10 Biggest Performances From This Weekend As Track Season Heats Up
With the NCAA season and a number of top pros opening up, ovals across the U.S. are suddenly lighting up with fast times, big throws, and far jumps.
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The dust has barely settled on the Boston Marathon finish line, but all of a sudden it seems like all eyes are on track. And rightfully so - with the collegiate season underway and a number of big-name pros opening up their spring campaigns, ovals across the U.S. are suddenly lighting up with fast times, big throws, and far jumps. There are also still people running fast over long distances.
Here’s a quick rundown and analysis of my personal top 10 performances of the past weekend in track and field. Apologies for sending this out on Tuesday morning. Spent some of yesterday putting the final touches to share this conversation with Nell Rojas across the CITIUS MAG and Run Your Mouth Podcasts.
Coming up this week: I’ll be heading up to Philadelphia this weekend to hit the Penn Relays. I will be putting together a preview of what to watch later this week so make sure you’re subscribed. Over in Central Standard Time, the Drake Relays kick off Wednesday evening. Out in California, the Payton Jordan Invitational should feature some quality distance races.
10. Allyson Felix’s Final Season Starts With A Win | RACE VIDEO
On April 13, Allyson Felix announced that 2022 will be her final season on the track. In her Instagram post, she wrote: “I want to say goodbye and thank you to the sport and people who have helped shape me the only way I know how—with one last run. This season isn’t about the time on the clock, it’s simply about joy.” This isn’t a vanity farewell tour, however- she’s still bringing the heat. She ran 22.46 (+1.8 m/s wind) to win the 200m at the USC Open in South Carolina, where her husband Kenneth Ferguson ran in college. Felix finished just ahead of 2022 NCAA 60m champion Melissa Jefferson, who ran a personal best of 22.46. It’s cool to realize that 20 years ago, Felix ran 22.83 to win the California state title and she’s still putting herself on the 2022 world list – it’s early, but she’s currently tied for No. 7 in the world and 5th among American women.
9. Duck TC Runs Fastest 4xMile On U.S. Soil…For Now | RACE VIDEO
There was plenty of discussion around the quartet of Eugene-based pros deciding to run a 4xMile record attempt at the Oregon Relays as opposed to traveling across the country to face off against the On Athletics Club at the Penn Relays, an attempt that had been announced six weeks earlier. A myriad of factors could have played into the decision including: having to travel across the country, coaching decisions, personal decisions, funding for the two unsponsored athletes in the group, etc.
So this was just Matt Wisner, James West, Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare against the clock while aided by some wavelight technology. (There were two Oregon relay teams in the race but the focus was purely on the pros.)
Wisner led off and, despite the broadcast team casting its doubt on him for his entire leg, he delivered a solid 3:59 leg (his first sub-4) to lead things off. West, who has a 3:56.79 mile personal best and has run 3:34.07 for 1500m, took over with a 4:01.82. A lot of the work was left to Hocker and Teare, who each have personal bests of 3:50. Hocker, the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials 1500m champion and Olympian, was only able to put together a 3:57.31 as the penultimate leg.
Anchor leg Cooper Teare delivered a big performance, soloing a 3:53.24. He gave himself a shot but needed to close in a 53-second last lap. He’s closed races and relays that fast before, but the impact of the lack of competition was evident. 15:52.05 is now the second-fastest 4xMile in history.
“I just went out at a good clip and tried to give myself a shot,” Teare said after the race. “I think on the right day, I think I can close in that. It’s just hard after doing it all by yourself. With a little bit of pacing, I thought it would’ve been right in my wheelhouse…To come in here, the goal was really to have fun. This was one of those things that wasn’t much of a big deal. It was one of those last-minute things and we just decided, ‘Why not?’”
Listen, we all would’ve loved to have seen On Athletics Club vs. the Oregon crew. You can’t help but think that, after falling 3 seconds short, the Duck TC relay maybe regrets not traveling to Philly too. Despite the pre-race hype from Oregon’s social media channels, Hocker and Teare have made it clear that their focus is going to be on preparing to make the U.S. national team and then contending for medals at the World Championships.
Ultimately, a big source of fan frustration was social media framing. These guys typically do a great job engaging young fans and the crowds showed that. But don’t make it seem like they scoured the ends of the earth trying to find competitors when there are established meets like Penn Relays and Drake Relays (with way more fans!) that guarantee there will be competitors to race. Others see this as part of a broader trend - first, Hocker and Teare skip out on competitive indoor races to run a tailor-made mile time trial in Chicago, then Hocker declines his World Indoor berths to run another time trial at Stanford the same weekend as Belgrade. But both are proven championship racers on the NCAA and pro level so… why not race? They’ve seen Hocker and Teare at their best when they race competition so they just want more of that. Ultimately, if either or both delivers a U.S. title and/or global medal, no one will remember a misguided time trial attempt in April. But the expectations are higher than ever before.
8. Devon Allen Is Still Hurdling | RACE VIDEO
Even after signing with the Philadelphia Eagles, Devon Allen is still on the track. Olympic champion Hansle Parchment went 13.20 (+0.8 m/s wind) in Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday but Allen would finish the day with the world-leading time as he won the Navy Spring Invitational in 13.12 (+1.1 m/s wind). He had himself quite the day, winning the 100m in a personal best of 10.20 (+1.8 m/s wind) and the 200m in 20.65 (+1.3 m/s wind). Allen has lived in Annapolis since March 2020 when he moved there to train and work as a volunteer assistant coach under Jamie Cook, who is the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at the Naval Academy.
7. Who is Joseph Amoah? | RACE VIDEO
Ghana currently has the two fastest men in the world for 100m. West Texas A&M University’s Benjamin Azamati ran 9.90 (+2.0 m/s wind) at the Texas Relays in late March. This weekend, his countryman Joseph Amoah lowered his personal best from 10.01 to 9.93 (+0.8 m/s wind) by winning the 100m at the Morgan State Legacy Track and Field Meet in Baltimore. He was a star at Coppin State but didn’t make the NCAA final as a senior in the 100m or 200m. His best NCAA Championship finishes were 6th in the 200m and 8th in the 100m in 2019. He’s represented Ghana at the 2019 World Championships and 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Apparently, there’s been excitement in Ghana over Amoah since he was 19 and won Ghana's Fastest Human competition in 2016. (For more on his story, there’s this Baltimore Sun profile from 2019)
After the race, Amoah tweeted: “My new Pb is just a stepping stone. I wanna thank God for guiding me through every stride of that race. I came out healthy and that’s very key. Big year ahead.” While it’s easy to get distracted by the star power that major Diamond League races like the Prefontaine Classic assemble, sometimes a dark horse contender emerges in smaller meets.
6. Christian Noble Is A Force Beyond Division II | RACE VIDEO
For those who have listened to the CITIUS MAG Podcast for a while, seeing Christian Noble scribble his name all over the Division II record books should come as no surprise. I had him on the show in early 2021 and then David Melly just had him on the Run Your Mouth Podcast. The Lee University star ran 3:36.00 to break David Ribich’s Division II 1500m record of 3:37.35. Remove the Division II label and it’s still impressive that he beat Oregon’s Reed Brown (finished second in a 1500m personal best of 3:36.44) and broke a meet record held by Olympian Andrew Wheating.
An hour later, Noble was back on the track, running 13:35.61 for the 5000m to finish fifth in that race, which was won by Wisconsin’s Olin Hacker in 13:19.34.
5. Steven Gardiner Still Hasn’t Lost Since 2017 | RACE VIDEO
As Kyle Merber put it on Twitter, Steven Gardiner “is not talked about enough and we must start appreciating him!” We’ll have to do an episode of Track Snacks to share his story in the coming weeks. The Bahamian is the reigning Olympic and world champion in the 400m. He has not lost a single one of his 21 400m races since Aug. 8, 2017 (when he took silver at the World Championships in London). Back then, the top song at the time was “Despascito” by Luis Fonsi (It’s still a banger!) and CITIUS MAG was just six months old! He has not raced Fred Kerley at the 400m distance since the 2019 World Championships – when Kerley took bronze. Their last head-to-head was a 200m in Lausanne last August where Kerley won. Gardiner is 2–0 against Michael Norman and 3–1 against Michael Cherry. Someone get these four in another race together.
4. I Can’t Wait for Steiner vs. Ofili at NCAAs | RACE VIDEO
Abby Steiner is the reigning NCAA indoor and outdoor 200m champion and just ran a personal best of 22.05 (+0.5 m/s wind) in front of her home crowd in Lexington, Kentucky. The video is something to see as she wins by a margin larger than most 1500m races. She moved into No. 3 on the all-time NCAA list but she may not be the favorite to defend her title. Just a week earlier, Favour Ofili of LSU ran a collegiate and Nigerian record of 21.96 (+1.3 m/s wind). However, Steiner has come out victorious in all six of their head-to-head races. Ofili sits atop the world list in the 200m with Steiner at No. 3. Steiner is also No. 3 in the world in the 100m after her 10.92 (+0.5 m/s wind) at LSU on April 9.
3. Cambrea Sturgis, Brittany Brown Break Out | RACE VIDEO
We have a new world-leading time in the women’s 100m after this weekend and an all-time mark that needs some further context and hype. North Carolina A&T alum and Adidas pro Cambrea Sturgis lowered her personal best from 10.92 to 10.87 (+1.8 m/s wind) this weekend in Greensboro. This is her first full pro outdoor season after capturing the NCAA titles in the 100m and 200m last spring. She didn’t make the U.S. Olympic team after making the semis in both events at the Trials but she’s only getting better at 23 years old.
Fellow Adidas athlete Brittany Brown clocked not just the fastest wind-aided time of 2021 but one of the fastest all-time. She ran 10.66 (+3.2 m/s wind) to win the women’s 100m at the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas. The mark is No. 7 on the all-time all conditions list. The names ahead of her on that list are: FloJo, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (who just said she’s looking to go 10.5 or 10.4 this year!), Blessing Okagbare, Carmelita Jeter and Marion Jones.
200m Olympic bronze medalist Gabby Thomas, who finished second in that race in 10.80, took to Twitter to say: “Why aren’t we talking about this?? This girl just went from an 11.2 PB to a 10.66w, and it’s only April! If you don’t know track- this is huge. This makes her one of the best sprinters in history. I would’ve liked to win this one but gotta give props to @brittanyshamere.”
Things are coming around for Brown. In 2019, she won silver in the 200m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha by running a personal best of 22.22. Last year was one to forget as she didn’t make it out of the semifinals at the U.S. Olympic Trials. But 2022 is off to a better start. She ran a wind-legal personal best of 10.99 on April 2 and finished second to Thomas in the 200m at the USATF Golden Games in 22.29 – the second-best time of her career.
When she was asked by Aaron Potts of The Running Report at the Mt. SAC Golden Games about the difference between last year and this year, she said, “I feel like confidence is the biggest game-changer that has helped me. Obviously, the training but having the mentality of ‘I’m about to kill this’ really helps when you come to the line.”
2. The Fastest Marathon Debut In History
Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw was made for the roads. She was the All-Africa Games champion in the half marathon in 2019 and then earned a bronze medal at the 2020 World Championships. Last year, she ran 64:40 in and then 63:51 in October. (In August, she ran 63:44 for what was believed to be a world record but later discovered to be a short course.) This year, she won the Great Ethiopian Run 10K at altitude in Adis Ababa in 31:17 in January and then broke the women’s road 10K world record in 29:14 in Spain in February. (The NN Running Team blog has some good background on her from when she joined the team in 2020)
There’s been anticipation over her marathon debut and she smashed it this weekend in Hamburg. She won in 2:17:23 for the fastest debut in history and the Ethiopian national record. Now at No. 6 on the world all-time list, only Brigid Kosgei, Paula Radcliffe, Mary Keitany, Ruth Chepngetich and Peres Jepchirchir have run faster.
The previous debut record was set by Radcliffe in 2:18:56. Yehualaw can enjoy this record for now, but who knows what may be coming soon from her compatriot Letesenbet Gidey, who holds the half marathon world record of 62:52.
1. He Ran What Pace For How Long?
Lithuania’s Aleksandr Sorokin broke the 100K world record in six hours, five minutes and 40 seconds at the Centurion Running Track 100 Mile in Bedford, England. The Lithuanian took almost five minutes off the previous record of 6 hours, nine minutes and 14 seconds set by Japan’s Nao Kazami in 2018. Sorokin’s run breaks down to 5:53 per mile for 62.2 miles. According to iRunFar, he hit the marathon mark in 2:32:33, then 50K in 3:01:50 and 50 miles in 4:53:41. Sorokin is the world record holder in the 100 miles (11:14:56) and 24 hours (192.25 miles).
While we’re still giving 100K kudos, props to friend of the CITIUS family Zack Beavin and Kalie Demerjian on winning the USATF 100k championships in Madison, Wisconsin at the Mad City 100k. In 75-degree heat and 20-mph winds, Beavin ran his debut 100k in 7:06:31, averaging 6:51 per mile.
That’s it from me today. As always, thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, learned something new, or have any questions or commentary on anything featured in this issue, feel free to hit my inbox by replying or writing to chris@citiusmag.com
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