not always as predictable as we like top think it is. For example, the hot meet was supposed to be in Ostrava. After all that was the meet with all the "names" – Bolt, VCB, Spearmon, Merritt, and Semenya among others .But as the sun is beginning to set, things got hot after Ostrava – mostly by what appears to be a budding youth movement this season. From collegiate athletes at the two Division I Regionals; to the first major high school post season invitational; to a pair of "lesser" meets on the European Circuit; a slew of young up and…
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Kimberlyn Duncan Leads Weekend Collegians
Friday we were treated to Doha, and one of the best Diamond League events the league has put together. The weekend was left to the “youngsters” as collegiate conference meets dominated the action as the road to the NCAA championships began. The college season has been relatively quiet so far, with coaches having both the NCAA championships AND the Olympic Trials in mind as they’ve prepared their athletes this year. So we’ve seen a lot less of the top athletes early on and marks have been relatively modest. Ah, but that changed this weekend as the top collegians began to close the gap with their elite counterparts in a couple…
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8 Must See Trials Events
I’m getting antsy, it’s Friday night and no big results can be found – everything major will be happening Saturday. So my mind is wandering in the direction of the Trials. After all, once the smoke clears everything comes down to two meets this year – National Trials and the Olympic Games.In some countries the Trials may be the years most important meet, beside if you don’t get past the Trials you’ll never see the Games – at least not from the stadium in London. So I’m anticipating the Trials almost as much as the Games. With everything on the line and great depth in several events, the US Trials…
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Mt. SAC Leads Weekend Full of Highlights
The 2012 Olympic season shifted into high gear this weekend with highlights galore popping up all over. What the Kansas Relays got started with their “downtown” events, Mt SAC multiplied with one of the best meets they’ve had in a while as performance after performance heated up the track AND the field. Where to start? How about the mile on Friday night where France’s Jamal Ahrass blitzed to a 3:52.21 WL in the mile (3:35.70 1500 en route) to lead 8 men under 4:00. Molly Huddle took her turn as she controlled the 5000 meters then put it away in the final lap to clock another WL with her 15:15.91.…
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Myers Pregnant, Who Takes Her Place?
News out this weekend is that Marshevet Myers its pregnant and will be out for the season. While I wish her all the best , I can’t think of a worse time than an Olympic season. World Championships come often enough that if you miss one there’s another next year – or at worst in two years. But the Olympics only come once every four years – half a lifetime in track and field. For the 27 year old Myers, who is due in October, her next opportunity at a global medal could be the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. If not, she’s looking at 2015 and the Beijing World…
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Richards Ross Highlights Weekend of Speed
Speed was on display this past weekend and nowhere was it more prominent than the speedy state of Texas and the annual Texas Relays. The first sign that things were going to be fast came in the qualifying rounds of the University 4×1 when Auburn scorched the track for a 38.95 in their heat. That’s the kind of time one expects to see collegiate teams run in the semis or final of the NCAA Championships, not an opening round of the Texas Relays – one of the first runs for college teams of the season. They proved that was no fluke however, as they flew to a WL 38.30 in…
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2012 Outdoor Preview – Sprints
Now that we’re completely done with the indoor season, it’s time to start taking a look at how this outdoor season might possibly shape up. More importantly, at how the Games might shape up. So as I go through the various events on the Olympic slate, I’m going to try and Identify those individuals that I feel as of today ill be in the mix – the contenders and potential contenders. I’m going to start with the sprints because they tend to get going a bit earlier than other events. And this time around they’re already pretty well defined, as we have a large group of veterans that “should” be…
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NCAA Indoor Championships Review
I know it’s taken a while to get around to this meet, but reality is that the colleges have really suffered from a lot of youngsters going pro early last year, in addition to the normal graduation attrition. The result is that a lot of star power has left college campuses since this time last year. When you lose athletes the caliber of Kirani James, Christian Taylor, Will Claye, Ryan Whiting, Jessica Beard, Lakaya Brookins, and Phoebe Wright among others, there’s bound to be a huge letdown at your championship meet. The meet itself was exciting as always – there’s something exciting about track and field when we start judging…