2015 Edomonton TrackTown Classic: Duane Bang's Back- Beats Sowinski and Symmonds, Vessey win's women's 8

When it comes to discussion on developing athletes on the verge of crossing over to the big time, some people here are just idiots. Sowinski never gets your approval because armchair runners don't understand the steps required to reach the top and only want to cheer for and profess their knowledge about the athletes that have already proven themselves consistently as if you know what it took to get there. Then when you get bored with guys like Symmonds or don't agree with his personality you spend more time writing negative commentary contributing nothing.

Sowinski has worked himself into the right place at the right time. Not his fault what happens to other athletes that don't finish races or are injured this season. Yes, next year the stakes are higher and they will be coming out of the woodwork so it will be tougher for everyone if all are healthy and ready to go. In the meantime, Sowinski will get great opportunities to train and compete in an arena that will help prepare him even more for next year. Maybe he will crack 1:44 maybe not this summer but you can't substitute the experience and opportunities he will be getting which are great stepping stones for being more ready next year. He is still relatively young in his pro career. I don't see dropping a full second as something impossible for him or anyone else in the position he's in leading into 2016.

So, if 1:43+ is your standard I hate to tell you that probably won't be the kind of time/ability that would make a final anyway. You are just going to have to settle for the best this country can put on the starting line when the time comes. You don't actually cheer for the other countries in championship meets do you? Everyone wants to see great races but when I hear people cheering against a silver medal 10k performance by Rupp it just reflects how ignorant many people on this site really are.

Duane bang is back?

Vessey win is women's?

Seriously, this is embarrassing, even by "you're" standards.

sowinskisofast wrote:

Sowinski beating Symmonds by 1+ seconds is pretty shocking. Nick ain't nothing outside of Oregon.

Symmonds is obviously training straight through for the WC's. And Nick does have a WC Silver. What do Sowinski and Solomon have that's comparable?

ISeeDumbPosts wrote:

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You are a donkey, Duane did what he could off what is called zero "conditioning/base" because of injuries. Sharpen up a lil to see what he could pull off with just speed. His 700m was still pretty impressive, whether the show was over at that point or not. He would of not placed top 3 regardless..[/quote]

"I see dumb posts" too. Mostly when people don't know the simple difference between "would of" which means precisely nothing, and "would have" which is 3rd grade English.

Sad to see Maggie, who appears to be have pulled out all the stops both in fitness and racing tactics, get foiled by fate. A careful look at the National Championships shows that Ajee swerved a little close to Molly who leaned to her left, stepping on Maggie's foot, and then, apparently to keep from falling, to her right where she stepped on the back of Ajee's shoe, pulling it off. Those things happen in tactical races, but in a race like that Maggie, at her best, has a devastating kick. She depended upon that kick rather like Symonds, This time Maggie was in position to use it but was knocked out not by lack of preparation, or by trailing fifteen or twenty yards back, but by an accident. Sad since she has had little support during her decade or more of persevering. If there were some sort of review procedure, like the wild card in professional baseball, it would smooth the bumps in the selection process, and provide incentive for athletes who are thwarted by some incident or injury to prove they belong on a national team, and that would be good for the sport.

Apostrophe Crime's wrote:

Duane bang is back?

Vessey win is women's?

Seriously, this is embarrassing, even by "you're" standards.

Do you think Princeton or Yale teach students to care about spelling or punctuation? They don't. They know their students will hire people to worry about spelling and punctuation for them.

It seems the jobro's missed that day of Freshman Righting.

I'm sure they will get it write eventually.

She likely would not have placed at Nationals. Her kick is not "devastating." Wilson, Montano and Martinez kick just as well if not better. Maggie has been winning races this year by front running. Running from the rear in the final showed she was either tired from the heats (and heat) or/and cowed by the field. Her best bet would have been to run from the front, the winning time was close to what she has been consistently running this year. The real shame this year was how her 1:59.7 clocking at the Prefontaine Classic was "adjusted" to 2:00.07 (took them 12 minutes before announcing the times, Steve Cram timed her at 1:59.7 and if you view the video she clearly crosses the line at 1:59.7). That does real damage because it is tougher to get into Diamond League meets without a sub-2 clocking.

Htybhyghbbhy wrote:

My question is: why are Solomon, Symmonds, Vessey and Benson in Edmonton instead of being in Europe where the real racing is going on?

Lots of top athletes compete in what are considered second and third tier events. If you look around, you'll see top performers using low key meets to run off distances and as time trials. Edmonton is a good meet, the organizers treat the athletes very well and it seems everyone enjoys it.

Symmonds is smartly backing off a bit after making the team and now has to build up to a peak in August. It isn't necessary to jump in the with lions at this point. The only athletes competing in lots of top Diamond League events are those who are so famous internationally they feel compelled to grab the money while they are hot and sometimes end up getting burned doing so (Asbel Kiprop in 2012, Nigel Amos getting injured last week.)

Montano has no kick. She front runs and runs most everyone into the ground. Her Finals run was much smarter. None of the regular front runners wanted to take it out. Martinez was pooped at the end after trading elbow jabs with Price at 200m. Wilson lost her shoe. Only two broke 2:00. Ludlow and Vessey were on point to charge and if not for the collision referenced looked good for the top 3. Weird race all around. Just my opinion.

The clock "adjusting" at Prefontaine was awful, I agree and the 12 minutes it took was strange to say the least.

Again, just my opinion.

Montano has a kick when she doesn't take it out fast. She has been running smarter this year and when she does run smart she definitely has a kick. Keep in mind that in the women's 800, except for the best runners or when everyone is at their peak at a major championship, the last 400 is usually 2-3 seconds slower than the first. So the "kick" is kind of an illusion, they are just speeding up a bit when in reality they have slowed down over the last 300.

Ludlow was hardly affected by the bumping, the collision broke her rhythm slightly for one stride. She didn't place because she wasn't as strong after two rounds. She is now running well in Europe but she just didn't have it in Eugene.

BigDaddyWooWooo wrote:

Leo and Nick know when to race these other events are just semantics.......wejo play it what it's worth.....thought

Could you give me some insight on your use of the word semantics in this post.

I understand language is fluid and usage and nuance of definition are in constant flux but I seem to grasp the intent but do not have clear insight on the choice.

Thank you

language is as we use it wrote:

BigDaddyWooWooo wrote:

Leo and Nick know when to race....... these other events are just semantics.......wejo played it for what it's worth..... just a thought

Could you give me some insight on your use of the word semantics in this post?

I understand language is fluid. I know that usage and nuance of definition are in constant flux. I seem to grasp your intended meaning but do not have clear insight to the reasoning behind your choice of the word semantics.

Thank you

I agree that Maggie has gotten short shrift, and in compensation, I am offering her free access to my bedroom for the rest of the month of July.

Twilight zone was probably a brilliant strategy long term.

Go for the record. If not, save yourself the wear and tear of traveling. Who needs the jet lag if you aren't going to win it all? Save it for 2016 when it counts and train this summer and do some closer DL events to tune up.

Does anyone know how the women's 800 unfolded? I haven't seen a report of the race, just the results and a few pix, which don't tell much of a story. The vid's behind a paywall, so that's out.

PS From how she finished, I've got to think Phoebe regrets jammin' with Jamin on Friday night.

sowinskisofast wrote:

Sowinski beating Symmonds by 1+ seconds is pretty shocking. Nick ain't nothing outside of Oregon.

symmonds is probably back in training after a mini peak.

The CFL has much better camera men. Most of the video footage during this meet and the Canadian Nationals (same facility) when the 100m and 200m races were run on the opposite side of the track were horrible. I have seen video of races taken by coaches/parents from these meets that was better quality and from more logical angles than many of these. Filming races isn't easy and takes some practise.

Htybhyghbbhy wrote:

My question is: why are Solomon, Symmonds, Vessey and Benson in Edmonton instead of being in Europe where the real racing is going on?

For example, Melissa Bishop ran 1:59.5 today in Europe (came in third, Price was second). Much better setting to run a fast time. Benson (and Vessey) should have been out there.