Run-Down Forums

Conway · Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2002 3:32 pm Post subject:

Now is hte time for all true fans to get excited about the outdoor season .. Judging from the indoor season, this could be a very high quality year for the sport .. And as off years in the sport tend to be (of year as in no major world championsihp) a year where new faces make appearances near the top ..

First of those that has me excited is Ceplak in the women's 800 .. As Dan stated in another post, we now have upwards of 5 women who can make races competitive .. And even though Borzokovsky is not going to run th emen's 800 this year, it looks like it too will be ultra competitive and fast ..

But what really has me excited is the sprints and jumps .. The young Swede Ollsson looks to be the real deal and ready to spice up the triple jump .. And Miguel Pate of the US looks ready to do the same in the long jump .. would be really nice to see someone going over 28 feet again with some semblance of consistency .. Pedroso is still capable, but has far too many 26 foot days now ..

But where I expect big excitement is in the sprints .. And mostly becasue of two "kids" ... Justin Gatliln and Mark Lewis Francis .. I watched Gatlin this weekend in the Indoor NCAA's ... Just a pleasure to watch .. Smooth, relaxed and deceptively fast ... The kind of sprinter that could turn the 200 on its ear !!! Came from behind to win the 60 !!! AND he ran on the 4x4 !!! I would expect him to be under 10.00 and 20.00 .. And we all know about MLF .. He too should be under 10.00 this year .. Too bad there are on 4x1's this year ... Would have been exciting .. Sad

Dan · Posted: Tue Mar 12, 2002 10:42 am Post subject:

I'm putting in an early season vote for the women's 800 as the event of the year, although the men's sprints are also shaping up to be solid. Still, how can you compare to an event with half a dozen competitors who could be among the best ever in the same year?

Dan

Conway · Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2002 9:38 am Post subject:

Dan · Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2002 8:23 am Post subject:

That 100m lineup may be close to the same level, but it seems to drop off after the top 2 or 3 to just "very good" levels, whereas the women's 800m looks like 4th-6th place could be at a level that would be #1 in the world many years.

Conway · Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2002 8:47 am Post subject:

Agreed ... I would be very disappointed if we didn't see at least 1:54.xx this season .. And I think the key will be the front runners .. That is where the race is made over 800 meters .. And if Teter is what she appears to be she shoudl become the new US record holder .. Smile

Micah Ward · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2002 4:59 am Post subject:

Kim Finchen ran the 10,000 in 32:18 this weekend. That is the world leading time so far this year...yeah, I know it is early but it is still encouraging. When was the last time a US male ran a world leading time in any distance?

Once again, this phenonmenon of our ladies doing better than our men.

Micah Ward · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2002 5:01 am Post subject:

I was looking back at the previous comments here concerning the womens 800. With Privoliva possibly running the plot thickens!!!

Conway · Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2002 7:50 am Post subject:

Definitely regarding the women's 800 .. With Privalova's speed, no one is safe ... Question will be her strength, but that has never been a problem with her in the past .. She has the potential to take it out from the front and burn people off ... Or lay back and kick ... This race is definitely my pick for hot race of the year ... Smile

Dan · Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2002 10:25 am Post subject:

Not quite the same as a world leader, but I believe Meb's 4th place showing (AR record) at the early season Stanford meet about this time last year held up for 4th best for the year.

Dan

Conway · Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2002 3:15 pm Post subject:

Yes, Meb was 4th on the year with his performance .. Too bad no one ran any better than they did at Stanford last year .. Surprising becasue there is usually one or two big races in Europe each summer ...

Any thoughts on who will run them or how fast the top distance times will be this year ??

Distance_Guru · Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2002 5:34 am Post subject:

Being the fan of Wettmore and the CU program that I am. I think everyone should watch out for Goucher. He's finally healthy again and at 27 is in his prime. There are those out there that are saying he'll make a run a sub 13. I'm not ready to say that, yet. But you can count on three things, he won't race to soon (not until he's had 25 uninterupted weeks of training), to much and when he does race it will be fast.

_________________
Time is the fire in which we burn

Conway · Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2002 11:07 am Post subject:

I like Goucher and would expect soem good things from him .. HE seems ot know how to compete ...

Big weekend for track and field as things get underway with a lot of invitational action ... Mo Greene I know is scheduled to compete in Texas at the Texas Relays .. So are Alan Johnson and Terrence Tramell .. Anyone know of any other big names scheduled ot run this weekend ???

Dan · Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 2:27 pm Post subject:

Micah Ward · Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2002 3:38 pm Post subject:

The absolute biggest name in all the running world (well for me anyway) ran the 5K at the Colonial Relays at William & Mary this weekend. That's right sports fans, THE DAUGHTER has recovered from the bout with mono and is back racing. It wasn't a great time but she was satisfied with a 20:35 coming off the mono...and she beat a girl from VMI so she didn't finish last.

The most important thing though was some good father daughter bonding time (remember that those of you who are fathers) and enjoying some very spirited racing. As we have discussed before, even without world records there was some racing going on that was well worth watching!!! Now if the media could realize that, maybe we can get people interested in wathcing our beloved sport.

Just an interesting thought. Yale brought a huge team to the meet. Lots of runners and field athletes. Also present were Fordham, Bucknell, Richmond, Hampton, Norfolk St, Rutgers, VMI, Mt Saint Mary's and probably a couple I have forgot. It was a great weekend!

Conway · Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2002 11:23 am Post subject:

Micah, congrats to your daughter .. The rest of you, the season has finally gotten underway ... Where is the chatter ??? Lots going on already ... Where to start ??

Texas relays .. Mo Greene is pipped from behind at the tape in the 4x1 by JJ Johnson !!! Course Mo celebrated early, but the fact that JJ was running with him shows signs for an interesting 100 meters this year (not to mention 200) ..

Speaking of 100 Mourne Nagel (the South African) ran 20.11 last weekend and is slated to meet Montgomery over 100 this weekend .. Could be early fireworks .. I am impressed by Nagel's 200 as it shows staying power and strength .. Looks like he could approach the 10.00 barrier ...

And speaking of the 10.00 barrier, Tennessee's Justin Gatlin is already at 10.05 !!!! My early season favorite to do something spectacular this year ...

I know it is early but nothing on th edistance front .. Last year this time we had the great STanford 10K .. But so far the distance people are conspicuouly quiet so far .. Why is that ???

And Drossin gets 5k WR ... Would love to see her on the track !!!

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