Michael Johnson Classic, Baylor

Saturday 18, 2009, Waco, Texas

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Records fell at Michael Johnson Classic.

In a day the included rain, lightening and cold weather the 2009 Michael Johnson Classic will be most likely be remembered as the Trey Hart show.
Breaking Michael Johnson’s stadium record 20.41, set in 1987 goes a long way at earning that unofficial title.

A star-studded 200 meter field lined up on the track that included Jeremy Wariner, Michael Rodgers, Reggie Witherspoon, and NCAA 200 meter Indoor Champion Trey Harts.

Harts clocked a new Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex record time of 20.29 seconds in the 200-meter dash Saturday evening.  Harts shot out of the blocks, crossing the lined in 20.29 seconds, establishing a four meter lead that he maintained over Wariner (20.56).  Witherspoon did not finish the race, pulling up at around the 100 meter mark.

Running in just the preliminary heat was enough work for Darvis “Doc” Patton.  Michael Rodgers was the first sprinter out of the blocks, before Patton took over at the 45 meters marks and crossed the line in 10.19 after shutting down four meters before the finish line.

Baylor’s Erin Bedell took a rest from her normal duties of running the 5,000 meters to compete in the 1,500 meters.  Bedell marked the occasion by running a new Hart-Patterson stadium record time of 4:16.03.

Tiffany Townsend proved a viable day winning the 100 in 11.28, 200 in 23.03, and assisted the Bears 4×100 meter relay to victory in 44.08.
South Plain’s Bryce won the 400 meter hurdles in a regional qualifying time of 50.31.  Not to be out down on a day of record performances, Baylor’s Chris Gowell ran a season’s best time of 1:47.42 in the 800 meters.

Andrae’s Williams of the Bahamas clocked 45.13, winning a stacked 400 meter Invitational in 45.13, ahead of Renny Quow (45.23), and Darold Williamson (45.75).

The SMU women set a school record in the 4×400 meter relay and recorded a NCAA Regional qualifying time of 3:42.59 in their second place finish behind Baylor in 3:40.70.

Despite a scare from Texas Tech, the 39 race winning streak against collegians for Baylor remained in tact in the 4×400 meter relay.  A professional relay team comprised of Olympians Witherspoon, Wariner, Wallace Spearmon and Darold Williamson ran away with the race.

Baylor and Texas Tech handed off the their respective anchor legs. Baylor’s Iglehart-Summers went out easily before pouring on a kick down the homestretch to win the race in 3:05.47.

PreRaceJitters’ Track & Field Radio Show with Tasha Danvers

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This week, Great Britain’s Tasha Danvers joins Jay Hicks and John W. Davis to discuss her unlikely story of earning an Olympic bronze medal in the 400 meter hurdles in Beijing, her six degrees separation in the track & field and the inspiration behind her latest ventures which include the Tasha Danvers internet radio shows.

That and much more on the latest episode of PreRaceJitters’ Track & Field Radio Show.

-Galen Rupp NCAA Interview
-Tasha Danvers
-Tasha Danvers’ Internet Radio Show - Real Women, Real Talk, Real Speed
-Tasha Danvers’ Internet Radio Show - Building on Bronze

Special thanks to Tasha Danvers.

“PreRaceJitters Track & Field Radio Show, where the real playas come to hang out.”

Weekend Thoughts: Outdoor Season Is Finally Here

Photo courtesy of Danny Wariner.

Here are a few thoughts from the weekend.

A number of colleges, universities and professional runners got their outdoor seasons started this weekend meets including Oregon, Baylor and the University of Central Florida.

It was all about the deuce on Sunday.  2008 Olympians Jeremy Wariner, Reggie Witherspoon, Darold Williamson and Sanjay Ayres kicked things off right by all running the 200 meters.

Meet officials came up with the idea of putting each of the pro runners in separate heats.  The result is that fans were sitting on the edges of their seats to see the times got faster with each passing heat: Darold Williamson (21.42), Sanjay Ayres (21.36), Reggie Witherspoon (20.94) and Jeremy Wariner (20.77).

It should be also be noted that Reggie “Spoonlove” Witherspoon was all smiles rocking adidas outfit and gear.  Last year, “Spoonlove” was on a Nike man.

The Waco training group were not the only ones to get it started this weekend.  A number of pro runners took the track at the Cerritos College - California Relays. Carmelita Jeter popped off the season in 53.90 over 400 meters.

Getting this started quickly, Lauryn Williams ran 22.21 at the 200 meters in the Hurricane Invitational.

Is this year picking up where last year left off? After spending eight hours at the track, David Oliver took the 110 meter hurdles at the Disney meet ahead of Joel Brown in 13.36 and 13.47 respectively.

With the NCAA Indoor Championships just a week ago, a lot of elite collegiate athletes took a week off to rest and prepare for the Outdoor NCAA Championships and beyond for some.

This year may see better performances than that of the  2008 season.

Why?

Looking back at last year number of U.S. athletes did not have the seasons they felt they were capable of producing.  So they want more for this year to make up for last years performances.

This is the recipe for athletes  to show produce fast times in 2009.

Men’s 4 x 400 Relay: USA vs. The World

The United States has arguably the top eight one lap runners in the world, and it showed at the Penn Relays at the US fielded two all-star teams. The USA Blue team had LaShawn Merritt, Wallace Spearmon, Darold Williamson, and Jeremy Wariner. However, the USA Red team extremely good as well, with Xavier Carter, Bershawn Jackson, Kerron Clement, and Angelo Taylor.

Merritt blasted out the hole with a 44.9 leg to give the Blue team the lead. A strong second leg by Bershawn Jackson put the Red team close again with Jamaica just back in third.

The most exciting part of the race was on the third leg as Kerron Clement tried to pass veteran relay runner Darold “D Will” Williamson. Clement couldn’t seal the deal. Williamson made him swing wide and then rolled pass Clement to hand off to Jeremy Wariner in the lead. Wariner ran an unconscious 43.88 anchor leg with a comfortable lead to secure victory for the Blue team at 2:59.71. A stupid time ran in the cold April air!

Click here for the final results.

Jay Hicks