It is a half hour after the start of the meet, and the crowd is getting revved up. Christian Cantwell opened the men’s shot with a nice opener of 68-9 1/2 inches!The master’s mile was a runaway for Kent Lemme with a fine 4:25.04, and Andrew Rock showed he is fit early with his five hundred meter win!
The crowd is sold out, standing room only! As I am writing this, the Reebok Invitational Girls High School mile is about to start…
Men’s Masters Mile
Kent Lemme breaks the field
The traditional start of the RBIG meet is the Mens’ Masters Mile. The race got off without a hitch, and the pack hit the 400 meters in 66.3. The race stayed pretty dormant until just before the 1200 meters, when Kent Lemme put the pedal down and put six seonds between him and his competition. Lemme, of Greater Springfield, ran a fine 4:25.04 for first, with Dan Franek of Dirigo RC in 4:31.37 and for third, Armando Oliveira of Central Park TC in 4:31.58!
Men’s 500 Meter Dash
Andrew Rock starts 2008 off well
Bayano Kamani of Panama and Moise Joseph of Haiti lead Andrew Rock and Derrick Brew. Hitting the 400 meters in just under 48 seconds, Andrew Rock, 2006 USA Outdoor Champion at 400 meters, and coming off a rough 2007, Rock took the lead off the final turn and floated to the front, in total control. Running a good early season 1:02.87 to
Bayano Kamani’s 1:03.59 and Moise Joseph’s 1:03.73, Andrew Rock starts the Olympic year off with a nice win! Congrats to a fellow Cheesehead!
Women’s 800 meter Run
In a sleeper, it was Uceny
A good early season field, lead by Nicole Cook, Nikeya Green and Morgan Uceny of the US, with Amy Teteris and Leanna MacLean of Canada. Morgan Uceny took the win, with a slow 2:05.75, with Nicole Cook in 2:05.81 in second, NIkeya Green of the US in third in 2:06:11.
Men’s Shot Put
Cantwell Crushes !
So, the men’s shot is one of the most competitive fields at RBIG: you have four of the top six putters in the world! Not a bad field!
Christian Cantwell, the world leader, threw a 20.97m or 68-9.75 in his first throw, and that was all she wrote. 2007 World Champion, number one thrower in world, Reese Hoffa, was second in 20.70m or 67-11. Adam Nelson just was not all there this early-but no injuries, so that is great-and threw 19.86m or 65-2. In fourth place, Dan Taylor, the new kid on the block, threw 18.59m for 61 feet, even.
This event, along with the men’s 110 meter hurdles will be two of the toughest events to make the teams for Beijing!
Next update in one hour!
For more on track, check, http://www.american-trackandfield.com
Author
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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