Can We Talk Some Track?

I can't believe this shit. We just had an incredible Nationals (two of them, actually) and all we've got is talk about everything else under the sun. I don't mind "cute" threads, but how about some real ones as well?

I live too far away to have gotten to California, but surely there must be lots of readers of this board who were in Sacramento and/or Palo Alto? How about posting your impressions about the best competition you saw there?

You're not a failure if nobody responds to the post. There are those of us (and I would like to think many of us) who enjoy a board like this as an information source, not just a source of entertainment. Please post!

Rant over.

ps--you can talk FIELD too, if you want.

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

One time, at a TRACK meet, I ate a tremendous turkey sandwich. Man, it was great. Tomatoes, pickels, onions, and the wheat bread was toasted just right. Later, while watching the FIELD events, I had a great salad. Ranch dressing, tomato slices, crutons, man, that was a wonderful salad.

How's that?

[197hjsteve]

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

Frustrated, I agree with you. I got mixed up with this Message Board business about a month ago and have been quite dismayed by the number of people that want to do no more than criticize and make mean-spirited remarks.... plus there are the occasional wackos as well.

I want to chit- chat, hear stories, impressions, etc. from other Track Fans !

Hope other people are reading this reply besides just you.

[gh]

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

OK, much as I prefer to let you guys, the readers, dictate the direction of the Board, let me try to jump-start this situation a bit by making a post on what I think was the most exciting event I saw at Stanford last weekend. The "I saw" is critical here. Since I was doing on-field interviews much of the time, I missed a lot of the meet. I suspect the most exciting thing, if you were following it, was the men's triple jump final. I was blown away by the men's 5. I'll start a separate thread on that.

[Bob H]

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

What impressed me the most was Kelli White. Her 100m was the performance of the meet, as far as I'm concerned, considering the people she beat, the negative wind, and the track, which is not generally thought to be a sprinters' track. I'm not saying she would certainly have beaten Marion, but I do think that Zhanna and the rest of the internationals will have their hands full in Paris.

I agree with gh that the men's 5 was great. The steeple was too, and the 10 was not shabby either. The 8 and 15, on the other hand, showed us only what we suspected--that Krum and Lunn are vastly superior to anyone else who ran those respective events. Good marks to the other qualifiers in the 8, but they're still a few steps behind Krum and the other world-class guys in that event.

The 15 situation is frustrating. There's a bunch of reasonably young 1500 runners in the sub-3:40 class, and one or more of them should be breaking through to that sub-3:35 zone where they need to be to qualify for Paris. But nobody seems to be doing it, much less dropping down to the 3:30 range that you need to hit in order to be a serious medal contender. I'm not giving up on this group by any means, and there are some good really young ones still developing. But as of now, there's more potential than achievement in the event.

Garry's right about the men's TJ, too. That was the best event in the world last year, with Olsson, Edwards, and Davis going head-to-head all the time in some amazing competition--guys comping from behind with monster jumps. Now we can add Bell to the mix. Unfortunately, the only way one can ever get to appreciate great field events like these TJ's is to actually be there. TV never does them justice, at least not in this country.

But that's another thread.

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

Don't overlook Christine Arron. Seems like Zhanna had her hands full with Arron yesterday. Arron has run some good times so far this season. Looks like she is making a great comeback.

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

The 15 situation is
>frustrating. There's a bunch of reasonably young
>1500 runners in the sub-3:40 class, and one or
>more of them should be breaking through to that
>sub-3:35 zone where they need to be to qualify
>for Paris. But nobody seems to be doing it, much
>less dropping down to the 3:30 range that you
>need to hit in order to be a serious medal
>contender. I'm not giving up on this group by
>any means, and there are some good really young
>ones still developing. But as of now, there's
>more potential than achievement in the
>event.

One problem is that all of the guys who seem capable of running fast seem to be cut from the same cloth. All of them think they are kickers and none of them wants to carry the pace at all. That creates a succession of 3:40 1500's. Hopefully a few of them will get into some European races and show what they can do on the clock.

[Bob H]

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

>>One problem is that all of the guys who seem capable of running fast seem to be cut from the same cloth. All of them think they are kickers and
none of them wants to carry the pace at all. That
creates a succession of 3:40 1500's. Hopefully a
few of them will get into some European races and
show what they can do on the clock.<<

Yes, but look what happened last year. Apart from Krum, only three guys got below 3:40 all year and none of them were below 3:36. That's what they showed they could do. Will it be better this year? We'll see soon enough, but at this point, you can't be confident of it.

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

except for Stember @1:47 (unless I missed someone) - no finalist in the 1500m had broken 1:49 at 800m this year. That is sad. These guys are NOT kickers at 1:49-1:50 shape. David K. moved up with great success last year, yet none of the current 1500m bunch took notice at how his 800m speed allowed for this.

Spivey, Scott, Holman, Ryan, etc. ran 800m consistently. How can a guy in 1:49 shape go through in 1:53 in Europe - he can't. Suzy, Regina both drop down to 800m, and T. McWilliams has run 2:02 this year.

Until the 1500 guys get faster we can't expect much more than 3:34-3:37.

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

Regarding the steeple, did Slattery interfere with Gary on that last water jump at all? Do any of these three have 8:15 potential this year? Even if they don't, we do have some good young horses in this event. We're not going to have an 8:10 this year, but watch out in a few.

I wasn't there unfortunately, but I agree the TJ will be a killer all summer long. I also continue to like the way we're running in the w100h. Gail should get better this summer and the sky's the limit for young guns like McKelvy. It's great to see us dominant in this event.

I'm a little concerned about David K. jumping right back and running Bislett tomorrow. I wonder if taking another week would ensure that he stays healed.

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

Yes, but look what happened last
>year. Apart from Krum, only three guys got below
>3:40 all year and none of them were below 3:36.
>That's what they showed they could do. Will it
>be better this year? We'll see soon enough, but
>at this point, you can't be confident of it.>

Other than Lunn I'm not confident that any of these guys can get below 3:35 although a few might get the B standard whatever good that does them. The fact that they don't run all that quick in the States has to hurt their chances of getting into even a B race in Europe where they might run fast.

jd

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

Running is a business, and contracts talk. As far as Krumm goes, he looked fine in qualifying and the final. Look for good times from him in Oslo, and after.

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

>except for Stember @1:47 (unless I missed
>someone) - no finalist in the 1500m had broken
>1:49 at 800m this year. That is sad. These guys
>are NOT kickers at 1:49-1:50 shape. David K.
>moved up with great success last year, yet none
>of the current 1500m bunch took notice at how his
>800m speed allowed for this.>

The problem is that they all think they are kickers and maybe in an all US race they are.

[jlanza]

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

>Regarding the steeple, did Slattery interfere
>with Gary on that last water jump at all?

I thought that Gary interferred with Slattery. He clearly moved outside as they approached and seemed to almost reach out as though he were trying to push Slattery back (which I know he wasn't). I watched it several times, and it didn't seem to bother either of them, so I guess that's why not foul was called. Gary's momentum appears to have been interupted before the contact.

[jhc68]

Re: Can We Talk Some Track?

There was some fun stuff at the Nationals. The happiest winner at Palo Alto had to be Dwight Phillips... he clinched the long jump with a great come through effort on his last jump and then spent several minutes running around smiling and diving into the pit doing sand-angels. The men's triple was an even more dramatic head to head competition, great stuff. After winning, Gail D. was so in tune with the crowd and autographs and whatnot that she had to be shown off the track to make way for the men's 200 finals to begin. In the Junior Men's Shot finals 2nd place winner Noah Bryant beat his USC team-mate, William Denbo, out of a place on the national team by one centimeter! Bryant then justified the placing with a huge throw on his last attempt that was all for nothing when he barely lost his balance and had to step out the front of the ring. All in all, Stanford was a nice venue and a good track meet (with the exception of the mediorcre men's 1500... it would be easy to say that no one took a chance in that race by forcing the pace, but then, again, they all took a bigger chance by NOT forcing the pace.)