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Noah and the 4×4
Of all the competitions in track and field, the World Indoor Championships tends to be one of the least popular championship meets in the sport. That’s typically because most athletes are still in their base training mode. As a result, the fields in most events aren’t nearly as deep as they will be come Olympic Trials time. The one caveat is that athletes that do compete indoors, do so with a purpose. To sharpen elements of their events. Trying new techniques. Rehabbing injuries. Running odd distances to strengthen their normal events. This year was no different, though those athletes that did show up, definitely brought their “A” game to the…
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NCAA Regionals and Pre
Well that was one Hell of a weekend. Basically three high level meets, since the NCAA treats the first two rounds of its National Championships as two separate meets. Thoughts on that in another post. Either way, this past weekend was hot hot hot. In spite of two of the competitions having inclement weather! That’s how good the sport is right now – sizzling hot. So, where do I begin with my highlights? Let’s go with the West Regional. Looking at the distribution of talent between the two Regionals, the East “seems” deeper. Watching the competition however, and the results at the top end of both regions, I say a…
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Regional Forecast – HOT
This has been a very interesting weekend of track and field. Here in the State of California, the various high school “sectional” Championships were held. The qualifiers for next week’s State Championship meet. So there was excitement up and down the state, as those cut throat meets whittled the playing field down to about 27 competitors per event. As a matter of fact, we ended up with a new state record of 10.14 in the 100 – by a junior no less. As we head to Clovis and what will certainly be one firecracker of a competition. At the elite level, the two primary meets were in Birmingham England and…
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Early Season Thoughts
Hear ye, hear ye. The 2022 season has begun! A slew of indoor invitationals have got things finally going. And while we’re a couple of weeks away from the “elite” invites. We’ve away gotten some pretty outstanding results coming in. Enough for me to say that 2022 could be an even better year statistically than last year! Some thoughts from this weekend. Matt Boling – I’m going to start with this young man because it seems he always ends up under a microscope. His opener was exciting for me, because of his long jump win. Exciting because he lept 8.25m (27′ 0.75″). As good a sprinter that he is, that…
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Trials Day 2 – Ashton Eaton, 9039 WR
Excitement and drama. That’s standard when talking about the Olympic Trials. And while there were only three finals, Day Two just might be one of the most exciting and dramatic Trials days ever! Let’s start with the decathlon, since it did start the day off. Ashton Eaton entered the day with a score of 4728 pts, putting him on WR pace as he, Trey Hardee, and Bryan Clay looked to be on their way to sending the greatest trio of decathletes ever to the Games. A 13.70 to open up things in the hurdles kept Eaton on pace. Unfortunately for Bryan Clay however, it all went wrong. First he hit…
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Will Marvin Bracy Be the Next Olympic Prep?
It’s rare that high school athletes are able to compete in the Olympic Trials, let alone the Olympic Games. While the Games in it’s infancy was able to produce a Bob Mathias – high school decathlon gold medalist in London (1948). Today’s Olympics are a “professional” affair dominated by athletes that train year round and get paid to do so. Grown men & women who have dedicated their lives to earning a living through sport. Some sports like swimming, diving, and gymnastics are dominated by teens, but in track and field it’s very rare to find the high school athlete that is able to compete against the mature bodies of…
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2012 Outdoor Preview – Hurdles
If you like speed and competition then you must like the hurdles. Unlike the pure sprinters, who seem to avoid each other as much as possible until forced to toe the line for championships, the hurdlers compete often and face each other with regularity. The sprinters tend to get more publicity but of the four hurdle events three of them have legitimate shots at having WR’s broken – two by more than one individual. The hurdles are among the hottest events in the sport, with some of it’s best athletes. If you’re not watching the hurdles you’re missing some of the best competition the sport has to offer. Here’s…