Texans Spike Girls 800 Showdown
By Stephen Underwood
For middle distance excitement it will be hard to match the girls'
800 meters at the Adidas Midwest Indoor Track Classic. Meet Director
Chris Lester has brought in two of last spring's three fastest girls
in the nation, and five of the nine returnees who have broken 2:10.
But that's not the only reason the 4-lap battle will be a thriller.
There's also themes of rivalries, revenge and in-state bragging
rights at stake.
That's because three of the four above-mentioned speedsters (and
at least five top entrants overall) hail from the Lone Star State.
Last spring, in the most exciting girls 800 all year, Mindy Sullivan
just outlasted Kelly Cordell, 2:08.38 to 2:08.48, to win the 5A
Texas State meet. Only New York's Stacey Ann Livingston was faster
in 2001.
Saturday afternoon, Sullivan and Cordell will meet for the first
time since that epic battle. But they'll hardly be alone in chasing
gold. Georgia's Briene Simmons (PR of 2:08.98), California's Jenna
Timinsky (2:09.12), another Texan, Kristin Shelton (2:09.92), Iowa's
Kristin Hansen (2:13.31) and Michigan's Kristi Powers (2:13.60)
will be hoping to break up the party. And hard to miss will be yet
two more from Texas, twins Megan and Shannon Radermacher, the first
of which ran 2:11.45 for second at the New Balance National Scholastic
Indoor meet last March. You'll have to forgive any Texas track fans
if, during this race, they feel as if they've been transported back
several months in time to Austin.
Though she'll wear the mantle of favorite, Sullivan (Coronado HS,
Lubbock) is hardly caught up in hype, still establishing direction
for 2002 and coming off a stunning CC season that saw her win the
Texas 5A title and then qualify (and finish 17th) for Foot Locker
Nationals. But it wasn't hard to convince her to come to Nebraska.
"I decided to run the Adidas meet when Chris Lester told me
about all of the girls that were going to be in the race,"
the senior says. "I realized that I would get to see some great
friends and that it would be a good opportunity to run a really
fast time." Sullivan, who also ran 2:09.77 for 3rd at Golden
West (just edging Timinsky), wasn't actually that pleased with her
strategy in her two fastest efforts, but was obviously happy with
the results. But she knows she'll be pushed by her friendly rival.
"Kelly is great competition and I know when she is in the race
we will push each other to some great times, but she is the sweetest
girl and a really good friend."
Cordell (Memorial HS, Houston) seems to have equally positive feelings
about the rivalry. "It was the most fun race ever," she
says of the dual in Austin. "I was so glad to be a part of
it even though I was on the losing side. The 2:08 was a PR for me
by over four seconds." The senior, who didn't start running
the 800 until mid-season last year, might have a little unfinished
business, too. The need to have surgery two weeks after the state
meet ended her season early. "I want to have my best season
ever," she says. "I only had four individual races under
my belt before state last spring. Hopefully, with more practice
running the event, I will be able to break 2:05 (by the end of outdoor)."
While Timinsky (San Dieguito HS, Encinitas) comes from hundreds
of miles further west than the other top contenders, she is not
unfamiliar with them. Besides finishing one spot behind Sullivan
at Golden West (4th - 2:10.31), she says she also met some of the
Texas 800 stars at the Olympic Training Center last summer. There
were also other races less pleasing to the senior, but she thinks
she has found the solution to some late-race or second-race fades.
"I upped my mileage over the summer and in cross country,"
she says, "so I think my overall base will be stronger this
year and I will be able to feel strong all throughout the track
season."
As far as indoor credentials go, Megan Radermacher (Klein HS, Spring)
has the top mark. She was second by just 0.20 seconds when she set
that big PR indoors in New York, which stood as No. 5 time indoors
for the year. She was also 6th in 2:12.14 in that big 5A Texas race.
Simmons and Shelton, on the other hand, waited until late July
to make their marks, their sub-2:10s coming in a 1-2 finish at the
USATF Junior Olympic Youth meet. Shannon Radermacher brings a PR
of 2:14.16 from a Texas district victory last spring into the race.
In the early-season Carl Lewis meet, the Radermachers (with Shannon
winning), went 1-2, helped in part by a lap miscount by early-leader
Shelton, who was running her first indoor race. Shelton never ran
the 800 at all until the previous summer, but rapidly improved from
2:20 down to her 2:09.
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