Men’s 4 x 400 Relay: USA vs. The World

The United States has arguably the top eight one lap runners in the world, and it showed at the Penn Relays at the US fielded two all-star teams. The USA Blue team had LaShawn Merritt, Wallace Spearmon, Darold Williamson, and Jeremy Wariner. However, the USA Red team extremely good as well, with Xavier Carter, Bershawn Jackson, Kerron Clement, and Angelo Taylor.

Merritt blasted out the hole with a 44.9 leg to give the Blue team the lead. A strong second leg by Bershawn Jackson put the Red team close again with Jamaica just back in third.

The most exciting part of the race was on the third leg as Kerron Clement tried to pass veteran relay runner Darold “D Will” Williamson. Clement couldn’t seal the deal. Williamson made him swing wide and then rolled pass Clement to hand off to Jeremy Wariner in the lead. Wariner ran an unconscious 43.88 anchor leg with a comfortable lead to secure victory for the Blue team at 2:59.71. A stupid time ran in the cold April air!

Click here for the final results.

By Jay Hicks, a.k.a. Track Evangelist.

Texas Relays Produce World’s Fastest Times!

The high school participation at the Texas Relays was down due to a scheduling error that placed the Texas high school sectional meets on the same weekend. It happens.

The pro runners competing at Texas Relays delivered on prerace expectations. The years line up of pros with the assistance of USA Track & Field High Performance Relay Project is arguable one of the best in years.

The Waco All-Stars, featuring Olympians Darold Williamson and Jeremy Wariner, handily won the invitational division of the 1,600 meter relay. Wariner led the Waco All-Stars to 3:00.65, the fastest time run in the world this year.

Coming into Texas Relays conventional wisdom said that USA Red Team made up of Kerron Clement, Wallace Spearmon, Derrick Brew, and Andrew Rock would compete with the Waco All-Stars. However, USA Red Team finished in a distance fourth in 3:04.68. Team USA Blue featuring Tyson Gay on the lead off leg did not finish the mile relay.

The women’s invitational 1,600 meters saw USA Red team win in 3:23.49. The Red team, featuring Natasha Hastings, and Sanya Richards, ran strong from start to finish. Sanya Richards & company beat a talented relay team made up of Torri Edwards, Carmelita Jeter that finished second.

Former Longhorn Sanya Richards ran the anchor leg for the USA Red team that won the women's invitational 400 relay with a time of 42.25, also the fastest in the world this year.

The 400 meter relay featuring Tyson Gay and Mike Rodgers won in 38.63 to edge out the USA Red team led by Wallace Spearmon and JJ Johnson.

Keep on eye on LSU senior Richard Thompson who won the invitational 100 with a very fast time of 10.0 seconds. This is a world-leading time at 100-meters.

By Jay Hicks, a.k.a. Track Evangelist

Not So Fast!

The world's fastest man, Jamaican Asafa Powell, in Melbourne yesterday.

The fastest man ever is 50/50 on getting to the starting line this Thursday at one of Australia’s premier meets, where he is a headlining act.

Asafa Powell arrived in Melbourne with four stitches in a deep cut in his knee courtesy of a fall, and the injury forced him to pull out of last Saturday’s grand prix meet in Sydney.

Stitches were removed on Saturday, and Powell still has soreness in the knee. And now, Asafa is seriously considering not running Thursday at Melbourne’s Grand Prix.

"There is still some inflammation inside, so we just have to get rid of that," he told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

We doubt that Powell will take any risk in an Olympic year, and we hope he recovers quickly. But the show must go on!

So, in the mean time, we’ll focus on whether J Dub breaks 45 seconds in his 400-meter season opener. The world’s fastest 400-meter star, Jeremy Wariner, and Texan training partner, Darold Williamson, are confirmed to run the 400.

By Jay Hicks, a.k.a. Track Evangelist