We challenge you to a dual…meet
Ah, the old dual meet, a reminder of track and field’s glory days, when pride and PRs were all that mattered. Yes, the importance of the small, early season dual meet has gone the way of the NFL pre-season, a small taste of competition that serves to delight the fans and a give good indication of one’s fitness. With so many All-Star clashes before the championship season, i.e. Stanford Invite, Mt. SAC, Payton Jordan, coaches and athletes aren’t exactly keyed-in on winning an early April dual meet. 

Don’t get me wrong, the pride factor plays a significant role in the success of a dual meet. Just look at this photo from the 121st Big Meet at Stanford, the annual Bay Area clash between Cal and Stanford: 

Luke Lefebure celebrates Stanford's win in the 4x400m. Cal won overall, 101-62.

Teammates and fans lined the track and appear to lose their minds as the 4x400m closes the day’s events, even though Cal had already won the meet. A nice reminder that the racing element of track can exist outside of the NCAA Championships, that ‘qualifying’ can occasionally take a back seat to a classic foot-race. 

 

Track and field purists love a good ‘ole fashioned dual meet, where the classic Us vs. Them mentality makes running more closely resemble a boxing match. It’s a throwback to the U.S. v. USSR dual meets during the Cold War, where a victory was equal to a statement of national superiority. Heck, Pre even set an American record in the 5,000m in a 1971 dual with the Soviets. 

Just try and #StopPre, Russia. Steve Prefontaine sets an American record in the 5,000m, 13:30.4 in 1971.

Memo to the entire track community: Let's bring back dual meets. 
 

Anyways, here are a few performances that stood out on a weekend chalked full of duels, er, duals:

 

Big Meet (Cal v. Stanford) 

- Cal’s Thomas Joyce ran an NCAA-leading 3:39.43, beating Stanford’s Sean McGorty, who ran 3:40.62.

 

- Joyce also won the 3,000m in 8:00.50 over Stanford’s Jack Keelan (8:01.03) and Maksim Korolev (8:13.22). This was Korolev’s first race since World XC on March 28th. 

 

- Stanford’s Jessica Tonn, Elise Cranny, and Rebecca Mehra went 1-2-3 in the women’s 1500m, all running 4:18. 

 

Pepsi Team Invitational (Oregon v. Washington v. Kentucky)

 

- The Duck Trio of Cheserek, Jenkins, and Geoghegan all ran 14:00 in the 5,000m. Should they have run faster?

We did it, boys. Oh crap, did we?

- Washington’s Meron Simon surprises Tanguy Pepiot in the 3k steeple, 8:57.86 to 8:57.96, another example of why celebrating too soon can have disastrous consequences:

- Michigan State’s Leah O’Connor ran a 800/1500m double of 2:06/4:14, breaking her own 1500m school record. 

 

ASU Sun Angel Track Classic 

- Olympic champion Kirani James opened up his 2015 campaign in Tempe, running a world-leading 44.31. His Granadian countryman Bralon Taplin of Texas A&M ran an impressive NCAA-leading 44.89 to beat his defending NCAA champion teammate Deon Lendore (45.18).

 

- Shaq Walker (BYU) ran an NCAA-leading 800m of 1:45.78, Shelby Houlihan (ASU) ran an NCAA #2 of 2:01.92. 

 

John McDonnell Invitational

 

- Sandi Morris (ARK) jumped an NCAA-record of 4.62m in the pole vault:
 

Welp, there it is...@SandiCheeks15 clears 4.62m/15-1.75 to break the outdoor collegiate record! #WPS @USTFCCCA pic.twitter.com/QksK8Mf3of

— Razorback XC/TF (@RazorbackTF) April 12, 2015

 

Ok, so those last two weren’t exactly dual meets. Whatever. See you at Mt. SAC and Michael Johnson this weekend. 


Mt. SAC