New York runner sets second-fastest time in nation in 400, does it without starting blocks!!!!!!!

52.69 is cruising! At higher levels, they don't even let you run without blocks anymore, do they? Allan Wells did this back in the day.

Such a moronic comment that you HAVe to be from Oregon.

#2 on the Dyestat List for her grade level is NOT cruising. And you do NOT have to use blocks in high school, NCAA, or NAIA rules. You do have to use blocks for USATF Championships and IAAF rules only. If you cannot to sprinter level weights, meaning squatting at least double your weight, somebody should teach you to do 3 point starts. There is a youtube showing Wells running in an international meet using 4-point start without blocks.

It could be that everybody posting on this site except me would be faster with 3 point starts

"Cruising" in that sentence means running very, very fast, old man.

coach d wrote:

Such a moronic comment that you HAVe to be from Oregon.

#2 on the Dyestat List for her grade level is NOT cruising. And you do NOT have to use blocks in high school, NCAA, or NAIA rules. You do have to use blocks for USATF Championships and IAAF rules only. If you cannot to sprinter level weights, meaning squatting at least double your weight, somebody should teach you to do 3 point starts. There is a youtube showing Wells running in an international meet using 4-point start without blocks.

It could be that everybody posting on this site except me would be faster with 3 point starts

Time for a break from this website, coach d. Your last 5 posts have been thinly veiled unfunny insults to distance runners. You're trying way too hard.

I thought three point starts were arbitrarily illegal in track?

Blocks are absolutely not required in high school and many girls particularly start from standing because they are not strong enough to be faster with blocks.

In NCAA rules, 800 meters and longer only requires 2 point contact, which means true 3 point is illegal, but you can do it if you just touch the top of your spikes with your hand and not the track. NCAA rules do not outlaw 3 point for sprints or specifically require blocks. In NAIA, the rule book specifically says that starting blocks may NOT be used in events of 800 meters or longer or relays 600 meters and longer, but it DOES NOT say that starting blocks are required for sprints. The NAIA Rule Book also does not specifically outlaw 3 point even for 800.

I personally have used 3 point at Northern Arizona in 2 NCAA meets. NAU has one of the fastest indoor tracks in the world, but the surface is thin, and before the last two years, the blocks they had were equipped with short spikes that slipped. College teams had to have people stand behind the blocks to keep them from slipping. I just said f--k it and ran 60 from 3 point without any problem from the officials, because it IS allowed under the rules, and the folks at NAU most definitely have their act together.

You might find an official in an NCAA meet that will require you to use blocks because everybody does and every official might not know every obscure point in the rule book, but 3 point is not outlawed for events 400 and shorter.

I've seen her run, probably the smoothest, most relaxed stride I've ever seen. She also ran 4:25 to win the 1500 at the NY State meet, could do some serious damage in the 800 at nationals.

the d is for wrote:

Time for a break from this website, coach d. Your last 5 posts have been thinly veiled unfunny insults to distance runners. You're trying way too hard.

Non-achievers who can't accomplish anything in their own environment will often go elsewhere and try to impress people who have no knowledge of or interest in their sh|t.

52.69 by a high school sophomore without blocks.

This girl is one to watch.

Will Spaghetti wrote:

I've seen her run, probably the smoothest, most relaxed stride I've ever seen. She also ran 4:25 to win the 1500 at the NY State meet, could do some serious damage in the 800 at nationals.

Wow, that is no joke. According to the link below, she did run 4:25 1500m (ten seconds off of Hasay's old national record, to put this in perspective as to how fast it is for a great 400m runner), along with a 2:47 1k, and physically she looks like the body type of a world class 400/800 or 800/1500 runner. The 800 might be her future but I'd like to see some runners trying the 400/800 double like Juantorena. A 52.69 sophomore standing start and a 4:25 1500m. That has already got to put her in the company of the best high schoolers all time in range. Kim Gallagher was probably at that level as a senior in the 400m and faster in the 1500m but that is a huge prospect.

I looked up Kim Gallagher and the results were scanty but for the 400m, the only time listed was 52.44 in January of 1985 (3 years out of hs, it said outdoor but that would be odd), along with a 2:00 and 4:41 1600m in hs.

YammaYamma wrote:

52.69 by a high school sophomore without blocks.

This girl is one to watch.

Starting Blocks are over-rated, particularly for 400.

Using correct starting technique for distance runners you are actually RUNNING your very first step......not stepping or staggering, but actually running.

Borzov at 1974 Europeans used blocks but with only one hand touching the track. He was in running mode from the get-go.

Sammy has great potential (I believe she ran a 2:06 flat at nationals last year as a frosh?) and it's fun to see the competition between her and a fellow NY sophomore in Kamryn Mcintosh. Mcintosh has an FAT split of 2:03 high for the 800, 53ish seed for the 400, along with being the national indoor record holder for the 600 at 1:28. It will be a lot of fun to see the competition amp up even further over the next few years, as I think both of them have HS sub 2 potential.

Didn't see anything official, but I believe she 800 split ~ 2:03 in Rush-Henrietta's SMR high school record in pouring rain eye-balling it from the video http://www.nbnationalsout.com/eprofile.php?event_id=3689&do=videos&video_id=149549. She won the 800m in 2:07 in what looked like a really controlled effort. Great talent.

Starting fast from blocks requires all of the following. She's probably lacking at five out of six.

Upper leg strength

Absence of minor leg injuries that affect explosive power.

Proper starting position

Proper start technique

Experience at block starts

Arm strength

It's one thing to practice starting from blocks and get it just right on the 3rd or 4th try. It's quite another to wait until the you're called to the line and have to set up your blocks and come out of them right for the first time.