An AMAZING set of performances by the indefatigable Gehret this week. In one day, he wins the long jump by two feet, run's the nation's best time in the 400 (lopping three seconds off the meet record!), and still has enough energy to win the 200 in a sparkling 200. He would have won the triple jump (where he was number one seed), but couldn't participate, on account of a rule limiting him to four events (he ran the relay).
Now let's see if Patrick Farmer can keep up that pace (in the race to be the Next Jeremy Wariner).
From an article:
Gehret began things innocently enough by winning the long jump with a
distance of 23-6, nearly 2 feet better than the next closest
competitor. Then the Mountain Lion star covered the quarter-mile in an
amazing 46.39 seconds, winning the event by more than 3 seconds and
breaking the standard set by Branden Adams of Altoona in 1999 at 49.24.
That
set the stage for the faceoff with Kenney in the 200. Gehret finished
in 21.12 seconds, a hundredth of a second better than his record time of
last year. Kenney wasn't far behind at 21.58.
Gehret, who
finished off the meet by helping post a 3:21.59 in the four-by-four,
said he was most happy with his performance in the 400.
"I came
out there looking to get the number-one time in the nation,'' Gehret
said, "and that's exactly what I got. I'm really excited about that.
"The
past two weeks, I've been going at it really hard training-wise, and it
definitely all paid off.''
Of course, most of those in attendance
showed up to see Gehret and Kenney go head to head. It was only the
second time the pair of Penn State recruits - Gehret for track, Kenney
for football - have gone up against each other this season in the event.
Gehret
missed an opportunity to run the 200 against Kenney at the West Central
Coaches Invitational earlier this month after he, Endress, Beiswenger
and Mike Harf were suspended for a violation of team rules; Kenney set a
meet record in Gehret's absence and was seeded first at districts.
"I've
been looking forward to this race for a long time. After the 400, it
was going to be a lot closer, because I was tired. But it was a great
race. He really got out there,'' Gehret said.