Rupp and Oregon Win XC Titles

This season he picked where he left off last season in terms of success and winning. Olympian Galen Rupp managed his first individual NCAA Div I Cross Country Championship title. The 2008 Olympian covered the 10k course in 29:04, leading the University of Oregon to a second consecutive title. Liberty Universities' Samuel Chelanga led the race from the gun up until the 400-meters mark when Rupp pulled ahead to put away the victory.

"My coaches told me to sit back, be smart and stay focused," Rupp said. "It was going to come down to a sprint and I relaxed until I was ready to go. I was more patient than last year, and when I made my move it was decisive. With about 800m to go I heard someone say 'Remember last year,' and that helped me win."

The Red Raider football team isn't the only of the schools sports to discover winning ways this season. Sally Kipyego solidified her three consecutive women's title. In flying over the 6 km course in 19:29, Kipyego became the winningest women's cross country runner in Division I history.

Susan Kuijen of Florida State managed to stay within striking distance through half-way, but Kipyego easily pulled away for a six-second win. The University of Washington won the women's team title over Oregon with 79 points.

"It was cold and windy and the hardest of my three wins," Kipyego said. "I tried to stay positive and run my best race. It's an amazing feeling and a wonderful opportunity."

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Unstoppable Bolt and Isinbayeva Snag Top Award

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva won the IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards on Sunday.

Bolt set world records in the 100 and 200 metres at the Beijing Games in August. His third gold medal came in Jamaica's 400 relay, also a world record.

Isinbayeva successfully defended her Olympic title and remained undefeated in outdoor competitions in 2008. The Russian pole vault queen cleared 5.05 metres in Beijing to set her 24th career world record and retain the Olympic title.

Both athletes take home $100,000 for winning award.

The entire field were Olympic champions and achieved incredible feats. Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles and Ethiopian long-distance runner Kenenisa Bekele were the other contenders in the men's category. Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia and Kenyan Pamela Jelimo were in the running on the women's side.

By Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Kicks: Nike Air Max LTD - Magnificent Seven

They just keep coming. Nike oozes shoes inspired by the Olympics. These kicks are inspired by Olympic flag colors and architecture visible in the Bird's Nest in Beijing. Footlocker and Nike colloborated [Via SneakerFreaker]

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

NCAA XC Moving Forward

Progress is being made in college cross country. The sport needs to be broadcast live and as frequently as possible.

CSTV will air the Division Cross Country National Championship meet live on CBS College Sports Network from Terre Haute, Indiana at Indiana State University.

The NCAA is also streaming the video live on the internet. This marks the second year in which the race will be aired live on Monday, November 24th at 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. EST.

The women’s race is schedule to begin at 12:08 p.m. EST, followed by the men’s race scheduled for 12:48 p.m. EST.

Thirty-one teams made up of 18 automatic bids and 13 at-large bids and 38 individuals for each championship were selected to participate in this year’s national championships.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Jesse Owens Award Given To Clay and Trafton

Not only have they won Olympic gold medals, now they hauled in the highest distinction given each year by USA Track & Field.

Olympic gold medalists Bryan Clay and Stephanie Brown Trafton have been named winners of the 2008 Jesse Owens Award by USA Track & Fiel

Clay's season was capped with two massive score performances during season while winning at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, and the Olympic Games in Beijing.

With that, the 27-year-old Clay did not need much prodding to share his feelings.

"I have always regarded Jesse Owens with the highest respect for his accomplishments in the 1936 Olympics," said Clay. "To be selected to receive this award and having my name associated with the legendary Jesse Owens is a great honor and a humbling experience. I am grateful, appreciative and truly humbled to have been chosen for such an esteemed award."

Coming into the season, Stephanie Brown Trafton was an unlikely athlete that you could find to win the award, due in part because she who has never won a national title in the women's discus throw.

Her first throw of 212 feet, 5 inches in Beijing put her into a lead that the world's top throwers could not get within three feet of her mark. Brown Trafton is the first ever women's thrower to be presented with the Jesse Owens Award.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

David Oliver Does Miami!

Beijing an Olympic medalist has it's privileges.

David Oliver, Joel Brown and company set out to bring the heat to Miami. The weekend included fine dining, VIP treatment by the Miami Dolphins, court side seats at the Miami Heat, and world class entertainment on South Beach.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Kicks: Kanye West Loves These

Hip hop artist Kanye West endorsed the Nike Air Max / Air Structure Triax / Air Max BW sneakers on his personal blog. Always on the cutting edge of of fashion, Kanye is known to have the latest great thing.



Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

X Factor In Women's Debate

Looking back at the 20007-08 season, the MVP race is heating up as there are a number of worthy candidates which makes the debate both difficult and exciting.

Typically people compare times, wins, and overrall performances like clutch races or relative ability to deliver for their respective countries at the Beijing Games. The measuring stick this time around may be who made the largest impact on track and field.

In the running for the 2008 World Athletes of the Year are Ethopia's Tirunesh Dibaba, Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia, and Kenya's Pamela Jelimo. The winners will be announced live, on stage, during the 2008 World Athletics Gala, which will take place in Monaco, on 23 November 2008.

Isinbayeva raised the bar during the season. While also raising questions about whether she is the great female competitor of a generation as she again increased her world record in winning her second Olympic gold medal. At season's end the Russian pole vault record stands at 16 feet, 6.8 inches.

In the process of putting up the fastest time the event has seen in 10 years, Olympic champion (1:54.01) Pamela Jelimo completed one of the best season an 800-meter has ever seen. The 18 year-old is the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic gold medal and also the first Kenyan to win the Golden League Jackpot. Jelimo collected a $1 million jackpot by winning all her event in all six of the IAAF Golden League meets.

Who has accomplished more in a season? Ethopia's Tirunesh Dibaba trademark is a hammering last lap in the 5,000 and 10,000-meters. She broke the 5,000-meter world record by over five minutes in June and swept the 5,000 and 10,000-meters in Beijing.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Kicks: New Balance 420 x DDCLAB

New Balance has collaborated with design house DDCLAB to create a new pair of kicks just in time for the holidays. The sneaker is based on a 1970s vintage New Balance 420 running sneaker.

It's the first time the 420 has been co-branded. If you want a pair, then don't waste any time purchasing one of the 60 pairs to be made. The kicks material are made out of crushed glass to make for a high reflective finish.Via [Freshnessmag]

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Tim Montgomery Runs To Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel

Chasing the big money after track career ends.

Tim Montgomery has fallen far from the days when he was once riding high as the 100-meter world record holder (9.78). Things quickly began to unravel after that race. The world record was erased from the record book in light of doping charges.

It will quickly go one way or the other. Either Montgomery will share some real honesty or he will be there singing the same song of lies and deception as he sits down with HBO's Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.

Although he never tested positive for a banned substance, Montgomery was implicated in the U.S. investigation into Bay-Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), near San Francisco.

He later testified about taking performance enhancing drugs during the BALCO trial.

Montgomery, was convicted in a U.S. District Court in Norfolk, VA., of conspiracy to possess, with intent to distribute, and distribution of more than 100 grams of heroin. He received the minimum sentence for the crimes.

"I was blind. I never had a job in my life," Montgomery told U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman. "I did the wrong thing."

The sentence will not run concurrent to the 46 months he was given in a New York federal court after pleading guilty in 2007 to conspiracy in a bank fraud and money laundering plot.

The interview will air when Real Sports returns on November 25, 2008 at 10pm ET/PT.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Kerron Clement Steps Into Music Video

This 400-meter hurdle Olympian is expanding his game outside of track and field with an appearance in "The Greatest" video by Michelle Williams - formerly of Destiny's Child.

Kerron Clement makes a cameo in the video donning his Olympic medal and uniform while hurdling on the street. This is not his first modeling gig, as he has done several European photo shoots.

Michelle Williams is stunning in what appears to be her best solo yet and Clement does nothing to take away from that fact.

Clement told the press:

“It takes my mind off athletics,” said Clement. “I’m a person who doesn’t like to focus myself on track and field, it tires me out. Modelling is the avenue that I take to relax myself. It’s like a relaxation for me.”

No worry track fans. He won' be quitting his day job anytime soon as track and field is paying his bills these days.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Kicks: adidas Stan Smith Out!

Are They Hot Enough?

Named after the ’70s tennis star, the Stan Smith Adidas has the rare ability in a sports shoe to look both hip and sophisticated.

The term "classic" is thrown around way too often. But in the case of the adidas Stan Smith it is adequate.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.com.

Runnerspace Live

Reminiscing: Kevin Young Blows Up 400 Hurdle Record

Let's looks back as Kevin "Spiderman" Young mastered nine steps between the hurdles in route to celebrity status in the sport. At the 1992 Barcelona Games, he dropped 46.78, establishing a new world record at 400-meter hurdles, while throwing his hands in the air. The previous record 47.02 was held by hurdle legend Edwin Moses

“I’m an Olympic superhero,” Mr. Young says. “I didn’t just break Edwin Moses’ record for the 400-meter hurdles — I shattered it.”

Which athlete can make a serious run at this record?

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.com.

Run Away Track MVP?

Does a scenario exist that does not involve Usain Bolt as track and field's most valuable athlete? The Jamaican star is running this time for the prestigious IAAF World Athlete of the Year Award to be named during the 2008 World Athletics Gala, which takes place in Monaco, on 23 November 2008.

How do you top three world records and three gold medals?

Bolt finished a magical season that saw him set the 100-meter world record on two occassions and the 200-meter world record fall at feet. Oh, and then there is the business of Bolt's pivotal third leg on Jamaica's world record setting 4x100-meter relay in Beijing.

Don't forget about Dayron Robles of Cuba - he can't be denied either. He rolled 12.87 over the 110-hurdles in Ostrava, Czech Republic on June 12, immediately establishing himself as the man to beat. Robles dizzing place delivered gold in Beijing.

Ethopia's Kenenisa Bekele has taken distance running to another level. His gold medal performance in the 10,000-meters finals was a new Olympic Record (27:01.17) - bettering the time he ran in 2004.

Bekele let it rip over the final 400-meters, unleashing a lethal pace that competitors found too much to match, solidifying his place in history among the all-time greats.

Bolt's career is far from finished. He has proven himself to be a brilliant performer and the next test of his young career is longevity. Meaning can he reign on top of the game for a decade, dominating a generation of sprinters - like Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis?

Stay tuned.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

DWTS: Greene Runs Out of Time

Maurice Greene's run on ABC's Dancing With the Star came to end on Tuesday night. Former Olympic champion Greene and partner Cheryl Burke were the most recent celebrities voted off of the popular dancing show.

The dancing duo received 48 out of a possible 60 for their quickstep and paso doble routines Monday. But it was not enough to keep them on the show, as the competition heated up in the last couple weeks of the show.

The four remaining celebrity contestants — model-actress Brooke Burke, singer Lance Bass, former NFL star Warren Sapp and Hannah Montana actor Cody Linley — will compete in the semifinals.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Kicks: New Balance M574

New Balance gives the runner exactly what they want in the New Balance M574. A good looking running shoe. The 574 was originally introduced in 1988 and has been reintroduced to the New Balance line.

These kicks feature the ENCAP system which gives runners the added support and comfort needed to hit that extra mile. This M574 TKB is shown in a navy blue and beige colorway. To top it all off, this colorway also includes polka-dot laces and reflective Microlite material. Now available at Overkill.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Reminscing: Cathy Freeman Does It Big

Don't get it wrong. Cathy Freeman is one of the greatest sports performers this generation will ever witness.

Beijing failed to deliver a Cathy Freeman moment. She lit the cauldron and then set the track on fire during the 400-meters at the Sydney Games carrying the combined weight of her Australia and her Aboriginal heritage. Freeman put down a 49.11 in the clutch.

Things were crazy. You may recall the mysterious move by competitor Maria Jose-Perec of France fleeing the country in the days leading up the final. Coming down the stretch, Freeman put her finishing touches on her Olympic championship, slamming the door on her competitors.

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.

Kicks: Chris Paul Supports Obama

On Tuesday night Barack Obama won in part by a support by the youth in America. New Orleans point guard Chris Paul and Jordan team member sharpied his kicks in support of the nation's first African American president. Shown above is a player exclusive Jordan Six rings. Via [Sneakerflies].

Jay Hicks for Prerace Jitters.