ENDORSEMENTS

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Event Coverage

Published: 17 June 2022

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Dylan Jacobs, (Notre Dame) used a 55.45 last lap to hold off Alex Maier (Oklahoma State) to take the Men's 10,000m, June 8, 2022, photo by Cierra Hitner

Without question, the collegiate track & field championships are exciting, hard-fought contests. But one of the special and rare aspects of these gatherings is the quest for the team title. Global championships aside, most professional meets are all about individual performances - individual athletes focusing on running the fastest, jumping the highest, and throwing the farthest. There are no team titles in the Diamond League. But at this NCAA championship meet, there is a duality. The collegians, of course, want to perform at their best. But they also want to ring up points for their alma mater, to contribute to the ultimate goal: for their school to take home that coveted national championship trophy.

Read more: Men's NCAA / Day One /10,000m: Attempted Larceny Foiled

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Track

Published: 02 June 2022

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Nick Willis, 2020 New Balance Indoor GP, photo by Mike Deering / The Shoe Addicts

June 1, 2022

It is difficult to become a professional athlete. Aspiring athletes in all sports must perform at a very high level to even enter the professional ranks. Once there, all athletes face the difficult task of maintaining - or improving - their performance level. Most eventually find it too difficult over time. That is why professional athletes who miraculously maintain that superior performance level over extended periods of time are rare indeed. Oh, there are a few: consider football's Tom Brady (7 Super Bowl rings; widely considered as the greatest of all time; going strong at age 44)); basketball's LeBron James (the 37-year-old James has 4 NBA Championship rings; is definitely in the conversation for NBA's G.O.A.T, and will become NBA's all-time leading scorer next year - his 20th NBA season) and baseball's Cal Ripken (31 year MLB career; holds MLB record of competing in 2,632 consecutive games). And worthy of joining that select company of long-enduring, high-performing athletes is a well-accomplished track & field middle-distance specialist: New Zealand's Nick Willis.

Read more: Nick Willis: His Enduring Career

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Field

Published: 15 May 2022

Olympic Gold Medalist Katie Nageotte Is A Steely Performer

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Katie Nageotte, 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto

May 2022

We've all seen it before: the game-winning field goal with no time left; the late-inning walk-off homer; the Game 7 buzzer-beater. Those game-ending come-from-behind victories comprise some of the most exciting moments in all of sport. And, yes, track & field has those electrifying moments as well: a stirring anchor leg; a torrid finishing kick; or a final round throw or jump that lifts a down-and-out field athlete to the top step of the podium. Katie Nageotte, USA's Olympic gold medalist in the women's pole vault, has been there. But she first had to travel a pathway that featured disappointment, courage, revamping, and self-confidence.

Read more: Vaulting Hot While Staying Cool

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Track

Published: 08 May 2022

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Athing Mu takes the 600m at Penn, photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto

Room For All At Franklin Field

The Penn Relay Carnival

Philadelphia, PA

Franklin Field

April 28-30, 2022 

For more than a century, the Penn Relay Carnival has been one of Philadelphia's unmistakable signs of spring. But the onset of COVID interrupted all of that as the Penn Relays simply could not take place in 2020 and only a small, provincial gathering was held in 2021. But now with the pandemic ebbing and apparently under better control, the Penn Relays have returned in full force. Spring is in the air. Blossoms are in bloom. Rowers are flexing their muscles on the Schuykill. Villanova students, loud and proud, claim as their turf the seating at the top of the backstretch near the 1500m start line. On each of the three days of competition Penn's daily attendance has grown larger with Saturday's final day drawing nearly 48,000 fans, many of whom are rabid Jamaicans donned in yellow, gold, and black and ready to cheer on their countrymen and countrywomen. High school boys and girls, collegians, and even the professionals sway nervously in the paddock, eagerly awaiting their opportunity to compete on the big stage. The Penn Relay Carnival is back, baby!

Read more: The Penn Relays' Big Tent

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Road Racing

Published: 07 May 2022

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Peres Jepchirchir added a hard fought Boston Marathon win to her list of accomplishments!

by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto

The 126th B.A.A Marathon

Patriots' Day / 18 April 2022

In a year when the Boston Marathon celebrated the 50th anniversary of the race's long-awaited addition of an official women's division, Olympic gold medalist Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir and unheralded Ethiopian Ababel Yeshenah, locked horns in the final 2 kilometers of this historic racecourse. After running together for 40 kilos, racing side-by-side, chatting, and even sharing water, these two talented and determined young women engaged in what will long be remembered as the most electrifying women's battle for the laurel wreath in the history of the Boston Marathon.

Read more: Boston Women: Jepchirchir's Win Is One For The Ages

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Road Racing

Published: 04 May 2022

The 126th B.A.A Marathon

Patriots' Day / 18 April 2022

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Evans Chebet takes his first win in Boston, April 18, 2022,

photo by Kevin Morris / @kevmofoto

Even before the starter's pistol was fired in Hopkinton today, the April return of the Boston Marathon and all that surrounds it just felt right. No falling leaves - just blooming flowers. No MLB playoff game under the Fenway lights, but the traditional late morning ball game which would accommodate those fans who want to scramble out to watch the decisive final 5K of the race. The caution required by the pandemic's foreboding presence since March of 2020 has been replaced by the springtime hope that COVID might, at last, be coming under control. Back to its traditional Patriots Day calendar slot, the Marathon assembled star-studded athletes who were eager to engage in a 26 mile, 385 yard battle on arguably the world's most revered course. Once again, all was right in Beantown.

Read more: Boston Men: Chebet's Game Plan Results In Patriots' Day Victory

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Event Coverage

Published: 18 March 2022

Eliud Kipchoge .jpgEliud Kipchoge defends his Rio 2016 gold with Tokyo 2021 gold! photo by Orangepictures.NL

August 8th, 2021

Heading into the Tokyo Olympics there had been a sizeable legion of observers who considered Eliud Kipchoge to be the greatest marathoner ever. However, a significant number of other observers, while acknowledging the Kenyan's accomplishments, were not quite ready to award him that title. After Kipchoge's total domination and sterling overall performance in the men's Olympic marathon, there simply cannot be any remaining disbelievers. Eliud Kipchoge has confirmed that, without question, he is the greatest marathoner of all time.

Read more: OG/Day Ten: Kipchoge's Coronation

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Event Coverage

Published: 11 March 2022

Jakob Ingebrigtsen RnBlogRun

August 7th, 2021

On the final day of the competition inside the Olympic stadium, two marquee events were of special note.

The final of the women's 10,000 meters presented several pre-race questions. Sifan Hassan, in pursuit of an unprecedented triple, looked dominant in winning gold in the women's 5000. Yet days later the Dutch athlete looked vulnerable and frankly tired finishing third in the 1500 meter championship race. Which version of this incredible athlete would show up today?

Read more: OG/Day Nine: Hassan And Ingebrigtsen Are Victorious

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Event Coverage

Published: 04 March 2022

Cheptegei 5K Victor; Miller-Uibo and Kipyegon Repeat

August 6th, 2021

As the Olympic track & field schedule of events races to its concluding crescendo, impressive performances are coming fast and furious. At the forefront of Day Eight were the finals of the men's 5000 meters, the women's 400 meters, and the women's 1500 meters. And with apologies to British broadcasters and announcers everywhere, each one was "an absolute cracker!"

Read more: OG/Day Eight: Blazing Battles On The Track

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Written by Dave Hunter

Category: Event Coverage

Published: 01 March 2022

Sydney's WR!. JuVaughn's "Triple Double"!

McLaughlin_Sydney-Q-OlyTrials21w.jpgSydney McLaughlin, 400m hurdles, WR 51.90, photo by Kevin Morris / Kevmofoto

Harrison_JuVaughn-Q1-OlyTrials21w.jpgJuVaughn Harrison, oh, just pretend that he's high jumping, photo by Kevin Morris / Kevmofoto

Olympic Trials / Day Ten: 

June 27th, 2021

No one was happy when it became clear that the final weekend of the Olympic Trials competition would feature temperatures hovering around 110 degrees. But Mother Nature's nasty little meteorological surprise, while annoying, could not rattle USA hopefuls on the final weekend of the 2021 USA Track & Field Olympic Trials. While it was extremely uncomfortable on Saturday, it was Hades hot on Sunday, forcing a safety-driven mid-day suspension of several hours which sent athletes and their coaches scurrying to craft 11th-hour Plan B performance day procedures and tactics.

Read more: Sparkling Performances Rise Above Weather Woes