October 2007 Track and Field Articles

One Hundred and Thirty Four men will enter Centrals Park’s 5 loops of autumn colored pain, 3 will emerge victorious in the most highly anticipated trials race ever! I can’t believe the time is already upon us. More so I can’t believe I am going to wake up at 4:30 AM (West Coast) to catch the start and watch it live in its entirety. I remember trying to do that for the world cup a few years back, and when the alarm went off, I made the decision in bed (always a bad idea) that the first half wasn’t so… more »

First of all, I want to state this article this week is not necessarily Division II centered. I felt very compelled to write this about a different subject. On November 3, my high school cross country coach is retiring. Mark Saltalamachia, Coach Salty to almost everybody else, did not start out as a cross country coach. Coach Salty started out as a wrestling coach at Oakland High School and started the cross country program so that his wrestlers would have a way to maintain weight during off-season. He has achieved much success. He coached a wrestling state champion at Oakland… more »

The 2007 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon was not an ideal race. The extreme heat and humidity caused many to drop out, over 300 runners to be hospitalized and one death that prompted the cancellation of the event. For Olympic hopeful Kate O’Neill, 27, it was her first marathon experience.

O’Neill, a 2004 Olympian in the 10000-meter run, from Milton, MA, finished third in her debut marathon with a time of 2:36:15. This performance qualified her for the 2008 U.S. Women’s Olympic Team Marathon Trials, April 20, in Boston, MA.

“I think it worked out… more »

Georgetown Hoya Melissa Grelli was one of the top finishers in blue race at Pre Nationals this year. She and the Hoyas have the Big East Championship this weekend.

How is your training going this year?
It’s going really well. We had a pretty good workout yesterday and now we’re taking it easy before the Big East Championships. I started off with lower mileage than usual because our approach right now is more long term. We recently brought up my mileage but we are staying pretty consistent right now, which is about 60 miles per week.… more »

“What am I going to do now?” For a good number of college juniors and seniors, this is a question that presses down heavier with each passing week. They picture the giant escalator to nowhere, to reference an old Simpsons episode, and hope at the top they’re not going to drop off hundreds of feet into unemployment. Fortunately for the average college grad, there is a wooly mammoth of a workforce out there beyond college, and there are countless jobs that need to be filled. Even with entry-level status, there’s careerbuilder, there’s Monster.com, and there’s your dad’s buddies.
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One by one the team line up each runner is edging the line like a greyhound waiting at the gate ready to chase the rabbit. This is one of their last challenges for the season. The conference race does not determine if one moves on or not to the regional meet. The conference race is to see where the team and individuals measure up this deep into the season. It is to see if there is anything left to tweak in the final weeks up to regional meet. The conference meet most of all is for bragging rights until the… more »

Jack Daniels, head distance coach at the Center for High Altitude Training at Northern Arizona University, trains and consults runners from all over the world. Prior to coming to Flagstaff, Daniels was named NCAA Division III Coach of the Century, three-time NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year, and was named World’s Best Coach by “Runner’s World” magazine. Throughout his career, Daniels has worked with many successful athletes, including Jim Ryun, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Peter Gilmore, Amy Hastings, Ryan and Alicia Shay, the McMillan Elite Team and many others.

Had Daniels been born a talented runner,… more »

Liberty’s Josh McDougal just racked up his third victory at Pre National's. He has placed 4th, 13th and 27th at the NCAA Championships. The individual championship is his goal this year.

How did Pre Nat's go for you?
It obviously went pretty well. I went there knowing it was going to be a tough race. Every time I race Jacob (Korir) it is. The course was great, the weather was great, and so the times were as well.
What made the times so fast on that specific day?
Generally it’s the competition. It’s always… more »

It’s good being Ryan Hall. He is the hottest thing on the American distance running scene after his 59:43 half-marathon American record in Houston in January and American Debut Record in April at the London Marathon after his 2:08.24. He has a beautiful wife who is also a very accomplished American distance runner. His brother is a Footlocker Cross Country Champion and now at Oregon with Ryan’s college coach, Vin Lanana. Now less than a month away from the Olympic Marathon Trials in NYC he is one of the top seeds and fitter than ever. He is currently tucked away… more »

That is the question.

“Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer slings and arrows of the little angry voice in your head questioning the choice to punish your body, Or to take arms against pain, and confront it without the distraction of an over played power ballad. To run is to hurt, but to iPod is to escape.”

To say that many people run with music would be a bit of an understatement. It’s a global exercise phenomenon and has been for a while now. Not wanting to bore you with the… more »

“You must believe it to achieve it, otherwise you are wasting your time.” are some of Craig McPhail’s favorite words of wisdom. He believes these words to especially apply to cross country as a sport “Why else do athletes get up early in the morning to put in miles, come back in the afternoon and run some more? Why do they miss out on parties and other social functions to get in extra rest for a big race or workout? They believe in themselves and have set goals to which they try to achieve” he further explains.

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For an elite runner, it can be tough to find a guy who can keep up. Fortunately for Sara Gorton-Slattery, this was no longer an issue when she married fellow professional runner, Steve Slattery. Despite their competitive natures, the Slatterys are a team when it comes to their marriage.

“I’ve learned a lot from Steve. I think we help each other,” Sara said, “There is never a dull moment in our relationship.”

The Slatterys have been each other’s biggest supporters since they were teammates at the University of Colorado. Sara, 26, began dating Steve,… more »

1964 - It was the first day of competition at the first of four Olympic Games that I would attend as a member of Track and Field News' Olympic Tours. I first became aware of the magazine the previous year and quickly signed up when I saw an ad for their trip to the Tokyo Olympics. One of the tour packages included a stopover in Hawaii, and I had watched the Opening Ceremony with other tour members on a TV set up in a hotel hallway in Honolulu. I had even competed in a road race that featured local resident… more »

Last year, Brent Vaughn led his Colorado Buffaloes to their second team championship in the past three years. This year, he and the Buff’s look to pick up where they left off.

Is it hard to maintain having a family and being a nationally ranked Division I athlete?
No, I don’t think it’s too tough at all. I have my wife around all the time and that makes things easy. It’s got to be a little more difficult than it would be for someone without a family. We make it work just fine. We just arrange… more »

By definition an asterisk is: A star-shaped figure (*) used chiefly to indicate an omission, a reference to a footnote, or an unattested word, sound, or affix.

Lets use it in a sentence.

“He makes me think of an asterisk.”

In the last few years, the asterisk has taken on a life of its own. From posters, T-shirts, to television shows, this symbol has become a bit of a celebrity in itself. When I see a shirt with the asterisk, the message is clear, then I think how sad… more »

A perfect score on the SAT is a 2400; on the ACT a 36 is perfection. In cross country a perfect score is 15, which means that the five scorers from a team finish first, second, third, fourth, and fifth. A perfect 15 is a rare event in college cross country meets. At the Colorado Classic on September 15, Adams State achieved perfection scoring a 15. The team was lead by sophomore Aaron Braun, RMAC freshman of the Year, 2007 NCAA Division II Outdoor Champion in the 1600m, and four-time RMAC runner of the week.

It… more »

Over the past 50 years, women’s distance running opportunities have drastically improved. Since the 800-meter race returned to the Olympic Games in 1960, equality is finally being reached with the gradual inclusion of women’s distance events. Until now, one hurdle remained. Next summer in Beijing, women will compete in the Olympic steeplechase for the first time, an event available only to men for over a century.

The steeplechase, which combines strength, speed and endurance, originated in England in the mid-1800s. According to Simon Vroemen’s Web site, the idea evolved from the equestrian sport in which men rode… more »

Iona Gael Mohamed Khadraoui has placed 23rd and 46th at the NCAA Division I XC Championships in the past few years and looks for a high place finish. The Gaels will also be looking for a top 5 finish in the team standings.

What kind of preparation did you do for this season?
I stayed in New Rochelle. I got a lot of training in July and August. I took two weeks off after nationals, got good mileage in, with hills and tempos. I don’t do any racing or anything during the summer. I just train… more »

This week I decided to attempt some actual journalism. I sat down at my computer with a warm cup of POWERade Jagged Ice and had an email interview with Michael McKeeman. Mike has qualified for the U.S. Marathon Trials with a 2:17:50 and is in the unique position of being Deena Kastor’s training partner. He trains in Mammoth Lakes, CA with Team Running USA, runs for ASICS and is a 1999 graduate of The University Of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

How did you end up with Deena, what is your role?
I ran with… more »

Up until about two weeks ago, I had never watched a college cross country race. Due to injury, inflamed IT band, I was able to partake in being a spectator, although unwillingly. There are some major differences in being a spectator than an actual competitor. There are obvious differences of course; you don’t have to run and there is no need to dress in ridiculous short shorts unless you want to. There are more subtle differences, as well: less nerves and a lot of downtime.

The nerves that were usually present as I stepped onto the course… more »

In order to achieve optimum performance, running requires physical and mental strength. Arthur Lydiard designed a training system to develop both. Lydiard discovered that by individualizing a periodic plan based on aerobic development, any athlete can reach his or her potential and have a lasting running career. The Lydiard method is not an exact regimen, but rather a framework of principles that can be modified to fit the needs of every runner.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Lydiard gained popularity by coaching Olympians such as Peter Snell. Soon, other coaches used Lydiard's teachings for their own athletes,… more »