May 2003 Issue

Prep Phenom Beats Up Big Girls

by Jon Hendershott

A year ago at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, Allyson Felix was just a young athlete getting an autograph from superstar Marion Jones. Granted, Felix was already a national-class athlete, a 23-flat 200 sprinter. But she still was just a promising high schooler.

Felix’s considerable promise reached fulfillment—so far—at the Walnut meet’s 45th edition. The 17-year-old phenom blitzed a world-class 200 field with her 22.51 to trim 0.07 off the American Junior and High School Records set more than a decade ago… by Marion Jones. Perhaps equally impressive as the record run was who Felix beat in doing so.

A senior at LA Baptist High in the San Fernando Valley suburb of North Hills, she had won Mt. SAC’s high school 100 in a wind-aided 11.24 the day before she would lock horns in the invitational half-lapper with the likes of ’99 world champ Inger Miller, reigning NCAA winner Natasha Mayers and four-time NCAA century champ Angela Williams.

Drawing lane 6, Felix stood behind her starting blocks dressed in all white, a wispy sprinter reminiscent of NCAA Indoor doubler Muna Lee.

Felix’s jersey bore her nickname of “Chicken Legs.” …

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

Toth’s Monstrous Whirl

by Don Steffens

Weather conditions may have been uncertain at the Kansas Relays, but the probabilities bouncing around in Kevin Toth’s head weren’t. The No. 2 ranked shot putter in the world last year was ready for something special.

And he produced something special, highlighting the 76th edition of the meet with a monster 74-41/2 (22.67) on his fifth attempt that moved him to No. 6 on the all-time world list (see box).

“The physical, the technical, the mental—it was all coming together,” said the 6-4/300 strongman. “I had been dropping practice throws around 73-, 74-feet. I saw a big one coming. I knew I was ready for the next level.”

While a morning cloudburst and a couple of lightning strikes slowed the meet temporarily, Toth lounged in the luxury suites.

Finally, the time for his yearly outdoor debut came and he found a dry ring and a powerful surge…

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

On The Roller Coaster

by Jon Hendershott

Even with his strong sense of self-confidence, Tyree Washington admits he retains the ability to surprise himself.

“I’m still shocked by this indoor season,” allows the 26-year-old SoCal native. “I didn’t think I had shots at winning either the U.S. or World Indoors.” He won both, and added another gold after anchoring the U.S. 4x4 to victory.

Goals like an Olympic title and the World Record being natural outgrowths of his unswerving belief in his own abilities, Washington has always aimed for the heights.

But this winter his goals were simpler: “I had been out for 18 months and I just ran indoors to get back into the rhythm of running the 400. I just wanted to try to make the Worlds team and get my confidence built back up.” Global titles will bolster anyone’s confidence.

Washington’s triumphs this winter were just the latest upswing in a career that defines the term roller

coaster. His ups have been sensational. …

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

Paula Radcliffe Totally Radical

by Sean Hartnett

Those London Marathon fans wondering if Paula Radcliffe could top the remarkable string of performances that earned her acclaim as ’02 T&FN—and everybody else’s—Women’s Athlete of the Year had to wait a mere 2:15:25.

The British superstar had gone out and produced one of the sport’s most high-profile World Records, paring 1:53 off her landmark standard of 2:17:18 set last October in Chicago.

The 29-year-old Briton raced “alone,” albeit with a pair of much ballyhooed male pacers (see p. 45). At the end she had a phenomenal 4:30 margin of victory over onetime WR holder Catherine Ndereba, with Deena Drossin next in American Record time.

In her previous two 26-milers, Radcliffe had employed a somewhat conservative strategy, logging a cautious 20K before extending herself. This time the Queen Of The Road …

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

Radcliffe’s Uneasy Road

by Sean Hartnett

“The marathon suits me the best,” says Paula Radcliffe, who has also been a World Ranker in the 3000, 5000 and 10,000. “When I run a marathon, I see how fast I can go. I felt in Chicago that I could run faster.” Much of the track world concurred, and Radcliffe toed the line with the great expectations of setting a World Record.

Yet, anyone who believes that she easily bettered her own marathon standard surely did not watch her final 3M as she racheted up the pace and the hurt as if she were locked in one of her epic cross battles with Gete Wami.

“In the final 5K, I knew I had the record beaten and the race won,” she says, “but I was feeling strong and was close to breaking 2:16 if I pushed on. I had trained hard and things were going right so I wanted to take full advantage and push the record as far as I could. …

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

by Sean Hartnett

DEENA DROSSIN ran across the Tower Bridge and looked full of run as she went on to attack the full marathon distance and better Joan Samuelson’s AR—before most people thought it was even threatened.

After 2:26 efforts in the first two marathons of her career (New York ’01 and Chicago ’02) the American 10K recordholder stepped it up a couple of notches in her 2:21:16 London debut and negative-split 70:45/70:31 to displace the Samuelson 2:21:21 that had rattled off our lips for a generation.

Drossin’s efforts were almost overlooked amid the understandable British absorption in their leading lady, yet the 30-year-old harrier star nonetheless provided a magnificent marathon.
“I came in very prepared for this race, and this was the first time that…

(for more read the May issue of Track & Field News)

The Girls of Spring

by Jim Dunaway

You never can tell about Austin’s weather the first weekend in April. One day it’s spring; next day it’s winter again. But you can be sure of one thing: Louisiana State’s Lady Tigers will be in town to take on the Longhorns of Texas at the Texas Relays before more than 20,000 sprint-wise fans.

Over the last 15 years, their annual dustup has become not only a Relays highlight, but also a jump-start to the outdoor season. This year‘s may have been the best ever, both in terms of great early-season performances and hot races. Even the weather behaved.

Women have been competing in the Relays since the ’60s, when teams from traditionally black universities like Texas Southern and Prairie View, plus an Abilene-based AAU team called the Texas Track Club, won most of the medals.

But it wasn’t until the mid-’80s that LSU, an emerging track contender under Loren Seagrave, started zeroing in on Austin as its first major meet of the outdoor season, and that Terry Crawford’s Texas teams—already a power in women’s track—started paying attention to LSU as a major threat to dominance on home turf. Both those coaches are long gone, but the rivalry they began has continued to grow in terms of performances and stature with the years under Pat Henry and Bev Kearney…

(for the full story, read the May Issue of Track & Field News)

Ferguson Big Hurdle Threat

by Roy Conrad

Chilly and wet though the weather was, the Sea Ray Relays amounted to a hot weekend in Knoxville for South Carolina’s prize frosh, Kenneth Ferguson.

Two weeks removed from his 400H PR of 49.27 at the Florida Relays, the yearling won his specialty in 49.89, placed 3rd in the short hurdles (13.90) behind Vols Jabari Greer and Karl Jennings, led off a shuttle hurdles squad that placed a close 2nd to Tennessee (55.17–55.23) and anchored the winning 4x4 (3:04.94).

“Kenny’s coming along real well,” understated Gamecock coach Curtis Frye. “Kenny’s young. Probably right now we’re doing more racing than we are training. Basically, he had a very long year last year.”

At last July’s World Junior Championships, Detroit native Ferguson’s 49.38 clocking brought him the High School Record and the silver medal.

“Kenny ran all the way to the AAU Junior Olympics,” adds Frye. “He came back from the World Championships and drove to Nebraska on Monday after 7 races at the World Championships. And then he ran another 7 races at USATF JOs and came back the next weekend after that and ran two races at AAU JOs.”…

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

Baylor’s Hot New Frosh: Jeremy Wariner

Anyone who has run the 400 knows about the bear that lurks somewhere on the second turn, ready to jump on your back. But for veteran Baylor coach Clyde Hart, who has mentored a few storied quartermilers in his time, the beast that concerned him regarding frosh Jeremy Wariner was a different animal.

“It’s good to get that monkey off our backs,” said Hart after Wariner’s PR 45.13 at Arizona State’s Sun Angel Classic. “Often you get a kid who has run really fast in high school and some people doubt the times, so it was a relief to me that he panned out early.”

Two weeks after his strained hamstring kept Baylor’s quartet out of the NCAA Indoor, Wariner turned in a 45-flat carry “in a windstorm.” Said Hart, “Then we knew he was ready.”…

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

Bekele Doubles Again

by Sean Hartnett

Rumors of Kenenisa Bekele’s ill health were greatly exaggerated. A month before the World Cross Country Championships the Ethiopian reportedly came down with typhoid (later determined to be food poisoning).

And halfway through the short-course race, Bekele indeed did not look the same athlete who took double victories last year, as he dropped 5m behind Kenyans John Kibowen and Benjamin Limo. But Bekele never looked stressed, as…

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

Looking For Rare 1–2 Dash Points
by Dan Lilot

Our current formchart has Mississippi State just 3 points from winning the men’s team title. But if the Bulldogs are to have a chance at taking the top spot, everything is going to have to go perfectly. Everything. That means no false starts, no pulled hamstrings, no missed baton passes.

Oh yeah. Don’t mention botched handoffs. After winning the Texas Relays and Mt. SAC 4x1s last year, MSU failed to get the stick around at both the SEC and NCAA.

“That definitely motivated us to work a lot harder,” says junior Marquis (mar-KWEES) Davis. “We’ve done substantially more baton work this year.”

Bulldog senior anchor Pierre Browne, the top returnee in both the 100 and 200, adds…

Lincoln Goes For Three
by Dan Lilot

No one can accuse Daniel Lincoln of not being a team player. Last year he tripled 10/steeple/5 at the SEC meet (winning all three) and doubled steeple/5 at the NCAAs for Arkansas, winning the former and coming back for 3rd in the latter.

But this year’s Nationals schedule, with heats for both the steeple and 5000 on the first day, has caused coach John McDonnell to assign barrier-only NCAA duty to his senior, even if the Razorbacks are gunning for their 9th team title.

McDonnell has more in mind for Lincoln than becoming the first American to win three steeple titles…

Women’s Key Player? Demus
by Sieg Lindstrom

Lashinda Demus is the cog in defending champion South Carolina’s points machine, having scored 18.5 last year as a frosh with her 400H win, 400 bronze and anchor of the Collegiate Record Gamecock 4x4.
But with expanded field sizes (see box), the lap races this year will be run with 3 rounds, not 2, and the 400 semi falls only 70 minutes before the hurdles final. Will coach Curtis Frye adjust the game plan? If so, how?…

Best Distance Pick: Nilsson
by Jon Hendershott

In making our women’s middle-distance/distance picks, our fingers really didn’t get stuck on typing “Nilsson.” There is the probability of three different scorers—Swedes all— bearing that last name.
UCLA junior Lena Nilsson aims to defend the 1500 title she won last year (or might opt instead for the 800).

Northern Arizona frosh Johanna Nilsson won the indoor mile this winter. Older sister Ida projects to improve a place from last year’s steeple 2nd…

Event Of The Meet? The Women’s 4x4

by Jon Hendershott

It’s the classic ending to any team-scored meet: the title hinges on the outcome of the climactic 4 x 400 relay.

Unlike the fans, in Sacramento the coaches of the prime women’s contenders don’t want the meet to go down to the relay. But it’s not as if South Carolina’s Curtis Frye, Texas’s Bev Kearney and LSU’s Pat Henry don’t have top-notch baton squads.

South Carolina is the defending champ, having blistered a Collegiate Record 3:26.48 to win last year’s meet. Texas beat the Gamecocks at this year’s Indoor with its own CR of 3:27.66, then sped the No. 2 outdoor college time ever, 3:26.96, at the Texas Relays. LSU ran 3rd at the NCAA Indoor and clocked 3:29.40 at Texas.

The snag is the new format. For the first time, the team title likely rests on athletes who have gone through the rigors of multiple rounds at not only their Conference and the Nationals, but also the new Regionals.

“I hope the meet doesn’t go down to the relay,” says Frye. “Texas’s 4x4 would be tough to beat by a lot of Olympic teams.”…

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

From The Editor

Paula Radcliffe has raised the bar—again!—in international women’s marathoning: that’s cause for great joy. Not so joyous is that she is also making light of the current standard of U.S. men’s marathoning.

Road fans have been lamenting for years the apparent inability of the American system to produce many/any great 26-milers. Just how sad the situation is has been driven home by Radcliffe’s 2:15:25, a time which only three American men have beaten this year (none at London or Boston). Only a dozen ran faster all of last year.

For one reason why U.S. men aren’t making much of an impact, I posit that…

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

Making A Conference Call

Collegiate track has a whole new look this year, what with the implementation of the Regionals setup. But that’s only part of the equation. With that new meet to slip into the schedule, all of a sudden we have what we like to call Super Conference Weekend. That’s the days centered around the Saturday of May 17, on which virtually every major conference in the country will be staged.

But whether the conference meet is on the weekend or an earlier one, T&FN is going to be right on top of all that important action as all the big collegiate players figure out how best to position themselves in the final runup to the Regionals and Nationals. But that’s not all—what about traditional rivalries and bragging rights? This promises to be exciting.

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