Coaches’ Blog

Well, it seems like I am the only person on the planet that is hesitating at this trip.  Everyone else seems to be on the same page.  I guess that sometimes an idea can seem too good to be true.  That must have been it.  I couldn’t actually come up with a reason not to go and that was throwing up a red flag.  I thought I must have been missing something.  Thanks especially to Marion for basically ordering me to go.  (even after her first google search for info on Denali resulted in the story of two girls getting lost in the park for 4 days)

My walks in the Fells with Luka have been a bit tougher recently as I’ve added a 35lb pack to the morning romp.  Maybe in the long run it will help Luka.  He no longer assumes that I’m leaving him when I pack up my backpack – now he thinks he’s getting a 2 hour walk.      

Every one of you is all too right.  It just seems like too great of an opportunity to turn down.  I won’t lie.  I still have a little nervousness around my return trip leading directly into a flight to Kenya.  I believe it was about a month ago that I was talking about how much 16 hours on a plane was going to be miserable.  I’m the idiot who decided to tack another 10 hours onto that.  I guess I’ll have fun sleeping in airports in Anchoridge, Minneapolis, Boston, New York, London, Nairobi, and Lamu.  I feel like I’m living in an Indiana Jones movie and the red line bouncing around the screen is me.  

“First our intrepid hero must forage for the ancient artifact at the base of Mt McKinley.  Then he has to save the imprisoned damsel in Kenya.  Following that he returns to historic Medford to battle for the ever-elusive berth to Nationals.”

Enter Hero (stage left):

Now that I think about it – I guess I’m the one tagging along on my friend’s trip.  He’s probably the hero.  I’m probably…Marcus Brody.  Damn. 

Elsa: It’s perfectly obvious where the pages are. He’s given them to Marcus Brody. 
Professor Henry Jones: Marcus? You didn’t drag poor Marcus along did you? He’s not up to the challenge. 
Walter Donovan: He sticks out like a sore thumb. We’ll find him. 
Indiana Jones: The hell you will. He’s got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Brody’s got friends in every town and village from here to the Sudan, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he’ll blend in, disappear, you’ll never see him again. With any luck, he’s got the grail already. 
[Cut to middle of fair in the Middle East, Marcus Brody wearing bright suit and white hat, sticking out like sore thumb] 
Marcus Brody: Uhhh, does anyone here speak English? 

So I spoke with a really close friend from college last night.  To make a long story short, he’s leaving for a hiking trip in Alaska in a week.  

Should I go?  

It’s an interesting question with a few different angles.  In isolation, I can’t think of a better way of spending a week than hiking out into the Alaskan wilderness with nothing but a compass and a topo map.  No trails, no camp sites, just you, your pack, and your faith that the bears won’t eat you.  That being said, am I being selfish?  I’ve had a nice 10 day trip to the Olympic Trials…already a great summer.  I’m leaving in August for a couple weeks in Kenya during the Great Migration…one of the better summers of my life.  Add in a week long hiking trip in Alaska…best ever?  Is it almost too much?  

I just can’t escape two of my favorite things to ramble about in team meetings – balance and regrets.  I harp on ‘balance of life’ so much, but I am not always the best role model for leading a balanced life.  I live and breathe XC/Track for most of the year which makes me seem like a rather large hypocrite when I talk about needing more than running in your life.  Maybe this is one way to balance out my life. 

And then we have regrets – my absolute favorite subject.  Life is about limiting regrets.  It is the regrets that keep us up at night.  I feel that people more often regret things that they haven’t done.  More so than mistakes they’ve actually made.  I don’t want this to be a regret that haunts me for the rest of my life.  I don’t know if I will ever have the opportunity to just pick up shop and fly to Alaska on a whim.  There aren’t many people that ever have that chance.  For me to think it will present itself twice is a bit naive.

I just don’t know.  It seems too good to be true.  There has to be a catch to all this.  I would like nothing more than simply packing up and heading to Alaska, but I can’t get past this odd feeling in my gut.  Something has me second guessing the decision.  Am I getting old?  Am I losing my spontaneity?  Or am I just hungry?  

Any thoughts?  

But before you weigh in, just do a google image search for ‘denali national park’  then let me know what you think.  

Isn’t it the truth.  To become an Olympian.  It’s the dream of so many young athletes who sit at home and watch the world’s best compete on the biggest stage.  How many young swimmers want to be Phelps and how many young 800m runners wish they had Nick Symmonds’ kick.  The sad thing is that, for every Symmonds and Phelps, there is an Anwar Moore and Khedevis Robinson out there.  

My heart truly goes out to you two in particular this week.  Not that anyone else’s 4th place finish (or 8th place finish in the case of Moore) is any less heart-wrenching, but for you two it is a little different.  Khedevis Robinson (800m), just like Lauryn Williams in the 200m, had his Olympic dreams ripped away from him at the line by a dive.  I give all the credit to Christian Smith.  He truly left it all out on the track and deserves to be heading to Beijing, but so did Khedevis and so does Khedvis.  

Khedevis and Moore are the real heart-wrenching ones.  Neither will be getting on the plane.  Khedevis led the entire final race of the men’s 800m.  He took them threw in 50.3 and 1:17.  He is the 2nd best 800m in the US right now.  But he got out dove by Christian Smith in what will go down as one of the most exciting 800m races in US history.  And I’ll have to paraphrase Brad Alan Lewis with this one when I say that the three worst words to Khedvis right now are “two thousand twelve.”

Moore is the same way.  This may have been his last shot in the 110H.  He’s 29 right now at the end of his peak as a hurdler.  33 is a whole other ball game for an elite hurdler.  What happened to Moore?  The hurdles.  There is a reason that it is the 2nd most stressful event for decathletes.  It is one of the biggest question marks on the track.  You never know when one is going to jump up and bite you.  I can’t even due justice to Anwar so I’m not going to try.  Running in 3rd place for over 80% of your race and to misstep in just 1 of your 50 strides in the 110HH.  For that, your Olympic dreams are smashed.

This can actually be a pretty cruel sport sometimes.  If you want to get an even better picture of Anwar’s situation, then you should read Jim Caple article on ESPN.com.  He is quite eloquent with Anwar and other’s situation. 

http://proxy.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/columns/story?columnist=caple_jim&id=3475952

On a similar note, there is no doubt that Lauryn Williams ran a better 200m race than Marshevet Hooker on Sunday evening; yet, Hooker will be dawning the red, white, and blue in the 200m next month and not Lauryn Williams.  Some may say that the women’s 200m finals is proof that Karma truly does exist.  Lauryn Williams nipped Hooker at the line by 0.03 seconds in the 100m finals to push her off the 100m team.  It is fitting that Marshevet would repay the favor in the 200m by 0.01 seconds.  

The only difference is that Williams ‘out-leaned’ Hooker in the 100m whereas Hooker ‘out-tripped’ Williams in the 200m.  Have you ever heard the phrase “won by a nose?”  Well, Marshevet did exactly that.  She wiped out two strides from the line and her well-timed fall was the most perfect ‘lean’ in the history of the 200m.  She made up a fraction of a meter with her tumble and it was just enough to make the team over Williams.  Wow.  This really is a game of inches.

These ladies’ stories aren’t even close to heart wrenching though because they’re both traveling.  And Hooker always had the 4×100 anyways.  But to Khedevis, Anwar, Will Leer, and others – I tip my hat to you.  You are the best of the best and some of you are even Olympic finals caliber athletes.  I know that doesn’t make it hurt any less, but time heals all wounds.  

Nothing beats a red-eye flight to cap off a great week.  I’ve  been lucky up until now. That was my first red-eye.  I feel okay.  Decided to come to the office today.  Too many thoughts to keep stored in my head.  Needed to make sure they’re all on paper before they fade away.  

Also, now that the trials are over, we can step back and take a look at the team.  That’s a daunting task so I think I’ll have to start with just the men for now.  Feel free to chime in with any thoughts of your own.  It would be great to hear from you.  I imagine you all had much different perspectives as the coverage you saw was more complete in some ways.  

Sprints – We obviously have some big questions going into the games.  What shape will Gay be in given his injury?  Sure, Maurice and Michael had a similar injury at the trials and were able to step up at the games, but every injury is different.  The past in no way dictates the future.  Beyond that, can Dix withstand another 100/200 double with rounds?  He looked stronger than ever this week, but it has been a while since we’ve seen a healthy Dix.  Which one will show up?  

We’re as studly as ever in the 400, but I don’t expect the sweep again.  Wariner got the kick in the pants he needed, but he came in second as much on Merritt’s great race as he did on his sloppy one.  It is nice to have a pair of guys that could bring home gold on any given day.  

Oliver and Trammell looked great this weekend in the HH.  They both got to run some seriously wind-aided races, but the talent and experience is there.  With Xiang having his entire country on his shoulders next month, I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone sneak up and get him.  Oliver could be that man.  That being said, I could also see Xiang running 12.70 and running away with it.

The quarter hurdlers looked just as strong as the high’s.  The only real question rests on the legs of Angelo Taylor.  His pull up got put on the back burner once Gay tweaked.  Taylor’s people released that it was simply fatigue, and he had all the right to be fatigued, but let’s just hope that’s all it is.  

Mid D / Distance – Other than Symmonds in the 800, there isn’t too much proven talent in the trio.  There is talent, but not proven.  It has been over a year since Smith was running 1:44 and Wheating has never dipped under.  Big questions in the 800m.  

I really like the three in the 1500.  I feel they are our best trio in years.  They have the kicking talent as well as the endurance to get through the rounds.  It will be nice to see Lamong racing without having to run three 800’s before his first 1500.  Lagat is a stud.  I was not surprised to see Webb falling back in the finals.  It has been his MO for a few big meets now.  He can put up a great race ever couple of weeks, but when it comes to running three 1500’s in a few days, it takes a different runner.  

That brings me to the 5k/10k.  There is some great talent in the mix but I don’t see them making any big noise.  Besides Lagat, there isn’t anything resembling a stud, but I think we’ve seen enough 5k and 10k’s to realize that if you’re in it in the last mile and feel good, anything can happen.  

Jumps – I’m not too crazy about our jumps squad this year, but it will be nice to see what Boo Schexnayder can do with them.  Sure it is only a month from the games, but Boo is a great jumps coach.  Our HJers are HJers.  What do I mean by that?  Consistency is key.  Will it be there?  We’re missing one of our best TJer and our PV’s looked quite fallible this week.  Again, the talent is there, but everyone at the Olympics has talent.  Sure Walker is the #1 seed with his American Record, but I didn’t see that at the trials (on the runway where he set the record a month earlier).

Throws – Again, we’re a bit weak once you move beyond the SP.  The SPers are the best out there, but beyond that, it will be hard going to see the finals.  AG Kruger could make a bid in the HT and Ian Waltz in the disc, but I don’t know if I see the medal stand in their future.

Decathlon – Possible sweep, American Record.  Enough said.  

Relays – The depth is difficult to argue with.  I’m always excited to see what they relays will put together.  More importantly, who actually runs on the finals 4×400 team since the 400IHers are so dominant as well.  

I hope I didn’t leave anyone out.  Basically, there is a huge swing of possibilities in these games.  Not many automatics.  And the autos that are suiting up for the Olympics now have physical questions.  It could be a very disappointing flight home for many of the Americans or it could be one of the best showings ever.  Needless to say, this is why we run the meet.  Personally, I prefer it this way.  I like a little mystery and possibility with my track & field.  I wouldn’t have it any other way.  

If you’re a USOC member then it has been a tough couple days for you.  First you see your American Record holder in the javelin throw as if he hasn’t touched the spear in years, not throwing one warm up toss.  Then you see your prodigal son in the 100/200m pull up and tumble to the track in what appears to be a sizeable hamstring injury.  But wait, it’s just a “severe cramp.”  Whoa, that was close.  We can all rest easy now.  

As you exhale your 2nd deep breath, you realize two major problems with what you were just told.  First, what the hell is a “severe cramp?”  In 20+ years of being around the sport of track and field, you’ve never even heard of a sever cramp before, but now it is what just happened to the fastest 100m runner in the history of humankind (under any circumstances).  Second, you heard this from his personal manager.  What, is it really that bad?  Am I grasping at straws that much and hoping beyond hoping that I am taking medical advice from Gay’s manager.  

Yes, that is exactly the case.  It has reached that point.  He is that critical to US sprinting.  And you know what, I’m right there with the USOC.  Although I find this severe cramp explanation a complete farce and a minimization of the problem, I want to believe it more than anything.  Gay is a machine.  I would like nothing more than to see him head to head with Bolt and Asafa.  I guess even the fastest machines need an oil change from time to time.  

Living in Boston, I am surrounded by the largest population of Monday-morning quarterbacks ever amassed in one city.  These individuals honestly feel that because they’ve read a newspaper article, played some baseball in the past, or better yet, just watched a lot of Red Sox games that they have the secret to the game and should be the next manager or GM of the big league team.  The same is true for the Patriots and Celtics.  People pretty much leave the Bruins alone out of pity. 

And now, here I sit in Eugene, OR – Tracktown, USA – and I realize that most people here believe that because they’ve read Jack Daniels that they comprehend all they need to know to understand these Olympic hopefuls.  Don’t get me wrong, I am amazed that this town can put together 21,000 people, night after night, to cheer on the qualifying rounds of the 200m.  They definitely know how to support their athletes and watch their track meets. 

I have not yet heard one spectator complain about all the down time between events.  Everyone understands how a track meet will work and they give out support across-the-board.  Granted the Oregon Ducks, Lane CC, and Oregon Track Club runners get it a bit louder than the rest, but there’s nothing wrong with cheering on the home team. 

Tracktown, USA is a perfect name for Eugene, OR.  Their droves of distance runners pack the streets for road race 10k’s and would continue straight into the stadium to watch the finals of the 5k and 1500m semifinals.  The only problem is that it isn’t Track & Fieldtown, USA. 

Someone really needs to put together a seminar or workshop video to play on the big screen that can teach these fans how to progress through a ‘slow clap.’  It was comical last night as Chaunte Howard attempted 2.00m in the HJ.  The rest of the competitors tried to help lead the rhythm of the clap to no avail.  This crowd goes by the ‘if slow is good then fast must be better’ approach to supporting it’s field event athletes.  After about 2-3 claps each time, the entire fanbase is clapping away at maximum speed.  You better be okay with just a lot of noise motivating you over that bar or on your last jump, because you sure won’t be getting any rhythm out of this loyal applause. 

They may not be able to work a rhythm clap in unison, but this town sure knows how to recruit.  When Jordan Hasay shattered the HS 1500m record with her time of 4:14.50, it didn’t take long for the chant to start.  COME – TO – OREGON.  COME – TO – OREGON.  The chant rang through the stadium for about 20-30 seconds as the high school junior posed with her new record on the scoreboard.  It may seem funny, but I’ve known HS athletes to choose a college based on less.  It could work, and at the very least, it can’t hurt.  

Highlights of tonight’s events include – American Gladiator Hurricane, a.k.a. American Record Holder, Breax Greer fails to advance past qualifying rounds in the men’s javelin throw.  Actually gets beat by Roald Bradstock a competitor at the 1984 Games in LA.  Roald threw and impressive 225-5 from a 5 step approach.  I don’t know if his body can still handle the torque and explosiveness of the jav, but he can still chuck it.  He was out there really enjoying himself and it was great to see.

Roald wouldn’t be the only one seriously enjoying his stay in Eugene.  Adriane Stone (8^th place) continued to have the week of her life at the Olympic Trials.  Although it what was a somewhat disappointing women’s HJ competition with the exception of the top 2 performers, Stone put together a fan favorite performance this week.  Not only did she jump a PR in qualifying rounds simply to advance to yesterday’s finals, but she followed that up with another PR to finish 8^th overall. 

Plane to Eugene for unattached athlete – $300

Hotel stay for extra 2 days after qualifying – $200

PRing by 2 ½ inches at the Olympic Trials – Priceless

Oh and I guess Kara Goucher’s 15:01 was amazingly impressive and Abdi’s 27:41 was a thing of beauty, but that goes without question.  We’ll talk more about that later.    

Fast forward to the 2032 Olympic Trials. You have your tickets and can’t wait to go see what the latest and greatest can put together. You get to your seats and you start introducing yourself to the people around you. It only seems polite, since you’re probably going to see them a lot for the next eight days. And then you shake hands with some skinny, but fit, grey-haired gentlemen who is 48 years old, but could pass for 35. 

He says, “Hey…name’s Jeremy, nice to meet you.” It isn’t until you get the faint Texas accent that you take a peak at the name on his VIP placard. You then realize that you’ll be sitting next to Jeremy Wariner for the next eight days. The 2nd best 400m runner in American history. (let’s pretend he doesn’t break the record.)

As if that isn’t good enough, he is incredibly nice. He’s always bringing you food, drinks, and swag from the VIP’s suite that only the former Olympians have access to. And then he goes so far as to pull a bag of homemade cookies that he smuggled by the security tent. Nice…chocolate chip. I didn’t know Jeremy Wariner could bake? And with just a hint of cinnamon. Amazing. 

For all intents and purposes, that is exactly what happened to Kevin and I this week. Marion purchased tickets in section T for this year’s trials. What she didn’t realize was that the majority of section T was reserved for the entire 1980 Olympic Team. It would be Kevin Bright, Ethan Barron, and the 1980 US Olympic Team. Section T was the bumping 28 year reunion for the Olympic Team that never was. If you weren’t alive or don’t know, President Carter decided it would be a good idea to boycott the ’80 Olympic Games in Moscow. I’m sure he asked the athletes what they wanted before he made his decision.  

Enter Karin Smith. Karin Smith is easily one of the nicest people I’ve met in a very long time. Karin is a javelin thrower who dominated the javelin runway from the late 70’s to the early 90’s. She competed at two Olympic Games (’76, ’84), but probably had her strongest one taken away from her by Carter. 

Of the top 20 best throws in American history (before 1999 rule change), Karen holds eight of those spots. The other 12 spots are held by only one other woman. She is a 7-time national champion, 2-time Olympic finalist, and still holds the record for farthest throw by a collegian. Her dominant PR of 212-6 is nothing short of amazing. The majority of the 1980 team only stayed for the first weekend leaving plenty of Section T open for lounging track fans. And by lounging track fans, I mean Kevin, Karin and myself. 

Karin has truly added to our experience at this year’s trials and I consider ourselves quite lucky to have met her. On top of the food, drink and dessert, she scored us the updated printouts for the decathlon after every event that are usually reserved for coaches and athletes. 

Her humility is one of her best traits. As we watched the women’s javelin finals she was quite embarrassed when I asked ‘if any of these women had anything on her.’ If her silence didn’t answer the question for us, the emphatic head shaking of her friend sitting in front of her sealed the deal. It would be that night that I googled Karin and realized that we were truly sitting next to Jeremy Wariner…and he baked us cookies. 

Quick shout out to Vermont’s Own Andrew Wheating who finished 2nd in the 800m as a college (Univ of Oregon) sophomore. Let’s talk about this for a second. Andrew Wheating went to a small high school in VT that didn’t even have a track program. He then takes up serious running in college and drops his PR from 1:50 to 1:45. He then goes on to run an impressive finals in the Olympic Trials to qualify for his first Olympic Games. 

He has been by far the biggest fan favorite so far amongst the Oregon natives. I was torn between cheering for DIII’s Symmonds and VT’s Wheating. Both had more than enough support, but I figured that VT needed more cheering than anything. Ignoring the winter games, VT rarely has someone vying for a trip to the Olympics. 

For all his confidence leading up to the finals, Wheating looked like the most surprised person amongst the 21,000 people at Hayward Field last night. I expect that he still hasn’t figured how to wipe that Cheshire grin off his face yet. It has been a long time since I’ve seen someone show that much joy following a sporting event. 

The funny thing is – both Wheating and Symmonds ran the exact same race that they did in the prelims. I am not a totally stubborn man, I can admit when I’m wrong. Two days ago, I wrote that they would need a little more than they showed in the prelims if they wanted to finish in the top 3. They proved me wrong, they stuck with their game plan and it all worked out. 

Yet again, at 600m, I didn’t think that Symmonds could ever get out of his 7th place spot stuck on the rail. This time though, it was a much more impressive than lane one parting for him. This time he just proved that he was far, far superior than the rest of the half milers out there. With 200m left he surged through a small gap and was…gone. He is able to see gaps in a different way than most 800m runners. When he hits a hole, he’s already gone. Any other 800m runner would not have been able to make the move that he made without being called for cutting off another competitor. Symmonds; however, put on a surge that amazed. 

Ultimately, I don’t think Symmonds has the pure speed of his competitors. I don’t know if he could take them in a flat 200m or a flat 400m. But he doesn’t need to. He needs to be able to beat them in a 400m after coming through in 50 point. And he can do just that. It was almost like he didn’t run a 50.5 first 400 or a 1:17 at the 600m. He just took off to gap his competitors. I’m excited to see what he’ll do in another month against the fastest in the world. 

Although he proved me wrong two days ago. I’ll say it again. I still believe he’ll need a different strategy against the best that the world has to offer. I definitely believe that he has the physical capabilities to take down the American Record. But there is quite a difference between the 1:44 and 1:42. A little better strategy will be needed. 

If you missed the finals live on TV, I highly recommend trying to find a replay on Sportcenter, Youtube, or something. At the very least you should try to find some pictures on the web because although I’ve talked about Wheating and Symmonds a lot, it wasn’t even the most impressive part of the race. You have to find a way to see the layout by Christian Smith for 3rd place…talk about leaving it all on the track. 

And after all that about the great 800m runners, Bernard Lagat put together the most impressive half mile of the night. His relaxed 1:56 was a the most amazing half mile considering it came after he had already run 4200m. Finally, Wariner is a stud. He jogged his 400m semifinal. He didn’t even look winded after his 44.66. I’ve seen time trials and workout intervals tire people out more. 

It’s a good thing we have two days off now…too much excitement. Time for some great Oregon hiking. 

I have to say, today the future US Olympic team seemed much more human than yesterday. Yesterday was a day of great competition and elevating of performance. Although there were still some great performances, many of the future Olympians seemed to have quite a few chinks in the armor. 

The biggest let down was probably Brad Walker’s vaulting display, or lack there of. He cleared one height on the day and it was enough to earn him the 3rd spot on the Olympic PVing team, but he didn’t look anything like the American Record Holder that vaulted on this pit at the Prefontaine Classic. His clearance of 5.65m was almost a full 40cm under his performance from a month before. I hope that we can expect more from all three of our PVer’s in another month or it will be a disappointing flight home. 

In the decathlon, defending indoor heptathlon World Champion Bryan Clay seemed like a freshmen at his first big meet when Tom Pappas opened up with mammoth PR’s in the LJ and SP. And I mean mammoth. Pappas PR’d by over 4 feet in the SP. He completely bypassed the 16m mark and went straight from 15m throws to 17m bombs. Going into the HJ, Clay was so flustered his HJ warm-ups and first too jumps looked lazy and haggard. 

He stepped up to avoid the NH, but it wasn’t until Pappas opened the door for him by failing to clear 1.99m that he started to seem motivated in the meet. He went on to almost match his PR in the event, but it is tough to have your motivation dependant on how the other athlete performs. At this level you need to be the one putting the pressure on the competition regardless of the situation. Day 2 of the decathlon is shaping up to be fantastic as there is a mere 71 points separating 1st and 3rd. 

Don’t get me wrong, there were still some incredibly memorable performances this afternoon. Trevell Quinley moving from 4th to 1st on his final jump in the LJ to take the title was a huge jump considering he bumped reigning gold medal winner, Dwight Phillips, out of the top three. 

Bershawn Jackson, Kerron Clement, and Angelo Taylor comprise one of the best 400IH squads that I can remember. There is so much world class hardware hanging around their necks that it isn’t funny. Angelo Taylor actually came back about 20mins after the 400IH finals to try to qualify in the open 400 as well. Yes, I said 20 mins. Luckily he was in heat 4 instead of 1 or else it would have been 8 minutes later. 

Sadly he pulled up lame heading into the 2nd turn. Here’s to hoping that everything is okay, Angelo. You seriously went after the quarter-hurdles today and it would be a shame to have you miss out on your plane ticket because of a gutsy double. 

Oh – and there was a little man known as Tyson Gay clocking in at a paltry 9.68 seconds. Ho hum. Hopefully he’ll actually step up and really run the 200m. (That’s sarcasm if you didn’t pick up on it.) 

Day 2 in the bag. Where to start? 

VT’s own Kasey Hill in the heptathlon? American record in the 100m? Four person pile up in the 800m? Best heptathlon 800 ever? How about a 10th grader in the 800m semis? 

How about the strangest strategical 800m I have ever seen run. Take everything you know about 800m tactics – now throw it out the window and you’ve got Nick Symmonds semifinal 800m race today. 2 heats of 8. Top 4 in each heat advance. No one on times.

Nick took it out a bit slower than his competition. Something that he’s very, very good at, so I wasn’t too shocked. He is one of the best ‘2nd half’ mid D runners that I’ve ever seen; however, he never left the rail. Not once. He was in 6th place after 200, 400, 600m. So what does he do? He makes a strong move on the inside rail. 

I actually turned to Kevin and said “What the $?*@ is he doing?!” Off the final turn he was still running in 6th place with no hope of getting out and around his competition. Now I didn’t see him, but Moses must have been sitting somewhere in the grand stands. He had to be there, because lane 1 just ‘parted’ out of nowhere and Nick had a free pass to winning his heat and moving on the finals. He deserves to be there. No doubt at all about that. He is one of the best in the nation, if not the world right now. But I don’t know if he’ll be able to finish in the top 3 on Monday with another race like that. 

On the flip side of that coin – Andrew Wheating ran an unbelievably, tactically perfect 800m in front of the home crowd. U of O’s own and the NCAA runner up proved that he could run with the best and did so in great fashion with beautiful tactics. It’s tough to say ‘flawless’ since he actually got beat by 0.09 seconds in his heat, but it was a great race. 

The half mile was the premiere event of the day as far as I’m concerned even with finals in the W100m and SP. And it wasn’t just because of the men’s heats. In the first heat of the women’s 800m, there was a four car pile up that cleared house in the 8 women heat. As a result of the fall, there will be a nine woman final in two days. It seems that when you’re fast and people know it – you don’t necessarily need to ‘qualify’ for the finals in order to run in the finals. On top of all that, Laura Roesler finished 12th at the US National Championships as a 10th grader. What were you doing in 10th grade? I doubt it was finishing 12th at US Nationals. 

Finally, the women’s heptathlon had a 20 point differential between 3rd and 4th place going into the final event…the 800m. Now usually, that is no big deal. One woman runs a 2:28 while the other clocks in at 2:13 and it isn’t even a race. Not today though. A trip to Beijing would come down to two women running shoulder to shoulder for the final quarter mile. In the end, Johnson would make up 10 points on Pickler, but fail to overcome the 20 point deficit. Needless to say, it isn’t too often that you see a heptathlon come down to 20,000 people staring up at a screen waiting to see if the gap was 1 ½ seconds or not. Let alone a heptathlon at the Olympic Trials…for 3rd place…and a ticket. 

What a day 1. More to come…