Track and Field Blogs - Justin Kopunek

Rivalries can sometimes be perceived with negative connotations, but they can inspire men (and women) to do great things. Take Thomas Edison and Elisha Gray. The pair had a heated rivalry to become the first to perfect the telephone. They both submitted a patent for the telephone on the exact same day, hours apart. One of the most notable rivalries came between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War. Today, we owe satellite TV, iPhones and Google Earth to these rivalries. The ones that give us the most excitement today are sports rivalries. Those super-charged bouts that are anticipated well in advance and remembered long after the fans have gone home. Think of Duke v. UNC, NY Yankees v. Boston Red Sox, Ali v. Frazier, Michigan v. Ohio State, Army v. Navy, and recently Federer v. Nadal.

Track and Field can spark some superb rivalries, as well. Perhaps off the track these athletes are the best of friends, but fate brings them together time and time again at the benefit of the fans. In my opinion, good rivalries are great for this sport, which many would not pause on if they saw it while flipping through the channels. Consider that Roger Bannister and John Landy's cross-continental rivalry brought the world it's first 2 sub-4 minute miles and legendary sports icons. In this first edition, I am going to outline three of track's budding rivalries.

4 Lap/Year Tug-of-War: Sarah Bowman and Brie Felnagle

Now seniors in college, this pair has been dueling since high school to be the premier young American female miler. Their first match-up happened in 2005 in the Nike Outdoor Nationals Mile. Both High School seniors, they ran the #3 and #5 best times for High School girls in history. Bowman won the race in 4:36.95 from the front and Felnagle kicked hard to the fastest ever non-winning time in a high school race, 4:39.71. Since then, with Bowman at Tennessee and Felnagle at UNC, the two have squared off many times and leap frogged each-other on the NCAA leaderboards. Felnagle started college off strong, anchoring NCAA Championships DMRs in her first 2 years, the latter of which was an American Record (Bowman anchored the runner up squad in that race). The Tar Heel also added an individual NCAA title to her resume in the 1500 as a sophomore. Bowman was never far behind and has anchored the last 2 NCAA Champion Distance Medleys, the most recent of which was in a World Record (Felnagle anchored that race's runner up). Bowman also nabbed her first individual NCAA crown this year in the mile.

Recently, Felnagle has had the greater success at longer distances, placing top 12 at NCAA XC the past 2 years and 2nd in the NCAA 3k. On relays, her splits have generally been a tad quicker than Bowman's, while Bowman's relays have been more successful. Felnagle has also been known to run faster mid-season times, while Bowman has been placing better at championship races. Last spring, Felnagle popped a 1500m PR of 4:08.58 at the UNC Elite Meet, but Bowman was the top American woman at NCAA's in 4:07.50. Similarly, this past winter at the Tyson Invite, Felnagle ran a blistering 4:32.1 mile, while Bowman was back at 4:34.6. The positions were reversed at NCAA's when Bowman's strong kick gave her the NCAA mile title in 4:29.7. Other girls have tangoed with these two (Sally Kipyego, Hannah England, Susan Kuijken, Nicole Edwards), but this pair of compatriots has the history and talent for a storied rivalry. Look for these two to match up at meets like Penn Relays, the NCAA Championships, and hopefully the US Championships this spring, as well as, through out what can easily be 2 long and decorated careers.

The Champion and the Challenger: Jeremy Wariner and LaShawn Merritt

In 2004, Jeremy Wariner took the running world by storm. After winning the NCAA indoor and outdoor 400m championships, the Baylor sophomore won the US Olympic trials in his signature event. At 20 years old, Wariner took home Olympic gold in the 400 running 44.00 and followed that up with a dominating win in the 4x400 relay. In Athens, Wariner established himself as the man to beat in the quarter mile for years to come. Meanwhile, 18 year old LaShawn Merritt was finishing out his high school career in Italy at the World Junior Champs where he won the 400m, 4x100 and 4x400 with the latter 2 being world junior records. As a freshman in college, Merritt ran a Indoor Junior World Record of 44.93 and a rivalry between he and Kerron Clement seemed to be possible. Outdoors, however, Clement’s aptitude for the 400 IH kept that from materializing and Merritt would have to set his sights on the king. Wariner was almost unbeatable over one lap during this time. He was undefeated in the 2006 Golden League and won gold in the 400 and 4x400 at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. At the ’07 World Champs, Wariner would run and personal best 43.45 with Merritt in second at 43.96.

Coming in to 2008, the record was 11-0 in Wariner’s favor between the top 2 ranked 400m runners in the world. That was, until June 1 in Berlin, when the unbeatable Wariner was taken down by Merritt, 44.03 to 44.07. Merritt would prove this was no fluke by repeating the feat when they met next at the US Olympic Trials. Merritt took the US title in winning by 2 tenths of a second. Not taking this lying down, Wariner rallied back by defeating his new rival in Rome and Paris. The latter was in dominating fashion in a world leading 43.86 to 44.35. Merritt would take over as world leader and reigning Olympic Champion in Beijing, defeating Wariner by 0.99 in running a personal best 43.75. The pair would also bookend the Olympic Record setting 4x400 relay at the games. Their last meeting in 2008 came soon after the Olympics where Wariner would get some redemption, defeating Merritt in Zurich 43.82 to 44.43. For the year, the 2 quarter milers, who are the 3^rd and 5^th fastest in history, were 3-3 head-to-head. This was certainly the start of a rivalry for the ages, of which Wariner had this to say, “For me, it’s great to have a rivalry. It makes me train harder. When I get to the track, no matter if I’m feeling good or feeling tired, I have to work as hard as I can, because I know that LaShawn is doing the same thing.”

On the Horizon: German Fernandez and Ryan Gregson

Everyone here (hopefully) knows what German Fernandez has been doing over the past year. He has set HS and World Junior Records and has far surpassed his American peers, who are a very talented group in their own right. Australia has an answer to Fernandez; 18 year old Ryan Gregson (No relation to fellow Austrailian Helen “Mr. G” Gregson of Summer Heights High). When Fernandez ran USR 8:34, Gregson ran 8:01 for the 3k. When the Yank ran 3:55.02 for the mile, the Oz ran 3:37.24 for the 1,500m. In the southern hemisphere, Gregson has been producing an insane amount of buzz, as he smashes every Australian Junior record in his sights (many of which were Craig Mottram’s) including a 7:57.45 3k record a week ago, winning by 7 seconds.

Will these two rare talents become career long rivals? That has yet to be seen, but for the time being, even when racing half a globe apart, these two will be compared and debated over. They have only raced once before, at the 2008 World Junior Championships and Fernandez was a mere 13 seconds ahead of Gregson over 8 kilometers. Both have improved tremendously since and will be facing off at this year’s World Junior Champs at the end of the month. In a recent interview, Gregson conceded that Fernandez is probably better suited for this 8k race and he hopes to finish close to the American. Regardless of what happens down the road and whether these two end up racing each other (they may very well focus on separate events), I thought it would be good to highlight this young talent from Down Under as someone to keep on your radar. Gregson looks to be the newest on a list (Mottram and Steve Hooker) of Aussies making the track and field landscape a little more interesting.

Look for both Fernandez and Gregson at the World Junior XC Championships and hopefully the World Track Championships this summer, as both have a shot at making their respective teams. In the next edition of Track Rivalries, we will look at a pair of Pac 10 super-frosh and some half-mile titans.

**Update** Fernandez and Gregson have since run the World Junior XC Championships with Fernandez prevailing, as Gregson predicted in an interview. On the track is where these two will be more competative.