Rebecca Johnstone HUGE PR for best collegiate 800 of the season!

I think Julie Jenkins at Adams State ran sub-2:00 (when they were NAIA in the 1980s and later she transferred to BYU).

Keeping it in the family: the previous NAIA and school record was held by her coach:NAIA Record: ! 2:03.89 1986 Brit McRoberts, Simon Fraser

another thread wrote:

I think Julie Jenkins at Adams State ran sub-2:00 (when they were NAIA in the 1980s and later she transferred to BYU).

you thought wrong.

thats just sick! go rebecca

her teammate Julia Howard from SFU ran 4:14 for the 1500m at mt sac. so both have the leading univesity times so far this year.

britt has done a great job developing these two middle distance runners.

Why would a Kanadian University count in an American University Association record book??

That's fantastic! Julia ran 2:05 winning easily the day before. Brit has really got the touch and it is paying off.

unc wrote:

her teammate Julia Howard from SFU ran 4:14 for the 1500m at mt sac. so both have the leading univesity times so far this year.

britt has done a great job developing these two middle distance runners.

I think that santin had a training run. She came throug in 57-please she will get faseter-sub 2 for sure. Big deal that Rebecca beat her, lets see what she does later in the game.

I think that Santin is going to have a great year this year. She had a great run 2004, and i think that this will be her year. Not only is she fast, but she is FINE!!! I'm hoping that she will break two this year.

I pointed out the win to show that Rebecca can get the job done when she gets the opportunity. She beat Cummins indoors, but of course that doesn't mean she will run 1:57 this summer. But when she gets the opportunity, Rebecca will always go for the win, not just happy to run a good time."Training run"? They were ONE SECOND off of Santin's PR. And I'm sure she doesn't like to lose in front of the home crowd.

runnnnnning wrote:

I think that santin had a training run. She came throug in 57-please she will get faseter-sub 2 for sure. Big deal that Rebecca beat her, lets see what she does later in the game.

good point. i was there and Santin was going all out. She may be fine but that Rebecca chick is one of the hottest runners I have ever seen! Not only is she hotter that Santin but in the race I watched she was also faster. How old is Rebecca? she looks like a new young talent with a lot of potential. props to their coach-some amazing times coming out of the SFU girls.

If they went for Penn they would likely win!! 2.01, 2.03, 2.09, 2.11 top 4....not bad.

There is no way those girls you mentioned could all pull those times together in the same race. That is what they would have to do to win Penn relays. At best Simon Fraser would be lucky top 3.

dude all those SFU girls a frikken hot and fast. that heather mancell chick they have as a freshman is gorgeous as well as rebecca and others. our team was left with our mouths hanging on the floor after indoors. cant wait for outdoors. oh yeah and they would win penn hands down.

Not only hot but sweet=not stuck up at all. Love thos Cannuk girlzz.....

The "girl" in 9th is 42 years old

From her club (Valley Royals) website:

"REBECCA JOHNSTONE RUNS PERSONAL BEST 2:01.80 FOR FIRST AT MT. SAC

VALLEY ROYAL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES ALSO RUN WELL

Simon Fraser University's Rebecca Johnstone came up with a personal best 2:01.80 to win the Invitational Women's 800 meters Saturday afternoon at the prestigious Mt. Sac Relays.

Over the last 100 meters Johnstone came storming out of fourth place to capture the race. Johnstone, who is in her third year at SFU, is something of a late bloomer running wise. During her high school career, the West Vancouver athlete had not broken 2:16 for 800 meters. Rebecca is now the second ranked Canadian over the 800-meter distance.

Another excellent SFU performance was recorded by Julia Howard who won the Invitational Women's 1500-meter event in a personal best 4:14.53. Originally known as an 800 meter runner, Howard, whose home town is St Johns, Newfoundland, is now gaining the strength needed to run good performances over the longer 1500 meter distance."

Johnstone is running the 800 at Oregon Invite this weekend. No Bekah Noble entered, but she could be entered late. THAT would be quite the showdown between two of the "hottest hands" in collegiate track right now.

Just got done visiting with a collegue of mine and we discussed the times that the Simon Fraser women have been running.

Some pretty amazing improvements, maybe too amazing??

Some things we brought up.

Drugs - sorry, how can you not think it. Some things that lead us to believe that this could be possible.

Britt is a former elite level international performer and if you believe some of the press that indicated that 70-80% of these athletes were using drugs (especially during the time that Britt was running), then you would have to believe she is pretty familiar with it and still have contacts. In addition, many of the athletes at SFU are part of club teams that have their own private coaches, physicians, etc... So even if Britt is not behind it, it could still be happening with her not even aware of it. In addition, everyone knows the NAIA does not drug test.

Some of the improvement can be considered pretty dramatic. The 2:01 gal was only going 2:16 two seasons ago. Would expect some improvement yes, but the 2:16 came after xc, indoors, and into the outdoor season, so to say she was underdeveloped would be an understatement when looking at this kind of improvement.

Why don't we see the same kind of performances from the men? If it is about coaching and development wouldn't you expect some of the men running 1:47 and 3:41? HOWEVER, IF (BIG IF) drugs were involved, the effects of the kinds of drugs that would be beneficial would be much more dramatic in the women versus the men due to basic physiological and endocrine make up of men versus women. IF drugs were happening it is likely that the relationship Brit has with her women is different than men and it may be more comfortable as a former elite level athlete to talk to similar women as to "if you want to be good then....".

SFU also receives government funding and other support to develop the women (part of the reason they are not allowed in the ncaa). How much of a factor does this play.

Yes, you can call me skeptical, a jerk and any other names that come up here, but the other side of me follows what is often taught in classes. If it looks like it is too good to be true then it probably isn't.

Just food for thought and likely an attack from the optimists. :)

Of course, nowadays ANYONE who improves with any rapidity to an elite level is considered a possible doper. I have heard the same brush slopped about on every level of athlete. There were other athletes in that 800 race who were not 13-year old phenoms and who could also be considered suspect by gross characterization.

Consider your logic, though: are we to suppose that when these girls compete at the International level (as they already have) they will not be tested? One positive test at any stage and the whole program/athlete/coach is doomed to pariah status. For small governments with a handful of professional mercenaries (many of which abut the Meditarranean and Red Sea), this risk mught be acceptable, but for a dedicated coach of a long-term built program as SFU, such a risk is practically unthinkable. Only time can tell us anything to the contrary, and I am by no means a Pollyanna on this subject, but the SFU program passes inspection by even this jaundiced observer.

As far as Johnstone is concerned, her 2:16 was, as far as I can tell essentially an untrained effort level due to late participation and possibly injuries. Her performance improvement has been remarkable, but if systemic doping were involved, they have several other runners who should be running similar times, and who are not.

Which brings up what I see aas the key to teh SFU success- those girls really don'y get serios injuries. Every season they progress forward a few seconds, as any well-trained runner in late-teeens/early twenties should, thanks to no backsliding due to injuries. This is not a drug issue in my eyes, but a very careful management of training and racing.

And as far as Brit is concerned, she was indeed world-class, as were many other clean athletes of the time. It's not as if she ran for Romania or Athletics West or anything (j/k).

We all should be so "lucky" as to be subjected to drug rumours on LetsRun.

two laps wrote:

As far as Johnstone is concerned, her 2:16 was, as far as I can tell essentially an untrained effort level due to late participation and possibly injuries. Her performance improvement has been remarkable, but if systemic doping were involved, they have several other runners who should be running similar times, and who are not.

I'm not saying they are on drugs. It is entirely possible. 2:16 to 2:01 improvement in the 800m is really dramatic, and despite your comment they do have a bunch of women who have made dramatic improvements in the middle distance races. Maybe not to 2:01 level, but just as dramatic from where they were a few years ago. And Johnstone is not the only woman on the team running world class times, Julia Howard is another.

The question about the men is also intersting. If all the dramatic, almost beyond comprehension, improvement on the women's side was simply coaching, then why aren't the men there even close to the same level of improvement and performance?

There is no drug testing in the NAIA. It wouldn't be hard to do it in the lack of any moral trauma.

And your argument that they compete internationally, therefore they cannot be on drugs or they would get caught is pretty silly. A large number of elite international atheletes are using drugs and don't get caught because there are proven ways to mask and plan for testing.

I'm not saying that Simon Fraser's women are using performance enhancers. I do think it is an interesting situation and is entirely possible.