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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 22, 2023 13:12:57 GMT -8
Actually, Bruce, flip that M on the 1500m upside down and make it a W. Hull is the featured Duck today, not Hocker. Hocker is tomorrow. You are correct. Must be the 90+ degree heat and humidity . And now the usual SPOILER ALERT for the Tuesday evening results (no AM session today). Jess, frankly, was never in any kind of contention past the first lap. She didn't necessarily run poorly, but the strong field of African runners proved too much, especially with the heat which seems unending. She still broke 4 minutes (barely) and finished 7th, almost 5 seconds slower than WR holder Faith Kipyegon and just a second behind European star Laura Muir, while beating the only US entrant, Cory McGee. She split 400 in 6th, 800 in 5th, 1200 in 8th and then moved up a slot in the final 300. Overall, a great season for her and someone we can all be proud of. Jorinde was fantastic out there in the WDT, throwing a SB 67.20 and sitting in medal position after 5 rounds with her 5th round throw moving her from 5th to 3rd. Then last year's WC, Bin Feng, tossed a 67.41 in the final round, moving Jorinde out of the medal position. Jorinde's final throw was a good one at 66.97, but not enough. Longshot Laulaga Tausaga stunned the crowd and Val Allman with a 6th round 69.49 to win gold for the US. During the meet she smashed her PB by FIVE METERS! Considering she qualified at USATF on her final throw, this might be the story of the meet. In other finals, Juvaughn Harrison did a great job leaping a PB in the HJ for second behind Gianmarco Tamberi and both upset the favorite, Mutaz Essa Barshim. The men's SC played out as expected with El Bakhali and Girma racing to the line well ahead of anyone else, with El Bakhali's tremendous kick the difference between first and second. The other races were heats with no Ducks involved. Hocker goes tomorrow in the 1500, with Van Klinken hopefully in the shot final on Saturday night. I've been neglecting Raevyn Rogers who runs the in the W800m heats tomorrow morning. She'll be up in heat 2 and with three auto Q's, I fully expect her to move forward into the semis on Friday night. While their medal chances are slim, mention should go to Anita Konieczek and Jillian Weir, both of whom compete in qualifying rounds on Wednesday evening. Weir had a great meet last year in Eugene, finishing 5th. FWIW, Track and Field News doesn't have her in their top 10. Konieczek is 42nd in the World Rankings, with a seasonal best of 9:30.62 which places her roughly 30 seconds beyond the top tier in the event.
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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 23, 2023 14:00:56 GMT -8
Day 4 is in the books. READ NO FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN TODAY'S MEET AND INTEND TO WATCH IT LATER!!!! AKA SPOILER ALERT.
Lots of Ducks out there today (comparatively). We got Raevyn in 800 qualifying, Konieczek in the 3000SC heats, Weir in the WHT qualifying and Cole Hocker in the M1500 final. I thought Cole did as well as he could and his 3:30.72 PB verified that. Quite simply, the field was overwhelming and it felt like Cole was never in it, despite his great time. The big shock was Cheserek crusher Josh Kerr taking down the favored Jakob Ingebritsen. I remember being stunned watching Kerr outkick Ches some years back in Fayetteville, and this guy has every bit of kick now as he did then. Jakob and Kerr ran neck and neck in a scintillating final 200 until Kerr pulled away in the last few meters. Meanwhile, Hocker pretty much occupied the back half of the pack throughout, splitting the first 400 at 56.75 (9th place), the 800 in 1:55.25 (still in 9th) and with 400 to go, he remained in 9th. His final 400 was a blazing 52.53 which moved him up two slots, but was far from enough in this great field. Hats off to Cole! In other Duck-related events, Raevyn Rogers ran a very controlled 800 heat, finishing 2nd to Kenyan Mary Moraa in a well-paced 2:00.06. Should she make the final, she won't be in the formidable field that Hocker was involved with. We'll see Raevyn next on Friday night in the semi-finals with the final being Sunday evening. Meanwhile, the Konieczek sisters both ran the 3000 SC and neither qualified for the semi-final. Aneta ran a slow 9:45 and finished 11th in her heat. Her PB is 9:25 and had she equaled it, she still wouldn't have moved on. Jillian Weir was not the Jillian we saw at last year's WCs, and as a result of battling injury over much of the past year, she finished with a rather mediocre 67.48, which placed her near the bottom of the field (27th out of 36). Her PB is 73.12, her SB was 67.85. Hopefully her injuries won't further hamper her career. It's midnight in Budapest, so good night to all and I hope I've been able to add a bit to what many of you have seen or will see on TV. No Ducks involved tomorrow, so back on Friday.
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Post by chileduck on Aug 23, 2023 21:27:19 GMT -8
excellent. excellent summary of today's events. Bruce, thanks. I have had my eye on Josh Kerr too since his collegiate days running at New Mexico. His was an amazing performance today.
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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 25, 2023 4:17:53 GMT -8
We're down to our final two Ducks, with Raevyn going tonight in the semi-final and Jorinde in the qualifying round and (hopefully) final on Saturday. Track and Field News has Raevyn finishing outside the top 10. At least Jorinde is on their radar, but only in 9th position.
I think Raevyn got a fortunate draw in heat #2. True that there are four racers with better SBs, but only two have significantly better SBs (meaning a second or more better); Raevyn and the others are all within an insignificant .39 seconds of one another. There are three heats and it's top two in each plus next two fastest. Hopefully Raevyn can draw on her racing experience and go top two, or at least third with a fast time.
If there's live coverage, the 800 semis will start at 11:25AM PDT. More in about 6 hours.
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Post by TheDrake on Aug 25, 2023 11:12:26 GMT -8
Rodgers makes the final!
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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 25, 2023 12:45:42 GMT -8
Guess I don't need to add a spoiler alert here. Not only did Raevyn make the final, she ran the brilliant tactical race I thought she would. Her first 300 was lightning fast, then she seemed to slow to a crawl while still controlling the pace. To this day, few can kick like Rogers can kick. She maintained her lead and with 200 to go, she was in the right place to race home for a spot in the final. No, she didn't win the semi, but I don't think she cared, nor should we. She did what she had to do and did it flawlessly. Not bad for someone whom Track and Field News gave up on.
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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 26, 2023 2:20:14 GMT -8
MINOR SPOILER ALERT WSP
Jorinde made the final 12, finishing with a small q near the back of the finalist group, throwing 18.66 versus the top throw of 19.64. JVKs PB is 19.02 and her SB is 19.02. Given that 8 throwers exceeded 19.02 this morning, she's a Longshot for a medal. The finals begin Saturday at 11:15am PDT.
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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 26, 2023 13:13:15 GMT -8
WSP SPOILER ALERT
Jorinde simply faced a tough field tonight. Even with a PB of 19.05, she only got three throws. 19.05, 18.43, F. Last one up is Raevyn tomorrow.
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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 27, 2023 0:14:02 GMT -8
Final day. Raevyn our last medal hope or U of O gets a goose egg, the first since 2009 per OlePhill2. One thing I haven't mentioned is a fabulous new technology that was unveiled last night. Those of us who enjoy the multis usually have to have our devices out prior to the final event (in this case the 1500) to help determine point differentials prior to the race and what athletes need to run to hold their positions. Lo and behold, someone devised a program that was on the scoreboard showing the leaders (as always) AND the evolving point scores as the race progressed. There was a bit of a race for 3rd overall and it was really helpful to see the switching of places after each 10 meters or so. We need such a system at Hayward during NCAAs or conference meets.
Raevyn goes to the line at 10:45AM PDT. I'm picking her for 4th as three racers have recent PBs that are better than Rogers' best: Mu, 1:55.44 (8/21), Hodgkinson 1:55.77 (6/23), Moraa 1:56.71 (7/22) and Rogers, 1:56.81 (8/21). They're all intelligent racers, but we shouldn't discount Rogers' experience, which exceeds that of all those above, thus a medal would be more of a pleasant surprise than a huge upset.
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Post by TheDrake on Aug 27, 2023 10:58:54 GMT -8
Bruce absolutely nails it!!
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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 27, 2023 13:28:44 GMT -8
Much like Doha 2019, she had a ferocious kick the final 200 and even a more ferocious kick tonight in the final 100 against a much higher quality field. Her form doesn't appear to have dropped off with age and I think it's safe to say she'll make the team for the Paris Olympics. Race analysis: With 200 to go, Raevyn was in 7th. She moved up to 6th with 100 to go and then passed two runners to finish 4th. Only Hodgkinson's final 100 (15.28) was faster than Raevyn's 15.34. Easy to say that she should have started both kicks a bit earlier and probably a lot harder to actually do. Sadly, no Duck medals this time, with Van Klinken in the DT and Raevyn in the 800 coming closest with 4th place finishes.
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Post by chileduck on Aug 27, 2023 15:05:36 GMT -8
Much like Doha 2019, she had a ferocious kick the final 200 and even a more ferocious kick tonight in the final 100 against a much higher quality field. Her form doesn't appear to have dropped off with age and I think it's safe to say she'll make the team for the Paris Olympics. Race analysis: With 200 to go, Raevyn was in 7th. She moved up to 6th with 100 to go and then passed two runners to finish 4th. Only Hodgkinson's final 100 (15.28) was faster than Raevyn's 15.34. Easy to say that she should have started both kicks a bit earlier and probably a lot harder to actually do. Sadly, no Duck medals this time, with Van Klinken in the DT and Raevyn in the 800 coming closest with 4th place finishes. Thanks for the details because the broadcast camera was focused only on the top finishers and we couldn't see her 4th place finish and only hints of it in replays. I guess going in person really pays off! Lol
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Post by danishduck on Aug 27, 2023 15:55:16 GMT -8
Bruce,
Thanks for all your reporting/observations. They really helped with enjoyment of the meet from a distance, See you at Pre.
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Post by bruce3404 on Aug 29, 2023 7:06:48 GMT -8
Much like Doha 2019, she had a ferocious kick the final 200 and even a more ferocious kick tonight in the final 100 against a much higher quality field. Her form doesn't appear to have dropped off with age and I think it's safe to say she'll make the team for the Paris Olympics. Race analysis: With 200 to go, Raevyn was in 7th. She moved up to 6th with 100 to go and then passed two runners to finish 4th. Only Hodgkinson's final 100 (15.28) was faster than Raevyn's 15.34. Easy to say that she should have started both kicks a bit earlier and probably a lot harder to actually do. Sadly, no Duck medals this time, with Van Klinken in the DT and Raevyn in the 800 coming closest with 4th place finishes. Thanks for the details because the broadcast camera was focused only on the top finishers and we couldn't see her 4th place finish and only hints of it in replays. I guess going in person really pays off! Lol From what I'm hearing from friends in the US, the TV coverage (as usual) has been lacking. Perhaps the best event of the meet was the MDT. With such heavy air and no breeze, we were seeing a lot of mid-60m throws from the better athletes. I was sitting with a large group of Slovenians, all going crazy for Ceh. When Stahl took the 4th round lead (prior to Ceh's 4th round throw), the crowd got nervous. Then Ceh uncorked a 5th round throw to take the lead and order was restored (or so it was thought). Then Stahl threw an amazing 71+m throw to grab the lead back. The final thrower, Ceh, could not respond and the atmosphere where I was sitting became funereal. From what I understand, all TV showed was Stahl's 6th round throw. Talk about sucking the life out of one of the best finals of the meet. Noah Lyles went public with his disdain for USATF and their lack of meet promotion, saying that they're killing a great sport in the US. Whom of us couldn't agree? These are the same people who drove Lananna out of their presidency (remember him? All he did was restore Tracktown and bring us the first and probably only US WCs). While Lananna still remains president due to an arbitration hearing, he has no power, mostly due to the idiot named Max Siegel. As a final thought, the airport looked like a T&F Hall of Fame. Keely Hodgkinson was right in front of us in a long line, so got to have a nice conversation with her (also let her know what her final 100m was, something she didn't know. She took her narrow defeat quite graciously). Very nice person and we'll see her in Eugene in a few weeks. Also had a nice chat with El Bakkali in the lounge. Met both Kirani James and Taliyah Brooks out in the streets wandering around; again, both super friendly. Seems to be a pattern in T&F since these hard working superstars otherwise go unrecognized.
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Post by mallardg on Aug 29, 2023 17:04:35 GMT -8
Bruce, speaking for myself...and I assume many others...your PR work with the athletes, there in Budapest, on behalf of track fans and supporters is greatly appreciated.
Obviously, the priority of the mucky mucks at USATF is to promote their personal agendas over the sport and the athletes themselves.
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