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Prediction – US 100, Women
Since I’ve put my neck out there on the men, I may as well give the women a shot. This will not be nearly as easy however, because it seems like every year the names change on the women’s lists here in the US. I can tell you right now who’ll be lining up for every other country that’s a major player in the sprints. But here at home, I’m literally going to be guessing to a large degree. Strange given that we’ve been solid since the 1960’s when it comes to the women’s sprints. Tyus, Morehead, Ashford, Torrence, Devers, and Jeter are just a few of the names of…
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Where is US Sprinting Headed?
The US scored a huge medal haul in Rio – something always expected, but not always materialized. The expectations are always there because of our purported sprint and hurdle prowess. I say purported because in Rio it was our middle and long distance crew that led the way, as our sprint and hurdle crew has gotten a bit long in the tooth. We scored some "speed" medals, but not the haul we accumulated a decade or more ago. Where we were once THE single dominant power in the speed events, the New Millennium has seen vast improvement from the Caribbean nations. In addition, more recently a resurgence from Africa, Canada,…
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NCAA Championships – WOW
The track season just went into overdrive. It’s Championship time – NCAA’s with the Trials in a few weeks! The only thing more exciting is the Olympics. If this weekend’s NCAA’s was any indication, the summer of 2016 is going to be HOT and memorable. Personally I’m not a fan of the current NCAA format – I said that last year. The Regional meets can’t even be called championships since there are NO finals – athletes just move en mass to the NCAA Semi Finals. Then the men and women are separated – alternating days between semis and finals. The Regional meets are definitely unexciting, and pretending that the championships…
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Prefontaine & NCAA Regionals – WOW
The Pre Classic is the best meet on US soil annually – if not one of the best period outside of a major championship. This year was no different as we saw two American records, among outstanding performance after outstanding performance. And while the Regionals lacked the depth and excitement of a big meet, there was much to learn on the way to Rio. For example, in each Regional one of the college scenes top female 200 sprinters failure to advance – Hannah Cunliffe (Ore) and Kyra Jefferson (Fla)! I watched the Western Regional online and Cunliffe seemed to be done in by a bad lane draw in her heat.…
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A Month From the Trials
We’re about a month away from the Trials and the crystal ball is still pretty murky! Usually I have a pretty good idea how the Trials are going to go by now, but so many elites have been quiet – especially the distance crowd. This may be one of the most surprising Trials in awhile. The colleges have yet to have their Regionals and Nationals – those will take place in the next two weeks. Though I’m not seeing a lot of collegiate athletes making this team. Mainly because a lot of top talent has already gone pro. We’ve had three Diamond League meetings with this weekends competition in Rabat,…