Page 2 of 2 - Previous Page American NCAA/Open Action The middle of February means one thing annually in the US - the college action really heats up. Two to three weeks out from most team's conference championships is when you see the vast majority of the NCAA qualifying marks save for the last chance meets. This year, the action didn't disappoint as fast marks were run in meets all over the country.
Let us quickly give you the meet highlights.
New Balance Collegiate Meet At The Armory - Full Results The highlight from a distance standpoint at this meet had to be the men's 3,000. Villanova's Bobby Curtis won going away in a ridiculous 7:50.17 as seven men including two each from Georgetown and Princeton broke 8:00. Texas' Leonel Manzano had a big weekend as he won the mile in 3:59.21, anchored the DMR to a win in 9:39.21 (although it must be said his 4:05 anchor split might not end up being fast enough to get his Longhorns into NCAAs) and got featured
in a New York Times profile.
In women's action, LSU's LaTavia Thomas ran a collegiate leading 2:04.66 to win the 800 as North Carolina's Brie Felnagle ran a 9:09.57 (#3 NCAA list).
In non-distance action, Illinois's Gakologelwang Masheto set a new collegiate record in the men's 500 (60.82).
Men's 3k Results
1 2170 Curtis, Robert Villanova 7:50.17
2 737 Bumbalough, Andrew Georgetown 7:53.63
3 1135 Kosgei, John LSU 7:55.49
4 739 Debole, Matt Georgetown 7:56.03
5 1625 Maag, Michael Princeton 7:56.40
6 1984 Morse, Jake Texas 7:59.21
7 1628 Nightingale, Dave Princeton 7:59.96
Meyo Invitational At Notre Dame-Full Results
The oversized track resulted in fast times yet again. The highlight had to be the first annual Ryan Shay 3k where 5 guys broke 8 minutes. Nike's Jonathan Riley got the win in 7:51.24 as both Benninger and Smyth of Notre Dame went sub 8. Cornell alum Morgan Uceny won the mile in 4:38.87 as Minnesota's Jamie Cheever ran the #3 mark in NCAAs this year in the runner-up spot 4:39.24.
In the men's Meyo mile, three guys went sub 4 including two from Wisconsin as Jake Bolas got the win. Pittsburgh's Sam Bair yet again missed in his attempt to be the first American father-son sub 4 tandem.
Top Men's Mile Results
1 Bolas, Jack Wisconsin 3:59.40#
2 Fife, Jordan Brooks Team IN 3:59.75!
3 Bethke, Brandon Wisconsin 3:59.85!
4 See, Jeff Ohio State 4:00.05!
5 Robinson, Grant Unattached 4:00.51!
6 Watson, Jake Notre Dame 4:00.59!
7 Ulrey, Dorian Northern Iowa 4:01.66!
8 Emanuel, Lee New Mexico 4:02.47!
9 Bair, Sam Pittsburgh 4:02.90!
10 Switzer, Justin Michigan 4:03.43!
Top Men's 3k Results
1 Riley, Jonathan Nike 7:51.24#
2 Benninger, Kurt Notre Dame 7:53.86
3 Solinsky, Chris Nike 7:53.93#
4 Smyth, Patrick Notre Dame 7:55.41!
5 Williams, Lex Michigan 7:55.59!
Top Women's 800 Results 1 Dorniden, Heather Minnesota 2:05.05!
2 Gall, Geena Michigan 2:05.21!
3 Nickoley, Trisa Missouri 2:06.99!
4 Way, Georganne Brooks Team IN 2:07.56!
5 Castle, Jennie Unattached 2:07.77!
6 Collins, Genoah Uab 2:08.34!
7 Schnell, Lindsey Club Arizona 2:08.64!
Top Womem's Mile Results
1 Uceny, Morgan Reebok 4:38.87#
2 Cheever, Jamie Minnesota 4:39.54#
3 Detmer, Ann Wisconsin 4:44.22!
4 Newhart, Colleen Unattached 4:45.71!
5 Senakiewich, Lisa Michigan State 4:46.26!
6 Robinson, Wendi Indiana 4:46.36!
7 Peller, Cassie Marquette 4:46.94!
Valentines Meet At BU
New Zealand's Kim Smith stole the show in Boston as she smashed the New Zealand record in the mile with a 4:24.14. An Olympic medal certainly isn't out of the question
for the former Providence star. In the men's 800, Dartmouth's Mike Carmody third place finish was fast enough to put him at #2 on the NCAA list at 1:48.94.
A New Marathon Major in the Works? The World Marathon Majors do a lot of good things in the sport, but they also are an exclusive self anointed group whose very existence raises results in some serious anti-competitive problems.
So we're glad when a marathon steps up and tries to challenge the World Marathon Majors. First it was the Dubai Marathon last month, with its record $250,000 1st place prize and record $1 million prize pool. And this week it appears the next challenger likely could be the Tokyo Marathon. We don't think it's a stretch to say that the marathon is more popular in Japan than any other country in the world. Marathons and ekidens often get nationwide television coverage
in Japan.
Japan until last year did not have a mass participation marathon in a major city. That changed with the Tokyo Marathon (which was a separate race from the Tokyo International Women's Marathon - an elite only race). The Tokyo Marathon, however only had an elite men's field in its first year. But when the Tokyo Women's International Marathon was cancelled last December, we and others surmised that this meant Tokyo
was likely to add a women's race and down the road try and be included as a Major. Pronouncements were made by people in Japan and published by people associated with the NYC Marathon (David Monti, the elite coordinator of NYC publishes Race Results Weekly), that this was not what Tokyo was doing.
Jeremy Wariner Speaks Reigning Olympic 400m champ Jeremy Wariner, who last week made news with his idiotic decision to dump the greatest 400 m coach in history (Clyde Hart), spoke this week to the press in Asia. He brushed aside questions about the coaching change but did say he'll break the world record in 2008. Let's hope so.
Alan Webb Surfaces
Meanwhile it was announced that American miler Alan Webb will open his 2008 season at the US 8k champs in New York City. We were very pleased to hear this. Unlike Wariner, Webb has little room for error as the 1,500 at the world level is full of a ton of guys that could win gold. Even in the US there are a slew of talented milers who could keep Webb off the Olympic team (Lopez Lomong, Bernard Lagat, Leonel Manzano, Chris Lukezic, etc.)
The fact that Webb has skipped indoors and is opening up with an overdistance race is fantastic in our minds. We think a huge reason why Webb was so successful in 2007 was the fact that he trained largely for the 5k/10k in 2006. 2007 was a year he worked more on his speed and it resulted in huge prs at 800 and 1,500, but in our mind the prs were a result of all the strength work he'd done previously. At the end of the 2007 season, we wondered what Webb would do heading into 2008
and privately feared he wouldn't go back to strength work.
Clearly he is and we think he'll have a big year as a result. If he focused on speed, he might not have even made the Olympic team. Given his slightly subpar world champs, people forget that Webb had a fantastic 2007. He was the fastest miler and 1,500 man of the world. Just a little off his game at worlds. This year's he's opening up later so hopefully he'll be a bit fresher when it counts.
LetsRun.com Does The Unthinkable and Promotes a Guy Who Never Runs Over an Hour
Last week, LetsRun.com did the unthinkable. We actually posted our interview with the surprise of the indoor season, Steve Sherer. Sherer ran a 3:56.00 full mile at the University of Washington at the end of January and we conducted a 30-minute interview with him to try to find the secrets to his big breakthrough. Sherer admitted that he is a low mileage, quality over quantity. We posted the interview in its entirety even though the secondary motto for out site is practically "Mileage matters." The interview is an inspiration read as Sherer is one of the few elites doing it totally on his own. We encourage you to read it if you haven't already done so.
The fact that Webb has skipped indoors and is opening up with an overdistance race is fantastic in our minds. We think a huge reason why Webb was so successful in 2007 was the fact that he trained largely for the 5k/10k in 2006. 2007 was a year he worked more on his speed and it resulted in huge prs at 800 and 1,500, but in our mind the prs were a result of all the strength work he'd done previously. At the end of the 2007 season, we wondered what Webb would do heading into 2008
and privately feared he wouldn't go back to strength work.
