Usually the first day of Nationals is fairly quiet. But I found yesterday actually somewhat exciting. Lots of action for a first day, and I actually learned something new!

Who is Kibwe Johnson?

I try to be up on as many events as possible, but I have to admit that I knew absolutely nothing about Kibwe before yesterday! I know who he is now. Hammer Thrower. A VERY good Hammer Thrower. So good in fact that his winning toss of 263’ 6” (80.31m) makes him #2 in the event on the season! He’s #3 American all time behind Lance Deal and Jud Logan – and I know that they were pretty good. I’ll be keeping an eye on Kibwe this summer because he gets my nod as the top athlete on opening day!

Eaton Looking Like Superman!

Took a lot for me to say Johnson was my athlete of the day, because Ashton Eaton came out looking like he had a cape waving from his back. 10.33 in the 100 – leaving Bryan Clay WAY back even though he ran a very nice 10.64 of his own! A 25’ 7” long jump, a 46’ 4” shot put, and then a 6’ 8.75” high jump before he put the hammer down once again on a 46.35 quarter – Miller Moss eating dust this time at 48.06! A HUGE 4604 points on Day One – and a 408 point lead over Bryan Clay in second place. I don’t want to get ahead of myself but I think he has a shot at the AR (8891, Dan O’Brien) and maybe 9000 points (WR is 9026). The first event today is the 110 hurdles and he’s run 13.35 already this year. Anything close to that and a typical second day could put him close to something VERY special.

Taylor and Claye go 1, 2

I’ve been watching these two all season long – Florida’s 1, 2 punch of Christian Taylor and Will Claye. They went 1, 2 at the NCAA Championships and repeated that finish in Eugene. Taylor jumping 57’ 4” (+3.5), Claye going 56’ 1” (+2.4) – and both passed their last three jumps! Along with Kibwe Johnson, they give us something to look forward to in Daegu in a couple of events that we have had little success in lately!

Women’s 100 Showdown Looming

The opening round of the sprints is usually about dropping the dead wood. But unless something happens of significance in the semis later today, two women clearly emerged as the best of this lot. No surprise that it was Carmelita Jeter and Marshevet Myers, but they opened up at 10.88 (+1.7) and 10.87 (+1.8) respectively – Myers mark just off her recent 10.86 PR – Holla! Barring catastrophe this final could end up being the race of the day.

Tyson and Walter Need Block Work

Speaking of the 100, everyone made it through yesterday in the men’s heats, but Tyson Gay and Walter Dix need some serious work on their starts. Tyson is known for coming out slowly and turning it on, but he runs 9.7 at will. Having said that, however, while he should win this final regardless of his start he can NOT start like this against Bolt and have any hope. Best to get it straightened out here! And if Walter starts like that in the final today (should he make the final) it won’t be good enough to get that third spot. Because it still looks like Tyson and Mike Rodgers and a whole lot of hungry folk eyeing that third spot! Judging from the first round there are 12 men vying for 8 spots in the final. The semis are going to be brutal.

Wariner ?

That’s all I can say about Jeremy – a question mark. Pressed in his opening round by Joey Hughes (46.02) as he won in “only” 45.94. Yes he won, but he’s supposed to walk across the line in 45.50 in his opening round, not get pressed to a 45.94! I don’t see three men in this field keeping him off the team, but I don’t see it as the easy victory that one might expect – especially with Lashawn Merritt not in the race. He’s back with coach Hart, so we can no longer talk about the coaching change. Maybe he’s training through on his way to Worlds? All I know is that he’s not looking like the “Human Metronome” who once had his race so dialed in that I could take his split at 200 and 300 and pretty much tell you what his final time would be. Let’s see what the semi and final bring.

Shalane!

There were finals in the 10,000 meters last night and as much as Wariner didn’t look like his race was dialed in, Shalane was like clockwork! She got out, set her pace, ran away from the pack and just kept going. She didn’t need any help, she just ran. Her 30.59.97 was beautiful to watch. It was her second sub 31 this year, and I think she has a solid shot at a medal in Daegu and should be able to challenge for the top spot on the podium.

Should be another great day today. 100 meter semis and finals. The semifinals in the 800 and 400 should be HOT. And two deep 5000 meter finals!

The real action in a meet like the National Championships is supposed to occur in the finals. The preliminary rounds are supposed to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Sometimes, however, the early rounds aren’t as “balanced” as they perhaps should be. The result is that you get some very interesting combinations early on Read More...

Roughly 48 hours until it all begins – the selection process for our World Championships team. I’ve tried to cover as many events as possible over the last week, but there are still more stories to tell. Here are a few other events that I plan to keep an eye on this weekend.   Men’s Triple Jump This is an event that we once dominated with jumpers like Willie Banks, Mike Conley, Charles Simpkins and Kenny Harrison Read More...

The hurdles are perhaps the area where we have some of our strongest contenders for gold medals in Daegu. They also have some of our top young up and coming talent. Here is how I see the hurdles playing out in Eugene. Men’s 110 Hurdles Calling the winner in this event is pretty easy given that David Oliver is the current AR holder; has been rock solid; and is a threat to run under 13 Read More...

The 100 meters gets the headlines, but there are stars aplenty in the long sprints too. Allyson Felix, Sanya Richards, Jeremy Wariner, Wallace Spearmon and a host of new young talent make their homes here in the sprints above 100 meters. So let’s take a look at how these star filled events should play themselves out Read More...

This is an event that always drives me NUTS. Track events are pretty simple – the fastest man/woman wins. And in events up through the half mile, that’s pretty much the way the events are run – the gun goes off and everyone takes off in an attempt to reach the finish line first. Except in the mile/1500 meters, which often become “let’s see who can run slowest yet get to the line first” events! I will never understand the “wait and kick” philosophy of milers – especially those that don’t have a kick, yet wait anyway Read More...

The middle distance events have become very exciting over the last couple of seasons as we’ve had an emergence of talent over both 800 and 1500 meters. This influx of youth has brought us back to being competitive on the world stage on the women’s side and back to respectability on the men’s side Read More...

It’s time to take a look at the female speed demons. Interestingly just as with the men, two dominant women have emerged – one from the US, one from Jamaica. As right now Carmelita Jeter and Veronica Campbell Brown have emerged as the two Alpha Females of the drag racers! The events are also similar in that a youth movement is on the way Read More...

In about one week’s time we start the process of putting together our team for the World Championships. Four days of intense competition that will determine who gets to go to South Korea and who gets to go back to the drawing board. Perhaps the most intense and difficult of the squads to make, is the 100 meter dash team where it is common for Read More...

In keeping with yesterday’s post on the speed events, here is a corresponding chart on our middle distance runners. This group has been very quiet leading up to this point in the season, and may be even harder to predict than the sprinters. But here is a snap shot of the season to date. Before I start trying to make sense of all the numbers for both the sprinters and middle distance runners as we head into Nationals and determining the team for Daegu Read More...