100 - winner Trindon Holliday of LSU ran 10.00 wind legal twice =#4 in the world.  =#2 US.  A man of few words who also seems to be running technically very well and has a good shot at the US team, if anything as the opening leg of the 4x100 meter relay. 
 
Jacoby Ford of Clemson looked like he would be right in their for a title but pulled up during the race.  If he can recover he is running very well and is #8 in the world and #5 in the US. 

Ahmad Rashad of USC has in his coaches words "worked his butt off," to get back to this point.  He seems like a great kid and the 10.10 for second in the final is just the beginning for him.

The revelation of the meet was D'Angelo Cherry of Mississippi State who ran 10.03 in the heats to become #3 on the world junior list.  He ran sixth in the final.  If he runs at the world junior meet he could break Jeff Demps' record of 10.01 from the Olympic Trials in Eugene last year.  Location for this year's US junior meet.

200- Charles Clark of Florida State won in 20.55 but this is a long way from 2005 when Spearmon ran 19.91, Gay ran 19.93/20.16 final, Carter ran 20.08, Dix 20.18 semi, Martin 20.34 semi, Amoo 20.36 semi, or Dix the last three years in the second half of a double in 20.30, 20.32, and 20.40.  On a fast track it was the slowest time since 1976.

400- Jonathon Borlee turned the tables on his twin Kevin and won the 400 meters.  The two ran on Belgium's Olympic 4x400 meter relay.  Kevin ran in the semifinals of the Olympics and set the Belgian national record.  Here Jonathon broke Kevin's national record (44.88) to win the NCAA championship in 44.78 (#5 in the world) and Kevin was fourth. 

Michael Bingham was the NCAA indoor champ was a disappointed 2nd in 45.09.  Calvin Smith (#2 seed at 44.96), the only American in the top six was third at 45.29. 

Jordan Boase of Washington has not put it together all year and couldn't make it out of the semifinals.  He looked injured at the Pac-10 200 and his coaches have been cautious with him since. 

Pre-NCAA favorite (44.86 to win Big 12) sophomore Gil Roberts had the third fastest heat winning time but did not finish his heat in the semifinals. 

800 - Andrew Wheating ran 1:46.21 in the semifinals and final for the top collegiate time but probably would have run faster in the final if a cramp/injury had not hit him with 300 meters to go. He ran 51.84 for the first 400, just behind Tevan Everett at 51.26.  It looked like he would follow his promise of beating the meet record of 1:44.70 but was slowed by the pain. 

1500 - German Fernandez looked good at 3:39.00 (#4 a-t US junior) and would likely make the US junior team but will pass that up and take a few weeks to visit with family in California.  He expects a big reception at home from family and friends and then will prepare for the cross country season.  He admits to missing a lot of time due to little injuries or bad days. 

Stanford's Garrett Heath was fourth at Pac-10 and third at the west regional meet but ends up second at the NCAA meet in 3:39.51 after Centrowitz (hurt), Rupp (other events), and Wheating (other event) did not run. 

3000 steeplechase - Kyle Perry of BYU ran in his sixth career steeplechase and won the NCAA championship in 8:29.24, a 10+ second pr.  He was fourth at the west regional mostly due to hayfever.  He chose to run the steeplechase because he felt it was unlikely he could beat Rupp in the 5,000.  He has the right build and good speed and likely has a huge future in the steeplechase.

5k/10k - Rupp was spectacular over the last 1000 meters of the 5k by running 2:25.  He has no idea how well he is running.  His focus was strictly on the team and he has no goals that he is working towards.  He said the secret to his success is uninterupted health the last year.  He used to occassionally miss workouts due to minor injuries but not this year as he runs 100 miles with more speed work than ever.  He also finished in 2:30 at the end of the 10k and jogged in the last 50 meters in both.  Until these sprints he looked like he was jogging most of both races while running 70 second laps with the other runners.

Personally, I think he will run under 13:10 (63.2 second laps) for the 5k and will break 27:00 (64.8 second laps) for the 10k.  He said he hasn't run that pace but I said the way he runs long stretches at a fast pace indicate it is possible.  I hope he believes it and goes after it.

Chris Derrick of Stanford will hopefully run US juniors.  The US junior record holder at 5k showed a good kick in the 5k (1:57.87 the last 800 meters) which he didn't show at Pac-10 or west regional meets.  It might have been due to the slow pace but it was a great sign for him.

Sam Chelanga finished third in the 10,000 but will be the top returner, 35 seconds faster than the next returning finisher, Girma Mecheso of Auburn.  He will work on speed for next year.  It is likely he will three or more NCAA titles each of the next two years.  He and Rupp were far ahead of everyone else at the NCAA cross country championships and ran the second fastest collegiate 5k ever indoors at 13:19.  He will be fun to watch the next two years and he is a really nice guy. 

110 hurdles - Sophomore Ronnie Ash of Bethune-Cookman made a breakthrough with his 13.27 win into a 2.0 m/s headwind.  This title goes with his indoor 60m hurdle title.  Before his senior year of high school he moved from New Jersey and he wanted to make friends at his new school.  So, for the first time ever he competed in any athletic endeavor and ran track.  His coach recommended him to Bethune-Cookman's coaches and now he is ranked 7th in the US but 8th in the world.  He has a huge amount of potential and he is a really nice kid. 

Senior Jason Richardson was the top seed from his time at the SEC meet (13.29, #9 US).  His times were off that but he also ran into the head wind and ran 13.49 for second.   

Two junior competitors, William Wynne of Florida was third (13.68) and Booker Nunley from South Carolina was sixth at the NCAA meet (13.84) and could run some great times at the US junior meet.

400 hurdles - Sophomores Jeshua Anderson (48.47) of Washington State and Johnny Dutch (48.62) of South Carolina renewed their rivalry and repeated their 1-2 finish from last year's world Junior championships.  Anderson said he will run at the US championships.  He is ranked third in the US and fifth in the world.  Dutch, plans unknown for US, is ranked fourth in the US and sixth in the world.  Anderson, in spite of his antics at the PAc-10 meet, is a nice respectful kid.  

High Jump -  Scott Sellers of Kansas State won his third NCAA title.  He knows competition in the US has increased with Manson at 7-8 1/2 (#1 world) and Williams at 7-8 (#2 world).  Sellers started his season late due to injury but said his form and timing are coming together.  His coach works with him on athleticism and he has several quality training partners, including Williams, Keith Moffatt, and  occassionally. 

Pole Vault - Jason Colwick of Rice won as he nearly pr'd (5.72) with a best clearance of 5.70m, 18-8 1/4.  He admits to have cleared 19 feet in practice and with Brad Walker and Tommy Skipper staying low key this year Colwick definitely has a shot of winning the US championship or making the team.  He is #5 in the world and #1 in the US.  He picked his school based on academics and then weather they had a track team even though he was the Texas 5A state champion.  He has steadily improved from his high school pr of 5.18m but last year's 18 foot vault at the Texas Relays changed the opinion of this 2x NCAA champion (indoor this year also) and now he is putting more focus into vaulting.  

Long Jump - Ngoni Makusha of Florida State won the outdoor title last year and indoors was sprinting and jumping very well but pulled a hamstring.  He finally recovered after the ACC meet and has improved under the watchful eye of Jonathon Edwards' coach (wr over 60 feet in the triple jump- only one over 60') Dennis Nobles.  He finished 12th at the west regional and had the sixth best jump of non-automatic qualifiers.  The NCAA took only 25 jumpers and head coach Bob Braman protested.  The NCAA added him June 4th.  Makusha was thankful to God for his good fortune and ability.  That ability put him only 2 centimeters from the bronze medal at last year's Olympics.  

2008 NCAA indoor champion Reindell Cole of Cal State Northridge had the top jump of the weekend by jumping 8.21, 26-10 w2.1 m/s in qualifying but fouled three times in the final.  His health injuries of the past year pluys seem to be over but he fouled out.  He should be in the final of the US championship if he can get consistency on the runway. 

Triple Jump - Will Claye came over after the triple jump with a straw hat on.  The freshman, who left high school early to join Oklahoma, set the American junior record of 56-4 3/4 to move to =#9 a-t WJ, #9 collegian, and #6 NCAA all time.  He is ranked 9th in the world and 1st among Americans but will jump in the junior meet.  He jumped 56-6 3/4 with a 2.5 m/s aiding wind.  He was so quiet it was hard to hear him, not a big ego kid.

Texas A&M's triple jumpers made a huge mark at the NCAA meet and scored 18 points. Jamaican Julian Reid jumped a wind legal school record 16.98m, 55-8 1/2 and 2.5m/s wind aided 17.10m, 56-1 1/4 (better than any winning mark since 2004).  Zuheir Sharif was fourth with a wind-aided 55-0 jump (#2 all-time Texas A&M all conditions). 

Florida freshman Christian Taylor won the NCAA indoor meet with the and set the American junior record (55-8 1/2).  He finished third at the outdoor meet with a wind-aided jump of 55-5 3/4 and wind legal jump of 54-7 1/2.  He could face Claye at the US juniors for the grudge match if both choose to compete.  He is ranked fourth among Americans.

Shot Put - Ryan Whiting won his third NCAA shot put title (first outdoors).  Because Reese Hoffa won the 2007 world championship the US will be taking four shot putters.  When he threw 71 feet indoors in 2008 it had been his longest stretch of healthy training.  His shoulder is bugging him now and all he can do is throw six times a day.  He won with a best throw of 20.11m, 65-11 3/4, the second worst winning throw since 1999.  He is ranked seventh in the world and fourth among Americans (best throw at west regional 20.99m, 68-10 1/2).  He will focus on the Shot Put and not throw the Discus.

Discus Throw  - Martin Maric of Cal threw the javelin early in the year but a shoulder injury convinced him to focus on the Discus since the Pac-10 meet.  He felt more comfortable with the Discus and threw a pr 61.53m, 201-10 in the prelims for fourth all-time among Bears.  Five of the top six competitors were from the PAc-10 meet and Maric commented that the final was just like the Pac-10 meet.  He is the top ranked Croatian and hopes to compete at the world championships.  To win he needed his last throw to nip Whiting by two centimeters, 59.82m 196-3, for the shortest winning throw since 1997.   

Daniel Scharer of Stanford threw a big pr 63.55m, 208-5 to win the Pac-10 meet and was only 48 centimeters short of the Swiss national record.  He will also hopefully compete at the World championship after finishing third at the NCAA meet.

Hammer Throw - Marcel Lomnicky of Virginia Tech was the favorite even though he was only the third seed.  He proved prognosticators correct. His four major championship experiences, including the third place finish at the 2007 European U-23 championships and 2006 world junior championships, gave him an advantage and Coach Jack at Virginia Tech has been highly successful and lured him to the states.  He expects to compete in Europe and is the second ranked Slovakian thrower. 

Walter Henning of LSU will likely participate in his first US national championship after finishing second at the NCAA meet.  Last year he won the world junior championship is the sixth ranked American this year.  Senior Chris Rohr of Missouri was the top ranked thrower at the NCAA meet and ranked fifth in the US but finished fourth at the NCAA meet.    Junior Jason Lewis of Arizona State finished sixth at the NCAA meet but made a 20 foot improvement in the hammer throw (#2 all-time ASU) after making a seven foot improvement in the indoor weight throw to win the NCAA indoor championship.  Coach Dumble was bouncing around because of how proud he was of his developing thrower. 

Javelin throw - Chris Hill of Georgia won his second straight NCAA title and is a threat to make the world championship team.  He is the third ranked American this year (81.80m, 268-4)  but is throwing better than the two ranked ahead of him.  He was fourth at the Olympic Trials last year after throwing 24 feet short of where he is at this time of year.  He is probably the favorite if Breaux Greer has not returned to the health that had him throw the American Record (299) at the US championships in 2007. 

Corey White of USC has not broken 250 feet since the UCLA dual.  He threw 248 at the NCAA championships for second and says he does not like to throw at Hayward Field. 

Cyrus Hostetler of Oregon has said his timing has been off since the Pepsi meet.  His run-up is longer and he doesn't hold his block at all.  His throws have been low because he is not getting the lift in his throws that a block would provide.  The javelin is flying extemely fast at a low trajectory and still he threw 72.71, 238-6.  If he can get back to the Pepsi form where he threw 272-10 but possibly slowing his run-up he has a good shot of winning the US championship. 

Decathlon - Junior Ashton Eaton of Oregon scored 8241 but it was a wind-aided 100 meters, 10.35 with 4.1 m/s aiding wind.  He was so fast down the long jump runway they pulled him back 2' then a foot foul and they moved him 6".  Another foul and they moved him back 1'6" and he was 3" behind the board on a 24-10 jump (25-7 easy).  His coach and he felt that he would break 26', not far-fetched at all.  He nearly set a pr in the shot put, 41-3, a bad high jump at 6-6 1/4 (four inches short of indoor best), but a 46.85 400 was a collegiate Decathlon record and he bettered the 1st day meet record although this was not official since it was wind-aided.  He tied the wind-aided meet record in the 110 hurdles, then threw a pr in the Discus throw at 137-1.  A 14-5 1/4 pole vault was due to bad communication with his coach and a change in the pole vault direction.  He had wormed up with clearances at 5.00m, worth 179 points more.  He threw a near pr 175-11 in the javelin and then answered his closest competitior in the competition, Matteo Sossah of North Carolina, with a near pr 1,500 meters in 4:20.75. His score of 8241 fell within his goal of 8200 to 8400 and he would have scored 8420 if he had cleared 16-4 3/4.  Last year he finished fifth in the Olympic Trials behind Brian Clay at 8832 points, Trey Hardee 8534, Tom Pappas 8511, and Jake Arnold 8130.  All are returning.

Tom Pappas - he advised me he is competing at the US championships because he was upset at how the Olympics went.  He said he is in great shape and ready to put up a great score. 

Matteo Sossah - North Carolina is a fast developing athlete.  He took this winter and last spring off.  He finished fourth at the 2007 European junior championships.  He had decathlon prs in 8 of the 10 events to score 8044 points.  He is close to Eaton because he is a much better thrower but Eaton is much faster in every event except for the 1,500 meters where they are practically equal.