2012 Outdoor Track Season

[Jimmy Chitwood]

please excuse the double post, but i wanted to add a bit more about Marek Niit's sprinting efforts.

with his recent 10.19 in the 100-meters, Niit now owns the 3rd-fastest 100 meters in school history, as well as the #5 time (10.21), and the #2 wind-aided time (10.17).

as has been mentioned previously, he's a very versatile sprinter, and his times are plastered all over the Razorbacks' record book. Indoors, Niit has the #5 200-meter time (20.70), the #2 400-meter time (45.99) [As an aside, Neil Braddy ran the 3rd-fastest-ever indoor 400-meters for the Razorbacks last year as a freshman, with a sparkling 46.03. Ben Skidmore is #4 all-time, running a 46.04 last year.], and posted the #2 4x400 relay time (3:03.76) this spring while teaming with White sprinters Ben Skidmore and Neil Braddy.

with the Outdoor season getting underway, he is also well-represented on the all-time lists there.

last year Niit ran the 6th-fastest 200-meters in school history (20.43), was on the 4x100 relay team along with Braddy that posted the 5th-fastest time (39.29), was on the 4x200 relay also with Braddy and Skidmore that posted the 7th-fastest time (1:22.63), and was on the 4x400 meter relay which was the 3rd-fastest in school history (3:03.59) "despite" featuring an all-White quartet: Skidmore, Niit, Travis Southard, and Braddy.

he is truly a special runner, and hopefully there will be more impressive outings this season and in years to come.

but despite his recent exploits and his career marks, Niit has been virtually invisible, even in the local press. of course, the same can be said about Braddy, Skidmore, pole vaulting prodigy Andrew Irwin, and so on ... apparently they don't have the necessary explosiveness to be featured in a sports page.

 

[trackster]

Jimmy, I followed up on Sitek, and it looks like he was primarily a cross-country and 400m man in high school, and only ran a few short sprints his senior year. That may be why he is making rapid progress now. Earlier, he was in the wrong events (his cross country times were weak, but his 400s were exceptional). If he hadn't been slotted in the wrong events, he might not be running for a community college now.

Speaking of wrong events, over at T and F News there is a very spirited debated ongoing over whether Dafne Schippers should quit heptathlon and become a full time sprinter. Several people make the case that the times she has run are faster than most world class sprinters/medallists of the same age, and she's never even trained specifically for the sprints. Some of the posts are really long, but here's the link: Schippers discussed.

Lastly, another piece about Cayla Hatton (see above post). It seems her 10k time was the fastest run in the past 33 years--and that's off being injured for two years (she lost her sophomore and junior years in HS due to injury). I'm putting her in the potential Kenyan beater category.

 

[trackster]

Some familiar names at the upcoming Arcadia Invitational for high schoolers.

Hannah Cunliffe (but not Marybeth Sant) in the 100 and 200.
Cammie Chapus, Maddie Meyers, and Amy Eloise-Neal in the mile.
Amy Weissenbach in the 800.

In general, the mid-distances are pretty much all white, the sprints the opposite. I just listed some of the biggest names.

I wasn't familiar with many boys' names. It looks like Cole Lambourne is in the 200. For all I know, he may be the only exception in the sprints.

 

[white lightning]

Some Masters Track News. As I've said many times before, whites do exceptionally well in the masters track categories. In many events and whites have the edge in the sprints. There is no doubt about it! At the lastest Masters Champs, we had several world records broken. The mens(60) world record was broken by Robert Lida over 60 meters. This guy is amazing. I recomend that you guys give one of these contests a chance someday. Here is a pic of the new fastest man in the world for his age bracked. Congrats Robert Lida.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSc_Gl0-ZK0dyUBN0dfDkVM3pOq-Hovy_wRCwmB8NiPY-

 

[white lightning]

Here is a link to a short article about the meet. Congrats to all of the new world record holders.

http://www.usatf.org/News/Three-world-records-fall-at-World-Masters-Indoor-C.aspx

 

[white lightning]

Here is a video of Dafne Schippers. She is an incredible competitor in the heptathalon and may win many medals but I would prefer to see her focus on the sprints in the 100 & 200 meters. Her stride is huge and she is as smooth as they come. Dafne makes running into a work of art as she is so fluid. I see no reason why she can't go sub 11 if she would just train for the sprints. She is so beautiful.

http://nos.nl/video/260704-nk-atletiek-schippers-op-100-meter.html

 

[white lightning]

Here is another video of Dafne winning the Dutch Indoor Championships in a blazing time of 7.19! It shows the regular speed and then reshows the race in slow motion. Her form is really good and she produces nice lift off the track. What a talent she is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Cd3_Vc-r4

 

[trackster]

She reminds me so much of LeMaitre. So it's agreed. Let it be resolved that Dafne Schippers should drop the heptathlon and concentrate on the sprints.

 

[jacknyc]

Christopher Geisting a freshman at Notre Dame, who emerged this indoor season, ran a 46.12 to win the 400m at the Stanford Invitational today. Great time for this young kid. Hope there's more to come.

 

[trackster]

Very exciting result by Giesting. And Patrick Feeney finished second, for a solid 1-2 punch. Another fast freshman, Sean Delfani, finished fourth (on time--he was in another heat).

Here's the Giesting video. He makes the other runners look like high school kids.

We haven't said much about Irish distance runner Alistair Cragg here, but he's in great shape right now. A week ago he broke the Euro road record for the 10k. Last night at Stanford, he ran two distance races with minimal rest and produced solid performances in both--3:42 in the 1500, followed by 13:32 in the 5k.

Dathan Ritzenhein finally returned to the track in the 10k. He won at Stanford, although the time (28:21) wasn't special, so we still don't know much about his fitness.

Now you guys know how much I like the Kenyan-beaters. Here's the first heat of the Stanford 1500. The favorite is Lawi Lalang, who trains with convicted doper Bernard Lagat, and who has been all the rage this year. Everyone talks about Lalang as if he can't be touched. Watch him touched. You gotta love Chris Derrick, but also this kid Jeremy Rae for Notre Dame, who's kicked some ass indoors this year. Given that they also have Giesting and Feeney, Notre Dame is joining Penn State and Arkansas as one of the must-watch teams this year. Watch the back of the pack going into the final curve. That's Rae in the black Notre Dame uniform, second-to-last and forced to run the curve in lane three, taking a much longer route than the leaders.

 

[white lightning]

Great videos guys. I especially liked seeeing Chris Derrick in the 2nd race. Keep the videos coming guys.

There are some big names racing all over the country today. Is Niit racing again? I know Kilty is racing at the Sun Angel Classic along with some teammates.

 

[white lightning]

Here is a great article on a sprinter that both me and trackster have also had a crush on. She is as fast as she is beautiful. I hope she can win gold at the European Championships. She deserves it with all that she has had to endure over her career.

http://www.european-athletics.org/e...-revenge-for-seven-years-ago-in-helsinki.html

 

[jacknyc]

10.23 for Richard Kilty at the Sun Angel meet.
0.3 wind.
Pretty impressive!

 

[white lightning]

You beat me to it. He looked very strong. MLF finished in 3rd. Richard Kilty is also going to be running in the 200 in around an hour and a half along with Matic Osovnikar. Good luck to these guys.

Kilty is going to take it to another level this year! What a sweet way for him to open up the outdoor season!

 

[jacknyc]

Actually, they were in different heats.
There was nobody in Kilty's heat. 2nd place was 10.49.
Perhaps if MLF and some of the other guys were in the race he might have even run faster.
Anyway, it's a great start to the season for him.

 

[jacknyc]

Kilty also wins the 200m in 20.50.
It looks like this will be a break out year for Kilty!

 

[white lightning]

Way to pull of the double. What is really even more exciting is his age. The kid is only 21 so he has alot of upside in him. I also like the fact that he is talented enough to compete over both distances. If he can stay healthy, he has a good chance to make the U.K. Team in the individual sprints for the London Olympics! Man would that be a huge step in the right direction for his career. It will give him the experience to continue to take his athletics career to the ultimate level. Way to go Richard! Keep up the great sprinting.:yo:

 

[trackster]

Wariner won his first 400 of the year yesterday but wasn't satisfied with his time. Here's an article.

 

[white lightning]

http://www.athleticsweekly.com/news/even-more-to-come-promises-kilty/

 

[FootballDad]

Who's the 'roider on the left? :heh:

 

[jacknyc]

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

10.21 for Marek Niit at Texas yesterday - again, wind legal.
It could be a big year for this guy!

 

[white lightning]

Niit is the sh**! Sorry guys but I couldn't resist. Lol. I really hope he sticks with the short sprints in the near future. If he can get a better dirve phae, look out. He is such a great all around sprinter and he is willing to do anything to help Arkansas win. I just want him to focus on himself after he graduates. Good luck to Marek the rest of the year and thanks for the update jacknyc.

 

[white defensive back]

Niit is the sh**! Sorry guys but I couldn't resist. Lol. I really hope he sticks with the short sprints in the near future. If he can get a better dirve phae, look out. He is such a great all around sprinter and he is willing to do anything to help Arkansas win. I just want him to focus on himself after he graduates. Good luck to Marek the rest of the year and thanks for the update jacknyc.

I don't think Niit is going to get much faster considering he will be 25 in August. Maybe if he started " roiding " he could have a long and prosperous career like Justin Gatlin.

 

[jacknyc]

As Trackster pointed out earlier, Niit is a workhorse for Arkansas, running the short sprints, the long sprints, and the relays.
If he focuses just on the short sprints, or just the long sprints, (and drops the relays) he will improve in either.

 

[trackster]

The track season has started slowly this year, with a lot of runners skipping events or running odd distances. However, the first chance for serious athletes to start proving themselves comes up this weekend at the Mt. SAC relays, which I believe will be webcast for anyone who has the time.

Here's an idiosyncratic list of names to watch:

Richard Kilty (Oly Development 100)
Jeremy Wariner and Martyn Rooney (Invit elite 400)
Cas Loxsom and Ryan Martin (college boys taking on tough competition in the elite 800)
1500--basically everyone, but I'll be curious to see what the college boys, Creese, Jeremy Rae, and Harvard freshman Adam Cotton, can do in section 1.
Mile--a MUST WATCH as Alan Webb is in it (everyone is watching Webb's dreadful early season wondering if he can make a comeback) and Andy Baddeley (GBR), who has fallen off the past few years, are running out of chances to prove they've still got it.
5000--all eyes are on oft-injured superstar Dathan Ritzenhein (coming back from yet another injury), but I'll be watching the collegiate miler, Miles Batty, stretching out to a longer distance, as well as the young Canadian, Cam Levins.
400-open--the ND boys Giesting and Feeney will be there.