Four Washington preps named to Track & Field News All-America team...
Four Washington prep athletes were named to Track & Field News’ 2010 High School All-America team in the December issue of the publication.
On the boys’ side, IAAF world junior 4 x 400 relay gold medalist Michael Berry (left/photo by Kirby Lee, Image of Sport) in the 400 meters from Seattle’s Rainier Beach HS, along with Seatown Express and USA world junior championships teammate Derek Eager (javelin) from Tahoma HS were both named to the squad.
National mile leader Maddie Meyers of Northwest School in Seattle, and javelin thrower Christine Kirkwood from Othello were the two girls selected to the All-America team, which places emphasis on high placing at the major prep invitational meets that occur after the close of the regular high school season.
Berry was ranked #2 in the 400, on the strength of his state 3A title, and his win at the Arcadia Invitational. Berry’s 4th place finish at the USA junior championships was thrown out due to a positive test for marijuana. Berry is now attending the University of Oregon.
Eager, the Washington state Gatorade track & field athlete of the year, ranked #3 on the strength of his second place finish at the USA juniors in Des Moines, Iowa, where he threw 230-5 (70.24m) to ace out Gresham’s Sam Crouser for the final spot on Team USA for the Moncton world championship meet. Eager now attends UCLA.
Meyers, who recently won her third straight state A cross country title, was the national leader in the mile, running 4:41.93 at the Jim Ryun prep invitational race in New York in June held in conjunction with the adidas Grand Prix meet. That earned her a #2 ranking by the publication.
Kirkwood, whose older sister Courtney was a NCAA qualifier in the javelin last season for Washington State University, was ranked #4 nationally, based on her third place finish at the USA juniors in Des Moines, where she threw 161-4 (49.18m). Kirkwood, now a senior at Othello, had a season best of 162-10 (49.64m).
Accidentally omitted from Tuesday’s story on the three UW athletes named to the Track & Field News All America team was the fact that Megan Goethals was also named to the team in the mile, in addition to the two mile. Goethals ran 4:43.05 in the 1600, which the magazine converted to a 4:44.30 for the mile.
WESTERN WASHINGTON CROSS COUNTRY SQUADS MOVE UP ONE PLACE IN USTFCCCA DIVISION II RANKINGS
The Western Washington men’s and women’s cross country teams each moved up one spot in the USTFCCCA national Division II rankings in the latest poll, released on Wednesday.
The men’s squad moved to #10 in the polls, up one notch from #11 after their second place performance in last week’s GNAC championships in Yakima.
The top nine teams in the national poll remained the same, led by #1 Adams State of Colorado, and GNAC champion Alaska Anchorage, which remained #8.
The Viking women’s team moved to #7 from the previous #8 spot, after they replicated the men’s second place team finish at the GNAC meet.
Grand Valley State of Michigan leapfrogged into the #1 spot nationally, while GNAC champions Alaska Anchorage dropped one place to #5 in the polls.
The final regular season poll will be conducted on November 24, after the NCAA Division II regional championships.
Western Washington will host the NCAA West Regionals on Saturday November 20th in Bellingham.
The complete poll can be accessed here.
QUICK LINKS…
First quick link is a story on gohuskies.com featuring Justine Johnson (left/photo by Paul Merca), who made a breakthrough, finishing 15th overall and third on the squad as UW just missed out on a third conference title in the closest race in Pac-10 history.
To read the full story, click here.
Meanwhile on the pro circuit, the reports of Ethiopian Haile Gebreselassie’s impending retirement may be premature, as agent Jos Hermens said that a sudden knee injury which forced the 37-year-old Gebrselassie out of Sunday's ING New York City Marathon left him in an emotional state which led to the rash announcement. Hermens has spoken to Gebrselassie by phone since the race.
Gebrselassie won two Olympic 10,000-meter gold medals, four outdoor world titles and set the marathon world record of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 59 seconds in Berlin in 2008.
A few days ahead of the race in New York, Gebrselassie felt irritation in his knee, which started to get inflamed when he got to New York. Hermens said it was especially bad news since Gebrselassie was bent on using the race to defy critics saying he could not win a tactical race against top opposition.
To read the full story, please click here.
National mile leader Maddie Meyers of Northwest School in Seattle, and javelin thrower Christine Kirkwood from Othello were the two girls selected to the All-America team, which places emphasis on high placing at the major prep invitational meets that occur after the close of the regular high school season.
Berry was ranked #2 in the 400, on the strength of his state 3A title, and his win at the Arcadia Invitational. Berry’s 4th place finish at the USA junior championships was thrown out due to a positive test for marijuana. Berry is now attending the University of Oregon.
Eager, the Washington state Gatorade track & field athlete of the year, ranked #3 on the strength of his second place finish at the USA juniors in Des Moines, Iowa, where he threw 230-5 (70.24m) to ace out Gresham’s Sam Crouser for the final spot on Team USA for the Moncton world championship meet. Eager now attends UCLA.
Meyers, who recently won her third straight state A cross country title, was the national leader in the mile, running 4:41.93 at the Jim Ryun prep invitational race in New York in June held in conjunction with the adidas Grand Prix meet. That earned her a #2 ranking by the publication.
Kirkwood, whose older sister Courtney was a NCAA qualifier in the javelin last season for Washington State University, was ranked #4 nationally, based on her third place finish at the USA juniors in Des Moines, where she threw 161-4 (49.18m). Kirkwood, now a senior at Othello, had a season best of 162-10 (49.64m).
Accidentally omitted from Tuesday’s story on the three UW athletes named to the Track & Field News All America team was the fact that Megan Goethals was also named to the team in the mile, in addition to the two mile. Goethals ran 4:43.05 in the 1600, which the magazine converted to a 4:44.30 for the mile.
WESTERN WASHINGTON CROSS COUNTRY SQUADS MOVE UP ONE PLACE IN USTFCCCA DIVISION II RANKINGS
The Western Washington men’s and women’s cross country teams each moved up one spot in the USTFCCCA national Division II rankings in the latest poll, released on Wednesday.
The men’s squad moved to #10 in the polls, up one notch from #11 after their second place performance in last week’s GNAC championships in Yakima.
The top nine teams in the national poll remained the same, led by #1 Adams State of Colorado, and GNAC champion Alaska Anchorage, which remained #8.
The Viking women’s team moved to #7 from the previous #8 spot, after they replicated the men’s second place team finish at the GNAC meet.
Grand Valley State of Michigan leapfrogged into the #1 spot nationally, while GNAC champions Alaska Anchorage dropped one place to #5 in the polls.
The final regular season poll will be conducted on November 24, after the NCAA Division II regional championships.
Western Washington will host the NCAA West Regionals on Saturday November 20th in Bellingham.
The complete poll can be accessed here.
QUICK LINKS…
To read the full story, click here.
Meanwhile on the pro circuit, the reports of Ethiopian Haile Gebreselassie’s impending retirement may be premature, as agent Jos Hermens said that a sudden knee injury which forced the 37-year-old Gebrselassie out of Sunday's ING New York City Marathon left him in an emotional state which led to the rash announcement. Hermens has spoken to Gebrselassie by phone since the race.
Gebrselassie won two Olympic 10,000-meter gold medals, four outdoor world titles and set the marathon world record of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 59 seconds in Berlin in 2008.
A few days ahead of the race in New York, Gebrselassie felt irritation in his knee, which started to get inflamed when he got to New York. Hermens said it was especially bad news since Gebrselassie was bent on using the race to defy critics saying he could not win a tactical race against top opposition.
To read the full story, please click here.
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