Run-Down Forums

[Conway]

What are the greatest moments in the sport, as witnessed by our esteemed group of track and field fans !!! Moments that you were actually there to witness ... And as Micah would remind us they do not have to be of professionals !!! We could always have anohter thread on simply the best moments/performances ever ... But this is for the moments that we have collectively witnessed ... And since most things seem to come in 3s (gold/silver/bronze) let's list our individual top 3's ... Since this just came to mind I do not have my top 3 fluslhed out, but I will come back with them ...

Conway

[Dan]

This could be a very interesting topic...

I would have to start with a not quite elite anecdote that left a very lasting impression. My Junior year in high school, our top guy was someone I've mentioned elsewhere in the forum -- Tracy Hollister (son of the technical advisor of the movie Prefontaine, himself a stellar runner). He was undefeated that XC season with the exception of one race, our home opener which was a huge Oregon-Washington invite we co-hosted with our cross-town rival. It had I think 4 of the top 10 teams from Oregon and similar for Washington, including 3 or so teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation (including Mead HS at #1). I believe Tracy was 4th in that race behind Mead's Yukon Degenhart (placed 4th at state the year before as their #3 man!) and two Jesuit HS (Portland area private school that is heavily villified for being the only big school in the area allowed to recruit, plus they have athletic facilities that rival most big colleges) guys by the name of Seth Wetzel and Rick Cantwell, who went on to Georgetown and U of Oregon, respectively, with Wetzel qualifying for the NCAA 1500m finals as a freshman. In other words, he was right there with the best in the NW. Fast forward to the state meet where the most respect Tracy got was being listed as one of the darkhorses, despite having destroyed some pretty good district competition. Early in the race, he took control and looked as determined as I've ever seen anyone. By around mid-race, Wetzel had a look of fear on his face that I was surprised no one commented on later... After a few more surges, Wetzel dropped out and was taken to the first-aid tent, and Tracy pulled away from the rest of the (which included at least 2 other guys that went on to do quite well at UO and another who was something like 7th at the Footlocker/Kinney regionals as a sophomore; Dan Browne might have been in the field, too, but I think he was a year away from his breakthrough) field to win by 10 seconds.

Of the things I've witnessed in the sport first hand, that was probably the most inspirational. I'll have to ponder a bit what #2 and 3 would be...

Dan

[Micah Ward]

Because of a divorce many years ago I settled in GA while the daughter grew up in VA with her mother. So I did not get to see her race until the Regional meet of her freshman outdoor season. For the three weeks prior to that I questioned her on the phone about where and when the meet would be but I never told her I was coming to the meet.

So on the morning of the meet the current wife and I got up early and drove from GA to VA. Upon arriving at the school we saw she wasn't in the stands yet so we sat down close to her teammates and introduced ourselves to the coach who told us the daughter was still in the school studying. About 10 minutes later we saw her walking across the parking lot and down the walkway to the stands. She was walking toward her teammates and scanning the bleachers...and then she saw us. I have never seen a more stunned look on anyones face.

There were lots of hugs, laughs and even a few tears. I wish I could say she won. She didn't, but I did get to see her set a new 1600 PR and I don't think I will ever see a more exciting race or have a more memorable experience in track and field.
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[Conway]

I've been trying to pare down the various events and moments I've seen to get to a top 3 !!! Been hard as I have been blessed to see many many exciting moments in the sport ... I can't help but think that if John Q Public could see what I have seen he too would beocme a fan of the sport ...

Anyway, I am going to start off with my first moment being a meet .. And that meet will be the 1988 Olympic Trials ... It had to be one of the most exciting events ever held in the sport ... Look at this ...

FloJo runs the 100 in 10.49 ... A mark that will never be broken ... MJ's 19.32 will fall before this mark does !!!

Carl Lewis runs a windy 9.78 and the following fight for medals and Olympic berths:

9.78 Carl Lewis
9.86 Dennis Mitchell
9.87 Calvin Smith
9.88 Albert Robinson
9.90 Joe Deloach

Joe Deloach beats Lewis in the 200 in 19.96 with another fight for Olympic slots

19.96 Joe Deloach
20.01 Carl Lewis
20.05 Roy Martin
20.05 Albert Robinson

Poor Albert Robinson missed out on 2 Olympic berths by a TOTAL of .01 sec !!!!

An epic long jump battle (partlly in the rain) saw Carl Lewis win over Larry Myricks 8.76 to 8.74 -- 28'9" to 28'8.5"

Butch Reynolds and Danny Everrett became the first individuals since the Mexico City Olympics to run under 44.00 with 43.93 to 43.98 clockings ...

Another titanic battle for Olympic slots occurred in the 400H ... Check this out:

47.37 Edwin Moses
47.58 Andre Phillips
47.72 Kevin Young
47.75 David Patrick
47.76 Danny Harris

This meet was a speed freaks heaven ... If you were a fan of people going fast, this was the place to be ... These events were just the tip of the iceberg as this was one of the best meets ever ... Not to mention the personalitites - Carl Lewis, Evelyn Ashford, Flo Jo, Gwen Torence, Greg Foster, Calvin Smith, Lary Myricks, Mike Conley ... On and on .... Many Legends of the sport ...And I got to see it ...

Conway