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Details: Written by Dave Hunter; Category: Road Racing; Published: 21 March 2019

Desi Linden Prepares for the Defense of her Boston title

Des Linden training in Michigan, photo by Brooks communications

March 20, 2019

Any Patriots' Day victor will tell you: winning the Boston Marathon is one of the most difficult accomplishments in road racing, to prevail over 26.2 miles against the always star-studded field on the historic and difficult trek from Hopkinton to the Back Bay. But upon reflection there is a more daunting Boston Marathon task: for the prior year's champion to return to Boston the next year and successfully defend the title. This is the challenge that Desiree Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon champion, faces and embraces.

Details: Written by Dave Hunter; Category: Track; Published: 06 March 2019

Anavia Battle

Anavia Battle, photo by Ohio State Buckeyes

Anavia Battle, photo courtesy of Ohio State Buckeyes

OSU Sprinter Breaks Through With WL In 200m

March 5th, 2019

Collegiate track & field coaches and those who follow our sport closely will tell you that the performance levels of the very best high school athletes on the track and in the field have recently progressed at an impressive rate. Better advancements in training, nutrition, weight work, event technique, shoes, equipment, and athlete commitment have combined to produce year-after-year bumper crops of top flight prep athletes heading to college. But not all of these athletes prove able to continue the impressive trajectory of progression they authored as preps. For collegiate coaches, the challenge is to properly evaluate this high school talent: to look for strengths; to spot weaknesses; to assess attitudes and commitment, and hope they can arrive at the correct conclusions about which athletes can thrive in the competitive world of collegiate track & field.

One such athlete who assembled impressive - but not mind-blowing - credentials as a high schooler is Ohio State University sprinter Anavia Battle. While a prep at Wayne Memorial in Inskter, Michigan, Battle displayed steady progression and in her senior year captured the 2017 Michigan state 100 meter crown in 11.95 and was the Junior Olympic champion in both the 100m and 200m. The diminutive sprinter and her successes on the oval drew attention. But did she have the potential for continued improvement and championship level success at a Power 5 university? Ohio State University Head Coach Karen Dennis believed she did. "When I first watched Anavia compete, I thought to myself 'This little girl has great mechanics and a very fluid sprinting style,'" explains Dennis who has a particular eye for identifying sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers with top flight collegiate potential. The positive impressions Battle had during her recruiting visit to OSU was more than enough for this sprinter from the Wolverine State to take her talents to Columbus.

How Penn State's Danae Rivers Broke The Indoor 1000m Standard

January 31, 2019

One of the rare and special moments in track & field is when a record is broken. In our sport, records exist on a variety of levels - from the PR of a young high schooler to a global record set by an accomplished world-class athlete. Some never-before attained performances can be unplanned, spontaneous occurrences - like Kendra Harrison's 2016 world-record clocking of 12.20 in the women's 100 meter hurdles or Anita Wlodarczyk's gold medal-winning world-record hammer throw of 82.29 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Other records are achieved only after the most careful preparation: event and venue selection, thoughtful assembly of the field, agreement on pacing and opening tempo [or in the case of vertical jumps: event entry and jump count],

Earlier this month, on a blustery winter day in State College, Pennsylvania, a new collegiate record was set in the women's indoor 1000 meter run by talented Penn State middle distance athlete Danae Rivers. Her record performance was not an unexpected surprise; it was the product of the convergence of several essential ingredients: a young, gifted, hungry, and properly-trained athlete performing in the right meet on her home track over a carefully-selected off-race distance in a competition that included the best mix of competitors and featured a precision-like teammate as the early pacer.

Details: Written by Dave Hunter; Category: Event Coverage; Published: 15 January 2019

Rainbow-Euros14.jpgStadion Letzigrund, photo by PhotoRun.net

Letzigrund Stadium Inspires Exceptional Performances

Zurich, Switzerland

When you think about it, the venue in which a track and field gathering is held really should have virtually no impact on the performance of the athletes. One lap is always 400 meters. Barrier heights for the men's 110 meter hurdles remain at 42 inches. And a 2 meter high jump consistently measures out at 6'6¾". But we have come to learn that there are a few intangible variables (e.g. the passion of the crowd, the significance of the event, the heritage of the venue, etc.) that sometimes can inspire pinnacle performances in several revered and magical facilities.

One such location is Zurich's Letzigrund Stadium which over the years has been the site of an impressive number of truly outstanding track & field performances. Letzigrund, which can trace it origins back to 1925, has been the site of 25 world record acheivements over the years - including Armin Hary's groundbreaking 100 meters in 1960 as he became the first man ever to run the event in 10.0 seconds; Sebastian Coe's world record performances in the 1500 meters [3:32.1 in '79] and the mile [3:48.53 in '81]; and 8 WR achievements by American athletes [Willie Davenport's 13.2 110H in '69; Rod Milburn's 13.1 110H in '73; Renaldo Nehemiah's 12.93 110H in '81; Evelyn Ashford's 10.76 100m in '84; Mary Slaney's 4:16.71 mile in '85; Butch Reynold's 43.29 400m in '88; Roger Kingdom's 12.92 110H in '89; and the Team USA quartet of Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, and Carl Lewis' 37.87 in the men's 4x100m relay in '91].

America’s #2 All-Time Female Marathoner Poised To Resume Journey

December 10th, 2018

Jordan Hasay’s running journey has been interesting, indeed. The California native burst onto the national scene 13 years ago when she authored an unmatched high school freshman year that featured her stunning victory at the 2005 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, a prelude of future sensational races to come. At the 2008 Olympic Trials, the young Hasay ran 4:14.50 to break the national high school record in the 1500 meters. In the afterglow of that race, the 16 year old prep was serenaded by the capacity Hayward Field crowd which rhythmically chanted “Come to Oregon,” a directive she ultimately followed a year later.

Details: Written by Dave Hunter; Category: Cross Country; Published: 21 November 2018

Mark Wetmore “is all about toughness and tough love. Anything that makes it more difficult is good for us,” says Dani Jones. (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)

November 17th, 2018

Verona, Wisconsin

There is something about Dani Jones that makes her the quintessential Colorado cross country runner. She is hard-working, tough as nails, low-key, and under the radar screen—just the way highly successful distance guru Mark Wetmore likes it. After the women’s race concluded, the Colorado sensei was his matter-of-fact self in explaining that while no one really picked Jones as a likely title contender, her win was no surprise to her fellow Buffaloes. “I am very pleased with her race,” he said. “She did everything she planned to do. She was calm and responded when she needed to. I felt that if she was near it with 500 to go that she would win the race. I told her that, [Colorado coach] Heather Burroughs told her that.”

Details: Written by Dave Hunter; Category: Cross Country; Published: 20 November 2018

Allie Klimkiewicz ’19

Office of Athletic Communications

Verona, Wis. — In the midst of a fall when Princeton athletics has performed at an exceptionally high level across the board, it would be easy to overlook the lonely and often isolated sport of cross country. But a more careful examination of the Tiger harriers – both the men’s and women’s teams – reveals that Princeton continues to improve, often dominating its Ivy competition, and is beginning to establish itself as a perennial competitor in the season-ending national championships.

Both programs took another step forward Nov. 17 at the 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships when 31 teams and more than 250 athletes in each race competed on the snow-covered Zimmer Championship Course in Verona, Wis.

Details: Written by Dave Hunter; Category: Cross Country; Published: 18 November 2018

Colorado’s team wasn’t in evidence at the front in the early going, but were there when it counted. (MIKESCOTT)

Verona, Wisconsin, November 17—When race day dawned to reveal a healthy dusting of snow, the 255 women who woke up to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championship quickly realized that things had just gotten a little more challenging.

Notre Dame’s Anna Rohrer moved to the point of a tightly-bunched lead pack that split the first kilo in just under 3:00. As is her custom, Rohrer continued to press the pace, to grind away on her competitors. Boise State junior Allie Ostrander made her first frontline appearance and pulled up next to Rohrer as the leaders split the first mile under 5:00. On the next major downhill, New Mexico soph Weini Kelati freewheeled her way into the lead.

Details: Written by Dave Hunter; Category: Event Coverage; Published: 11 September 2018

September 12, 2018

Warsaw, Poland

Track & field should not be afraid to experiment with new ideas. As an athletic pursuit – like other “Olympic” sports such as golf, swimming, wrestling, tennis, to name a few – track & field primarily spotlights the spectacular, yet often lonely, performances of individuals. Missing from our sport is an event that can effectively deliver a worldwide team competition as a refreshing change of pace to the individualism that dominates the sport’s current formats.

As part of its end-of-summer swing through some major European meets, the Track & Field News Tour took in the new-format Continental Cup, an event that offers a bona fide world-wide competition in a bold and different format Reaction to the affair among Tour members was mixed. While no one found the meet to be the perfect change of pace gathering to track & field’s customary presentation, a good number liked many of the aspects of the team-oriented event while a few old-schoolers found little to embrace. Here is a sampling of opinions:

Details: Written by Dave Hunter; Category: Track; Published: 04 September 2018

Fans will no longer be entertained by the post-race celebrations of retiring hurdler Dawn Harper Nelson.

(KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)

September 4th, 2018

In early September Dawn Harper Nelson ran the final race of her decorated career at the intimate venue in Zagreb. Though she was loudly cheered by the partisan Croatian crowd, few in attendance likely fully appreciated that they were witnessing the finale of one of the most successful women’s hurdlers of all time.

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Demo Reel Video

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TAFWA Award

At the 2019 annual meeting of the Track and Field Writers of America, Dave was presented with the James Dunaway Memorial Award “for track & field journalism excellence.”

2022 USAFT Announcing

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Dave Hunter

Dave Hunter is a track & field journalist, announcer, and broadcaster. Dave reports on the premier track & field gatherings around the globe, frequently serves as an arena or stadium announcer for championship events, and has undertaken foreign and domestic broadcast assignments in the sport.