4/21-26 Notables

• Best field event week ever? There can't have been too many weeks outside of national meet weeks, where there have been three USRs in the field events, plus a #3 all-time.  Mason Finley CO set and Anna Jelmini CA tied the respective discus marks within 24 hours of each other.  Both came in the season primed for records; now Jelmini will hope to break the tie with Suzy Powell down the road, while Finley might hope to surpass his mark at low altitude
• But what about James White and Toni Young? The Missouri and Oklahoma high jumpers came into the season =4 and =5 on the respective outdoor returnee lists at 7-1 and 5-10, but athletes at that level just don't improve 4.75 and 6 inches as quickly as these two did.  Both have looked at themselves as basketball players first, but that may change now.  At 6-1, Young is an inch taller than White, who is a threat to set an all-time height-over-head jump.
• Penn heroics The Penn Relays might have taken a backseat this weekend in terms of eye-opening performances, but the boys 4x800 teams from Albemarle VA and Morris Hills NJ, as well as putter Nick Vena, made sure that didn't happen.  The 4x800 was so good that even though Central Bucks South PA was a relatively distant third, they still became the #14 team in history.  They ran faster than any team in the country has since 2005.  Meanwhile, one can only wonder what the all-time shot put list will look like at year's end.  Vena, Hayden Baillio TX, and Finley already stand 6-7-10 all time.  Maybe Stephen Saenz TX will be the next to launch a bomb; the US indoor leader is still looking for an outdoor 70-footer.
• Depth at UCSD While Jelmini's 188-04 USR-equaling discus throw captured headlines, the open meet at UCSD also had three other national leaders: Jelmini's own raising of her shot put #1, the 1:50.31 from Mac Fleet CA, and the 4:30.84 by previous mile leader Sammy Silva CA.  Sheree Shea CA missed the 5k US#1 by just 0.06 seconds
• For want of FAT There was no automatic timing, but NIN champ and long sprint standout Tavaris Tate MS hit 45.8h at his region meet, part of a strong triple and the first sub-46 400 since Bryshon Nellum's 45.38 two years ago