2012 Outdoor Track Season

[white lightning]

So here we go guys. It's going to be one hell of a year. We have tons of meets coming up once April/May get here. Then we have the 2012 European Outdoor Championships and of course the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. It's going to be a special year. So grab your favorite food and drink and enjoy the ride. We have alot of great male and female european sprinters to follow.opcorn:

 

[greyghost]

outdoor

great stuff bud, and hers to wariner and pickering making a comeback , :rapture::rapture::rapture:

 

[white lightning]

This guy is my pick win the gold medal this summer in the Olympics. In my honest opinion, he is the best long jumper in the world. He is healthy and will be very hard to beat. I expect him to put up some jumps like we haven't seen in a very long time. His natural talent is off the charts. I think this Aussie has a little Kangroo in him. Lol. Here is the article on Mitchell Watt.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/lo...or-mitchell-watt/story-fn9dj0r8-1226309757149

 

[trackster]

By the way, don't look now but Jonathan Cabral, last year's phenomenal high school hurdler, has just run his first races for Oregon (he sat out the indoor season) and is already pretty much the best hurdler in the history of the school. Last week, he was Oregon's athlete of the week. He's a future Olympian, plain and simple.

Speaking of Oregon freshman, some of you may remember h.s. sprint superstar Jenna Prandini. She's run her first relays for the Ducks now, but I don't think she's done any individual races yet.

And speaking of hurdlers, Barrett Nugent--the LSU hurdler long admired here--ran a flat 100m last week. I'd never seen him do that before. Anyway, turns out he has wheels. I think the time was around 10.31 or so (I don't have the results in front of me). In other words, he could have been a pretty fair sprinter.

 

[Emerson]

I'm a tad bit concerned about Wariner. I'm hopeing he's back to his old self in this his last Olympics.

 

[white lightning]

Wariner is going to be just fine. He is finally healthy after two consecutive years of battling injuries. These things happen alot more when a sprinter is competing clean. The body breaks down due to training, races and just old age. He is 28 now so he doesn't recover as quickly as he used to. He still is capable of getting back into the high 43's in my opinion.

Here is another article on the Aussies hopes for winning 2 medals in the mens long jump.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-london-loympics/story-fn9dirj0-1226312886597

 

[jacknyc]

I'm a tad bit concerned about Wariner. I'm hopeing he's back to his old self in this his last Olympics.

Well it's a bit early in the season to determine much, but based on his 200m races and what I've read about his health and training, I feel better about Wariner's chances this year, than I did the previous 2 years. - assuming he stays healthy.

 

[white is right]

Well it's a bit early in the season to determine much, but based on his 200m races and what I've read about his health and training, I feel better about Wariner's chances this year, than I did the previous 2 years. - assuming he stays healthy.

A 20.6 to open the year is standard for him. Now does that mean is a sub 44 guy still or a low to mid 44 guy now. The difference will be whether he can will gold or be a finalist.

 

[jacknyc]

Last year Wariner opened with 20.77 and 21.05.
This year 20.66w and 20.53.

 

[trackster]

We probably haven't talked enough about the high school phenoms (and teammates!) Amy Weissenbach and Ami Chapus, now considered the greatest 1-2 punch in h.s. history. Weissenbach holds the h.s. record in the 800 and Chapus is bearing down on the record in the 1600 (though how much longer can she hold off the even younger phenom, Mary Cain?).

Here's an article.

 

[white lightning]

There must be something in the water. So many incredible teenagers from around the world. Thanks for that great article.

The Texas Relays are going on at the moment and it runs through the weekend. For all of the sprint fans here, Jared Connaughton and Jarid Vaughn are both entered in the 100 meters. JayConn looked really good last spring but then didn't run well at all in the summer. I hope he is not opening up too early again. July and August are when it counts. Regardless, good luck to both him and his partner tommorow!

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i just wanted to echo white lightning's mention of the Texas Relays. it is the meet that really kicks off the collegiate outdoor season (and to a lesser extent the pro outdoors, as well). the majority of running events begin tomorrow (Friday, March 30) with most of the running event Finals on Saturday evening.

another meet that is taking place this weekend is the Arkansas Spring Invitational, also on the 31st.

 

[jacknyc]

10.19!!! Marek Niit in Arkansas - wind legal!! Awesome.

 

[jacknyc]

Barrett Nugent wins the Texas Relays hurdles race. He won it last year too, I believe.
Jeremy Wariner anchored a 4x400 relay team in 44.58. Very good time.

 

[white lightning]

Great news jacknyc. Marek Niit is one of the most talented all around sprinters to come along in a long time. He reminds me of Kevin Little with his versatility to run many different distances and still be in the mix to win or finish towards the top most of the time. To open up with a 10.19 in April is incredible. Simply amazing form for this early in the season. Maybe he can make a push towards the 10 second barrier by the summer. This time gets me pumped! Way to go Marek!

Congrats to Nugent as well as he is the best college hurdler in the U.S. A future olympian in my opinion. Great to see Wariner continue his fine early season form as well.

What happened with JayConn today? Does anyone know?

One last thing. It may be too late for Paul Hession but he has a new coach this season. He is 29 years of age so this will be his last chance to represent Ireland in the Olympics. Good luck to this future doctor who I have enjoyed watching for a long time now.

 

[trackster]

Jay Conn ran for Canada in the 4 by 1 which finished second, and he ran a pretty good time in the 100, though the wind was over the limit.

Niit's performance was more impressive. He has shown more raw sprint speed than Jeremy Wariner at Wariner's peak. If he would just train with Clyde Hart and develop the sort of speed endurance that Wariner had, he could be a 400 superstar. Unfortunately, he's never had that level of endurance. Given his speed and ability to run the 400, though, it's frankly baffling that his 200 times haven't been better. He should be closer to cracking 20.

Maybe Niit will blossom after he graduates. He's a workhorse for Arkansas. You'll see him running 200's, 400's and relays all in the same meet. If he were to train for just one event, he might excel. That one event should be the 400, as he just isn't close enough in the shorter races. If he doesn't specialize more, he'll remain jack of all trades, master of none.

As for Wariner's split, I don't think the time tells us much. What we need to see is whether he labored to run that time or ran it easily. Flotrack should post the video tomorrow, or at least I hope they will.

In general, I haven't noticed too many interesting performances this weekend. Everyone seems to be running odd distances and avoiding their specialties, and the distance guys are running tactically.

 

[jacknyc]

I agree that Niit, with that kind of 100m speed, should be running much faster 200 meter times.
But maybe this is his breakout year.
Let's hope so!

 

[white lightning]

While Niit could be an excellent 200/400 guy if he just ran those events, I would rather see him focus on the 100 and 200 meters. Let me tell you guys why? Last year he opened up his season in the end of March with a legal 10.21 and this year he opens up with a 10.19. How many white sprinters run those times or open up with them outside of Lemaitre? He has the ability to run both sub 10 and a sub 20 if he just focuesed on those events. Hopefully after his college career ends, he will get with a world class coach and stick with the shorter sprints. We need more of our guys with the possibility to go sub 10. Bolt and the rest of the Jamaicans can't dominate forever. I also believe a few more will be caught in the next several years.

 

[trackster]

Actually, I don't think we disagree on Niit's potential. We're just looking at it from different perspectives. You'd prefer to see Niit stay in the 100 and break 10 even if it means he's never close to the best in the world (I think he has sub-10 potential, but just barely and nowhere near sub 9.9). I would prefer he go all-in for speed endurance and develop into another Wariner, because IF he can develop the endurance he can be Olympic medal level in the 400. At any rate, he's not going to amount to anything as long as he keeps running four events.

 

[planb47]

Marek Niit is obviously very fast twitch studies and caches agree that the very best 400m runners are the most fast twitch gifted athletes of all running events, great 200m recuires the endurance of a high but maximal speed the 400m is a relaxed natural sprint for the sub 44 guys like wariner, nery brenes is in my opinion a more slow twitch athlete he runs the 400m like a 200m pure endurance for the whole event thats why i doubt he will ever break 44 sec

 

[albinosprint]

10.19!!! Marek Niit in Arkansas - wind legal!! Awesome.

great opener! no reason he can't take at least a tenth off of that time.

 

[trackster]

Speaking of great openers, Cayla Hatton, a 17 yr old HS senior, just blistered a 10k in cold wintry weather in 33 minutes, beating second place by 7 minutes. That's the second best US time ever. The distance/mid-distance renaissance continues in the US, with the girls joining in now too.

 

[trackster]

And in this video Jeremy W runs the anchor of the 4 by 4 at the Texas Relays. Notice how easily he spanks the runners trying to catch him and puts them to bed.

Keep your fingers crossed. It's early in the season.

By the way, someone should mention regarding Niit that he is the former World Junior Champion at the 200. If only he were Jamaican and had protection from all testers, he could be juicing like mad and breaking the records being set by the people he once beat as a junior. Anyway, I really think the Arkansas program is holding him back for now, forcing him to run too many events (Note that the best Jamaicans never come to US colleges, but stay on the island in a tester-free zone, doing nothing but running, eating, and sleeping, while their brains atrophy. Americans and Europeans have to go to college).

 

[white defensive back]

Good video! The black guys came out to fast because their huge egos wanted to catch the great Jeremy " white boy " Wariner. You can see then just die and fade in the last 200 meters where Wariner just kept the same pace. TNB!

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

lost in the excitement of Marek Niit's (Estonian national record) 10.19 100-meters for Arkansas over the weekend was a couple of other notable efforts by Razorback track athletes.

the Arkansas 4x400 meter relay brought home another win, breezing to a 3:06.45, but they did it without their usual anchor man, Neil Braddy. instead, the Razorbacks ran with yet another White athlete, junior Travis Southard, who usually runs the long hurdles.

the amount of White 400-meter depth out there (perhaps most noticeably at Arkansas) is impressive, especially when you consider how fast most of these guys are despite specializing in other events.

perhaps an even more impressive tale was unfolding over in the field events.

freshman pole vaulter Andrew Irwin, who has already won the NCAA Indoor National Championship in his short career, continued his brilliance in his first-ever outdoor meet as a collegian. he promptly went out and set the Arkansas outdoor record. the incredibly gifted freshman cleared 5.60 meters (18 feet 4.5 inches) despite using a short approach and planning to use the meet to simply tune in some issues for the outdoor season. the sky is literally the limit for this young wunderkind.

also, i wanted to add a bit more ammo to what trackster has been saying about Marek Niit. in this meet Niit once again ran a lot of sprints over wide-ranging distances. he won the 100, then ran in the winning 4x100, and he also ran in the winning 4x400.

i, too, wonder how great he could truly be if he narrowed his pursuits and became more of a specialist.

finally, i have a new name to mention. at least, i don't think his name has been mentioned before (my apologies if i've missed it). freshman Mark Sitek, running for Johnson County Community College (in Kansas), posted a 21.15 in the 200-meters with virtually no wind. coming out of high school, Sitek was a highly decorated, and versatile sprinter, with his best events being the 200 and 400. he's another youngster to perhaps keep an eye on, despite running at such a non-glamorous institution.