atf newswire
volume 9, number 33
June 25, 2006

Nature plays games, Spearmon, Lagat, Demus get quite serious!

Note to self: Bring rain coat and buy a ton of umbrellas for next year, put up stand at Natorium and sell umbrellas at $5, then up the price, nice way to pay son's college tuition.

Well, the rain sure came back and the meet was held up for two hours, with one of those hours being time when TV wanted to show our meet live.

Kudos to local police on clearing the stadiums, which were done timely and without incidents.

Men's 20k Race Walk

This event, held at 6.30 am, was won by Kevin Eastler of U.S. Air Force, who walked 1:25.09.67, John Nunn of U.S. Army was second in 1:27:16.83 and Tim Seaman of NYAC was third in 1:29.56.84.

Men's 110m hurdles

Dominique Arnold woke the fans up with his 13.15 in the semis, with Allen Johnson, one of our most medalled high hurdlers, not moving on.

In the final, Dominique was out fast and did not stop, running the world leader in 13.10. Terrance Trammell got out well, but was caught in traffic and did not really move til the end of the race, taking second in 13.14. Ryan Wilson ran 13.22 for third.

Men's high jump

Torra Harris of Shore AC cleared 2.33m or 7-7.75 for the win. Keith Moffatt of Morehouse was second in 2.30m or 7-6.5 and Andra Manson of Texas in 2.24m of 7-4.25.

Women's shot put

Jillian Camerena won the shot in 18.92m or 62-1. Laura Gerraughty of North Carolina threw 18.24m or 59-10.25. Elizabeth Wanless of New York AC was third in 18.11m or 59-05.

Men's 1,500 meters

What should you do when you are trying to make history? Bernard Lagat made history today with his win at 1,500 meters after already winning at 5,000 meters, and he did it the old fashioned way, he controlled the race.

Lagat took the race out at 60.6 and 2.00.06 and hit the bell at 2:45. Sitting on Lagat were Chris Lukesic of Reebok, Gabriel Jennings, Leonel Manzano of Texas, Christian Smith and Rob Myers of Reebok in tow with Jason Lunn also in attendance.

With the bell, Lagat began a long kick, which was a 55 second last lap. Lukesic was in good position and then Gabe Jennings, who just finished his college degree at Stanford, grabbed second and cut off Lukesic who had to swing wide and lost his focus. As Lukesic got into trouble, Leonel Manzano of Texas grabbed third. Gabe Jennings held onto second and Bernard Lagat completed his double, running 3:39.29 for first. Jennings was in second in 3:39.42 and Leonel Manzano of Texas was in third in 3:39.49. Christopher Lukesic of Reebok was fourth in 3:40.37. Christian Smith was fifth in 3:40.65. Rob Myers of Reebok, who seemed to have some trouble midway, kicked well into sixth place.

Men's steeplechase

Daniel Lincoln is in great shape and he showed it today, winning the steeplechase in 8:22.78. It is obvious that Lincoln can get the steeple AR, which is 21 years old, and the plan is at Rome on July 14. Steve Slattery of Nike was second in 8:25.54 and Daniel Huling was third in 8:27.41, Jaques Sallberg of Run with Us in fourth in 8:28.18 and Thomas Brooks in fifth in 8:28.24, and Michael Nicks of Boulder RC/ adidas in sixth in 8:35.46.

Mens' Long Jump

Walter Davis of Nike, on his last jump, dazzled the fans with the longest jump in the world, in a dead wind, 17.71m or 58-1.25. Kenta Bell of Mizuno was second in 17.19m, his fifth jump of 56-4.75. Aarik Wilson was third in 16.91m or 55-5.75, in his last jump.

Women's 800 meters

Hazel Clark of Nike barely held off Alice Schmidt of adidas, who moved up the entire last lap and just missed upsetting Clark by .06!. Clark took the field through the first lap, but Alice Schmidt was there and looked threatening the last 150 meters and at the finish, Clark leaped for the tape and fell to the track in 1:59.54, Alice Schmidt of adidas was second in 2:00.00, and Frances Santin was third in 2:01.15.

Men's Javelin

Breaux Greer is the king of the javelin. If he can stay healthy in '07 and '08, watch the US capture medals in the javelin.

Greer threw 280-02 with one throw, and passed on rest of his throws, but his 85.40 meet record took the event. Robert Minnitti was second in 77.99m or 255-10. Brian Chaput of NYAC was third in 76.44m or 250- 09.

Men's 200 meter dash

Wallace Spearmon of Nike is the best 200 meter runner in the U.S. but he fought for that title with his fine 19.90. Jordan Vaden of Nike, the big sprint surprise here, battled Spearmon off the turn and down the stretch, taking second in 19.98. Rodney Martin of Nike took third in 20.14, with Kelly Willie of LSU in fourth in 20.24 and Jeremy Wariner of adidas in 20.24 for fifth.

Women's 200m dash

Rachelle Boone-Smith, an Indiana University grad, won in 22.31 with Shalonda Solomon, the NCAA champion, ran 22.47 and La Tasha Jenkins in 22.66. Allyson Felix did not run the final, due to a hamstring injury.

Men's 800 meter final

Khadevis Robinson defended his title with a world leading 1:44.13. And then the race got interesting...Sam Burley of ASICS started a long kick and passed the field, catching Krummenacker, and then was passed by Nick Symmonds of Williamette University, a division three school. Nick ran 1:45.83, breaking his own Division 3 record, set in Nashville this year of 1:47.34. (Nick is coached by Matt McGuirk). Jebreh Harris ran 1:45.91, and Samuel Burley ran 1:45.94.

Men's discus

Ian Waltz gave the die hard fans some good throwing to watch, with his 64.52m or 211-8 win. Casey Malone in 62.23 or 204-2 and Jarred Rome was third in 60.93m or 199-11.

Womens Pole Vault

Jenn Stuczynski was a basketball player in college two years ago. In her first year of vaulting, she hit 13-8 and in her second, 15-2. Six feet tall and quite athletic, Jenn showed her toughness by coming back from two misses and clearing 4.55m or 14-11 on her third attempt and jumping from fourth to first. Jillian Schwarts was second in 4.50 m or 14-9 and Becky Holliday was third in 4.45m or 14-7.25.

ATF spoke to Stacy Draglia, who told us that surgery on her achilles went well and she will be able to begin training again in Fall after her rehab. We wish her the very best!

Some final thoughts

Indianapolis has a thriving downtown. ATF's official meeting place for 2007 will be...the Rock Bottom Brewery, with fine adult bevarages and good food at reasonable prices. Palomino had good meditteranean food, a nice wine list and great service.

Caution though on Sunday night. After Victor Sailer and Lisa Coniglio and I were done with some writing and photo work, we ventured out to find a restaurant at 11 pm. Rock Bottom, Champs, Houlihans, Palomino were all closing kitchens by 10:30, so we found Champions, in the Marriot, which was open til midnight and had Stella Artois on tap, along with some fine seafood gumbo.

Great hotel options around town, suggestions are to stay downtown as you can walk everywhere. Bob Kennedy drive, Kerron Clement Drive, Mo Greene Drive all down town.

Thanks for the wireless stadium, which helped quite a bit, and as always it is great seeing all of our coaching friends and the officials who make these meets work!

As always special thanks to Victor and Lisa of Photo Run, who do our web photos and James Dunaway, ATF editor, who provides good critique and provides us with history of the sport.

Special thanks to Joe Mangan, Jim Hiserman, Joe Hanson, Sean Hartnett, Bob Sevene, Mark Wetmore, John Chaplin, Ian Stewart and Jeff Johnson for suggestions and comments on writing. Thanks for reading our reports and watch for some coverage of late season European meets, including London GP and World Cup.

Special thanks to Brian Eder who sends the wireless version of the newsletter and Brenda Barrera and Jeremy Borling for updating the web site.

Watch our coverage of the European season!

*****

atf newswire volume 9 number 33, published by shooting star media , inc. proudly represented by the Runnign Network, LLC. Copy right 2006.