January 2002 Issue

T&FN Interview: Alan Webb
by Sieg Lindstrom

High School Athlete Of The Year Alan Webb galvanized the entire U.S. sport in '01. A boy lightning rod, he grounded the frustrated energy of thousands of mile fans who had eagerly awaited the next prep sub-4:00 for so long…

T&FN: Any thoughts looking back at your record-setting high school season before you begin your first collegiate track season?

Webb: Uh, I guess I'd like to see another U.S. high school miler break 4:00 this year. I think it can be done. Not to put pressure on these guys… well, actually I'd like to put some pressure on these guys. I'm dead serious. People say, "Don't put pressure on," blah, blah, blah. Screw that; put pressure on 'em.

I want to see Bobby Lockhart and Bobby Curtis duke it out. Those guys need to rock and roll; they need to keep it going…

(for more, see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

Where They Are Going

Our annual roundup of what went down in the collegiate recruiting wars. New recruits, transfers, redshirts, scholastic ineligibilites; they're all listed here.

(for more, see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

Rating The Collegiate Recruiting Classes

For the first time each, Michigan's men and South Carolina's women were judged to have the year's best recruiting classes. Wolverine mentor Ron Warhurst became the first ever to recruit a pair of prep sub-4:00 milers, pairing Alan Webb with Canadian Nathan Brannen, while Gamecock head Curtis Frye picked up a class comprised almost completely of All-America choices, led by two-time High School Athlete Of The Year Lashinda Demus.

(for details on the first 5 teams, see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

Quickie 2002 NCAA Outdoor Champs Preview

Our collegiate-prognostication experts say that the defending NCAA Outdoor Championships winners will come up aces again in Baton Rouge in June. Tennessee's men project as a narrow 64-59 winner over host LSU, while USC (72) figures to be in a tight 3-way battle with South Carolina (65) and UCLA (64).

(for the top 10 teams for each sex--plus the projected individual winners--see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

Webb & Demus Named High School Athletes Of The Year

Alan Webb was a unanimous choice as High School Men's Athlete Of The Year for 2002. The top 10 vote-getters:
1. Alan Webb (South Lakes, Reston, Virginia)
2. Niklas Arrhenius (Mountain View, Orem, Utah)
3. Dathan Ritzenhein (Rockford, Michigan)
4. Dwight Ruff (Camden, New Jersey)
5. Kevin Bookout (Stroud, Oklahoma)
6. Dabryan Blanton (Forney, Texas)
7. Bershawn Jackson (Central, Miami, Florida)
8. Brendan Christian (Reagan, Austin, Texas)
9. Bobby Most (United, Laredo, Texas)
10. Jason Hill (Quanah, Texas)

On the women's side, 300H recordsetter Lashinda Demus became the first ever to win two AOY titles with a year off in between. The women's top 10:
1. Lashinda Demus (Wilson, Long Beach, California)
2. Ychilidria Spears (Luling, Texas)
3. Angel Perkins (Gahr, Cerritos, California)
4. Shayla Balentine (Morro Bay, California)
5. Monique Henderson (Morse, San Diego, California)
6. Karen Freberg (San Luis Obispo, California)
7. Ashlee Williams (Dunne, Dallas, Texas)
8. Diana Pickler (Rowlett, Texas)
9. Stephanie Smith (Northeast, Macon, Georgia) 10. Erica Whipple (Palm Beach Lakes, West Palm Beach, Florida)

(for the Webb and Demus stories see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

2001 High School All-America Team
compiled by Jack Shepard & Mike Kennedy

Not since the sensational '60s was there a season in high school men's track & field with the headline-grabbing distance running we saw in the year 2000-and it got only better in '01 with Athlete Of The Year Alan Webb leading the way.

The Virginia standout convincingly broke Jim Ryun's thought-to-be-invincible 1500 (3:38.26) and mile (3:53.43) records and also topped the 800 list (1:47.74), anchored the fastest 4x8 and anchored his South Lakes team to a new distance medley record with a sub-4:00 carry. He's the first on the men's side ever to earn four No. 1s in the same year…

There's a definite air of familiarity about the 2001 women's All-America team. Familiarity from past editions, to be sure, but also familiarity once you work your way through this year's compilation.

Take Lashinda Demus for example. Our Athlete Of The Year choice has been there before, in '99. And long-hurdle leader Demus is all over the speed end of this year's squad, also earning No. 1s as part of Long Beach Wilson's 4x1, 4x4 and sprint medley squads. And she added a No. 3 in the 100H for good measure. The only previous 4-event winner was Sherri Howard in '80…

(for our 5-deep All-Am picks in every event see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

2001 High School Lists

Final 25-deep lists for the 2000-01 school year.

(for 50-deep lists, plus indoor lists and all-time lists indoors and out, buy a copy of "High School Track" from Jack Shepard)

2001 World Marathon Rankings

World champ Gezahegne Abera and World Record setter Catherine Ndereba have been named the top marathoners of the 2001 season.

(for the complete Top 10s, with their complete seasons--plus the U.S. Rankings--see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

NCAA Cross Country Championships
by Dan Lilot

Greenville, South Carolina, November 19-Is this what cross country is supposed to be? A warm day? Sunny skies? A manicured golf course? Dry ground with even footing?

Shouldn't the NCAA Championships-the culmination of the collegiate harrier season-be more befitting of the spirit of cross country? Where's the rain? The wind? And most importantly, where's the mud?…

But who cares? If you want slop, you should have been in Oostende in March for the World Cross. The NCAA gathering features the best two darn races going. Let's not trade it in for anything…

(for more, see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

NCAA Men: Epic 3-Way Team Battle
by Sean Hartnett

Just 10 minutes into the NCAA men's race Boaz Cheboiywo exploded to a 25-second lead, dispatching hobbled '99 champ David Kimani to the sidelines and leaving the chase pack far behind.

While Cheboiywo was running uncontested to the individual title, Colorado, Stanford and Arkansas were engaged in an epic team battle that matched the tactics of three of the sport's most accomplished coaches. Only the tale of the chute told the whole story as the late charge of Mark Wetmore's Buffaloes earned a 90-91 win over Vin Lananna's soph-dominated Stanford team. John McDonnell's defending champ Arkansas squad came up a man short at 118…

(for more, see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

NCAA Women: BYU Definitely A Family
by Dan Lilot

A collegiate cross country team with three married women-including one mother-may seem a bit odd, but BYU revels in odd. Odd years that is.

Patrick Shane's Cougars ran nearly a perfect team race to win their third title in five years, adding to their wins in '99 and '97. BYU was 2nd in the even years of '98 and '00.

The Cougars' 62-point score was the lowest winning total since Texas had the same winning sum in '86. Their 86-point winning margin over surprising NC State was the largest since Villanova won by a whopping 90 in '90…

(for more see the January Issue of Track & Field News)

Foot Locker High School Cross Country
by Mike Kennedy

Orlando, Florida, December 8-Amber Trotter used the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships to secure her place among the very best high school harriers of all time.

The Ukiah, California, senior successfully attacked the Oak Tree Shades Of Green golf course as few routes have been challenged. She ran near the lead for the first half-mile before establishing her dominance with a 5:05 first mile and at least a 50y lead that, in effect, ended the competition for 1st.

She followed that with a second mile in 5:25 and a third in 5:30 to pass 3M at 15:50. Her winning time over the 5000m course was 16:24, which smashed the course record of 16:55 set by fellow Californian Sara Bei last year…

(for more, see the January Issue of Track & Field News)