January 2003 Issue

T&FN Top 40s-Final 2002 Lists

MILE
3:48.28 Hicham El Guerrouj (Mor)
3:49.49 William Chirchir (Ken)
3:49.50 Rui Silva (Por) NR
3:50.16 Laban Rotich (Ken)
3:50.69 Cornelius Chirchir (Ken)
3:51.82 Reyes Estévez (Spa)
3:52.20 Abdelkader Hachlaf (Mor)
3:52.42 David Kiplak (Ken)
3:52.49 Juan Carlos Higuero (Spa)
Vyacheslav Shabunin (Rus)
(10)
3:52.63 Bernard Lagat (Ken)
3:52.90 Craig Mottram (Aus)
3:52.95 Bouabdallah Tahri (Fra)
3:52.97 Hudson de Souza (Bra) NR
3:53.21 Anthony Whiteman (GB)
3:54.60 Michael Too (Ken)
3:54.70 Andrew Graffin (GB)
3:55.30 *Seneca Lassiter (Nik)
3:55.49 David Lelei (Ken)
3:55.53 *Ibrahim Aden (Nik)…

(for full depth in the mile and all the other events, read the January Issue of Track & Field News)

Over Hill, Over Dale
The collegiate cross country season came to a thrilling climax at the NCAA Championships
by Dan Lilot

Terre Haute, Indiana-Among those milling about the finish line after Stanford's dominant 60-point men's win in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, a young fan of high school age was overheard remarking that the Cardinal's impressive team performance had to be the greatest in meet history.

Another fan, older and more familiar with the sport's past, quickly edified the lad with the story of UTEP's legendary 17-point total back in '81, but did concede that Stanford's 47-point score was the best by an all-U.S. squad since the Cardinal's first title back in '96.

Hopefully the elder fan did not kill the enthusiasm of his younger counterpart. But how could he? Any kid who witnessed the beauty and drama of this fall classic will undoubtedly be a fan for life…

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

Stanford Too Deep
by Don Kopriva

Jorge Torres got the win he wanted and Stanford coach Vin Lananna got the race he wanted to ensure victory for his deep team in the NCAA men's cross country championship.

For Torres, it was vindication after a trifecta of NCAA 2nds last year: Cross, Indoor 5K, Outdoor 5K.…

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

1-2 Torres Punch
by Sean Hartnett

Sprinting across the Indiana prairie a stride ahead of Alistair Cragg, Jorge Torres stayed focused on the NCAA finish line and his dream: "I wasn't going to lift up my arms to celebrate because that might be the last ounce of energy that I needed to get across the line ahead of him. I just closed my eyes at the moment that I accomplished my goal."

Less than a minute later Edwardo Torres-matching his twin brother's lithe 5-7/118 frame set atop a powerful pair of mountain-grown legs-appeared. The brothers' 1-10 finish established a new standard of sibling success (see p. 50).

While some may see this as a triumph of superior genetics, the Torres see it as an expression of a highly motivated and dedicated family-their parents José and Maria and three older brothers who live in Wheeling, Illinois.

"What we get from our parents and brothers is their hard-work ethic," Edwardo offers. "We didn't get to see our parents a lot when we were young because they were working long hours."

Jorge, often known by the Anglicized "George," adds, "My dad and mom are very successful for first-generation immigrants from Mexico, but they were not able to go to many of our high school meets because they were building up the family business…

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

BYU Gets A Recount
by Dan Lilot

BYU coach Patrick Shane could be forgiven for not believing the initial finish-line announcement that his Cougars had finished 2nd to rival Stanford in the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

"I just knew that wasn't correct," he said. "I've been coaching too long to believe that. If they had announced that Stanford beat us by only a few points, I could've believed it, because it was a close race."

And a thrilling one too. Once the dust had settled and an initial error in scoring had been corrected, Shane's Cougars had defended their national title with a hard-fought 85-113 win over the Cardinal.

Early on, Stanford's tough trio of Alicia Craig, Lauren Fleshman and Sara Bei were visible in the front pack, as was surprising Malindi Elmore.

On his own squad's strategy, Shane said, "I like to run our teams tight, but this year we had a separation of talent, so [Kassie] Andersen and [Michaela] Mannová were able to run near the front, with the rest of the team in a group farther back."

At halfway, the chips had Stanford holding onto a 1-point lead (68-69), but with just over a mile remaining…

Flanagan Looking Ahead
by David Woods

Shalane Flanagan chose the sport of her mother and father, both of whom represented the U.S. at the World Cross Country Championships. Her chosen path resembles that of Bob Kennedy.
Yet it would be wrong to assert Flanagan is running anyone's race other than her own. Good genes are inadequate without a good work ethic and good coaching.

"She's learned so much in the last couple of years of what she can do," says North Carolina coach Michael Whittlesey. "She can push her body more than anybody I know. That's gotten her into trouble in the past when she would push herself to the limit when she didn't need to.

"That's going to help a lot when she goes against the older girls at the Olympic Trials."
It might be considered presumptuous for Flanagan, 21, to aim at the '04 OT. After all she has yet to run in a USATF Champs.

But the North Carolina junior has prepared for the 5000 by sharpening her speed in the 1500, as Kennedy did as a collegian. And now she has won an NCAA cross title, something Kennedy did twice.

"You pump up a national championship as one of those things that is so difficult to win, and this year it wasn't as hard as I expected it to be," Flanagan says…

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

Foot Locker XC-Solinsky & Nelson Supreme
by Mike Kennedy

With the backdrop of a large sign featuring a "Go Rocket Go" headline and a telling quote below extolling "Weakness is not my strength," Chris Solinsky (Stevens Point, Wisconsin) backed up those sentiments with a performance that equaled the most dominant boys' win in the 24-year history of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

After a 5-year stint at Disney World the meet returned to its original home in San Diego's Balboa Park, where the runners were greeted by a clear, crisp morning and a 2-loop 5K course that included a very challenging hill.

Said Solinsky, "Originally I planned to go out and push, push, push and be under 4:35 for the mile and 9:20 for 2M, but…

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

Beer & Loping At The Fall Nationals

In which T&FN's intrepid statistician inadvertently finds the perfect vantage point from which to both race and watch

by Dan Lilot

Rocklin, California-At the postrace hoedown following the USATF Fall Cross Country Championships, a slightly tipsy retired Northern California coach gripped my arm and summed the day up perfectly.
"I love this sport," he slurred. "Don't get me wrong, I love track & field, but I love cross country." I guess I love it too, because here I was at 28, eager to reclaim the thrill of being part of a team, despite the conditions and not being in prime shape.

The coaching veteran, who still attends dozens of meets a year, then spun the tale of how he had been runner-up at his sectional high school championship 50 years ago.

The conversation, together with the libations from the Live Oak Tavern, prompted an amount of introspection that might be excused in someone-me-11 years removed from a title of his own in the state's weakest section.

Would I still be doing this in 40 years? Standing around at the postrace party, brew in hand, talking about the relevance of Arthur Lydiard's ideas in a contemporary training program? Embarrassing myself over 10K and then dancing to the rock/soul covers by Mr. Green & The Men From Modesto? Hanging on to dreams of mediocre PRs?…

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

Ethiopian Stars Return
by Sieg Lindstrom

Haile Gebrselassie has more reason than ever to smile-in this case a million-dollar smile-after making himself beneficiary of the sport's first seven-figure payday with a 27:02 road World Record 10K in Doha, Qatar (December 11).

Gebrselassie, who had sat out of action since the flare-up of a calf injury during his attempt on the track 1-hour World Record in June, made it look easy as he circled the certified two-loop route in the Persian Gulf city in dry 77-degree air stirred by a slight breeze.
The race, in which Gebrselassie passed 5km in 13:39 in the company of Hailu Mekonnen and Francis Kiprop before…

…What's more, Gebrselassie's 20-year-old countryman Kenenisa Bekele, history's first long-/short-course double World Cross champion, is also returning from injury in stunning style. Sidelined since early June, Bekele reemerged in November to…

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

T&FN Marathon World Rankings

Last year we said it wasn't important how fast you run, but when you run fast. This year you had to run very fast, no matter when it was, to get to the top…

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

Coby Miller's Bad Break
Sprinter Coby Miller came back so strongly from a fractured leg that he earned two World Rankings spots
by Sieg Lindstrom

Pardon the pun, but Coby Miller makes no bones about his pleasure at having worked his way back from a broken leg at the '01 USATF Indoor to No. 7 World Rankings in both the 100 and 200 in '02.

"Actually, I was more surprised at the way I performed, considering all the stuff that I went through during my injury," says Miller, who nearly two years later still has three screws and a plate in his left fibula as reminders of the chain-reaction crash with competitors that sent him sprawling to the track immediately after winning his first USATF title, the indoor 200.

"I was excited to be coming back and I was working real hard to get back, and to come back and run my [100] PR-basically tie it two times-was superb for me."

Reveling in victory for an instant at that fateful nationals, in the blink of an eye Miller was slammed by opponent Kevin Little, who had himself been knocked off stride by Shawn Crawford as the sprinters decelerated.

"For a moment there I thought my career was over because when the injury happened I did hear something break," Miller says. "But I didn't know what it was, and then I couldn't feel anything on my left side…

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

Fuzzy Creature Takes A Beating

AT THE OPENING SESSION of the USATF Convention president Bill Roe introduced a new concept: an official mascot. The to-be-named character that was introduced had previously served as the symbol of the World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis.

"This guy is a first for USA Track & Field," Roe said. "We believe that the future of our sport lies with attracting and keeping youth, and this mascot will be a key to grabbing them early."

Based on the fevered Internet traffic which immediately followed-every track-related chatroom going abuzz with negative reaction-about the only thing the older crowd was grabbing was their collective throat. On-line magazine slate.com even ran a story on the whole affair…

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

From The Editor

by E. Garry Hill

THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT I get every December is knowing that we're just a week away from a brand new track & field year. Like a little kid plunging under the tree, I can't wait to rip off the wrapping paper and see what Santa has brought as we stand on the brink of a new season.

All track years are great, of course-like wines, there's no such thing as a bad one; some's just better than others-but 2003 is shaping up as a truly vintage year for the sport. This is one I can't wait to uncork; to sip and savor during the winter and spring before quaffing in a mighty chug at summer's end as all the important elements blossom into full fruit.

(for the full opinion, read the January Issue of Track & Field News)

And in the February Issue…

THE 2003 TRACK CALENDAR looks significantly different than other years, as there are some major changes afoot. The NCAA Championships fields will be filled by the new Regionals meets. The World Championships is at the end of August instead of the beginning. The Golden League Final will be in Brussels instead of Berlin. The GP Final is suddenly a 2-day affair.

Internationally, sprinters will have to cope with strict new false-start rules. How will they cope? Will Maurice Greene come back and reclaim World's Fastest Human honors? How will a coaching shake-up affect last year's top sprinters, Monty & Marion?

How will young superstars like Justin Gatlin (l) and Alan Webb deal with their decisions to turn pro early? Can Tennessee make a run at the NCAA title without Gatlin?

Where's the "Where They Are Going" feature? You've got questions: T&FN has answers (well, most of them). All this, and more, in the next thrilling issue.