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Justin · Varsity Joined: 08 Oct 2001 Posts: 312 Location: London

Hi All

Thought it might be helpful to have one forum for discussion of the sprints this season, rather than spreading our various debates over the whole site.

As a starter - Dwain Chambers and Mark Lewis-Francis looked extremely impressive in the UK championships on Sunday. Chambers won in 10l03 from MLF's 10.07 (a personal best). Chambers won it with a great start and a stronger finish - from 20m to 80m they were stride for stride. Chambers looked better than I can ever remember - a cut above the sprinter you'll remember from the last few years. He's a whole grade more powerful and is developing world class technique. He looks a 9.89 runner to me, if not this season then next.

MLF is going to be quite something when he finishes growing and learns to run properly. He's all smooth raw speed at the moment, much as Chambers was at the same age, but more so. I really can't over-state how highly MLF is rated in the UK - he's the best sprint talent anyone can remember, including Linford Christie and all the rest. He's calm and determined and focused. If he stays fit he'll be running under 9.80 in a few years.

US champs this weekend - Greene vs Montgomery vs Johnson vs Crawford. Any bets against Greene?

Justin

Justin · Varsity Joined: 08 Oct 2001 Posts: 312 Location: London

Sigh. Don't know why it registered that last post as a guest. No doubt this time it thinks I'm Water Boy again!

Justin

Dan · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 7:51 am Post subject:

Hi Justin,

Conway · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 11:00 am Post subject:

Justin ... Looking forward to some regular sprint talk (not that I mind the other) ...

I saw the results this weekend from the UK championships ... I expected Chambers to look a little differently since I found out he has been down in San Francisco working with Borzov's old sprint coach !!!! Sounds like from your description that he has been re-worked quite a bit ... Will be interesting to see how he does in the Commonwealth and the ciruit this year ... Do you think he is ready to challenge the "elites" ???

I still like MLF a lot ... His size and smoothness, as well as his mental outlook seem to be ideal in this current sprint environment ... Power is a premium today and he has fluid power ...

Conway · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 11:00 am Post subject:

Here are the entries for the US Championshihps:

Men's 100m

MAURICE GREENE 9.82 qualified
TIM MONTGOMERY 9.84 qualified
Shawn Crawford 9.95 qualified
joshua johnson 9.95 qualified
COBY MILLER 9.98 qualified
Jason Smoots 10.07 qualified
KENNETH BROKENBURR 10.08 qualified
Tyson GAy 10.08 qualified
brian lewis 10.09 qualified
Greg Saddler 10.09 qualified
Tom Green 10.10 qualified
Jon Drummond 10.14 qualified
MARCUS BRUNSON 10.16 qualified
Joshua Norman 10.17 qualified
MICKEY GRIMES 10.18 qualified
Derrick Johnson 10.20 qualified
AARON ARMSTRONG 10.21 qualified
Olan Coleman 10.21 qualified
GERALD WILLIAMS 10.21 qualified
Jonathan Carter 10.24 qualified
Brian Johnson 10.25 qualified
Monzavous Edwards 10.27 qualified
Terrence Trammell 10.27 qualified
Curtis Coleman 10.28 qualified
Tim Harden 10.29 qualified
Daniel Tutskey 10.30 qualified
Shomari Wilson 10.32 qualified
kaaron conwright 0.00 pending
GARFIELD ELLENWOOD 0.00 pending

Men's 200m

MAURICE GREENE 0.00 qualified
Shawn Crawford 19.85 qualified
joshua johnson 19.88 qualified
RAMON CLAY 20.05 qualified
BERNARD WILLIAMS 20.19 qualified
Tyson GAy 20.27 qualified
COBY MILLER 20.30 qualified
Darvis Patton 20.31 qualified
FLOYD HEARD 20.40 qualified
Jon Drummond 20.44 qualified
AARON ARMSTRONG 20.49 qualified
Derrick Johnson 20.55 qualified
Leon Settle 20.57 qualified
BRANDON COUTS 20.58 qualified
Milton Campbell 20.59 qualified
Olan Coleman 20.59 qualified
Ryan Olkowski 20.59 qualified
MICKEY GRIMES 20.61 qualified
Michael Lipscomb 20.64 qualified
John Woods 20.69 qualified
kaaron conwright 20.71 qualified
Curtis Coleman 20.74 qualified
KENNETH BROKENBURR 20.75 qualified
MICHAEL MITCHELL 20.55 pending
Jeremy Taylor 20.79 not qualified

Looks like Bernard Williams is not going to run the 100 ... That will be a loss in that event as I had him pegged as the #2 there behind Greene ... I think Montgomery fights it out with JJ JOhnson for the 3 spot ...

In the 200 I find it interesting that Greene is entered ... If he runs he becomes my favorite ... If not I think Bernard Williams wins it with JJ and Crawford and Clay in close pursuit ...

Too bad this is an off year as this is the best the US sprint squad has looked in quite a while ...

Dan · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 12:07 pm Post subject:

Wow, those are some loaded fields. I was hoping to see Capel's name in there, but no such luck...

Conway · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 12:40 pm Post subject:

I see him taking 3rd either way ... I just see smeone slippin in there for 2nd ... Williams if he were to run ... But perhaps Drummond .... Or maybe Coby Miller ... Crawford has not run well as of late and I'm not sure if he has been training through some races or what ... But he's NOT the 9.95/19.85 he started the season at .. and quite franklly I think Montgomery is afraid of Green e... I think that is why he talks so much ,,,

Dan · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 2:10 pm Post subject:

Conway · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 3:11 pm Post subject:

I like the idea of specific forums given there is enough interest/traffic to support them .... Could be fun .. Delop a culture and all that good stuff ... But hard to do with only a couple of people ... But if we had even say half dozen or so to start that could be good I think ..

As for Montgomery I'm not sure ... I wonder about his sudden change in physique, strength, and personality ... I'm not sure he is totally responsible for what he does ... But that is just one man's opinion .. He's disappeared for the past few weeks (since Pre) ... That doesn't sit well with me either ...

The 100 should be a good race this week ... Mo has shown that he is ready to go under 10 .. How far is not known yet ... But it is my guess that if he steps on the track he is looking at sub 9.90 capability ... Based on early season returns this SHOULD be a barn burner ... BUT in a typical Mo championship race only 1 or 2 run near him, the others seem to forget how to race ... Tim wants it badly and should be one in the hunt .. I think JJ finally get one at the right time and is also a factor ... I don't think Crawford is ready for this race at this level yet ... His time will be later in the week ... Drummond and Miller could be factors (or not) you never know with either of them .. I'm going out on a limb and say:

Mo - 9.89
Johnson - 9.95
Montgomery 9.96

Conway · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 3:21 pm Post subject:

Now the 200 could be VERY Interesting ... If Mo is serious about running this race it immediately becomes a sub 20 race as he will make it so ... Williams has yet to break 20 but could easily if his speed is sub 10 ... Crawford has broken 20 but was at altitude and has not found it again at sea level ... Clay ws clearly best heading into Edmonton last year but got injured ... If healthy he is a potential medallist as he is consistently sub 20.10 ... Everyone else is in to fill out the lanes ... Only Coby could be in this class - but hasn't shown it this year ...

Going out on another limb I'm going ot say that Mo doubles in this meet unless A) he doesn't run the 200 OR B) Justin Gatlin is allowed ot run in this meet ... Based on the entries that I posted earlier I am going to say:

Mo - 19.89
Clay - 19.98
Crawford - 20.09

Dan · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 3:36 pm Post subject:

Is the Stanford track considered fast for the sprints? It's known for distance performances, and the only sprints there that come to mind were the recent Golden Spike meet with "horrible" headwinds (I say horrible in quotes because looking at the results, the reported wind readings were actually quite mild -- far below an average day here in the northwest) and very slow times.

Rarely is a track welcomed by both distance runners and sprinters, so I'm guessing that track is not going to produce many fast times...

Half a dozen sprint contributors, huh? Well, we've got at least three... Smile

SuperSprinter and one other fella that never gives any indication of who he is when he posts sprint updates could add to that total. Micah sees himself as a speed demon now... Smile

If we were to go that route, my thinking would be to set up the following forums, in no particular order:

General Discussion
Training Discussion
Sprint Lounge
Mid-Distance Lounge
Distance Lounge
Fantasy T&F League

I suppose we could add a field events forum to be fair, but it would probably be a ghost town... Would there be enough interest to differentiate mid-distance and distance, or would it be better to wait and see on that for down the road?

Dan

Conway · Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2002 10:01 pm Post subject:

I would consider Stanford's track on par with Eugene's .. That would allow for fast times depending upon the weather conditions ... The meet you refer to the weather was horrible ... Cool and high winds ... The meet prior to that Blamlett equalled his then PR in the hurdles .. The weather should be around 80 degrees this weekend ... Hopefully the breezes will be light ... In those conditions I would think the times I listed are possible ....

And of course the competition itself should help ...

Dan · Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2002 7:35 am Post subject:

Have you been on the track at UO in the past few years? They've hardened it up signficiantly since the mid-90's, supposedly in an attempt to appeal to those responsible for bringing in NCAA's and USATF nationals.

Conway · Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2002 11:44 am Post subject:

This time of year Palo Alto is usually very nice ... Weather is similar to where I am (even though I am about an hour and a half north) ... Very pleasant here today ... Nice and warm with light breeze ... I am hoping for similar weather this weekend ...

Paul · Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2002 7:05 pm Post subject:

I'm in agreement with the new Forum selections. And also with the inclusion of a Field Events Lounge even if there's not a lot of participation. I don't know how difficult it is to administer all those, but I think fewer posts per forum (lounge) would be good from the standpoint that we get so far off track on each Topic introduced with the setup the way that it is now. I am going to assume that traffic in general has picked up quite a bit.

Paul

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