Josh Hembrough made the first big splash of the 2006-07 indoor season with his 42” hurdle records in December. Johnny Dutch made the biggest noise during the monster weekend just passed with his HSR over the normal height for preps at 55 meters.

What a showdown they could have in March.

Reviewing the biggest happenings of the indoor season to date – we’re roughly halfway done – th3se two senior hurdlers have to rate among the best, for sure. The former, a Forest Hills Northern MI sr, was one of the top 10 in the country last year, but has made a marked improvement into this winter. He has set 3 records over 42” hurdles, that he ran in college/open meets, and has run 7.15 in the 55s over 39”, just .02 off Dutch’s US#1 from last winter. Indeed, Dutch was clearly the nation’s #1 hurdler coming into the season and, last weekend, the Clayton NC sr established that the road to the Nike Indoor title will still go through him with that stunning 7.07 in his season opener.

But the boys hurdles is just one of almost countless exciting stories that are borne out when examining the Nike List, DyeStat Elite, and Jim Spier’s Top 5 this week, as well as reviewing the competitions that have taken place. Thousands of words could be expended on what’s happened to date, but let’s concentrate on some of the biggest storylines.

Johnny Dutch NC was the man last year at NON.  Josh Hembrough MI (5th in the race) is showing indoors that he could be closing the gap. Photo Vic Sailer, photorun.net

The Milers

The mile is always a huge part of any prep indoor season – given that there’s the campaign to compete in the Millrose mile each year – and the ante has been upped markedly with the upcoming mile at the Reebok Boston Games. No one has run exceptionally fast so far this year, but there have been some good stories and, this year, the whole sequence has morphed into a trilogy with the first chapter taking place last weekend.

With last Saturday’s US#1 and US#2 mile runs by Danielle Tauro NJ and Steve Murdock NY, respectively, the stage was set for the weeks ahead. Tauro’s first hard race, the impressive 4:46.13 victory at the New Balance Indoor Games, was eye-opening not only for establishing that she’s come back from the health problems that short-circuited her harrier season, but for the way she blasted away the last 400 from an almost equally impressive Chanelle Price PA (last year’s best 800 runner hitting 4:50.65 in her first major mile). The race makes the defending Millrose/Penn Relays/NON champ, and Southern Regional NJ sr, the heavy favorite to win in Boston this weekend and in New York the next.

Meanwhile, the big boys miles got their favorite just in time last weekend, as Murdock dominated at Yale with his 4:15.21. With US#1 Charles White NY (4:15.05) having moved with his family to Colorado, Murdock gained the top seed at Millrose and a favorite’s role at Boston. The Shenendehowa NY sr has become a popular fan favorite after his gritty season-ending push last fall that earned him the NTN title and 3rd at Foot Locker.

In reality, however, the Reebok race has several top contenders. Colts Neck NJ sr Craig Forys, who outlegged Murdock at Foot Locker for 2nd, has run 4:09.77yi open and 4:05i 1600 relay last year. He is the top returning indoor miler, but there’s also top outdoor returnee Evan Jager (Algonquin Jacobs IL sr), who will be highly motivated after not qualifying for FL Finals. Neither has run a race yet this year. Add in the likes of Sintayehu Taye MA, Matt Centrowitz MD, Brian Rhodes-Devey NY, and more, the race could go any one of a number of ways. Murdock, in fact, will probably impress more this season as a two-miler, but determination could carry him far, too.

The last three of these four of Eleanor Roosevelt's versatile relayers are back this winter, and they are just getting heated up as the Virginia Tech meet will show this weekend

The Long Sprinters

Speaking of determination, how about determining who’s best in those unique indoor distances between the 300 and 1000? Yes, you have the 400 and 800, but indoor gives athletes a chance to shine at odd distances like 300, 500, and 600 meters – and this year, as is often the case, they’re taking full advantage.

Ruling the 300 and 600 on the boys side has been Sean Holston, the R.E. Lee VA sr who has clocked US#1 times of 33.99 and 1:03.93. He has also zipped 47.90 for 400 (flat 200 track), but will have the likes of Chris Ward (US#1 47.42 on a banked track) to battle at Nike Indoor. Ward is a story himself, an Evans FL sr runner who broke 47 outdoors as a soph, and has returned from health problems his jr year.

And what about Lionel Williams? On his “home” track at The Armory (banked 200), the St. Peters NY sr has led just about all winter at 800 (1:52.29), but last weekend at his Staten Island champs added US#1s of 1:19.40 for 600 and 2:29.30 for 1000. Can you imagine a 500 race with Holston, Ward, and Williams? Or the same trio at 600? The imagination reels.

The same thing, or even better, holds true on the girls side. Dalilah Muhammad has been the best at 400 (54.28 at New Balance) and 600 (1:32.51), and surely she would love to get a race with Ebonie Cunningham, who took over the 500 lead at the Eastern Challenge last weekend at 1:14.98. But what if you put them in a 600 with PA’s Price, who has a blistering 2:08.76 to her credit? You know she would give them all they wanted and more. Fans at Virginia Tech this weekend will get a pretty good race at 600 as Muhammad comes down to race Tameka Jameson of Eleanor Roosevelt MD and others in a strong field.

At USATF Jrs last year, sprinter Shayla Mahan was disappointed, and middle distance runner Chanelle Price pleased.  But neither has to look over their shoulders right now:  They are #1 in the 55 and 800, respectively.  Photos by Davey.

The Short Sprints

One really has a sense in the 55/60 and 200 that the principals are just getting warmed up. Last year’s female indoor sprint queen, Ridgeland MS sr Bianca Knight, was stunned in her 55 opener at LSU by Fort Worth Dunbar TX jr Victoria Jordan, then false-started at Arkansas. But in the Arkansas 200, she showed she’s still got it, big-time, as she ripped a 23.27, a low-altitude best and just off her #3 all-time PR of 23.26.

Jordan led the 55 list for a few weeks, but appeared to have been overtaken when DyeStat MVP Gabby Mayo opened at the Eastern Challenge last weekend in 6.90. Later, however, it was learned that Detroit Mumford MI sr Shayla Mahan had blazed a 6.83 the same day at the Findlay OH meet. Then there’s Kya Brookins of Seneca SC who has held the 60 lead all winter with her 7.28 at a college meet at Clemson. That’s just .03 off Knight’s PR.

Mayo, the Southeast Raleigh NC sr, will get a big test this weekend in Boston as she’ll go against the pros in the 60. With Simplot still 3 weeks away and several weeks until nationals, the sprint scene still leaves much to be revealed.

The same is true on the guys’ side, but the big story has been the revelation of Rynell Parson, the San Antonio Stevens TX soph who has gotten one class record and just missed another, while putting up times of 6.74 and 21.62 (banked 200). Due to having to sit out as a transfer to a new school last year, he was mostly bereft of competition as a freshman, but still hit 10.43 and 21.05 outdoors at AAU JOs.

No one has come close to him so far, though his 6.35 55m lead was topped by Trenton Guy Jr. of West Charlotte NC last weekend (6.31). Guy also has the flat track 200 lead of 21.94. But in a group of sprinters largely without a real leader, the national scene remains wide open.

Tori Anthony, at 14 feet, has flown higher than any other girl this season and in California history.  Photo DyeStatCal

More Notes from the season’s mid-point

• The boys aren’t the only ones making big news in the hurdles. Knoxville West jr Jackie Coward’s season is just getting heated up and already she has blazed 7.67 for 55H – merely the #3 time ever – and 8.51 for 60H. She has the clear US lead in each. Meanwhile, Dallas Skyline TX sr April Williams, last year’s outdoor leader, has won two big meets, but got pushed to the limit by Lancaster TX sr Tenaya Jones last weekend at Carl Lewis, her 8.66 60H winning by less than 1/100 of a second.
  
  
• The excitement of last year’s boys’ splurge of 17-footers may not be matched in the pole vault this year, but last weekend at Reno – as would be expected – established the high marks of the season to date. Friendswood Clearbrook TX sr Maston Wallace became the first 17-footer of the year by hitting that mark on the nose. More significantly, Palo Alto Castilleja CA sr Tori Anthony became history’s 4th 14-footer (in or out) and is within 2” of the HSR. There are two active 14-footers for the first time, though NIN defending champ Katie Veith (Homestead IN; 14’ at Reno last year) has not reached that form yet this year.
  
  
• Not surprisingly, the biggest field event news has been in the boys weight throw, the domain of DyeStat MVP Walter Henning. The St. Anthony’s (South Huntington NY) sr “only” reached 86-02 in his first meet of the year, upping his HSR from NSIC last year. He his also pushing himself in the shot, where he is #3 and has gone 61-02. He may get a bit of a test in the weight if Villa Rica GA jr Wesley Wright continues to improve. The jr. has already reached US#2 79-10, barely more than a foot behind where Henning was at this stage last year.
  
  
• There hasn’t been a boy under 9:10 for 3200 or 2-miles yet this year, but distance fans had something to get excited about last weekend when VA homeschooled standout Aurora Scott made her indoor debut. Her 10:29.12 3200 at the Liberty Asics meet decisively took the national lead.
  
  
• Duking it out: Expect to potentially see the US lead go back and forth in the boys high jump and girls shot put the rest of the way. Midwesterners Eric Thompson (Herrin IL sr) and Erik Kynard (Toledo Rogers OH soph), and Devon Bond (Trenton Central NJ sr) have all done 7 feet. Bond is also a big horizontal jump threat with his US#1 48-06. Meanwhile, defending NIN/NON/USATF Jrs champ Kamorean Hayes of Charlotte Harding is not up to 50-foot form yet and is getting pushed by Media Penncrest PA jr Karen Shump. The latter extended her US lead with another PR last Friday of 49-04.25 and could soon be a 50-footer herself.
  
  
• Californians Showing Up: With a few exceptions, California and indoor track are not synonymous. But as has been the case at times, this year’s exceptions so far have been quite notable. Besides Anthony’s heroics, last weekend Oakland Holy Names sr Ke’Nyia Richardson bounded her way to 42-05.50 in the triple jump at Boise State ID, taking the US lead away from East Northport John Glenn sr NY Gabriella Baiter. St. Elizabeth (Oakland) fr Ashton Purvis, in the same meet, blazed to a US freshman record 23.97 in the 200. Then there was hurdle/jump star Terry Prentice of Pomona Diamond Ranch venturing to Arkansas, where he won and grabbed US#1s in the 60H (7.93, latter taken over by Hembrough) and long jump (23-11.50).

This weekend

The mile races at Boston will be huge and will likely produce US leaders in that event. Besides dealing with the competition, Gabby Mayo will have a good shot at Kya Brookins’ US lead in the 60m there, as well. Boston Index Page

But as far as a full meet, the Virginia Tech Invitational is definitely the headliner this weekend, with US#1s Johnny Dutch, Dalilah Muhammad, Sean Holston, and Devon Bond all in attendance. Brandon Miles’ meet preview.