Sunday, March 14, 2010

Kaiser runner-up in state record

Temperance Bedford junior Nick Kaiser cranked a 1:51.34 to shatter the state record in the 800m by nearly a second and a half today, finishing second at the Nike Indoor Championships. Kaiser's time tops the 1:52.80 standard set by Mumford's Isaiah Ward two years ago.

To watch the video, click here.

Owens-Mitchell second in squeeker


Southfield's Bridgette Owens-Mitchell placed second in the nation at the Nike Indoor as both she and the winner, California's Kori Carter, clocked 7.40. The actual margin turned out to be infinitesimal: just four one-thousandths of a second. Carter clocked 8.396 and Owens-Mitchell 8.400.

In the semis earlier today, Owens-Mitchell clocked 8.39, second only to her state record 8.35 at MITS. However, organizers had a second FAT camera set up, and caught her passing 55m in 7.81. That mark breaks the state record of 7.89 (set similarly en route) by Candice Davis in 2003. The two are pictured here together after Owens-Mitchell broke Davis's 60H mark at the MITS meet.

To watch the final, click here.
http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=videos&year=2010&pg=1&event_id=51&video_id=22410&folder_id=772&offset=5#video

More Baisden: 23.89 state record in third

The headline says it all. Just 90 minutes after her historic 400 record, ninth-grader Kendall Baisden came back and placed third in the 200 finals, clocking 23.89. That nips Shayla Mahan's state record of 23.90 set on the same track three years ago.

Kendall Baisden national champ: 53.23!!

Stunning. Kendall Baisden, the 9th grader from Detroit Country Day, hammered the state record in the 400 by 1.35 seconds and destroyed the field at the National Scholastic Championships, clocking 53.23 to win by 0.87 seconds. If we get a video link on this we'll let you know. At this point, live coverage of the meet is being sold for $5 by the folks at Armorytrack.com.

Just how good is 53.23? It makes her the No. 6 high schooler in U.S. history indoors (the record is 51.93). Only three Michiganders have ever done faster in college and beyond: Alexandria Sprueil, Janeen Jones, and Delisa Walton Floyd. It currently ranks her No. 51 on the world list and No. 21 in the United States (among adults). And it's frightfully close to her outdoor best, 53.05.

Goethals and Baisden hammer records

Megan Goethals proved once again that she is a ferocious racer, coming back from a three-second deficit on the last lap of the Nike Indoor 2 mile to nail Emily Sisson at the wire, 10:10.14 to 10:10.21. That's a state 2M record, and she passed through 3200m in a state record 10:07.1. It makes her the #5 2-miler in U.S. prep history. En route she broke her own 3000m state record with a 9:34.74.

Watch the video by clicking here.

Meanwhile, in New York, Kendall Baisden led the heats of the 400 with a 54.58, breaking the 54.79 set by Mumford's Jessica Jones on the same track in 2005. Earlier, she ranked 3rd in the 200 heats with her 24.13 (=#3 in Michigan history).

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Kendall Baisden: All Speed


The game of sportswriting is that you write about fantastic people all the time, and you tend to use superlatives liberally: the fastest, the best ever, the best since, and so on. And then once in a great while you find yourself writing about a young athlete you know is going to outstrip every superlative you can generate.

Many years ago, I remember talking to a coach in California for an interview on one of his sprinters who was considered the best in the country. At the end, he said something like, “But we’ve got a young one coming up who’s going to be way better.” And then he started telling me about a kid named Marion Jones.

To read more, click here.

Nationals: Saturday highlights

This morning in Boston (actually, it's Roxbury), the Detroit Chargers placed third in the 4 x 200. The Cass Tech foursome clocked 1:30.33, led off by Dior Mathis and anchored by Kishon Wilcher. Hopefully this helps make up for their disappointment at apparently winning the MITS title, but being DQed by three officials for a lane violation. Their NIN time ranks #5 in state history. Fifth place in the race went to KP Athletics in 1:30.96, all four of the runners from East Kentwood.

Friday, March 12, 2010

NIN: Breen/Troy breaks DMR record

At the Nike meet, the foursome from Troy High School running as the Breen TC broke a state record in the distance medley that was a third of a century old. Clocking 10:09.20 for 5th place, they shattered the old best of 10:17.1y set by Grosse Pointe North in 1977 at the Spartan Relays.

The all-senior squad of James Yau (3:08.7), Brian Murphy (50.8), Brad Pienta (2:02.0)and Mike Atchoo (4:07.6!) were just 1.62 seconds away from the win in a very close finish. Atchoo came up from 8th place, splitting 60, 63, 64, 60.

Watch the video by clicking here.

Michigan at Nationals - Anzelone scares record

This just in from Boston: Gabrielle Anzelone, after leading the Nike Nationals 5000m most of the distance, finished second in 17:04.48, just missing Marissa Treece's state record of 17:04.32. Watch the video: click here.

Also, Hannah Meier and twin Haley Meier took 1-2 in the 9th grade mile, Hannah clocking 4:56.91 (full mile, not 1600m), with Haley at 5:00.01. Hannah broke Shannon Osika's 9th grade mile record, and got the 1500 standard to boot (4:38.39 FAT). Watch the video: click here.

Austin Whitelaw ran the 5000m in 15:47.31, shy of the 15:19.04 he ran last year, but since he's the first junior we know of to run the event, that's an 11th grade record. Watch the video: click here.

In New York, at the other national championships, Alysha Johnson added more than a foot to her shot best to place third with a toss of 43-5.25.