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dave devine | recovery lap

 >> Dave Devine ARCHIVES
05 . 21 . 09
We look at a lot of meet results here at DyeStat.  We process performances and attend meets and write about them on deadline.  Somewhere around the middle of the week, I'm always looking for a breather, a little break, a short recovery before the next onslaught of invites and mega-meets. Maybe watch a few videos. Surf the web. Find a good story or two. As a runner and a coach, I learned the value of rest between hard efforts. As an editor, I'm planning to bring you along.  Let's go run a lap.

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the top shot


Amanda Winslow US#1 4:44.97 at Georgia 4A State Meet - Photo by Walter Pinion  


no 'i' in team

You have to check out this story about the top seed in last weekend's Oregon 2A State Meet boys' 1500 giving up his spot in the race so his Union HS teammate-- who fell at districts and ended up a non-qualifying third-- could have an opportunity to race at the state meet.  The guy who gave up his spot, Tom Sheehy, was also the top qualifier in the 3k, and won that race at the state meet, but could have been a double champ if he'd also run the 1500.  But he didn't, he gave his spot to Chris Fasel.  Guess who won the 2A 1500?  Yup, Chris Fasel.  The truly amazing thing is that another Union guy gave up his slot in the 3k so a fourth teammate could run at State too.  Just a stunning commitment to team over individual glory.

Here's the video of Fasel winning that 1500 race:


And the results of the 2A Boys 1500 and 3000:

Event 45  Boys 1500 Meter Run 2A
=========================================================================
NFHS: % 4:00.10 2008 Max Long, Oakridge
State Meet: # 4:00.10 2008 Max Long, Oakridge

2008 Champ: 4:00.10 Max Long, Oakridge
Name Year School Seed Finals
=========================================================================

1 881 Chris Fasel 12 Union 4:21.49 4:11.90
2 880 Michael Cox 12 Union 4:18.08 4:13.54
3 280 Jonathan Whitehead 12 E. Linn Chr. Ac. 4:26.05 4:17.84
4 652 Andrew Landstrom 11 Portland Christ. 4:23.42 4:19.93
5 820 Harrison Leep 9 St. Mary's-Medf. 4:31.59 4:23.01
6 504 Octaviano Chavarin 12 Lost River 4:35.79 4:23.67
7 233 Josh Hanslovan 11 Culver 4:27.09 4:24.12
8 609 Dylan Roberts 10 Oakridge 4:37.44 4:26.34
9 562 Chris Alexander 11 Nestucca 4:36.43 4:27.82
10 124 Zach Holloway 9 Central Linn 4:44.14 4:35.72

Event 46 Boys 3000 Meter Run 2A
=========================================================================
NFHS: % 8:55.30 2008 Max Long, Oakridge

State Meet: # 8:52.24 2007 Max Long, Oakridge
2008 Champ: 8:55.30 Max Long, Oakridge
Name Year School Seed Finals

=========================================================================
1 884 Tom Sheehy 11 Union 9:28.96 9:05.59
2 652 Andrew Landstrom 11 Portland Christ. 9:32.52 9:11.29
3 882 Gabriel O'Reilly 11 Union 10:06.48 9:37.36
4 504 Octaviano Chavarin 12 Lost River 10:07.61 9:43.12
5 609 Dylan Roberts 10 Oakridge 10:12.74 9:54.88
6 235 Preston Quinn 10 Culver 10:00.72 9:59.90
7 236 Jacob Shaw 12 Culver 10:02.33 10:05.01
8 561 Cody Aalsma 9 Nestucca 10:17.03 10:05.41
9 822 Julio Silva 10 St. Mary's-Medf. 10:41.84 10:16.31
10 124 Zach Holloway 9 Central Linn 10:35.24 10:22.34


bolt bombs a 150m wr

We love us some Usain Bolt here at the 'Lap, partly because he seemed like such a fun guy at the Puma Street Meet, where some of the top mid-distance runners on the East Coast battled in the street 1k races.  Even though Bolt was in a car accident shortly after that Street Meet, he bounced back last week to add another sprint world record to his name.  This one was the rarely-contested 150-meter dash, but watching him blaze down a Mondo strip laid on a street in Manchester UK is still something to behold.  He required merely 14.35 seconds to travel 150 meters, but the truly astonishing thing is that he covered the 100 meters from 50 to 150 in 8.70 seconds.  Wow.

Check out the race video here (you have to hear the excitement of the British announcer), and then take a gander at a 2-part interview with Bolt by our own Moses Galindo:



 Usain Bolt Interview - Puma Street Meet - pt 1
  Usain Bolt Interview - Puma Street Meet - pt 2

 
fam jams

Runnersworld.com has started a feature called New Music Mondays, where they post i-Tunes playlists of elite runners.  If you're like me, and always looking for some new tunes, this seems like something worth checking out at the beginning of every week.  The lead-off list belongs to Anthony "Fam" Famiglietti (below, photo by John Roemer), and it is as diverse and interesting as you'd expect from the steeplechase savant. 

Here's Fam's list:

Big Hard Sun" (Track 1) Eddie Vedder: "This song just has a great optimistic sound. It's perfect for my long runs."

"Idioteque" (Track 2) Radiohead: "This song and it's album, KID A, are so different than anything else out there. I like this one on longs runs to get the pace going."

"Me I'm Not" (Track 3) NIN: "This is a great pre-race song for times when I don't feel like racing at all. It gets me ready to hard charge a race. The sound of it and lyrics are just right – 'Can't stop me, I'm not...!'"

"Three Days" (Track 4) Jane's Addiction: This song is just epic. That is the only way to describe it. The build up into Dave Navarro's solo is perfect for the last 3 miles of a long run in the pouring rain.

"Bittersweet Symphony" (Track 5) The Verve: "An old one. It's great for a sunny day run, or after you have a bad race. It helps you put things in perspective."

"Sunday Sun" (Track 6) Beck: "This song is great for a Sunday long run if you're in a foggy mood."

"Edge of The Ocean" (Track 7) Ivy: "I hate to say it, but I like this song. It's embarrassing. My wife started playing it before we'd head out to run. It is really optimistic and now it just makes me want to lace up and head outside."

"Representing" (Track 8) John Frusciante: "This song has a really unique sound that I like. When I first found this album, To Record Only Water for Ten Days. I listened to it every day for weeks."

"Song to the Siren" (Track 9) John Frusciante: "My number 1 pre-race song now. The lyrics and sound make me remember friends I've lost, and gives me a huge sense of purpose and meaning to everything I do."


two lap titans 

This week we took a close look at current US#1 in the 800 Elijah Greer, finding out that even star runners have bad days at the track.  A local TV station in Portland also recently had a nice video feature on Greer, and it's worth checking out as he heads into the Oregon 6A state meet this weekend.

One of the challengers to Greer's preeminence in the two-lapper this spring and summer could be #2 returner from last year and fellow senior Zach Mellon of Minnesota.  Mellon was a 1:48.64 performer last summer, clocking that mark in the same USATF Junior Nationals 800 in which Greer set the US junior class record.  Distance Gala Weekly scribe Scott Bush has a great interview with Mellon posted on Runnerspace.com today, in which we learn what Mellon has been doing since last summer.

If these two hook up again, with perhaps Robby Andrews, Mac Fleet, Cas Loxsom, Tom Mallon, Bill Ledder or any of a host of other talented two-lappers currently on the scene-- watch out.


vena overcomes stagefright

Over on ESPN RISE, we had a story this week about Morristown NJ super soph Nick Vena, who's been demolishing shot put records left and right since his freshman year.  Vena is a once-in-a-generation talent, but he confided to ESPN RISE writer Mike Grimala that one of the hardest aspects of his meteoric rise to the top of the HS ranks has been the large crowds which now elbow for space at the throwing circle to watch him compete:

Vena says one of his biggest adjustments from year to year has been performing in front of the large crowds that are now drawn to the shot put. He estimates the biggest crowd he threw in front of before last year was about 30 people. At the spring 2008 Meet of Champions, the shot put drew more than 500 spectators.

"I had to learn how to control myself and get used to all the people," Vena says. "Every indoor meet had a big crowd this year, and it's slowly starting to agree with me. Once I started getting more comfortable with it, it was easier to focus on my throws."


Vena's greater "ease of focus" is good news for him, bad news for anyone who has to throw against the Jersey Giant.  Since the article mentions Michael Carter's incredible 81-03.50 high school record, it only makes sense to throw that video up here, just to appreciate the series in all of its greatness:



serious hops


From David Honea at Watauga High School in Boone, NC, we have this report of a high schooler who improved his high jump PR from 6-6 to 7-02.50 (!) in a single meet:

At the 4A West Region in Asheville today, one of the most amazing HJ performances in HS history.  (I don't think that is hyperbole.) Tanner Anderson, junior at East Burke (Connelly Springs, NC) came in with a PR of 6'6".  The results of the conference meet at the same site last week say 6'8" but that was an error - he was clean through 6'6" and had three good attempts at 6'8" but did not clear.  (I announced both meets - he told me today he had only cleared 6'8" before on "a fourth attempt" - I think that means after the competition was over.)

During the break between prelims and finals I was headed toward the jumps apron with the mobile mike, but stopped first to get food at the officials' area.  Someone said "Are you the announcer - that Tan(sic) kid is about to jump seven feet."  I turned around and saw the bar very high, and the indicator board on 7'0", and quickly picked up the mike to alert the crowd - at least that part the hadn't already gathered to see his clearance at 6'10".  About 15 seconds after I made the announcement, Anderson went over the bar on his first attempt, a new regional meet record, and by now a much bigger audience was involved.

He had the bar moved up to 7'2" (I thought that was a mistake; I figured even 7'1" would be out of range.)  After the steel tape was pulled out to check the height, I kept the crowd up-to-date through two very good-looking misses.  Then while my back was turned to answer a question from an official, I heard the crowd explode - and rather needlessly informed them of the new meet record, but tried to add a little value by noting it equaled the second best mark in North Carolina history.

After this clearance, they brought out a chair so the official could remeasure, this time while looking straight at the bar, and the actual height proved to be 7'2 1/2".  Anderson took three attempts a 7'3" (which would have matched Jesse Williams' all-time state best), and while he didn't appear to quite have the elevation there, none were embarrassing either.

Tanner Anderson came into the meet as a consistent 6'6" jumper with clear potential to go higher.  In a little over an hour, he PR'd 4 times, the last one 8 1/2 inches above his old best.  I really doubt any high school jumper has ever gone over 7 feet with that big a PR before.
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