{"id":1059,"date":"2012-04-16T14:00:40","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T21:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1059"},"modified":"2012-04-16T14:00:40","modified_gmt":"2012-04-16T21:00:40","slug":"myers-pregnant-who-takes-her-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1059","title":{"rendered":"Myers Pregnant, Who Takes Her Place?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Marsevet<\/a>News out this weekend is that Marshevet Myers its pregnant and will be out for the season. While I wish her all the best , I can’t think of a worse time than an Olympic season.  World Championships come  often enough that if you miss one there’s another next year – or at worst in two years. But the Olympics only come once every four years  – half a lifetime in track and field. <\/font><\/p>\n

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For the 27 year old Myers, who is due in October, her next opportunity at a global medal could be the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. If not, she’s looking at 2015 and the Beijing World Championships with her next shot at the Games being Rio 2016 when she will be 31 -  not impossible, but definitely a more difficult task at that point.
So, where does that leave US sprint fortunes this year? After all Myers had a big break out season in 2011 running 10.86 and making the final in Daegu – and many may have forgotten that she made the Beijing team in ’08 in the deuce – placing 5th in that final. So losing "Vet" is somewhat of a big deal. <\/p>\n

That leaves us with two questions, the first of which is: Who will step up to give us at least a one\/two punch in the 100 along side Jeter? The pool of eligible veterans is shallow, consisting of Lauren Williams and the Barber twins – Lisa & Miki. Williams (10.88) is one of those athletes that always shows best in championship settings – making the Daegu squad and leading off the gold medal 4×1 just this past year. She was World champion in ’05; silver medalist in ’07; 4th in Beijing; and 5th in Berlin.  I wouldn’t put it past her to make the team again and turn in another solid relay leg,  but it might be asking a lot for her to medal again at this stage of her career. I’m thinking Evelyn Ashford in Seoul here. <\/p>\n

As for the Barber twins, Lisa (10.95) has performed best over the years with a 5th at Worlds back in 2005. But that was some 7 years ago and we need performance today. Miki (11.02) was on last years\u2019 Daegu squad but didn’t make it out of her heat. So what Myers’ announcement really does is place a spotlight on the fact that our women’s sprint crew is aging at the top and we’re headed for a transition – sooner rather than later. Interesting enough,  perhaps the most likely to step into prominence could be 26 year old long jumper Tianna Madison who had a near flawless indoor season running 7.02 twice and losing only to the venerable Veronica Campbell Brown. in Turkey Based on her indoor races, she could be ready for a break out season in the 100 – which could mean sub 11 and a ticket to London. There’s also 26 year old Shalonda Solomon – better known in the deuce where she led the world on the clock last year (22.15) but also the possessor of a 10.90 PR in the100. This could open up the possibility of a sprint double for Solomon. <\/p>\n

After this "middle aged" duo we have to look at the current crop of young women in or coming out of the college ranks. At the top of this list, in my opinion, would be Alexandria Anderson (11.01),  English Gardener (11.03), Kimberlyn Duncan (11.09), and Octavious Freeman (11.10) – not because of their times but their abilities. Anderson and Duncan are the most powerful finishers of this quartet. Gardener a super starter. And Freemen simply a raw talent that’s improving at warp speed. This foursome comprises what could be the future of the100 meters in the US. There are few others that could surprise. Jeneba Tarmoh (11.19) and Bianca Knight (11.07) while not as consistent are very competitive and certainly could come through on the day.  In some combination I think somewhere among these women lies our second and third finishers in Eugene.  <\/p>\n

That said, the next question becomes: who will replace"Vet" on that third leg of the 4×1? Last years\u2019 team of Lauren Williams, Allyson Felix, Myers, and Carmelita Jeter took gold at the World Championships and seemed to have good chemistry. It would be nice to keep the squad intact and find a replacement for the third leg. For my taste I think Solomon could fill that roll quite well.  As a 200 meter runner she’s a capable turn runner AND she has the strength to push Jeter through the zone. Bianca Knight, though not at the top of my 100 list, its also a very strong 200 sprinter – capable of a good turn and pushing Jeter through the passing zone. <\/p>\n

I’ll also throw another name out there – Sanya Richards Ross. Yes the quarter miler. She’s 10.97\/22.17 in the shorter sprints; looks to be back to form and ready to roll; and can run the turn and push through the passing zone. I think Felix to Richards Ross could be deadly in both the 4×1 and the 4×4 – and if  you haven’t figured it out by now I’m big on 200 meter sprinters on the 4×1! <\/p>\n

They say babies change your life – and they do. This one its going to change the complexion of the US sprint team in London as well. Good luck to all. To Marshavet as she takes that leap into motherhood.  And to the women pursuing a spot on that flight to London. With a little luck this will work out fine all the way around. <\/p>\n

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News out this weekend is that Marshevet Myers its pregnant and will be out for the season. While I wish her all the best , I can’t think of a worse time than an Olympic season.  World Championships come  often enough that if you miss one there’s another next year – or at worst in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[140,286,246,277,10,116,139,285,54,175],"class_list":["post-1059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anderson","tag-barber","tag-duncan","tag-freeman","tag-gardener","tag-knight","tag-myers","tag-richards","tag-tarmoh","tag-williams"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-h5","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1060,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions\/1060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}