{"id":489,"date":"2011-05-24T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-24T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=489"},"modified":"2011-05-24T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-05-24T17:00:00","slug":"wheating-picks-up-where-he-left-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=489","title":{"rendered":"Wheating Picks Up Where He Left Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Last summer Andrew Wheating emerged as possibly the brightest face in men\u2019s middle distance running in the U.S.. This past weekend he opened his season with a 1500 meter run at the USATF High Performance meet in Southern California. The result was a 3:36.46 win \u2013 the #2 time of his career. Not a bad way to start the season. <\/p>\n

With Lopez Lamong (3:37.01, 4th) and  Leo Manzano (3:38.26, 9th) in his wake, Wheating opened well against what began to emerge last year as the core of our young middle distance runners. And with just a few weeks until the National Championships, looks ready to make a strong run at the team for Daegu. <\/p>\n

Our middle distance fortunes took another step towards competitiveness at the meet as Cory Prim, fresh off his Pac-10 victory for UCLA, stormed to an 800 PR of 1:44.71, with Tyler Mulder (OTC) right behind in 1:44.83. With Wheating and Manzano both running under 1:45 last summer; Nick Symmonds in his prime; and collegians like Casmir Loxsom and Robbie Andrews rapidly improving; we suddenly are looking at a Nationals that should be run in something other than the mundane 1:45\/1:46 that we\u2018ve seen in recent years!<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s 800 also saw some solid running as Alice Schmidt (1:59.48) & Maggie Vessey (1:59.56) ran the #2 & #3 times of the season with Geena Gall (2:00.86) rounding off a very nice top three. Schmidt took over the U.S. lead from Phoebe Wright (1:59.98) who has run well early this season. For Gall it was her best time since \u201809 (2:00.44 PR) and it looks like she may be ready to finally drop under 2 minutes and join with Morgan Uceny, Anna Pierce, Allysia Johnson and those above in what should be one hot 800 meter race next month. <\/p>\n

Finally, I have to mention that a couple of sprinters went unnoticed when I made reference to Steve Mullings WL 9.89 the other day. First was Travis Padgett\u2019s 9.99 for second place behind Mullings. It was the first sub10 for Padgett since the Olympic season of 2008. He turned the trick twice in Florida as he also ran 9.96w in his heat. While it it doesn\u2019t immediately make him a \u201ccontender\u201d, it does make him relevant again. And with his blitz starting ability he could have an effect on the outcome of the final should he make it. <\/p>\n

Another who is quietly becoming relevant again is Justin Gatlin, who didn\u2019t contest the 100 in Florida (10.06 earlier this season) but did win the 200 in 20.20 (+1.9). It was his fastest 200 since winning the World Championships in Helsinki in 20.04 (with a follow up 20.04 in Sheffield England shortly thereafter). It gives Gatlin the #7 time in the world at the moment (to go with #14 in the 100), but more importantly shows that he is fit \u2013 nearly as fit as when he was double World Champion. I\u2019m not sure which event Gatlin intends to contest at Nationals, or if he will compete in both. But regardless of how one feels about his ban, his recent performances say that he will be competitive in June. Making the sprints at U.S. Nationals this year \u201cmust watch TV\u201d!<\/p>\n

Speaking of must watch TV, we get the Rome Diamond League in a couple of days and the Jamaican \u201cmini meet\u201d in the 100 with Bolt, Powell, Forsythe and Clarke. Also keep an eye on Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre to see how well he holds up against the hot competition. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last summer Andrew Wheating emerged as possibly the brightest face in men\u2019s middle distance running in the U.S.. This past weekend he opened his season with a 1500 meter run at the USATF High Performance meet in Southern California. The result was a 3:36.46 win \u2013 the #2 time of his career. Not a bad way to start the season. With Lopez Lamong (3:37.01, 4th) and  Leo Manzano (3:38.26, 9th) in his wake, Wheating opened well against what began to emerge last year as the core of our young middle distance runners. And with just a few weeks until the National Championships, looks ready to make a strong run at the team for Daegu. Our middle distance fortunes took another step towards competitiveness at the meet as Cory Prim, fresh off his Pac-10 victory for UCLA, stormed to an 800 PR of 1:44.71, with Tyler Mulder (OTC) right behind in 1:44.83. With Wheating and Manzano both running under 1:45 last summer; Nick Symmonds in his prime; and collegians like Casmir Loxsom and Robbie Andrews rapidly improving; we suddenly are looking at a Nationals that should be run in something other than the mundane 1:45\/1:46 that we\u2018ve seen in recent years! The women\u2019s 800 also saw some solid running as Alice Schmidt (1:59.48) & Maggie Vessey (1:59.56) ran the #2 & #3 times of the season with Geena Gall (2:00.86) rounding off a very nice top three. Schmidt took over the U.S. lead from Phoebe Wright (1:59.98) who has run well early this season. For Gall it was her best time since \u201809 (2:00.44 PR) and it looks like she may be ready to finally drop under 2 minutes and join with Morgan Uceny, Anna Pierce, Allysia Johnson and those above in what should be one hot 800 meter race next month. Finally, I have to mention that a couple of sprinters went unnoticed when I made reference to Steve Mullings WL 9.89 the other day. First was Travis Padgett\u2019s 9.99 for second place behind Mullings. It was the first sub10 for Padgett since the Olympic season of 2008. He turned the trick twice in Florida as he also ran 9.96w in his heat. While it it doesn\u2019t immediately make him a \u201ccontender\u201d, it does make him relevant again. And with his blitz starting ability he could have an effect on the outcome of the final should he make it. Another who is quietly becoming relevant again is Justin Gatlin, who didn\u2019t contest the 100 in Florida (10.06 earlier this season) but did win the 200 in 20.20 (+1.9). It was his fastest 200 since winning the World Championships in Helsinki in 20.04 (with a follow up 20.04 in Sheffield England shortly thereafter). It gives Gatlin the #7 time in the world at the moment (to go with #14 in the 100), but more importantly shows that he is fit \u2013 nearly as fit as when he was double World Champion. I\u2019m not sure which event Gatlin intends to contest at Nationals, or if he will compete in both. But regardless of how one feels about his ban, his recent performances say that he will be competitive in June. Making the sprints at U.S. Nationals this year \u201cmust watch TV\u201d! Speaking of must watch TV, we get the Rome Diamond League in a couple of days and the Jamaican \u201cmini meet\u201d in the 100 with Bolt, Powell, Forsythe and Clarke. Also keep an eye on Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre to see how well he holds up against the hot competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_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":[],"class_list":["post-489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-7T","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1197,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1197","url_meta":{"origin":489,"position":0},"title":"Farah Sharp at “Hi Performance” Meet","author":"CHill","date":"May 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The year\u2019s best gathering of middle\/long distance runners took place this past weekend in Southern California at the \u201cOxy Hi Performance\u201d meet. But after all the races were run and the results came in, I\u2019m still in the dark as to how things look for American distance running \u2013 and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Andrews\"","block_context":{"text":"Andrews","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=andrews"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mo Farah ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Mo-Farah-_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":396,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=396","url_meta":{"origin":489,"position":1},"title":"US Getting Back in the Game Above 400 Meters","author":"CHill","date":"September 10, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The season is winding down quickly, with the Commonwealth Games the biggest competition remaining \u2013 and it\u2019s restricted to a select few nations. For all intents and purposes US athletes are done, with a bit of rest on the docket before resuming training for the upcoming World Championships season.Lots of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"BERLIN - AUGUST 23: (L-R) Joseph Ebuya of Kenya, Vincent Kiprop Chepkok of Kenya, Chris Solinsky of United States and Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia compete in the men's 800 Metres Final during day nine of the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium on August 23, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Mark Dadswell\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/6136061\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":368,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=368","url_meta":{"origin":489,"position":2},"title":"Middle Distance Runners Continue to Shine in Monaco","author":"CHill","date":"July 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"With no major championship on the docket this season, I keep looking at results as to what they may mean for our chances in Daegu, London and Moscow. From that perspective Monaco was one awesome meet, because everywhere I looked US performers were turning in outstanding performances. And nowhere more\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=368#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jun 27, 2010; Des Moines, IA, USA; Alysia Johnson won the women's 800m in 1:59.87 in the USA Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium. Photo by Image of Sport Photo via Newscom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view4.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9249757\/track-and-field-usa-track\/track-and-field-usa-track.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":382,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=382","url_meta":{"origin":489,"position":3},"title":"Tyson Gay 9.78 Highlights London DL","author":"CHill","date":"August 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"While wet damp conditions in London hampered many of the events at this weekend\u2019s Diamond League meet, Tyson Gay blazed his way to a world leading 9.78 in the first day\u2019s highlight event. Looking very confident following his previous week\u2019s defeat of Usain Bolt, Tyson once again started well, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=382#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"LONDON, Aug. 14, 2010 Tyson Gay of the United States celebrates after winning the men's 100m sprint of the IAAF Diamond League London meet, at the Crystal Palace in London, Britain, Aug. 13, 2010. Gay won the title with season-leading 9.78 seconds.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view1.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9544541\/britain-london-iaaf\/britain-london-iaaf.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1174,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=1174","url_meta":{"origin":489,"position":4},"title":"Distance Runners to Convene in SoCal","author":"CHill","date":"May 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The top sprinters have started off hot this year and have gotten a lot of press. You'd almost think there weren't any distance runners around. But that's because they've had their own gatherings on places like Eugene and Stanford - locations more conducive to distance running. This weekend we get\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Softball & Track 044","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Softball-Track-044_thumb2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":506,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=506","url_meta":{"origin":489,"position":5},"title":"Nationals Preview \u2013 Men & Women\u2019s 800","author":"CHill","date":"June 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The middle distance events have become very exciting over the last couple of seasons as we\u2019ve had an emergence of talent over both 800 and 1500 meters. This influx of youth has brought us back to being competitive on the world stage on the women\u2019s side and back to respectability\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh3.ggpht.com\/-tmP7Wrvg2Y0\/Tfus5TiyRAI\/AAAAAAAAAOA\/jhTdKZmH7uQ\/image_thumb%25255B5%25255D.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489","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=489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}