9th Nike Indoor Nationals

If you wanted to sum up the most likely absolute highlights of the 9^th Nike Indoor Nationals fields, among all the great performers and performances expected to grace the PG Sportsplex in Landover, Maryland this weekend, maybe you’d use these words – Hurdlers and Half-Milers.

The hurdlers, specifically new national record-holders Jackie Coward TN and Johnny Dutch NC, are very special, and certainly have some of the best opportunities to rewrite the meet and national record books here. And those half-milers – ok, 800-meter runners, to be exact – are pretty good, too. New 2:04 performer Chanelle Price PA will lead a dynamite girls 800 field, while 1:51 runner Chris Bilbrew AL paces a tight trio battling for the boys title. Not only will the 800s be two of the best individual races of the meet, but several of the standouts (especially on the boys side) will contribute to making some of the relays really stand out.

Add in potential history makers like Bianca Knight MS and Danielle Tauro NJ and, as usual, you have a heck of a meet here.

With her two national records in the 60 hurdles, Coward (left at NON last year) has been without a doubt one of the year’s best performers. As a soph last indoor and outdoor season, she was always in the mix and showed an inkling of what could be ahead when she closed it out with her 13.27w in the 100H at USATF JOs. Still, she was well back of April Williams TX, who was a junior. But this winter, Coward has taken the next step and dominated the 55 and 60H races all season. Her first record of 8.29 in the 60H edged what had been considered one of the softer marks, but her 8.17 in Kentucky blew it wide open. With a better chance at the 55 mark of 7.50 (her best was 7.67), she might have gotten that, too.

Here, Coward will face other athletes who are capable of 8.4-8.5, but if she’s 8.2 or better, she’ll be alone. The nation’s #2 hurdler, Lindsay Rowe, is in New York and Williams is bypassing both meets. All eyes will be on Jackie when the gun goes off.

The boys 60H race, on the other hand, should be a super competitive showdown. While Dutch has a healthy lead on the 55 list, with his 7.07 HSR, his 7.83 best trails Michigan standouts Josh Hembrough 7.80 (7.15 for 55) and Shane Wells 7.82 on the list. The reality is that all three should run faster than 7.8 and Dutch probably deserves a favorite’s role. But Hembrough, who started the season with HSRs at 55 and 60H over the 42” college barriers, has improved immensely to close the gap, as has Wells.

And it’s not just these three, either, as Terry Prentice CA and Oscar Spurlock TX are the best of the rest of a field that includes almost all the top ten hurdlers in the US. While one of Deworski Odom’s marks (7.08 55H) has been taken, his 7.62 (that he shares with Rickey Harris and Terrance Trammell) is still out there and it won’t be easy – but these may be the guys to do it.

Don't forget the 400 - Bianca Knight moves up to aim for Francena's fantastic record

And given that records are mentioned so prominently here, an event that’s not in the hurdles/half-mile theme – the 400 is a long sprint – cannot be overlooked in terms of highlights and attempts at all-time greatness. Last year’s most outstanding performance here was no doubt Francena McCorory’s USR 51.93 400. This year another of the all-time greats is going to eschew her usual 60 and 200 and move up to take the challenge of taking the great mark down.

Bianca Knight MS was the 60/200 queen last year, scaring records and winning all of her major meets, and nearly was the outdoor athlete of the year before a combination of running out of steam, an injury, and Gabby Mayo took her out of the headlines a bit. This winter, while she’s lost a few at 60 meters, she’s been better than ever at 200, with her stunning USR 22.97 at Simplot (left). Now it’s been made clear it’s all part of a grand plan to bring back the long sprinter in Bianca, who – lest it be forgotten – blazed a 52.96 outdoors as a freshman. All eyes will definitely be on her Sunday.

But … but … don’t forget that last year’s US#1 outdoors, Jessica Beard OH, is in the race, too. With a light and quiet indoor campaign to date, there’s no hype there – “just” a 51.89 PR and world junior championship team berth on her resume.

800 - Now to those half-milers - Although it wasn’t a record, Chanelle Price (left) has provided one of the other truly magical moments of the 2007 indoor season when she hit the track at the PA State Meet 800 a few weeks ago. 2:04.96 later, she owned the best 800 performance in 11 years and one that trailed only Tameka Grizzle (by .06) and Mary Slaney’s mythical HSR as Mary Decker in 1974. It almost seems sacrilegious to talk about that mark being broken, or the mind-numbing outdoor 2:00.07 from Price’s fellow Pennsylvanian, Kim Gallagher, but Price just might be the one to do it, with her galvanizing combo of endurance and speed, which were traits both Slaney and Gallagher shared.

Here, Price may get pushed by Blaire and/or Brooke Dinsdale, the majestic 2:07-08 twins from Iowa that battled Price at last summer’s USATF JO meet. The race also features fellow PA star Shaniel Chambers, Dominique Jackson CA, LeighAnn Ganzar CO, Ramzee Fondren MI, and super frosh Phyllis Francis NY. They’re all 2:08-12 types. The Dinsdales will be challenged in the area of race sharpness, and the whole field will suffer in any upset attempt because of this – few, if any have Price’s speed, and no one has her 4:50 mile endurance. It may be a great race for awhile, but Chanelle is in a class by herself right now.

The boys 800 is a whole ’nother story. What a classic showdown – the aggressive, caution-to-the-wind front running of Chris Bilbrew AL (US#1 1:51.08 800), the unbeatable closing ability of Axel Mostrag VA (US#1 2:26.11 1k), and the can-win-either-way approach of Cory Primm CA (US#2 1:51.89/1:50.53 outdoors). Mostrag may run just the mile (and previous day’s DMR), but 1:50.92 outdoor performer Joseph Franklin FL (2^nd NON 06) and fast-rising Jared Hall OH will be among the others that will add to the fray.

The USR is an imposing 1:50.55, not an easy mark to get on a flat track, but again, these are the guys who could do it.

Bilbrew and Hall are also anchors for two of the top three seeds (Smiths Station, Cleveland Heights) in what should be a scintillating sprint medley relay the day before, while Mostrag will carry Fork Union’s top-seeded DMR hopes on his back. Smiths Station is also the top seed in Sunday’s 4x800. Meanwhile, Price and her Easton team are the #2 seed in the girls sprint medley, headed up by the Blazin Raiders (Eleanor Roosevelt MD).

Of course, the hurdles and middle distances are just some of the many highlights of this weekend’s NIN. Let’s scope out a few more.

For the boys:

• A young, super 60 dash field including 2 of the best 3 sophs in history with Jeremy Rankin and Rynell Parson
• A titanic 400 with 4 of the top 5 quarter-milers in the country, all sub-48 men, led by Chris Ward FL
• The chance to watch red-hot Matt Centrowitz MD battle it out with national leaders Craig Forys NJ (3200) and Jason Weller PA (3k) in the 2-mile
• Three 17-footers in the boys pole vault – Maston Wallace TX, Casey Roche CA, and Spencer McCorkel AR – seeing if they can topple Scott Roth’s meet record from a year ago
• Seeing if the multi-talented Terry Prentice CA can pull off a double (pentathlon and long jump), or even a triple (60 hurdles)

And the girls

• Danielle Tauro and her Southern Regional NJ teammates are headliners wherever they go, and this meet will be no exception. Tauro, the US#1 at 4:46.13 and winner of a year’s worth of major miles – will go for her first NIN title in that event, and will try and make some more distance medley relay magic with her teammates – if they can get past another tough Blazin Raiders squad.
• Victoria Jordan is #3 all-time with her 7.24 60, with the altitude-aided USR of 7.19 in her sights as she takes on defending champ Ashley Cruder CO
• Foot Locker runner-up and World Jr. CC team member Aurora Scott VA will bring her game to either the new 5000 meters or the 2-mile – or both.
• The earlier-mentioned Blazin Raiders will again bring their versatile band of long sprinters and distance runners to each of the relays (except 4x1 Mile). Along with the DMR and SMR, they are most devastating at the 4x4 and 4x8, where they have the US leaders.
• A killer field of 19- and 20-footers in the long jump, featuring the likes of Arantxa King MA, Jamesha Youngblood CA, and Ryann Krais PA
• The full slate of the nation’s best shot putters, including the reigning queen – Kamorean Hayes NC – and a tough group of challengers led by Karen Shump PA
• History’s best soph vaulter, Shade Weygandt TX, battling defending champ Katie Veith IN

But in all this, remember, at nationals any and every event can be a highlight – all it takes is a special performance by a special kid. Count on that happening multiple times this weekend.