Sacramento Running News

The Czech delegation for the World Masters Champs checks out Old Sacramento.

I took advantage of the beautiful weather today to enjoy a running commute to my office in downtown Sacramento.

As I passed through Old Sacramento on my way to downtown, I noticed it was overrun by a friendly army of foreign athletes here for the World Masters Athletics Championships.

As I ran by the Railroad Museum, I was flagged down by a gentleman by the name of Jaroslav Hovorka.

Jaroslav Hovorka, it turns out, is here from the Czech Republic to compete in the throwing pentathlon.

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote here about drug testing for the upcoming World Masters Athletics Championships that will be held this month in Sacramento.

It was nice to see in this morning’s Sacramento Bee, Sam McManis giving it the full treatment. McManis does an excellent job of picking through the various facets of the issue.

The money quote from elite masters runner Pete Magill:

“Like it or not, the perception of drug use among all athletes is out there,” he said. “It’s important that, as a group, we submit to drug testing to fight that perception. Any time now anyone has a great performance, the first thing people think is not, ‘That’s a great performer.’ They think, ‘That guy has a great pharmacist.’ “

I couldn’t agree more. It’s a definite “must read.”

Starting before sunrise, runners make their way up the hill from Squaw Valley in the 2010 race. (Photo courtesy of Kerina Blue)

I woke up this morning at 7:30 and thought to myself, “The guys running Western States have already been running for two-and-a-half hours!”

I do this every year I’m not running. Then I turn on the computer and check out the live webcast.

Dave Mackey was the first into Talbot Creek (13 miles), but now Kilian Jornet is the first into the Poppy Trailhead aid station! Exciting isn’t it?

It’s a little less thrilling than when ABC’s Wide World of Sports covered the event wire-to-wire and had cameramen in helicopters capturing the race. Those were the good old days.

Of course, by the time it was aired, the race was long over and the result was well known by all who cared.

USA Track and Field Champs:

If you are sitting at home with the computer, you should also be checking out the US National Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The live feed can be watched here.

The sad thing is that USATF sold the rights to broadcast many of the premium events to ESPN, so they aren’t being broadcast live. Fortunately, these events seem to be available for viewing on-line after ESPN has had it’s way with them.

Amy Weissenbach gets something for the mantel.

Recently, I wrote about Harvard-Westlake School junior Amy Weissenbach’s phenomenal, nation-leading run in the 800 at this spring’s California Interscholastic Federation Track and Field State Championships.

This evening, Gatorade just named her the National Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Sweet!

And when you tell your children that they should be more like Amy, be sure to note that besides running like the wind, she “maintains a 4.23 weighted GPA in the classroom.”

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You’ve probably heard by now that a certain Illinois high school senior became the 5th American high school student to ever run a sub-4:00 mile.

His name is Lukas Verzbicas and he’ll be running for Oregon (surprise!) next year.

There was a heavy weight of expectation on Verzbicas after he’d broken the American high school record in the two-mile a week earlier at the Prefontaine Classic.

Running under nasty conditions, he pulled it off in 3:59.71.

ESPN’s Jeff McGregor waxes poetic about how Lukas Verzbicas is the antidote to LeBron James.

LeBron James as we know him is the four-color quarterly report of our disappointments and therefore a very precise instrument for calibrating my own cynicism.

Turns out the antidote to all of which is Lukas Verzbicas.

It is very much worth the read.

 

If you are planning to run in this summer’s World Masters Athletics Championships, you should be aware that there will be dope testing.

While reporting on last summer’s National Masters Championships, as national and world records fell like rain, I started to wonder about the lack of doping controls.

I felt bad for the clean athletes who might be setting records. The lack of controls made me questions the results, and I know I’m not alone on this point.

Fortunately, this year’s World’s Masters Championships will have doping controls. (more…)

Lea Wallace earned All American in the 800

Hornets senior Lea Wallace wrapped up her collegiate running career this weekend with a 9th place finish in the 1500, and placing 6th and earning All American in the NCAA Div I Outdoor Championships 800.

In Friday evening’s 800, Wallace finished in 2:04.56 and, according to Sac State, she recorded the highest finish by a Hornet woman since Marisa Avendano placed second in the 10,000 in 1997.

Multiple, lengthy weather delays frustrated the athletes and event organizers this weekend. According to CSUS: (more…)

Lea Wallace at the Big Sky Conference Championships

On Wednesday, we learned that Lea Wallace had won her heat in the NCAA 800 semi-finals.

Today, Wallace came in 6th place in the 2nd heat of the 1500. Fortunately, the 2nd heat was a lot faster than the 1st heat and she advanced on time.

Wallace’s 4:17.65 was the sixth fastest of the semi-finals.

Of Wallace racing in both the 800 and 1500, Hornet’s coach Scott Abbott says, “This is a very tough double and she is finding out how tough it is, but she is handling everything very well.”

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Here’s a quiz: Why won’t we be seeing America’s fastest female student-athlete at this week’s NCAA Championships?

Is she injured? No! Thanks goodness!

Is she ineligible? Getting warmer–but probably not what you think.

It turns out that Amy Weissenbach, who ran a nation-leading 2:02:04 for the 800 meters this past weekend at the State Champs in Clovis, has another year of high school remaining.

Weissenbach, a junior at Harvard-Westlake High School in North Hollywood, broke the existing national high school record of 2:02:90 that had been set by Chanelle Price of Pennsylvania in 2008.

You shouldn’t be surprised that Weissenbach successfully defended her title from last year’s Champs and finished five-seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher Savannah Camacho.

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Lea Wallace is the first Hornet woman to advance to NCAA finals in two events. Photo from the Big Sky Conference Champs

This weekend, three Hornets earned a trip to the NCAA Finals at Drake University by advancing out of the NCAA West Preliminaries in Eugene.

Senior Ronald Brookins will be making his second appearance at the NCAA finals in the 110 meter hurdles after finishing 2nd in his quarterfinal heat, running the event’s 5th fastest time of 13.47.

Teammate and fellow senior Lea Wallace advanced to the finals in the 800 on Friday, and again in the 1500 meters on Saturday. Friday, Wallace won her 800 heat and posted the fourth fastest time of 2:03.69. Then on Saturday, she took 2nd in her heat in the 1500 to automatically advance to the final, and posted the 7th fastest time of 4:20.38.

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