The CHill Zone of T&F

The pickings have been very slim in our medal hunt in events above 400 meters. While the relative drought goes back even further, since the start of the New Millennium we’ve only had four individuals pick up hardware in a Major – Goucher (‘07, 10,000), Flanagan (‘08, 10,000), Rowbury (‘09, 1500), and Lagat (‘09, 1500/5000).  It’s been a rough ride when we’ve had to go more than one lap around the track. On the bright side, two of those individuals picked up medals in the last Major – Berlin – and I do believe that that may have been the start of some serious improvement in our middle and long…

Before I start my recap of the hurdle events, let me say that the U.S. sprint hopes got a potential boost with the announcement yesterday that Lashawn Merritt will be allowed to use his bye to the World Championships. This move was sorely needed in my opinion, both to show that USATF is actually trying to work towards accomplishing something in Daegu, as much as to simply indicate that it is capable of doing the right thing for our athletes. The key here is that Merritt will only have about a month to get race sharp as he will not be eligible to begin competing until July 27th – exactly…

The National Championships ended a couple of days ago now and I’ve been running it back over in my mind, and the DVR, a few times.  Upon further review it was one of the most interesting meets we’ve had in a while. So much so that I’m going to recap it in parts – because there was a lot that went on. At the conclusion, I will put out my first “Medal Watch List” of the year – a list that I will adjust during the summer lead up to the World Championships. I’m going to start with a recap/analysis of the sprints. Partly because they have traditionally been our…

Only about an hours worth of action on the track on the final day, but a pretty exciting hour! And a few surprises.   Anderson In a Photo I knew that the men’s 400 hurdles was going to be close – and was it ever. Jeshua Anderson showed just how strong he was as he got his first sub48 to go with the win – BARELY. There was only .009 separating him from Bershawn Jackson, with not much more to Angelo Taylor. Great, great stretch run. And a terrific squad headed to Daegu.   Dix Doubles No Tyson – injury. Gatlin DNS. Wallace Spearmon out in the first round! Xavier…

A great day of finals. A couple of favorites did their thing. A couple of youngsters turned the tables. And one of the gutsiest races I’ve seen in the last twenty three years!   McQuay Comes of Age They say that things happen for a reason. Tony McQuay was injured at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He didn’t really get going until conference time. He was clearly fresher than the other collegians entered in this meet. He also seemed fresher than Jeremy Wariner, who even though he was running in lane 2 made a strong move coming off the final turn and looked ready to win. Then McQuay answered – saw…

Not a good day. Not on the track. Not on the ‘net. Not on the TV. Just not a good day overall for US track and field. I’ll start with the good but there was a lot of bad. It was like someone pulled the plug on my meet! Black Friday.   Jeter v Myers = Excitement This was indeed what it was supposed to be – sort of. The two best made it to the starting line and both ran up to their abilities. Unfortunately for Myers Jeter actually got a very solid start and the race was never in doubt. Jeter blew the field away, and looks to…

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…

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. Combinations that don’t always make it to the finals as someone gets eliminated too early in a “first 2 plus fastest 4” kind of scenario – especially in straight away races where favorable/unfavorable winds can play an unwanted role. Scanning through the heat sheets for the opening rounds I found some early heats that could be…

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. Since 1996, however, only Walter Davis has been able to have any kind of impact internationally – gold in ‘05, bronze in ‘07. But suddenly the future looks bright as Christian Taylor and…

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 13.00 nearly every time he steps on the track. Therefore, barring disaster, he should win this race easily. It’s the battle behind him that will be close – with some new blood headed to Daegu. Aries…