43 Second Wednesday: Wallace Spearmon Jr.

43 Second Wednesday: Wallace Spearmon Jr. from PreRaceJitters on Vimeo.

Ryan Wilson Texas Relays 2011

Ryan Wilson Texas Relays 2011 from PreRaceJitters on Vimeo.

Tiffany McReynolds - Texas Relays 2011

Tiffany McReynolds Texas Relays 2011 from PreRaceJitters on Vimeo.

Merritt Named Athlete of the Week

INDIANAPOLIS - Aries Merritt (Knoxville, Tenn.) has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after he ran a world leading time of 13.36 in the 110m hurdles at the Razorback Spring Invitational at the University of Arkansas on Saturday.

Merritt raced against a field of top collegians and finished more than a second faster than his nearest competitor to bring home the win, setting a meet record in the process.

“The race felt pretty easy,” Merritt said. “It was good to shake off the rust and get ready for the rest of my outdoor season.”

Merritt suffered a stress fracture in his ankle during the 2010 season, but with three world leading marks set in 2011 to-date, he has firmly reestablished his place as one of the world’s top hurdlers.

“It gave me confidence, because even though I was injured last year, I was able to see that I didn’t lose much speed,” Merritt said. “I think I can run well. God willing, I’ll be injury free.”

Now in its tenth year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on the USATF website. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.

Winners: January 5, Bill Tribou; January 12, Tyler Sorensen; January 20, Josh Cox; January 26,Ben Shorey; February 2, Ashton Eaton; February 9, Ashton Eaton; February 16, Bernard Lagat; February 23, Ryan Crouser; March 2, Jillian Camarena-Williams; March 10, Bill Collins; March 16, Miles Batty; March 23, Shalane Flanagan; March 30, John Nunn; April 6, Aries Merritt

St. Louis to host 2012 and 2013 USA Cross Country Championships

INDIANAPOLIS – USA Track & Field has selected St. Louis, Missouri as the host of 2012 and 2013 USA Cross Country Championships. The 2012 championships are scheduled for February 11, at Forest Park, the site of the 2004 Women’s Olympic Trials Marathon.

“Big River Running Company and St. Louis Sports Commission are excited to bring the Championships to Saint Louis and we know our city and the people here will get behind this event,” said Ben Rosario, co-owner of Big River Running Company. “The course in Forest Park is extremely spectator-friendly and the athletes will have fantastic crowd support throughout the course.”

The USA Cross Country Championships are expected to draw more than 600 athletes to St. Louis, including many of the nation’s top elite and Olympic runners.

The 2012 and 2013 events will consist of six cross country championship races for men’s and women’s categories with national titles on the line for junior, masters and open divisions.

The nation’s premier cross country event, the Championships will feature $35,000 in prize money and will serve as the trials to select the men’s and women’s open and junior squads that will represent Team USA at the 2012 North American, Central American, Caribbean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships and the 2013 NACAC Cross Country Championships and IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

43 Second Wednesday: Natasha Hastings

The 2011 Indoor season was healing. Therapeutic. It reminded Natasha Hastings why she left school a year early to go professional in 2007.

A handful of promising professionals seasons for the former University of South Carolina standout has produced an Olympic gold medal on the 4×400 relay in Beijing, but has not quite reached expectations in the open 400 meters.

That is until now.

Things are changing in Hastings’ individual race. This year, Natasha Hastings is not-so-quietly establishing herself, as one of the most versatile and consistent runners in the world.

She dropped 50.83 in the 400 meters winning the 2011 USA Indoor Nationals and  we sat down to discuss what is next for the New York native.

PRJ: Did it surprise you to see everything sort of come together during the 2011 indoor season?

NH: I certainly hoped for a great indoor, but I don’t know if I expected everything to happen as it did. I’m pleased with the indoor season, and I feel it is a great way to begin my outdoor season this year.

PRJ: What were your fall workouts like? What was different about this years offseason workouts?

NH: This year, I did my entire fall training with Coach Frye. Last year I didn’t begin training with Frye until December. So, this season we got to spend the entire off season working together. We spent a lot of time working on strength and speed endurance. We also did some work on speed development and technique.

PRJ: What was it like going back to your New York roots and running in front of the Millrose Games crowd?

NH: I was very excited to go back to Millrose this year. I hadn’t competed there since my senior year of high school, so it was a special treat to get back to the Garden. It’s always a fun experience to get back to New York, and to compete in front of my hometown crowd.

PRJ: What do your indoor performances say about what you are capable of doing in the 2011 outdoor season?

NH: I’m pretty excited about the outdoor based on the indoor, because when you compare this year to my best season back in 2007, you could say I’m right on pace or maybe even a little ahead of pace to run 49 [seconds] this year. The main focus at this point is to continue training hard, and to stay healthy.

PRJ: You’re mother the former Joanne Gardner was an elite track runner and has been with you at nearly every major meet in your career and now she serves as your agent. What influence does she have on your racing? Does she give you advice or feed back after races?

NH: She’s been very influential from day 1. She’s been to most, if not, all major meets in my career. Having been an athlete herself, she has some valuable advice and knows when to step back or even when to get involved. We do talk about my races, but she does leave the coaching part up to Coach Frye.

PRJ: Has your relationship changed at all now that your mother is also your agent?

NH: The relationship hasn’t changed much now that she is my agent. It is a little different being that she is a lot more hands-on with my career. But so far the transition has been pretty smooth.

PRJ: You are back training with Curtis Frye in Columbia, South Carolina. Why change locations/training programs/coaches now?

NH: The change kind of came about by accident. I was back in Columbia finishing up my last semester of school. I was in the library studying one night, and just thought maybe it would be a good idea to stay in Columbia and train with Frye.

The previous two seasons weren’t the successful seasons that I had hoped for, and I knew this was a situation that in the past did work for me. So, I took about a week to really think through the decision. Then I asked to meet with Coach Frye, and asked that he would coach me again. We started training the following Monday.

PRJ: Looking at your outdoor 400 meters for 2011. What can you and Coach Frye do better this spring and summer to improve your race?

NH: We’ve particularly been working on my speed development. One thing we’ve realized over the years of working together is that the faster my 200 the faster my 400 will be.

When I’m able to run a 22 second 200, I’m way more confident about going out in 23 seconds, so speed is something that is very important to the set up of my 400.

PRJ: You get out pretty quickly in the open 400 meters and recently at the Pepsi Florida Relays you dropped 22.7 - a world leading time. What does it do for your 400, when you can turn it over that well in the open 200 meters?

NH: This as I said before is a great confidence booster for me. It’s especially exciting to be this close to my 200 pr so early in the season. So, for me it speaks volumes for what’s to come in my 400.

PRJ: What is your racing schedule for the 2011 outdoor season?

NH: Tentatively, TX relays this weekend. Next weekend, I will be opening up in the 400 at Auburn University, and then we head to Penn Relays at the end of the month.

PRJ: From top to bottom, describe the depth in women’s 400 meter field?

NH: The 400 is DEEP in the US. We have Sanya Richards, Allyson Felix, Debbie Dunn, and Dee Dee Trotter who have all run under 50 seconds. Mary Wineberg is having a great season so far, and of course Francena McCrory has already run 50.5 for the season.

I honestly think it will take 49 low to make top three at the US Nationals this year. We have some amazing talent here.

PRJ: The last couple seasons have not gone as you’ve wanted and this is a world championship year. What are your goals and do you want to send a message that you still have “it”?

NH: I think I’ve already sent the message that I still have it. I’ve come pretty close to my pr’s indoor, and getting off to a fast start this outdoor. But like I said earlier, I just want to stay focused on my training and stay healthy. With that, everything else should fall into place on its own.

PRJ: You have received attention for dating professional football player William Gay of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Who would win a 400 meter race between you?

NH: I hope I’m not receiving attention because of who I’m dating LOL. But I’d like to think I can take him in the 400.

PRJ: Do you still get prerace jitters?

NH: Before every single race!

PRJ: Thanks for your time and best wishes!

Jay F. Hicks blogs about track and field and serves as PreRaceJitter’s Editor-In-Chief .  You can find him on Twitter.

What Would I Do Without PreRaceJitters?

At the end of last season, there were plans of expanding operations, providing more coverage. Then the decision was made to shut down PreRaceJitters.com.

A second child on the way, new career opportunities that pull on the energy, and focus to continue running the online magazine, combined with frustration with the sport’s overall direction were good enough reasons to let it go.

My plate was too full. For the last four years, I’ve written countless columns, published dozens upon dozens of podcasts, and traveled the country interviewing some of elite track and field’s best known and most entertaining figures.

Selfish me. Selfish me.

Call it a Generation Me problem.

But then I began to think back to how it all got started. Four years ago when I first started writing, I lived in Las Vegas with the seemingly impossible idea of bringing a different media perspective on track and field to fans focusing on sprinting and commentary.

The majority of my professional career had been spent in the banking industry.

I started writing and creating the sort of track product that I want to consume. I began learning new things like blogging and social media which allows a person with a minimum investment to run a media platform from their home that ten years ago essentially took thousands if not hundred of thousands to create.

PreRaceJitters will continue operating with a goal to be more social and to give more to the sport- for example, by giving budding writers the unique chance to actually connect, to write, to produce something and send it out to the world. That’s what PreRaceJitters has done for me.

I’d stay up all night plotting the next interview, or meet coverage, or the editing the next PreRaceJitter.com Podcast episode with partner John W. Davis. I’d stay up until 3 or 4 am in the hotel lobby uploading videos at the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, California.

I can’t let the online track and field website go to the dust. From Los Angeles to Little Rock to Austin Texas, PreRaceJitters has been like a friend, always there, always giving me a chance to write, to share my voice, to connect to others. And for that I’m eternally grateful.

Where would I be without PreRaceJitters?

Without PreRaceJitters, I’d probably not have a full-time career in new media within the broadcast industry. I’d be in the banking industry helping finance other people’s dreams, but not living my own dream.

The Big Ten Network would have never called me to provide commentary on Jesse Owens for the Big Ten Icon series. I’d never have met the countless college coaches and athletes whose relationships are so incredible. I’d never have interviewed Tyson Gay and gone on to write that he would eventually beat Usain Bolt.

I would not have come back to writing.

I would have never moved my wife and son back to Texas and returned to school earning a web design and development degree.

I would never have started a summer camp teaching inner city and rural high school kids about building websites and careers available in technology.

I would not have reconnected a relationship with my best friend.

The process of looking back to the early days of PreRaceJitters has put its impact on my life into perspective. Every friendship, every job, every step in my life since 2006 can be traced back to a point with PreRaceJitters.

And just now, I am like a young man training for a marathon, realizing it’s about the journey, not the final destination, and looking forward at the new, exciting road ahead of endless possibilities.

Thank you so much readers for a great first four years, and I hope you will stick around for 30 more years of covering the sport.

What do you think?

If you have questions or comments…let me know in the comments.

Jay F. Hicks is Editor-In-Chief and blog regularly about track and field. You can find him on Twitter.

Southern Passion Propels Texas Relays to the Top

So, uh, any good track meets this week?

For maybe someone new to the sport that’s a new question. For experienced track fans and maybe 40,000 Texas residents, the answer is becoming increasingly obvious as Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays hype builds to a fever pitch.

Texas Relays commands so much attention for many reasons, and several of the most important ones have little to do with track per se.

The 84th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays will kick off Wednesday, but the first high school event is not until Friday.

With all due respect, we don’t need lipping off to know the truth: The southern-based relay event which features high school, college and professional athletes is better than any other meet in the Midwest, West Coast or East Coast parts of the United States.

As a cultural event, Texas Relays has become an informal holiday. A community where friends meet up discussing when they ran at the meet or this years hottest teams. It’s become a right of passage for athletes and a cultural/social event for spectators.

Canny marketers help keep the meet viable even during the worst economic downturn of the last 100 years. The city of Austin is a big winner selling out rooms within a 20 mile radius and restaurant/night clubs are flush with paying clients.

Five reasons Texas Relays Is Tops:

Reason #5: Picking Early Favorites For the 2011 Season
Who are the top 10 early favorites to win at NCAA Outdoor Championships in June? Look no further than performances in Austin from a new legion of young guns to some ripe veterans to find out who will make this a year to remember. Winning at Texas Relays is a good start!

Reason #4: Looking For The Next Superstar

High schools converge on Austin to compete on the same track as Tyson Gay, Marshevet Myers, and Jeremy Wariner. Spectators, coaches, fans, and media -types get a chance to see some of the best talent in the county perform in a highly competitive environment.

Reason #3: Winter Is Over

Texas Relays signifies that the outdoor season is in full force. Temperatures typically hover in the high 80s this time of year in Austin, creating an ideal environment for fast times.

Many top tier West Coast schools such as Washington State led by Jeshua Anderson escape overcast skies to run in the warm weather.

Reason #2: Go Big Or Go Home

It’s where contenders and pretenders are separated.

The presence of the top five U.S. Track & Field and Cross County Coaches Association ranked men’s teams including Florida, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Florida State, and LSU makes the competition unparalleled.

Four of the top five U.S. Track & Field and Cross County Coaches Association women’s ranked teams including Texas A&M, LSU, Oklahoma, and USC will also compete in Austin.

Reason #1: Cultural Event

Texas Relays crosses boundaries into a cultural event with accompanying night life parties attracting celebrities such as former Longhorn Vince Young, concerts, and other related activities.

Where else can track boast this sort of existence? Not Eugene. Not Philadelphia. Not New York. Or Los Angeles.