The CHill Zone of T&F

Now that the indoor season is officially behind us, it’s time to start taking a closer look at the outdoor season. Roughly 3 months until various national championships, and then a couple more until Daegu. It’s really not that far away. The star of the last World Championships was Usain Bolt (Jam) with his double sprint win in double record breaking time. And with the rivalry between he and Tyson Gay (USA) beginning to peak, the sprints are almost surely to be among the highlight events in Daegu. With the re-breakthrough of Francis Obikwelu at the European Indoor Champioinships just a few weeks ago, it made me ask myself if…

Reading through the news a couple days ago, I came across this article referencing UCLA’s return to a dual/triangular meet schedule as opposed to running primarily in “invitational” meets. I am hoping that this is successful for UCLA and it’s track program, and that the result will see other prominent programs follow. I’m excited because if large college programs would get back to conference dual/triangulars, as well as hosting multi school meets from outside – SEC v Pac12 quadrangular for example – it would be a major marketing coup for the sport. Why? Because it will bring high level track and field back to the community! Nearly every densely populated…

The US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association released their choices for Collegiate Indoor Athletes of the Year. Their choices: Men Track Miles Batty Mile BYU Men Field Derek Drouin High Jump Indiana Women Track Jordan Hasay Mile/3000 Oregon Women Field Brianne Theisen Pentathlon Oregon All had outstanding Indoor seasons, but it seems to me that the voting was weighted heavily on the results of the National Championship meet – where all won titles. With no disrespect to the choices of the USTFCCCA, I would like to add a few names to this list – names that I think had seasons/championship performances that I would have hoped put…

If indoors could be like that for 3 months then it would be a truly exciting extension of track and field. As it is it was a great way to end the indoor season. Both Florida and Oregon had their share of adversity, but in the end both showed the grit that it takes to be a champion. On the women’s side, Oregon had to do without distance ace Alex Kosinski who withdrew just prior to the meet with a back problem. Kosinski was highly ranked in both the 3000 & 5000, so her withdrawal meant valuable points for the Ducks – and a threat to their team title hopes.…

Perusing the internet early this morning I came across this article which lists the writers’ ten most untouchable high school records. Prompted I’m sure by the prospect of Ryan Crouser perhaps finally having a shot at Mike Carter’s unbelievable mark – pun intended. Of course Carter’s massive 81’ 3.5” put headlines the list, as it should. I had the privilege of being there when it was set and it was one of the most awesome performances I’ve seen in track and field at any level! But I have lots of reservations with the list after Carter. While I appreciate the attempt and the fact that it gives track and field…

The entries for this years’ NCAA Indoor Championships were released yesterday and can be found here – men, women. The Florida men, and Oregon women look well set to defend their titles from last year. Some events to keep an eye on: Men’s 60 – Oklahoma’s Rakieem Salaam leads on the clock (6.54), but is up against last year’s indoor and outdoor sprint champion in Florida’s Jeff Demps (6.55). Throw in another Florida sprinter and two from Texas A&M and you have some team drama to go with the individual title fight. And the field is tightly matched with the slowest entry at 6.62 – making the spread between the…

The big meet of the weekend was the European Indoor Champs, and the star of the Paris show was home boy Teddy Tamgho (FRA) who improved his own WR by twice leaping 58’ 9.5” to demolish the competition. This was the second time this year that Tamgho raised the WR having done so in Aubiere (58’ 9.25”) last month. His gold medal victory was the highlight of an indoor season that saw him leap over 58’ 9.25” THREE times. More importantly he showed tremendous consistency AND the ability to compete well and jump long under pressure – something that seemed to be missing among his long leaps of last year.…

It’s March, and while there are still a couple of major indoor meets to get out of the way (Euro Champs and NCAA Champs) we’re finally headed outdoors! All over the world we’ll start getting good old outdoor competition. And for a track junkie like me that’s awesome news. From local high school, community college, and college and university meets, to the early season “relay” competitions, there will be plenty of track and field to watch as we finally get from “undercover” and out on the 400 meter ovals. Of course now is the time of year that separates the “real” fans from those who are just interested in seeing…

Now THAT was an exciting weekend of track and field! Hot races, hot team competitions and of course some stellar marks being put down by several athletes. But easily the best of the best on this weekend were a pair of 400 meter runs – a WJR for Kirani James and a National record for L.J. Van Zyl.   Kirani James – 44.80 WJR I said a few weeks ago that Kirani James was one of the young athletes to keep an eye on this year – and he wasted little time in making me look like Nostradamus as he scorched 400 in 44.80 at the SEC Championships. The SEC…

We’re accustomed to hearing “US Nationals” and immediately thinking Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, Christian Cantwell, David Oliver and a host of other US “stars” of the sport. Such is rarely the case these days however when the word “nationals” is preceded by the word “indoor”. Most global track and field stars use this time of year to establish their base training, and avoid the indoor season with a vengeance. Most prefer to wait until the early meets down under in Australia in March, or elsewhere in April. Making this year’s version of the US Championships like a cloudy night sky – with very few visible stars. But like a cloudy…