-
Rollins’ 12.26 Leads Weekend at Nationals
As I thought prior, this was one of the hottest National Championships in a long time – and it was lead by women and youth. Don’t get me wrong, the men got the job done and we’re sending a nice male squad to Moscow. But the women were doing spectacular things everywhere you turned – and none were any more spectacular than Brianna Rollins. Rollins started looking like gold at the NCAA Championships when she screamed collegiate records of 12.47 & 12.39 – but that was just a warm up for Des Moines. This weekend saw her run 12.33w, 12.30w before blazing 12.26 (1.2) in the final for a new…
-
NCAA to USATF Who Will Perform Best?
With the NCAA Championships behind them the collegiate stars are at one of the toughest parts of the season - trying to be even better in an attempt to make the World Championships team. After weeks of conference, regional and of course the NCAA Championships, they must try to hit yet another peak against the best the US has to offer. Depending on your event that task could be nearly impossible with some events in the US being as deep as at Worlds. Even so, I did come up with ten collegiate athletes that I feel have a pretty solid shot at earning air fair to Russia. Especially on the…
-
NCAA Regionals On Tap This Week
The championship portion of the collegiate season kicks into high gear this week with the Division I East (Greensboro NC) and West (Austin TX) Regionals. These meets are the precursor to the NCAA Division I Championships in Eugene in June. In many ways these meets are also a preview of the USATF National championships and World Championships, as many of the top collegiate programs are peppered with elite, world class athletes. So let’s take a look at the top programs and athletes that will be on display this week. Following are the top ten men and women’s programs as ranked by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches…
-
March Closes Out in Style
Now that’s the way to end a month of track and field – with some stellar competition! The Texas Relays officially signals the start of the relay season and went off in fine style. As is often the case, the it was the hot meet of the weekend – and as usual speed was on display. Take a look at the following results and comments. On the other side of the country, the Stanford Invitational saw tons of very good high school action with a smattering of high level elite competition thrown in. Scanning the results sheets I also noted some interesting/outstanding performances from several other meets this weekend. Following…
-
Emerging Faces of 2012
The beginning of every year has those athletes that everyone is waiting on pins and needles to see. We can hardly wait to see what Usain Bolt, Sally Pearson, Allyson Felix and David Rudisha are going to produce. But while I enjoy watching the veterans do their thing, what’s really exciting is watching new talent emerge. After all, once upon a time every star veteran had a breakout season of his or her own. Every year we get to witness athletes coming of age and this year was no different. In recent seasons we’ve got to watch Kirani James and Yohan Blake, among others, blossom into verifiable “stars” internationally. Following…
-
London Olympics – Jamaica 4×1, 36.84 WR
Saturday was the final day of action on the track, and the meet closed out in style with a surprise or two; outstanding performances; and another world record. The field events led the way in the surprise department. First in the women’s high jump several big names made early exits, including Emma Greene Tregaro (SWE), Chaunte Lowe (USA); and defending champion Tia Hellebaut (BEL). In the end it was World champion Anna Chicherova (RUS), veteran Svetlana Shkolina (RUS) and collegiate champion Brigetta Barrett (USA) jumping at 2.03m/6’8" to decide the medals – first attempt clearance for Chicherova taking gold, second clearance for Barrett earning silver, and third attempt gaining bronze…
-
Trials Final Weekend
After over a week of action, the Trials wrapped things up in nice style this weekend. There were only 2 finals on the track on Saturday, but 5 on Sunday. With 2 field finals each day. One would almost think they could have had single day “finale” and did it up right for the fans. Still there was some great action over the final two days. There were only four finals on Saturday, but they were something else. In the field we got what we expected in triple jump with Christian Taylor and Will Claye setting the pace. They did it early with Taylor hitting 17.32m/57’10.25” and Claye 17.55m/57’7” in…
-
The Top Collegians Heading Into the Trials
It’s finally here – the Olympic Trials. The biggest meet outside of the Games themselves. And with the first half of the Diamond League and the NCAA Championships concluding this past weekend, I think I’ve seen enough to stick my neck out there and make my predictions on the crap shoot that is the Trials. The toughest road to London may be the one taken by those still in college. College athletes are part of programs that compete for indoor titles, and outdoor titles before they finally get to line up to take their shot at making the Olympic team. So while the elite athletes get to take their time…
-
More Weekend Highlights
Day one of the Florida Relays was a hard act to follow, but the rest of the weekend managed to hold it’s own starting with Day Two in Florida. Focused on relay events the men’s 4×1 and the women’s 4×4 produced some outstanding times. In the 4×1 a Pure Athletics team of Mookie Salaam, Keston Bledman, Travis Padgett, and Nickel Ashmead went 38.64 to win ahead of host Florida’s 38.91. The winning time equaled the #3 time in the world while Florida became the #3 collegiate 4×1 on the season. Notable in 4th place was Star Athletics which featured Trell Kimmons to Justin Gatlin on the first two legs. Notable…