Track and Field Blogs - Scott Bauhs

This weekend was one crazy weekend. As many people have known for a while, we here at Chico decided to ramp up our Twilight meet and make it a distance carnival with competition from around the country. I would like to think that we were successful. We had 29 provisional qualifiers and 4 automatic qualifiers for the D2 champions in Walnut later this year.

On the first night I was really impressed with the men's steeple and the women's 800 and 3000. The weather was perfect and a number of people booked tickets to nationals in these events. The second night certainly did not disappoint either with a great women's 1500 and men's mile as well as some great 10k's. Hopefully this meet is a start to a great tradition and I think it would be reasonable to shoot for double the amount of qualifiers next year. If we can get a few more schools to come, it is entirely possible.

This meet of course is something that I will remember forever. It is the time when I broke 4 minutes in the mile for the first time (hopefully not the last). Our formula for a 4-minute mile worked pretty well. The first ingredient was asking everyone in Chico and anyone that was a fan of Chico track and field to show up and scream as loud as they can. It ended up being well over 2000 people, which I am still coming to grips with. The next ingredient is a couple pace setters and a couple people trying to chase me down, these people did a pretty good job as well. The last ingredient is to just run the thing (the hardest part).

My splits for each 440 (someone took the splits from the video, which are fine… but it’s important to note that those splits are 409m and then 3X400m) were something like 58, 60, 61, 59. My first 220 was around 28 flat (faster than I have run since the last 200 of my 10k at NC’s last year in a race or in practice) and it really got my lungs and heart racing. This was too fast: the rabbits, the field, and I all got too excited out there and it certainly made the race more interesting. Quickly after that though the pace settled down and I got into some semblance of a rhythm. Soon enough the last lap was upon us and the pace had slowed. This is where the screaming really came into effect. One part of me really wanted to cruise in to a 4:00, 4:01, or so and try again another time but another greater part of me didn’t want to disappoint the thousand of people watching me. They really saved the race.

If you were one of the people watching then I am forever in debt to you. It was one crazy night and it is still unbelievable. I suppose I really got to know what Prefontaine felt like with such a crazy crowd. All it took was some advertisement and by not charging people to get in and we created something very special. It was an emotional night, and I am not usually an emotional person. The only other times that I have seen crowds like that at a track meet were at the 2004 Olympic trials, Prefontaine Classic, and the California Track and Field Championships…. And to think that this meet was in Chico of all places.

It will be interesting to see how this takes me into Mt. Sac this weekend. I have a love-hate relationship with the 5k and I am both excited and nervous about this weekend. The field is great as always so the only thing left is for me to go out there and attack it. My basic goal is the 13:33 auto standard for the trials but the 13:22 D2 record by Michael Aish is possibly in reach. This record would be a huge honor if I can manage it.

Speaking of Michael Aish, it is a shame that New Zealand will not be taking him to the Olympics. I think that countries should bend over backwards to get anyone and everyone that they can into the Olympics and by not even giving Aish (WHO ALREADY HAS THE A STANDARD) a chance, they are missing out on a possible medal. I don’t care how slim his possibilities are… you just never know. Since he is eligible for the taking, he should get the slot, it is as simple as that. That is how the USA does it and I’m glad for that. (It just so happens that in the USA there are already a bunch of people with the standards and we have to beat them out if we want to go). Kim Hogarth is also eligible for the Olympics (I believe) and he is missing out on the dream as well. I understand that money is an issue, but there is plenty of money in New Zealand if their athletics federation does not have enough money than take out a loan, have a fundraiser, wash cars. I don’t care, it’s the Olympics!