November 2001 Issue

Collegiate XC Preview
Men: Questions? Colorado Good Answer
by Don Kopriva

Questions abound as the NCAA Div. I cross country season starts, but the answers won't come until the afternoon of November 19 in Greenville, South Carolina, where Furman hosts the nationals for the second time:

Q. Can prep sensation Dathan Ritzenhein, now at Colorado, become the first frosh winner since Bob Kennedy in '88, and with Jorge Torres lead the Buffs to their first national crown?

Q. Can Arkansas overcome the loss of its top three and regroup to win a record 12th NCAA title?

Q. Can Stanford reprise its '97 win over Arkansas at Furman?

Q. Can prep mile star Alan Webb translate his success over 4 laps to success over 10K and bring Michigan back to prominence?

Q. Can Providence make up for the loss of individual winner Keith Kelly and bring New England its first team title since '41?...

(for more questions and all the answers see the November issue of Track & Field News)

The Frosh Factor
by Sieg Lindstrom

Can you guess the speaker? "I'm done. It's all about cross country anyway. Track stinks. I'm a 10,000m runner at heart."

Would you believe Alan Webb, the High School Record setter whose name will be forever linked with the mile and not the 10K?

Webb, now a frosh at Michigan, was half joking, of course, when he said it, the evening after placing 5th in the USATF 1500 final. But only half. Last year's Foot Locker prep nationals runner-up loves cross country too.

So do Dathan Ritzenhein and Ryan Hall, Webb's fellow leaders in last school year's distance dream class. The trio, along with Wisconsin's redshirt frosh pair, Matt Tegenkamp and Josh Spiker --plus Webb's roommate Nathan Brannen--represent a yearling wave whose potential crest at the cross nationals could be high indeed...

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

Women: Stanford Chasing Colorado
by Sieg Lindstrom

Early polls say defending champion Colorado. Recruiting honors and team depth say Stanford. It all depends what you like: six Buff returnees, minus 2000's individual titlist Kara Grgas-Wheeler but augmented with track 10K 5th-placer Molly Austin, or the Cardinal's track 5K winner Lauren Fleshman leading a group that includes six women with Foot Locker high school nationals credentials of 2nd or better.

For now Colorado (see p. 29) gets the edge, but Stanford head coach Vin Lananna says...

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

Buffalo Stampede
by Sieg Lindstrom

The tea leaves are always greener on the other side... or something like that. Colorado coach Mark Wetmore has mixed, though generally enthusiastic, feelings about preseason polls that predicted his men's and women's squads will each win NCAA titles at Furman in November.

"I'd rather be ranked No. 10 in both of them," Wetmore says, "but we're proud that we have accomplished enough in the recent years that the voting coaches think highly of us. And we're doing everything that we can to live up to their confidence."

If the Buffaloes do manage to trample the opposition, Colorado will become just the third school--following Wisconsin '85 & Stanford '96--to carry home both trophies.
"I think we have the two best returning teams we've ever had," says Wetmore, whose women last year won Colorado's first team crown behind since-graduated Kara Grgas-Wheeler as the Buff men finished 2nd to Arkansas.

Last year's 3rd-placer Jorge Torres, the top men's returnee and just a junior, heads a group...

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

Jan Zelezny: Simply The Best
by Chris Turner

The three medalists in the men's javelin at the World Championships come around the corner of the screened path leading from the victory stand to the press conference room. First to appear is 3rd-placer Kostas Gatsioúdis of Greece; then it's runner-up Aki Parviainen of Finland; lastly, lagging some way behind, is the Czech Republic's gold medalist, Jan Zelezny.

Of the three, it is Zelezny who looks the least like a thrower and also the least like a champion. Relatively small in stature at 6-1 1/4 and 179lbs, quiet and unshaven, he does not immediately conjure up the image of an international superstar. Yet he is (arguably?) the greatest javelin thrower the world has ever seen. This afternoon he has succeeded once more in demolishing the championship ambitions of the rest of the world's best throwers, taking his third WC gold. And, of course, he is history's only three-time Olympic champion in the event and has held the World Record for more than 8 years.

In the Edmonton final, despite a gigantic 299-7 opening throw--a meet record--from defending champion Parviainen, Zelezny's competitive reputation clearly hung over his opponents from the start. Thus, it was no real surprise that in the very next round Zelezny unleashed his spear 304-5, the ninth-longest throw ever, to snatch the gold. He had crushed the opposition with one effort and not even Parviainen, the second-longest thrower of all-time, could respond.

As Zelezny prepared himself for the post-competition press conference, his reply to the opening question summed up his supreme competitive confidence...

JAN ZELEZNY'S PROGRESSION

Year   Age      Mark       Rank
1986   20       270-7      (-)
1987   21       287-7 WR   (2)
1988   22       285-0 WL   (2)
1989   23       278-0      (5)
1990*  24       294-2 WR   (5)
1991*  25       297-8      (2)
1992   26       295-10 WL  (1)
1993   27       313-10 WR  (1)
(also 313-5 WR)
1994   28       301-3 WL   (1)
1995   29       302-9      (1)
1996   30       323-1 WR   (1)
1997   31       308-5 WL   (2)
1998   32       injured
1999   33       292-2      (2)
2000   34       297-2      (1)
2001   35       304-5 WL   (1?)

*=made with rough-tailed implement (used by all throwers those years) no longer considered legal; in '92 threw 310-10 with another innovative implement later banned.
WR=World Record; WL=yearly world list leader.

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

Big Payoffs Down Under

In Edmonton, athletes were running for gold medals. After they left the World Championships, however, the object became gold, literally and figuratively.

First, the IAAF's Golden League wrapped up in Berlin (see p. 14), with six athletes--André Bucher, Hicham El Guerrouj, Allen Johnson, Marion Jones, Violeta Szekely & Olga Yegorova--splitting 50kg of gold bars. That meant an individual jackpot of about $60,000 each.

After Berlin, the focus shifted to Australia, where a pair of meetings each promised great rewards for the world's super-elite athletes...

The Final Grab For Gold Bars

Berlin, Germany, August 31--Five aspirants--Olga Yegorova, André Bucher, Allen Johnson, Hicham El Guerrouj, Stephanie Graf--still needed a last-meet victory to claim a share of the Golden League jackpot.

The most visible of those was Yegorova, who found herself in an image-rebuilding campaign after the public-relations disaster surrounding her brief suspension for apparent EPO usage.

One of the Russian distance star's critics, Gabriela Szabo, elected to stop her season early, but Britain's Paula Radcliffe, another angry rival, was still around to attempt an upset.
Throughout the first half of the 5000, Radcliffe and Gete Wami stayed near the lead, with Yegorova keeping them in sight but at a distance of as much as 25m.

Meanwhile, pacemakers Olga Komyagina (2:55.79, 5:51.14) and Edith Masai (8:44.49) were setting a furious tempo. Yegorova was only interested in winning, not in eliciting superlatives, but after 3km, the Edmonton 5K champion must have wondered how long this craziness was going to last.

Well into the fourth kilometer, the Russian was noticeably slipping back even more...

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

Goodwill Games--MJs Make Headlines
by Roy Conrad

Brisbane, Australia, September 4-7--Two superstar MJs highlighted the fifth edition of the Goodwill Games, the first not held in the U.S. or Russia.

In his final appearance in a U.S. national uniform, Michael Johnson anchored the 4x4 winners (3:00.52) with a 45.06 carry to outrun Jamaica (3:01.57) by more than a full second.

Johnson was preceded by three-quarters of the World Championships unit in Leonard Byrd (45.7), Derrick Brew (44.8) and Antonio Pettigrew (44.9).

"I wanted to dedicate this year to the fans and it's been a lot of fun," said the 33-year-old Johnson, with just one race in Japan left in his career. "I will miss the sport because it's been such a big part of my life. I'm sad, not so much that my career is ending because that's a decision I consciously made. I'm a little sad that the year is going to end because I've had a great time. But I'm looking forward to retirement."

Marion Jones capped her '01 campaign with a triumph of her own...

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

Big Bucks: Bucher, Szekely
by Roy Conrad

Melbourne, Australia, September 9--Allen Johnson and Violeta Szekely came to the IAAF's Grand Prix Final as overall men's and women's leaders, but only the Romanian left town with the winner's $100,000 check.

Szekely added another $50K to her pot, the award to each event winner, after her usual homestretch kick carried her to a 4:03.46 win at 1500. Her 116 points easily outscored 800 winner Maria Mutola (105).

Johnson came oh-so-close but ended up a single point shy after Swiss 800 star André Bucher (see sidebar) won like clockwork and totaled 102 points to claim the 100 grand, as well as the $50K event prize.

Bucher again faced his Russian nemesis Yuriy Borzakovskiy, just as in six of the seven two-lappers during the Golden League season. The Swiss won five of those clashes, succumbing only to Borzakovskiy's storming finish in the out-too-quick Brussels race.

Unlike the GL races, though, the Final had no rabbit to set a fast early pace, a tactic which favored Bucher's frontrunning style. Kenya's Edmonton runner-up Wilfred Bungei clocked a more conservative 53.34 first circuit, towing Bucher, William Yiampoy and Borzakovskiy.

The Russian surged to the front at 600 (1:20.62), but...

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

45th Annual Relay Rankings: Florida Wins Both
compiled by Walt Murphy

For the first time ever, the same college team--Florida--has won both the men's and women's titles in the annual Track & Field News National Relay Rankings. The 2001 ratings are featured in the magazine's just-published November edition.

The Gator squads are the first same-school winners in the 22-year history of combined men's and women's ratings, as well the first in the 45-year overall history of the compilations.

MEN:
Florida's Gators, coached by Doug Brown, led only the sprint medley but scored in five other events to edge Stanford by a point. The Cardinal pace the three longest distance relays, repeating as distance medley leader.

Other teams to repeat their top ratings from '00 are TCU's 4x2 and Baylor's NCAA-winning 4x4.

Event Leaders--
4 x 100: 1. HSI.
4 x 200: 1. TCU;. . . 8. Florida.
4 x 400: 1. Baylor;;. . . 5. Florida.
4 x 800: 1. Stanford;. . . 7. Florida.
4 x Mile: 1. Stanford.
Sprint Medley: 1. Florida.
Distance Medley: 1. Stanford;. . . 7. Florida.
4 x 110 Hurdles: 1. Tennessee; 2. Florida.

Teams: 1. Florida 31; 2. Stanford 30; 3. tie, TCU & Tennessee 27; 5. HSI 19.

WOMEN:
It was a tough year for defenders as Tom Jones's Lady Gators grabbed Florida's first title since '92 ahead of '00 winner South Carolina. But the Gamecocks 4x4 was the only squad to retain an event title, all others producing new winners.

Event Leaders--
4 x 100: 1. LSU;. . . 4. Florida.
4 x 200: 1. LSU;. . . 4. Florida.
4 x 400: 1. South Carolina;. . . 7. Florida.
4 x 800: 1. Florida.
4 x 1500: 1. Arkansas.
Sprint Medley: 1. Florida.
Distance Medley: 1. North Carolina;. . . 7. Florida.
4 x 100 Hurdles: 1. Illinois.

Teams: 1. Florida 42; 2. South Carolina 27; 3. LSU 26; 4. North Carolina 24; 5. Georgetown 23.

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

Do They Belong? Rabbits In Champs 1500s
by Alan Shank

Now that it appears Hicham El Guerrouj may leave the 1500 for longer distances, I decided to look back on his championship career and that of his predecessor, Noureddine Morceli. The impetus for this was a rereading of the '97 WC edition of T&FN. In the story on the 1500, won by El Guerrouj with Morceli 4th, Jeff Hollobaugh posed this scenario:

"Whether [El G's] career will unfold the way his predecessor's has, with an endless chase for records behind a procession of rabbits, or whether he will retain the fearlessness that marked his rise to the top, these are questions that only El Guerrouj can answer."
Well, I guess they have been answered, and in spades! Not only did El Guerrouj chase--and catch--the 1500, mile and 2000 records behind a procession of rabbits, but with the help of a couple of teammates he also turned the last three major championship 1500s into GP-like, paced races as well, with mixed results...

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)

Sprinting Out Of Nowhere: J.J. Johnson
by Andy Friedlander

For years, J.J. Johnson had talked the talk... to anyone who would listen.

Mostly, that turned out to be his fiancée, Nikki Mitchell, who had heard it since she had met Johnson back at North Garland High, near Dallas. The 6-foot-3 former high school and college basketball player had run in exactly one track meet in his life, but he was forever bragging that he could run with the fastest men on earth.

"He always said that if he got out there on the track, he could beat about anyone," says Mitchell, who became Mrs. Johnson in March. "I'd always said, 'Yeah, right.' Then one day he says he's going to do it, that he's going to start working out every day and running in meets. I couldn't believe it. I said, 'Joshua, what have you done?' "

What Joshua Jermaine ("J.J.") Johnson, 25, has done is exactly what he said he was going to do. Within 18 months of the day he began training seriously under Nicholson Scott, Johnson owned a World Champs gold in the 4x1 and the fastest 200 time in the world--19.88 to win the Brussels Golden League (T&FN, October).
And he's only just begun...

(for more see the November issue of Track &Field News)

Splashing In Rare Water: Anthony Famiglietti
by Jon Hendershott

Anthony Famiglietti has decided he was fated to win the World University Games steeplechase. The Tennessee grad struck gold in Beijing (see p. 16) with an 8:21.97 effort, just off the 8:21.00 PR he ran in his international debut race at Stockholm in July.

The 22-year-old New Yorker's time in China also just missed the meet record of 8:21.26 set in '81 by the only other American to win the WUG steeple, fellow Long Island native John Gregorek.
And it was the first U.S. steeple victory in a international title meet since Gregorek's as well as being the first U.S. medal in a global affair since Brian Diemer's '84 Oly bronze.

Famiglietti returned from China via Chicago, the medal in his backpack. Standing in an airport line, another traveler saw the USA bag and asked what event he did. Famiglietti said he ran the steeplechase. The other passenger replied, "Oh, my brother-in-law ran the steeple. His name is John Gregorek."

Famiglietti laughs in telling the story, but that's the way his career seems to have gone: one revelation after another...

(for more see the November issue of Track & Field News)