Official 2017 USATF Indoor Day 2 Live Discussion Thread

I gave up giving $$ to USATF,, because of him and the other incompetent, corrupt board members.

The announcer needs work. In the final kick it was Clayton Murphy vs Brandon Murphy. Brothers, cousins, or no relation?

Man, why is Ben Blankenship so un-fun to watch.

Robby's raw talent has kept him in it for USA champs these last few years... Unfortunately age in conjunction with poor training really seems to be catching up with him.

For a very brief moment, it looked like Jasmine Powers was going to catch Keni Harrison in the 60M hurdles. Kendra was faster in the semi-final.

The women's 600 and the men's mile had good atmosphere, crowd into both of them.

Vashti Cunningham's second jump of the final round looked like she cleared with a good six to eight inches.

Today's human interest story: found myself sitting by Cunningham's 88-year-old grandmother. Was treated to family pics.

gregarious wrote:

Robby's raw talent has kept him in it for USA champs these last few years... Unfortunately age in conjunction with poor training really seems to be catching up with him.

What on earth are you talking about? He not only made the Olympic team last year but qualified for the finals but got DQ'ed because of a boneheaded move to pass on the inside with 50 meters to go. He should have made the final and it was a sit and kick final that would have been perfect for him.

Not running PRs in a post Olympic indoor year with no indoor WC doesn't mean much of anything.

re; shelby's rise to the top

it's usually the bigger, more muscular girls like houlihan who last through college and succeed as pros, no?

sure, some excptions, but women like jenny simpson, brenda m, rowbury...these are not big women of course, but they aren't the slim whippets either. they are solid.

You'd think young running women would take their example and stop freaking out about weight all the time.

habs wrote:

I actually like the NBCSN coverage of this. They hyped up the Wilson vs Okolo duel well. And speaking of that race, I'm shocked the final times were as fast as they were. It almost looked like a 1500m race after the break, with Ajee getting in front and controlling which you don't usually see during a spring race. She definitely could have taken it down if she was pushed or had someone to follow.

Both Wilson and Okolo don't show much stress in their face and don't have much torso movement, which gives the impression they aren't running as fast as they are. Watching Okolo, she looks more like an 800m runner than a sprinter and Wilson looks like a miler. Btw, in that 600m, Okolo should have went out in 53x and made Wilson chase her down. I am not saving Okolo would have won, but it would have been very close.

Not sure why Okolo should have led, a point Sanya Ross made repeatedly. Why not have your pure sprinter type tuck in behind Wilson & use that speed over the last 80 meters or so rather than go right to the lead (to take the kick out of Wilson??)

Does anyone know where I can watch the race videos from Day 2? I can't find them anywhere.

The physiology of long sprints dictates that it's "use it or lose it" in the initial stages, so she should have been a second ahead of Wilson at the 200 for optimal results. Sit-and-kick is the preferred tactic for aerobically strong 800 runners (think Wottle, Ryun, Ovett, etc.)

kmaclam wrote:

Not sure why Okolo should have led, a point Sanya Ross made repeatedly. Why not have your pure sprinter type tuck in behind Wilson & use that speed over the last 80 meters or so rather than go right to the lead (to take the kick out of Wilson??)

Interesting Stuff wrote:

Does anyone know where I can watch the race videos from Day 2? I can't find them anywhere.

I meant day 3.

runnerryan wrote:

Houlihan was 5:40.62 at 1618 meters, and 10:19.14 at the finish, so her last 1600 was 4:38.52.

Crazy, as that was significantly faster than her mile victory.

Looks to me like Houlahan ran two great tactical races. Is she our new american star?