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‘Preparing for the Best’ with Ryan Whiting

(March 8, 2012 - Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images Europe)

In an event that the USA has dominated for several years now, one would think it would be difficult for a young newcomer to crack into the rankings.  Ryan Whiting proved it could be done.  Against the likes of fellow Americans Adam Nelson, Reese Hoffa, and Christian Cantwell, Whiting has risen the bar amidst a world-class field. Competing for Arizona State, he graduated with two NCAA Indoor Shot Put titles and one NCAA Outdoor victory.  He was an All-American eight times in the shot-put and discus and set a collegiate indoor shot put record (21.73 meters / 71 feet, 3 ½ inches).  Since graduating from college with a degree in engineering, Whiting has gotten married and moved back to Pennsylvania, where he grew up.  He resides near Penn State University in order to attend grad school and continue to train.  His most recent accomplishment has been winning the IAAF World Indoor title with a best mark of 22.00 meters (72-2 ½).  He is no stranger to the rings of Hayward Field and, like so many other athletes, is looking forward to coming back to TrackTown USA for the Olympic Trials this summer.

 

What is your best track memory from past meets at Hayward Field and Eugene or your highest finish here?

I would say my fondest memory of Hayward Field was making my first outdoor World Championship Team last year.  My highest finish in Eugene was at the 2010 NCAA Championships, where I topped off my collegiate career by winning my first discus title and my fifth shot put title — coming 3 centimeters from the collegiate record.

What most impressed you about the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2008?

It is always amazing to me how welcoming the people of Eugene are for track meets.  At the Trials the locals were wonderful and managed to fill the stadium every day!

Are there any changes from previous meets at Hayward that you hope to see for the Trials?

The only thing I want to change from my last Trials experience at Hayward is to be one of the three who leave after the competition with a ticket to the Olympics.

As an athlete, what do you foresee to be the biggest challenge in your experience in Eugene this summer?

In U.S. shot putting, there is no sure thing. We easily have the most competitive field of any event to be contested this summer.  It will be a challenge, but right now my ONLY goal is to make the 2012 Olympic team.

Aside from your competition, what are you looking forward to most about the Trials this summer?

Track Town Pizza.

Being that the Shot Put gets a lot of attention at meets all over the world, how does competing at Hayward compare to other places in terms of fan support/enthusiasm?

Shot put is definitely one of the up and coming events in track and field.  I have always loved competing at Hayward, it is easily one of the most supportive crowds I have encountered!

Are you planning on getting here early or staying after your event to watch the meet and hang out at the festival?

I am planning on getting to Eugene about 4-5 days before the meet to train and get used to the small time change.  Unfortunately right when I am done competing I will be leaving and (hopefully) going home to begin my preparation for London.

Do you have anything specific you like to do when you come to Eugene for meets (favorite restaurants/bars, etc.)

I love Track Town Pizza. That all-you-can-eat pizza for lunch is a tough deal to beat for a shot putter.  I also used to always go to Villard St. Pub, but last time I was there it was gone.

Have you heard anything about the London Pub, the SuperBlock exhibits/vendors, the live performances, etc. being planned for the meet?

As of yet I have not heard of any of that.  It is my fault as I am pretty single-minded in my goal of making the team at this point.

 

 

March 8, 2012 - Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images Europe

By bridget on March 29, 2012
This entry is filed under 2012 Olympic Trials, Athlete Profiles, future of track & field, IAAF World Championships, NCAA Championships, News, Preparing for the Best, Team USA, TrackTown Thursday.

TrackTown Thursday | Let the 2012 Events Begin!


We only needed two weeks of 2012 to begin what will be a great year for Track and Field. Most notably is the U.S. Olympic Trials – Marathon to be held in Houston this Saturday.  The men will take off from the line at 8:00 a.m. local race time and the women will follow shortly at 8:15. You can watch Oregon Track Club Elite athletes (based in Portland) like Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher race on NBC from 12:00 p.m. PST (3:00 EST) – 2:00 PST (5:00 EST).

Here are some Marathon Trials links:

The Official U.S Olympic Team Trials – Marathon Houston – Houston 2012

Follow Houston 2012 on Twitter @HoustonMarathon

RunnerSpace Coverage of the 2012 Marathon Trials – Watch video interviews and more.

FloTrack Coverage of the 2012 Marathon Trials - Mile to Mile Updates for Men | Women

The Indoor season is also underway and the University of Oregon is heading out of TrackTown USA to compete in a couple different areas.  Part of the team is headed out to Nampa, Idaho for Blue and Orange Opener at the Idaho Center hosted by Boise St.  Others will be in Seattle for the University of Washington Indoor Preview.

GoDucks.com Weekly Release 1/11/12

FloTrack’s coverage of the 2012 UW Indoor Preview

RunnerSpace’s coverage of the 2012 UW Indoor Preview

By Nathan on January 12, 2012
This entry is filed under 2012 Olympic Trials, future of track & field, News, Team USA, TrackTown Thursday.

TrackTown Thursday — Bowerman Award winners announced in San Antonio

Wednesday evening at the USTFCCCA conference in San Antonio, Florida State’s Ngoni Makusha and Texas A&M’s Jessica Beard were crowned 2011 winners of the Bowerman Award.

The night’s emcee Lewis Johnson invoked the spirit of the award’s namesake — legendary University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman — and Hayward Field in his closing comments: “Back in his day, Bowerman coached many great collegiate athletes, and over 30 athletes to the Olympic stage; and it’s only fitting that his likeness will be there at Hayward Field in June of 2012 to watch over the Olympic Trials, and approve America’s team that will head to London for the summer Games. … Congratulations to our six finalists and the winners Jessica Beard and Ngoni Makusha, Bowerman would have been proud of all of you tonight.”

Watch the full replay here.

Watch more video of Bowerman Awards & USTFCCCA Convention on flotrack.org

The Bowerman Award is in its third year of existence. Past winners were Ashton Eaton and Queen Harrison in 2010, and Galen Rupp and Jenny Simpson in 2009.

In other news, the excitement is continuing to build for the U.S. Marathon Trials, which will take place in Houston on January 14, 2012.

Ryan Hall and Desiree Davila have predicted record-breaking times.

By Becky on December 15, 2011
This entry is filed under Athlete Profiles, future of track & field, NCAA Championships, News, Team USA, TrackTown Thursday.

Monday Matters — USATF Club XC Championships go down

Just north of TrackTown USA there was a lot of cross country action going on in Seattle, at the USATF Club Cross Country Championships.

McMillan Elite made the trip up from Flagstaff, Ariz. to win the open men’s title for the second straight season, while adidas/Team Rogue Elite from Austin won the open women’s championships. For more results, read USATF’s recap here.

Even TrackTown resident, Oregon senior, and newly-turned professional Matthew Centrowitz got in on the action.

On the other side of the country, 2,400 youth runners flooded onto Whispering Pines Golf Course in Myrtle Beach, SC, for the USATF Junior Cross Country Championships.

And, in other non-cross country news, 2011 USA 800-meter champion Alysia Montano decided skydiving was a fun honeymoon activity, and tells Flotrack why in this entertaining video.

 

By Becky on December 12, 2011
This entry is filed under Athlete Profiles, cross country, future of track & field, Monday Matters, News.

Monday Matters — USATF Annual Meeting 2011

Last week St. Louis, Missouri played host to the USA Track & Field Annual meeting.  Every year this gathering gives everyone from elite athletes to youth coaches a chance to get together to work on upcoming events, vote on laws and legislation, and to discuss the state of the sport in general and what can be done to improve it.  On an Olympic year this opportunity is especially important.  After an extremely successful World Championships in Daegu, Korea everyone is looking forward to London 2012 with great anticipation.

Speaking of anticipation, the elite athletes in attendance could hardly wait to hear the powers that be at USATF finally address Nick Symmonds and the claims that USATF and the IAAF are “crippling” the sport by limiting logos and commercial representation on uniforms and even body parts, in the form of body tattoos.  Professional track & field athletes find themselves regulated by restrictions from the national and international governing bodies, the rules of the specific meets in which they compete, and the contracts they sign with the single sponsor that is currently allowed.

Symmonds and others demanded explanations from the powers that be and he and OTC Elite teammate Lauren Fleshman (who was not in attendance) were mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article this morning. In it, Symmonds was quoted saying that he would change his last name to McDonald’s if it meant big sponsorship dollars from the fast food chain. As with any other emotionally charged topic, productive communication was as important as achieving resolution of these issues.  Both the athletes and the representatives from USATF, the IAAF, as well as the several sponsoring shoe companies had the opportunity to both hear and be heard, to learn something about the other’s perspective and to ultimately agree that something needs to be done to improve the model of professional track & field in the United States.

Leadership from Eugene’s TrackTown12 local organizing committee, led by Vin Lananna, presented to the Athlete’s Advisory Committee on plans for the upcoming Olympic Trials.  Committees have been working diligently for the past two years to prepare for the June 21-July 1 meet that will select the 2012 US Olympic Team.  The group laid out developing plans concerning athlete travel and transportation as well as technical features inside the Hayward Field venue and surrounding warm-up areas.  Successful events in 2008, 2009 and 2011 have raised the bar for elite meets in the US and the TrackTown12 Team looks ready to exceed expectations.

The week of meetings culminated with the Jesse Owens Hall of Fame Banquet on Sunday.  The annual awards ceremony gives the sport’s finest an excuse to ditch the training attire and don tuxes and gowns as they recognize the year’s best athletes, performances, coaches, and volunteers, along with icons from the past.  Being honored this year were OTC Elite’s own Jesse Williams and Nike sprinter Carmelita Jeter for winning the Jesse Owens Award as Athletes of the Year; Bryan Clay was named Visa Humanitarian of the Year and Rana Reider Nike Coach of the Year; Ajee’ Wilson was named Youth Athlete of the Year and Christine Kennedy Masters Athlete of the Year.

The Hall of Fame class includes modern athletes Gail Devers, Maurice Greene and Craig Virgin. The veteran athletes are represented by Vince Matthews and Clarence Demar, and Bob Timmons is being inducted on behalf of the coaches.

In other news, the nation’s biggest high school cross country meet came to Portland on Saturday. Nike Cross Nationals brings the best prep teams and individuals to Portland Meadows each December. Fayetteville-Manilius from New York ran away with the girls’ team title for the sixth straight year, while Christian Brothers Academy from New Jersey edged out Southlake Carroll (Texas) by four points to win the boys’ championships.

Individual winners were Californian Sarah Baxter and CBA’s Futsum Zeinasellassie. Click here for a full rundown of all the highlights.

 

By Becky on December 5, 2011
This entry is filed under 2012 Olympic Trials, future of track & field.

TrackTown Thursday – 10 Things to Be Thankful For in TrackTown USA

As we embark on the final seven months until the U.S. Olympic Trials begin here in Eugene — and with the Thanksgiving holiday upon us — we thought it was a perfect day to dedicate the TrackTown Thursday blog to what we’re most thankful for here in TrackTown:

1. The Trails – From Pre’s Trail to the Ridgeline and beyond (the city limits that is), there are just too many great running trails in TrackTown to count – which is why we’ll let this link give you all the great details.

 

2. Hayward Field – It is hallowed ground in the sport of track and field. Just one meet at Hayward has converted many a non-believer into a die-hard track and field fan. Here’s a little glimpse at some recent “good times” at Hayward.

3. The University of Oregon Track and Field Team – What can we say, in TrackTown USA, we love our Ducks!

4. Record-Breakers – From the legendary Prefontaine, to those who came before him, and those who have come since — at events like the annual Prefontaine Classic — record-breakers tend to be as prolific as the rain here in TrackTown USA.

5. The Oregon Track Club – Attend a week-night run, compete in one of the OTC’s summertime All-Comers meets, run the Butte to Butte, or volunteer to work at a Hayward Field meet, and you’ll see just how valuable the OTC is to TrackTown USA.

6. OTC Elite – This group of elite athletes deserves its own number. Eight of them competed at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu. Five were finalists, two were silver medalists (Sally Kipyego and Ashton Eaton), and one (the high-flying Jesse Williams) brought home gold.

 

7. The Starting Block – This is a fun and popular interactive Kids Zone at Hayward Field, which gives kids of all ages an opportunity to high jump, long jump, shot put, etc. Building track athletes (or fans), one kid at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

8. Future Events – Speaking of kids, in July of 2014, the world’s best junior athletes (under 20) will arrive in TrackTown for the IAAF World Junior Championships, bringing an IAAF event to the U.S. for the first time since 1992.

9. Team USA Athletes – Without them, and all the hard work they put into becoming the best in the world, Hayward Field would be a ghost town every June. Get to know Andrew Wheating, Angelo Taylor, Ashton Eaton and Allyson Felix in our TrackTown Spotlight video series.

 

10. The Olympic Trials – The biggest team trials in the world will take place at Hayward Field, June 22-July 1. It sold out in 2008 and it’s on its way to doing so in 2012! And what better holiday gift to buy that track fan in your life than a pair of tickets to the Trials.

Happy Thanksgiving from TrackTown USA! We hope to see you here in June!

By Becky on November 23, 2011
This entry is filed under 2012 Olympic Trials, Athlete Profiles, Butte to Butte, future of track & field, IAAF World Championships, News, Prefontaine Classic, Team USA, TrackTown Spotlight, TrackTown Thursday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Hasay Paces Oregon Women to a Fifth Place Finish at NCAA XC Championships

We at TrackTown USA want to congratulate Jordan Hasay and the rest of the Oregon Women’s Cross Country team for their top-five finish at today’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.  Hasay matched a school-best result with her second place finish, in what was one of the closest finishes in NCAA DI history.

She ran the entire race neck-to-neck with Villanova senior Sheila Reid, but Reid was able to clip Hasay at the end – finishing with a time of 19:41.2, while Hasay ran a 19:41.8.

“I gave it all I had,” Hasay said after the race. “I told myself the only person I would be OK losing to was Sheila, and I almost got her, but she had another gear.

“She’s such a great competitor,” the UO junior continued. “Obviously I would have been happier with the win, but it’s hard to be too disappointed with second place.

The Oregon team got help from the running pack of Claire Michel, Bronwyn Crossman and Lanie Thompson – who each placed 51th, 55th and 59th, respectively.

“Jordan looked great today,” said Oregon Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna. “And our 2-3-4 runners did a wonderful job the whole race. I think (fifth place) is probably as high as the women could have finished today, so I’m overall pretty pleased. The women’s team race was won by Georgetown followed by Washington, Villanova and Florida St. Oregon wrapped up the top five.

On the men’s side, Oregon senior Luke Puskedra was able to cap of his collegiate cross country career with his fourth All-American award for his sixth-place finish.

“That had to be one of the strongest fields I’ve been in,” said Puskedra. “I’m certainly not unhappy to get sixth today.” The men of Wisconsin captured the crown on the men’s side followed by the top five of Oklahoma St., Colorado, BYU and Stanford.  The Portland Pilots came in eighth as a team.

Full Meet Results: Men’s Team | Individual Women’s Team | Individual

By Nathan on November 21, 2011
This entry is filed under cross country, future of track & field, Monday Matters, NCAA Championships, News and tagged , , .

Monday Matters – The World’s best juniors will be coming to TrackTown USA in 2014

Come July of 2014, the world’s best under-20 athletes, will embark upon the University of Oregon and Hayward Field for six days of competition at the  15th IAAF World Junior Championships.

A bidding committee from TrackTown USA and USA Track & Field attended the IAAF’s annual meeting in Monaco last week, and on Friday morning, presented its bid to host the World Junior Championships to the IAAF Council. The bidding team was well represented by USATF President Stephanie Hightower, 2011 world high jump champion and Jesse Owens award recipient Jesse Williams, and Oregon Senator Ginny Burdick, among others. IAAF Senior Vice President Bob Hersh also sat in with the bidding committee to show his support.

The IAAF Council made a quick and unanimous decision to bring a global athletics event back to the United States, and IAAF President Lamine Diack announced it immediately. The last time an IAAF event was held on U.S. soil was the World Cross Country Championships in 1992.

After hearing that the State of Oregon would play host to its first global track and field event since the World Masters Championships was held at Hayward Field in 1989, the presentation team was able to celebrate with some of the best athletes in the world at the IAAF World Athletics Gala on Saturday evening.

At the gala, two former junior champions, Usain Bolt and Sally Pearson, were awarded with the 2011 IAAF Athlete of the Year awards.

Yohan Blake, the men’s 100-meter titlist this year, earned the Performance of the Year award — along with a photo opp with Jesse Williams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four-time world champion long jumper Dwight Phillips was also on hand in Monaco to be honored, along with legendary Bob Beamon and world-record holder Mike Powell for their contribution to the long jump.

Here’s a spirited shot of Mike and Dwight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please visit the TrackTown USA facebook page to see more photos from the event.

By Becky on November 14, 2011
This entry is filed under future of track & field, IAAF World Championships, Monday Matters, News and tagged .

Monday Matters – OTC’s Cyrus Hostetler weighs in on his silver, ‘A’ Standard performance in Mexico

It is late October in the fall before the Olympic year and most competitive track and field athletes are either still enjoying their short off-season, or just starting to get back into training.  Not true for the athletes competing in Guadalajara, Mexico for the Pan-American Games. The meet, which ran from October 23-30, is mistaken by some as second-tier (less significant) international competition, however this was not the case in many events, including the men’s javelin.

Cuban Guillermo Martinez set the bar high with a huge lifetime best of 87.20 meters, which shattered his own Pan Am record of 81.72m. But Martinez wasn’t the only one to do so on Friday. Hostetler also broke the previous record and tossed a season-best 82.27 on his final throw to earn a silver medal.

 

Both Guillermo Martinez and Cyrus Hostetler broke the Pan American record Friday night, but the Cuban's further distance won him the gold. Here they are together at a pre-meet practice.

 

“My jaw kind of dropped,” reports Hostetler in a post-meet blog entry.  “I wondered how a guy who peaked for the World Championships a few months ago could still have that left in his tank. Three meters further than he threw at the World Championships, it’s like he was actually trying to peak for this meet.”

Perhaps more important than the Silver medal, with that throw Cyrus accomplished the coveted ‘A’ standard that helps qualify him to compete in London, even before the Olympic Trials take place.

“I made sure to prepare myself. I was really in great shape and I felt I was ready for a personal best or a season best and I came away with a season best on my last throw to move from bronze to silver medal,” Hostetler said. “This has been a long painful year full of injuries. I’m coming off of two ACL surgeries on my left knee during the last two years. But the longer we get through the year the healthier my knee gets. I’ve been throwing better. On my second throw, I tweaked the knee a little, but I kept on moving and kept it warm and it was able to hold up the rest of the meet. This was my first international team and this will do me good going into the Olympic year. I got the ‘A’ standard now, so I’m really excited.”

Read Cyrus’ full account here.

Cyrus is the only javelin athlete in the US this year with the ‘A’ standard.  Going into an Olympic year this is an especially big deal!  The US is beginning to show up in a big way in the throws with standouts in the hammer, javelin and discus on the men’s and women’s sides at the Pan American Games.  Good job Team USA!!

See the USATF website for a summary of the results

 

By sasha on October 31, 2011
This entry is filed under 2012 Olympic Trials, Athlete Profiles, future of track & field, Monday Matters, News, Team USA, Uncategorized and tagged .

Monday Matters – Dwight Phillips weighs in on USATF’s bold bid for change

Recently, Olympian and TrackTown USA resident Nick Symmonds has attracted an onslaught of media attention with his campaign to challenge the national and international governing bodies of track & field to “stop crippling” the sport by limiting an athlete’s ability to feature the logos of multiple sponsors on the competition uniform. (click here to read Nick’s full argument) This raises a bigger, more general question about the marketing and promotion of the sport that USATF addressed this week in a move that has, itself, garnered a lot of attention.

After years of governance issues and difficulty reconciling the disparity between the waning commercial popularity of the sport and the consistently high participation in running activities, officials at USA Track & Field have decided to take a new approach by hiring an external firm to restructure its marketing and communications efforts. Some have questioned the way they went about hiring Max Siegel Inc., as well as the potential conflicts of interest with the principal, Max Siegel, being a recently departed board member. Still, the more pertinent question for USATF members and athletes is, can this move finally put track back on the map?

You don’t have to be a professional track & field athlete or even a serious fan to know that the marketing and promotion of the sport and its stars has been a challenge of late. Gone are the days of national advertising campaigns that featured our sports biggest names. With the exception of one or two international athletes, the average media-consuming citizen wouldn’t the recognize images of America’s track stars, even when they consistently top the podium in major competitions.

In a chat with four-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist Dwight Phillips, he said he is optimistic that any change is good change.

“I think it’s going to work. When I travel to other countries what I notice is that no matter if someone is a runner or a thrower, if they’re winning they are on everything. The more the public sees us out there, the more interested they will become in watching and supporting us.”

While Dwight did mention that moving toward the NASCAR blueprint of numerous sponsorships for individuals would give us a shot at the earning potential of other professional athletes, he also concedes, “We’ve got to start somewhere, this is a positive step.”

With that in mind many athletes welcome the help of Max Siegel, someone who is familiar with the inner-workings of the sport as well as a proven success in the greater media marketplace. By all accounts he gets it, and his experience ranges across many media platforms from sports to television development and production, music and entertainment. Hopefully this breadth of knowledge and experience will serve to breathe much deserved life into campaigns promoting what is still the world’s best track & field team.

By Becky on October 24, 2011
This entry is filed under future of track & field, Monday Matters, News, Team USA and tagged , , , .

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