F.

One guy in the finals wearing the R, W & B.

Has our sprint group gone to hell or what? F up the 400, almost F up the 200.

I dread the relays.

As far as making the finals and the podium, the 100 and 200 have gone about as expected. I think I'll have to tip my hat at Jamaica, they are in a Golden Era. Our juniors look to be very good, though, so that offers a little hope.

Isaiah Young never had a chance, but that was a particularly crappy run today...another collegiate athlete who ran out of gas. His SB was all the way back in April, on his home track.

We'd probably feel a little better if Walter Dix and Merritt were healthy.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 8/8/2012 9:19p).]

The 4x100 should be OK.

The 4x400 will probably be a cluster****.


On a good note, we are up to 20 T&F medals with another 12 or 13 legitimate medal possibilities. That's actually pretty damn outstanding.

OK, good, fine. WE USED TO DOMINATE THE SPRINTS. SCREW JAMAICA! AT LEAST THE CHICKS ARE KICKING ASS.

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The 4x400 will probably be a cluster****

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I think the 4x400 will still be okay. McQuay, Nellum, Mance, Wariner and Mitchell are all still good. Yeah it would have been nice to have Merritt. Just bad luck on timing of the hammy injury.

You're right, I'm just still pissed at McQuay and Nellum.

Angelo Taylor oughta be running the 4x400, no?

I don't think Angelo Taylor is in the pool. They'll have fresh legs in Wariner and Mitchell, Taylor looked worn out in the 400H final.

Keron Clement was also mentioned.

4x400 tied Bahamas with top time in prelims. Only two teams under 3 minutes. Not sure who ran for US.

Nance, Mitchell, McQuay, and Nellum ran the prelim.

So did asafa powell get physically hurt in the 100 or was that a pride thing? If he's out for the 4x100 that's huge. I feel if we can get the stick around we could have a great showing.

My money is on the pride thing. He knew he was getting rocked.

While our sprinters are generally getting 'outdone', our distance folks have really stepped up this year. Medals in the 1,500 and 10K would have been unheard of not long ago.

The relays are always a different ballgame as well. Guys who looked lost in the open race drop splits that make you dizzy on the relay.

What a terrible first leg by Manteo Mitchell. I wonder if Wariner will get a finals appearance.

Wariner is out with a torn hamstring.

I just saw that. That sucks.

Mitchell broke his leg during his run...

That would help explain a terrible first leg.

Angelo Taylor, come on down!

Nellum, Nance, McQuay, and Angelo in the finals.

Angelo was passed in the stretch...when was the last time we lost THAT race?

At the Olympics, technically, its 2000...we were DQd after the fact because Antonio Pettigrew admitted he was on PEDs.

We boycotted Moscow in 1980 and DNS in Munich because of injuries, the last time we actually lost the race was in 1952 to Jamaica.

We have a pretty strong history of being DQd at the World Championships, a few of them because of Pettigrew. We were flat out beat on the track in 1983 and 1991.

Needless to say, its extremely disappointing.

We'd probably win without the injuries, but does that qualify as a cluster****?

How is the pool looking for the future. I know you said at the junior levels we have some talent, but it seems like in all the sprints at the NCAA level there is a ton of top level foregin talent.

My outlook to Rio...

100- No American can beat Yohan Blake if he runs his race. Usain says he'll be back, too. Keston Bledman (T&T) will be 28, he's twice ran a sub 9.8 this year. Jamaica also has Nickel Ashmeade who has runs sub 10.0 right now. And then it was another Jamaican who won the NCAAs. Ryan Bailey is probably the top hope for the podium. I don't have much faith in Walter Dix at this point. Team GB has the boy wonder Ryan Gemili, but the USA has three juniors running sub 10.2. They could be very, very good in 4 years. Goal will be one on the podium and top 2 in the relay.

200: Same story for Bolt and Blake. Warren Weir (bronze) will be 26, and the 4th fasted man this year was a 21 year old Jamaican. Ashmeade and Christpohe Lemaitre can run it under 20 seconds.

Spearmon and Dix might be too old, Harry Adams and Maurice Mitchell will be there. Tyreek Hill is the world's leading junior, he got bronze at the world championships and Aaron Earnest got silver. Goal will be to get Hill or Earnest in position for the podium.

400: The gold and silver medalists were teenagers. Everyone else from the final will be back except Chris Brown (Bahamas, 4th place). All of our current runners will be able to give it a go, I think the 400 has the best outlook for Rio. Alrdrich Bailey (an Aggie) and Arman Hall (Florida) are two of the 4 or 5 best guys that havn't made their senior debuts yet. Goal is two on the podium and they should definitely be capable of winning the relay.

Overall outlook is...meh. It should be better than London, but I think the reality is the rest of the world has caught up to us. Maybe we'll be in a better position in 8 years.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 8/11/2012 10:27p).]

I think Dix will look to run at least the 200 at Rio. He will be 30, but Gatlin and Gay were both 30 at this olympics. Bolt will be a week or two shy of 30 when Rio rolls around.

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And then it was another Jamaican who won the NCAAs.

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I wonder what Andrew Riley will focus on the next 4 years. He ran in this olympics in the 110 hurdles. You have to have a different mentality to run the 110 hurdles than a straight 100m. I don't know if you can devote enough time to do both at such a high level.

Excellent point.

Probably the hurdles, its easier to make the team. I'm of the opinion, though, that he has more potential in the 100 than the 100H, and could at least factor into the relay.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 8/11/2012 11:05p).]

Where do you guys go to follow track? I watch all the meets that get televised, but don't know any good websites that have good info.

I check iaaf.org and tfrrs.org (college results) regularly as they keep up to date top lists.

The IAAF keeps a pretty exhaustive schedule of meets and has a good news section.

Track and Field News is the so called "bible of the sport."

I'll occasionally watch streams of events online, although I'll warn you that my go to website now operates with a Montenegro domain name because Uncle Sam shut them down.

thanks

Our problem is that many of our young sprinters have dead legs by the time they make it to the Olympics.

For instance, in Olympic years, the college kids have already run several rounds for the NCAA, several additional rounds for the USOT, and several additional rounds for the Olympics. That is an insane schedule that places our college kids at a competitive disadvantage.

For meet results for high school thru professional, goto Dyestat.com, which is now run through ESPN.

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I have seen the enemy, and he is us.