As a Buckeye living in Michigan, I attended The Dual today. It was a great event and was really exciting. My alma mater ran out of gas at the end and defending Big 10 200 Champion Cole from OSU fell in the 60. Overall though, it was what track meets used to be (scored, under 3 hours, and every event competitive)!
Awesome meet, wire to wire excitement.
I agree, great meet. Michigan's dominance in the 800 and 3k was the major difference.
Not sure I agree with the 800/3k call; OSU did the same in the vault and weight. The real downfall seemed to be Cole getting killed by Harris (won the 60/200/LJ). Michigan really outclassed OSU in the long and triple jumps though. Best race was prbably the mile with Lex Williams and defending conference champio Jeff See. High jump was also cool as Mixgian had a 1st time 7-footer.
Fantastic idea; both coaching staffs should be commended.
The meet was excellent! High level competition right down to the last event. The place was packed and everyone was on their feet for the 4x400. I was impressed with the competition in the mile. Only 5 guys on the line, but it went out in 60.5, 2:01/02 and an exciting 4:04 finish.
Hats off to both schools for making this commitment. They have agreed to two "Duals" a year (indoor at AA, Outdoor @ OSU) for the next 3 years.
From a fan's point of view, there were things that could have been done better. I'd rather have free heats sheets than free pizza, for example. Overall I give it a B. I haven't been to a college meet with that kind of excitement for a long, long time.
I was there as well.
Man, I am not usually one to get excited about field events, but that high jumper (can't remember the name) was intense! He jumped a PR of 6'11", and then jumped a second PR of 7'. Finally got off at 7'1", but wow. Congrats to him.
Lex Williams had a good effort, but got outkicked in the mile. That Ohio guy had some speed for a big guy.
A very intense meet, to be certain.
jsquire, I arrived at 11:45 and there were about 5 piles of meet programs, noting event entrants, etc. I would've preferred imperial along w/the listed metric seed distances in the field events. On the other hand, I didn't come across the free pizza. The UM cheerleaders were, umm, a little over the top.
I was assured last week by the UMich coaching staff the meet today would be a good one...by that I mean, good competition. They were right, as cold as it was outside, the comp inside was just as hot. Pretty much every event was evenly contested w/a few inspiring performances!
The OSU top guy in the 60 was nearly guilty of a false start before stumbling as he came out of the blocks on the rerun. Jeff See flexed his muscles in the mile while Lex Williams ran a nice double w/2 seconds. In all, a fan pleasing track meet.
OSU head coach was real classy; witnessed him congratuling Harris, high jumper, and Shotwell (from Ohio) on a great meet. Must be tough for a Buckeye to do! This will grow as people get used to dual meeting again.
That high jumper is named John Kipf.
GO BLUE!!!
Kiser makes the Key!
Todd Iacovelli wrote:
That high jumper is named John Kipf.
GO BLUE!!!
I can vouch for the program being available and I was a bit of a late arriver there. With all the crap I hear the OSU track coaching staff take on the Ohio message board on underperforming, I was startled to see how much better Michigan has been throughout the years.
7 total team titles for OSU. 58 for Michigan.
244 individual Big 10 Champions for OSU. 559 for Michigan.
25 Olympians for OSU. 66 for Michigan.
Great event thought up by Coach Laplante and Coach Gary.
I agree Gary was very gracious in his interview, but I have a feeling there was a talking to on their bus ride back. Lastly, I hope its not an NCAA violation or anything, but my son got Harris autograph after the meet.
The sport needs events like this.
...yet not a single word in the Columbus Dispatch.
nor the Ann Arbor News...
Yea, Good idea, other teams should do this as well!
Not BO! wrote:
As a Buckeye living in Michigan, I attended The Dual today. It was a great event and was really exciting. My alma mater ran out of gas at the end and defending Big 10 200 Champion Cole from OSU fell in the 60. Overall though, it was what track meets used to be (scored, under 3 hours, and every event competitive)!
While Cole may have placed, no way he would've won the 60.
It was very nice.
This '83 UM grad sure wishes he could have been there! Great job, guys. GO BLUE!
How about "The Dual" for the ladies as well?
The mens an womens track programs at OSU are headed in 2 opposite directions and the Michigan women would win every event easily (not an exaggeration).
I don't know if there is a long term contract, but Coach Dennis should not be there much longer. The womens team is in shambles and not recruiting. The athletes are very upset with the environment and the coaches. The AD and her are best friends, but if the parents start to get involved, I'd say she's done.