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Winners and losers at adidas Track Classic
By Joe Battaglia, UniversalSports.com Track & Field
The domestic track and field schedule opened with a bang Saturday night at the adidas Track Classic at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
For many athletes, the meet served as an opener for the 2009 outdoor season. For others, it was merely a continuation of work already begun. For all of the competitors, it was an important step on the road to the U.S. Outdoor Championships in six weeks and the World Championships in Berlin in August.
Here is an evaluation of the athletes that maximized their opportunity and those who fell short of expectations.
WINNERS
Carmelita Jeter: After a disappointing 2008 season, Jeter appears hell-bent on erasing memories of last year's shortcomings. A switch of coaches to John Smith and new training has boosted her confidence and her performance level. She was clearly the top performer in the women's 100m, running strong from start to her finish in 11.09.
Jenn Stuczynski: Although she was unable to continue her recent string of records set in Carson, Stuczynski appeared to be in fine form, winning the women's pole vault at 4.76m/15-71/4. On her winning vault, Stuczynski's hip height was way over the bar, prompting her to raise the next height to 4.96m/16-2. After switching to a stiffer pole, Stuczynski had two credible attempts at the height but missed on all three. Considering this is only the third time this season she has taken a full approach, she must be pleased.
Allyson Felix: After opening the outdoor campaign with a world-leading victory in the 400m (50.75) at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Doha last week, Felix returned to her specialty, the 200m, and clocked a pretty fast 22.66, the third fastest time in the world so far this season. Considering she has yet to begin speed work in her training, that's a positive sign for the two-time world champion in the event.
Jeremy Wariner: The Beijing silver medalist in the 400m looked well on his way to regaining the form he showed prior to last season. After cruising through the opening turn, Wariner picked up the pace and had made up the stagger by the 200-meter mark. Coming out of the last turn, there wasn't anyone close to him and he cruised to victory in 44.66.
LaShawn Merritt: The Beijing 400m gold medalist used this meet as an opportunity to get in some speed work. The result was a dominant victory in a world-leading 20.07 seconds. Merritt blasted out of the turn with the lead and continued to surge with 30 meters to go. Had he not eased before the tape, he likely could have clocked a sub-20 time.
Jordan Hasay: The high school phenom from San Luis Obispo, California finished ninth in the women's 1500m in 4:16. Had the pace of the race been set properl, the quicker tempo would have strung out the field and enabled her to maintain contact with runners ahead of her. At this point in her young career, Hasay doesn't yet have the finishing kick of her older competitors. But none of them were running in elite invitational meets when they were 17 years old. The value of this experience is immeasurable.
Darvis Patton: He wasn't the first one out of the blocks, but when Patton hit top speed, he was able to maintain it better than the rest to earn a victory in 10.12. Anyone who thinks Doc is purely a 200-meter runner is mistaken. Expect to see him run both the 100m and 200m at U.S. Outdoors later next month.
Kenia Sinclair: The Jamaican, who starred collegiately for Essex County College and Seton Hall University in New Jersey, has been the most consistent 800m runner in the world so far this season. With a slow pace set in the women's 1500m, she was unable to challenge her PR of 4:05.56 in the event, but showed more finishing speed than anyone else in the field and won easily in 4:13.16.
Bernard Lagat: In his first race of the outdoor season, Lagat looked as smooth as ever. Although Nate Brannen of Canada appeared to be closing with about 100 meters to go, the challenge was never really serious and Lagat pulled away easily to win by three-quarters of a second in 3:36.38.
Terrence Trammell: The U.S. Indoor 60m hurdles champion looked strong in his second 110m hurdles race of the outdoor season. He got out of the blocks well, seemed to have his rhythm down, placing his lead foot uniformly after clearing each hurdle, and was able to hold off a late charge from Antwon Hicks to win in 13.39. Hicks ran 13.45.
Dawn Harper: Last year, Harper did not win a 100m hurdles race until her stunning victory at the Beijing Olympics. After opening with a win at the Jamaica International Invitational, Harper made it 2-for-2 on the season with an impressive victory in 12.78. Harper held off reigning world champion Perdita Felicien on Canada (12.83) for the win.
Natasha Hastings: Better known for value on the U.S. 4x400m relays, the Beijing gold medalist showed nice kick in the open 400m. Running in fourth place with about 30 meters to go, Hastings surged on the outside and caught leader Novlene Williams-Mills of Jamaica to win, 51.46 to 51.83.
Hazel Clark: The three-time Olympian's season-opening run at the Penn Relays was a forgettable one -- she went out in 55 seconds on the 800-meter leg of the sprint medley and faded badly -- but put together a gritty performance this time out. After a shaky start to a race that she said "wasn't really smart or clean," Clark fought off Jemma Simpson of Canada and American Christin Wurth-Thomas to win in a meet record 2:01.40. Simpson and Wurth-Thomas both finished in 2:01.58.
Anna Willard: The former American record holder in the steeplechase has spent the better part of this year establishing herself as one of the top milers in the U.S. Willard returned to her specialty for the first time this year and chalked up an easy victory in 9:26.85, the fastest time ever run on American soil and obviously quite impressive for this early in the season.
Dwight Phillips: After suffering the ultimate disappointment last summer -- he finished fourth at the Olympic Trials and missed out on a chance to defend his Olympic long jump title by a quarter inch -- Phillips is out to prove he still has what it takes. He showed a veteran's experience in managing the cross wind in the Home Depot Center and posting a victory at 8.37m/27-5 1/2.
Ian Waltz: Good health is everything in this sport, and anytime one can compete pain- or injury-free it's a good day. Waltz can certainly attest to that. After tearing an abductor muscle at the Olympic Trials last year, he is finally able to throw without pain and looked good in winning the men's discus at 61.70m/202-5.
Aheza Kiros: Let's face it, with the number of quality distance runners cranked out in Ethiopia, it can be easy to get lost among the big names. But look out for Kiros. Last month, the 23-year-old won the prestigious Carlsbad 5K road race and last night ran away with a 5000m race that featured Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan, Athens Olympic silver medalist Ejegayehu Dibaba of Ethiopia and Kenya's Sally Kipyego, a nine-time NCAA champion at Texas Tech who recently turned pro. Kiros clocked 14:56.33.
LOSERS
Bianca Knight: The young sprint star had a rough go of it. First she was disqualified from the 100m for a false start. In the 200m, she ran in second place for most of the way only to be passed late by Sanya Richards and Shalonda Solomon. Definitely not what she had hoped for coming into the meet.
Yohan Blake: The 19-year-old Jamaican is an up-and-coming star in the sprint ranks. But he will have some explaining to do to coach Glen Mills after failing to react at all out of the blocks in the men's 100m while the other eight runners got off cleanly and finished the race. There was no hint of a false start so this failure falls squarely on Blake's shoulders.
Angelo Taylor: This one really isn't his fault, but he couldn't help but walk away from the men's 400m hurdles feeling disappointed despite a runner-up finish. Race organizers somehow placed the eighth hurdle of the race too close to the seventh hurdle -- there is supposed to be 35 meters of spacing between each hurdle -- and the shortened distance threw off his rhythm.
Shalane Flanagan: In her first outdoor race of the season, the Beijing bronze medalist at 10,000m had high hopes of breaking her American record of 14:44.80 in the 5000m. After hanging with the lead pack early, she uncharacteristically seemed to begin laboring after the first mile and struggled to a fourth-place finish in 15:10.46.
Erin Donohue: The 2008 Olympian in the 1500m still needs to run the qualifying standard for the World Championships in Berlin, and was hoping to get it here. But in a double-dose of bad luck, the race rabbit Sherron Rhetta came nowhere near setting the desired fast pace, making a time near 4:06 impossible for anybody, then Donohue was unable to close on the leaders late and was passed by three runners near the finish.
Lauryn Williams: After a series of false starts in the women's 100m, Williams was left in the blocks when the field finally got off to a clean start. Although she tried to make up ground, Williams wound up finishing a disappointing seventh in 11.41. But that's the fickle nature of sprinting. |
