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The Week That Was May 12- May 18, 2008 College Conference Action The CU men scored a staggering 89 points in the 1500 through 10k. Yes that's right. 89. We've never heard of a domination that complete at a major conference level. How is it even possible to score 89 points in 4 events? Here's how. They Buffs went 1-5 in the 10k to pick up 33. They went 1-3 in the steeple to get 16 more and had a runner-up in the 1500 for 8 more. They ended things in style as in the 5k, they scored 32 by having 6 scorers. Yes 6. The Buffs went 1-2-4-5-6-7. Unreal. Now we're sure many of you are saying - the Buffs dominated because the meet was at altitude. We're not buying that excuse. Our only wish was that the meet had been somewhere else as the domination likely would have been that complete no matter where the meet was held. After a disappointing cross country nationals when the Buffs finished 7th nationally, the CU distance runners have really been firing on all cylinders. Its' too bad no one noticed until this weekend. In the 5k, the Buffs have two of the top six, 4 of the top 20, and 6 of the top 47 5k runners in the country, led by the #1 collegian Brent Vaughn. In terms of Big 12 rankings, CU has 6 of the top 7 in the 5k and the one guy that breaks them up - Ryan Vail
- didn't run in the Big 12 meet as apparently he is hurt. Thus based on their performance to date, one could easily argue the Buffs actually should have even done better than they did in the 5k as the guy who got 3rd in the 5k was Oklahoma State's David Jankowski who has run 14:10 so far this year. CU's 6th best 5k guy on the year, Chris Pannone has run 14:00 this year as well as 28:49 in the 10k and he didn't even score in the 5k as he was 9th. The 6th scorer for CU was Bradley Harkrader who hasn't
hit the regional mark of 14:12 this year, yet did score. Thus CU very easily could have had 7 scorers in the 5k based on pre-meet form charts. Moreover, CU didn't even double Brent Vaughn in the 5k-10k at the meet. He ran 1500 - 5k (and shockingly didn't make the 1,500 final). Imagine if they'd run him in the 10k, they would have gone 1-6 in the 10k. To be fair, if we are going to devote 5 paragraphs full of praise for the Buffalo men, we have to give a thumbs down to the Buffalo women who finished DFL with a measly 13 points. Just as it doesn't seem possible that one squad could score 89 points in the distances in a major conference, it doesn't seem possible that a team with the tradition and scholarships that CU has on the women's side could only score 13 points. The women's meet was won by Texas A&M in a laugher as they racked up 157 to Nebraska's 105. We imagine A&M will be winning these things with regularity now that Pat Henry - the greatest women's coach in history - has his program up and running. In terms of individual performances, Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech won both the 1,500 and 5k. In the 5k, she dispatched of American collegiate 10k record holder Lisa Koll (16:39 to 16:52). Koll captured the ladies 10k rather easily as expected. Manzano and Pifer Impress *Mark Wetmore Thanks About Team's Historic Win and Gives Big-time Praise To People Who Put on Big 12 Meet We're sure McDonnell really wouldn't mind having an odd number next to his name if it was an 85th national title but that isn't going to happen this year barring a miracle. So a major thumbs up to John McDonnell for going out in style. It's simply amazing how McDonnell has dominated the SEC over the years. The SEC is the best track and field conference in the country in and McDonnell has simply made it his personal play pen as he won a staggering 46 of 51 SEC titles since Arkansas joined the league 17 years ago. An over 90% success rate in the nation's toughest conference. Don't believe it's the best conference? Think again. People have the same debate in football ever year. Which is the better conference? The SEC or the Pac 10. It's not really an argument there or here. The SEC has the best athletes in football and track. Below we list the marks it took to win the SEC on the men's side and compare that to the marks it took to win in the Pac 10. It's tougher to win a title in the SEC in 14 events compared to a 7 in the Pac 10. And don't tell us that there are more teams in the SEC. Yes there are - but that would make it even harder for McDonnell to dominate like he has as compared to the Pac 10.
Clearly the SEC is better. Richard Thompson 9.93 and 20.23 In the women's battle, LSU won as expected. Pac 10s: Lananna, Alcorn, Johnson Shine On the women's side the indoor national champs, ASU, put on a show and just crushed the competition. The performance of the meet: A 2:00.57 meet record from Cal's Alysia Johnson who seems to be rounding into form at the perfect time of year. Johnson, the USATF champ last year, clearly has been focused on Beijing this year. Only 3rd indoor at NCAAs, Johnson will be virtually impossible to beat outdoors at NCAAs this year. Big 10s: Wisconsin's Streak Comes to An End
World XC Champ Craig Virgin Gives His Take on Big 10s
In terms of performances of note, a big
thumbs up to Penn State freshman Sam Borchers who won the 1,500 title
as a true frosh. An absolute sensation indoors (2:22.42 US leader in
his first 1k and then a 4:01.98 school record in the mile), the
freshman had struggled a bit outdoors as his 1500 seasonal best is just
3:47.32 - not good for a guy who ran 3:46 in high school. IC4A/ECACs But let's take just a second to give McDougal major props for his NCAA XC win this past fall. McDougal's about as blue collar and self-made as they get. Continued Page 2 of our Recap Pro Running News: Adidas Track Classic, Oil Money and the NYRR, Healthy Kidney 10k, Bay to Breakers, Manchester and more
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