North Central: Joe cruises to 400H record

5/16 At Naperville. Another cool evening with temps in the 50s and a few sprinkles didn't hamper Joe's quest for a PR and school record in the 400H. Running in section 3, he shot to the lead and ran on pace through H5 (24.5), took an oppo on H8 and finished strong to run 55.92 for 8th overall, a few tenths under his record from last season. Brian ran 58.45, his third-best time. In 110H, Joe ran 15.45, 3 tenths off his career best. In HJ, which was moved inside because of wet conditions outside, Jerome battled some of the best jumpers in the Midwest, clearing 6-7.5. No one made 6-9.5. Jerome was 5th, based on a miss at 6-5.5. Brad threw javelin 147-10 for 6th.

Workouts: 5/13, 5-14

5/13 At KC. Brad and Jerome worked on plant angle with 4-step and 6-step approaches, scissors and layouts; full approaches; full jumps.

5/14 At MU. One of the highest quality workouts of season. After warm up, Joe and Brad worked some highs. 1 and 2H at 39 -1 off falling and 3 pt. 3H at regular height -1. 2x5H (regular height, -1). 3x3H (regular height, -1). Trail legs were looking good. Joe squared up the hurdles better than ever. Got the takeoff point to H1 moved back to proper distance. Brian joined in for 400H, which Brad also did. Brian and Joe worked near 56 pace and Brad around 61-62. Did first 5 hurdles and last 5 hurdles to finish, with about a 1 min break between. Joe and Brian ran about 24.5 for first 5 and about 31.5 for second 5. Brad split 27+ and 34+. Finished with 5x3 elevator (30-36) hurdles on oppo at 8 to 9y spacing. Stretched.

UW Madison: Jerome was as spectacular as weather; group notched multiple PRs

5/10 At Madison. Super weather (warm temps and light breezes) made conditions perfect for strong performances. Jerome was as perfect as the weather, getting first-jump clearances at 6-3, 6-5, 6-7, 6-9 and again at a school and conference record 6-11, which won the event. One jump at 7-0 was fairly close. Brian moved to #2 on the all time 400H list with a PR 57.43 3rd place finish. Joe equaled a PR in 200 with his 8th place 22.16. He also had good times in 110H (15.32) for 5th and 100 (11.27). Brad got a PR 152-09 in JT for 5th, ran 17.61 in hurdles for 7th and went 38-10.5 in TJ for 3rd. Holly ran a PR 16.34 (#2 all time) for 9th in 100H and jumped 34-0 for 5th in TJ.

Workouts: 5/6, 5/7

5/6 At KC. Jerome warmed up, did some backovers off high box, medium box, low jump, floor. Some 4-step bungee jumps, working on plant angle and attack, and then some 6-step jumps, adding speed in turn while keeping plant angle. Did a couple run throughs and then about 6 full jumps at 6-5, again working on pushing the speed and a quick last step. Also marked the takeoff point, which we moved out a bit because of extra speed. Takeoff point was about 2 feet in and 3 feet out.

5/7 At MU. Joe, Brian, Brad and Holly trained on a cold and windy day. Brian came out early warmed up, did some up/back hurdles, then H1-H4, 1 min recovery, H3-H7, 1 min recovery, H7-Finish, 1 min recovery, 150. Then 5x4 3-step oppos at 8-yd spacing on turf. Brad, Joe and Holly warmed up on the turf with some strides, circles, swings, pickup and acceleration. H1 (falling -3"), H2 (3pt -3" -1), H3 (3pt R -1), 2x6H (alt R/-3" -1). Joe and Holly followed with same 400H work Brian did. They hit the target times on first 2 reps, went faster on third rep and finished with 150s that were faster than the first rep times to H4. Brad did some 1/2 hurdle trail leg work during that time. Stretched.

NACC: Top 8 finishes in women's and men's 400H, 100/110H, HJ

5/2 At Lisle, Ill. Cold (50s), wet and windy on day one. No prelims in 100H/110H. In 400H prelims, Logan (59.22) and Brian (60.31) qualified. Mike just missed, running (61.98). nate ran 73.04. Holly (69.64) and Kasey (79.53) both qualifed. In multis, Mollie jumped 4-6.75 and Brad 5-1. Mollie ran 100H in 18.85.

5/3 At Lisle, Ill. Day 2 was bright, breezy and sunny with temps in upper 60s. Jerome won HJ, tying the meet record of 6-8. Joe took 3rd in 110H with a PR 15.15 (#2 all time). Holly took 3rd, too, running 16.72, and came back later to get 3rd in 400H (67.75 #2 all time), contributing to her NACC Freshman of the Meet award. Mike tied for 6th in HJ (6-2). In men's 400H, Brian finished strong to grab 4th (PR 58.37 #5 all time) and Logan was 7th (59.45). In women's HJ, Kasey was 6th (4-7.5) and Alex 8th (4-7.5). Madeline and Mollie both jumped 4-5.5. In decathlon 110H, Brad ran 17.39.

Men finished 2nd, women 7th in the 10-team meet.

Complete results

Workouts: 4/28, 4/29, 4/30

4/28 At KC. Another day in 40s with rain and wind, so we stayed inside. Did a brief warm up, then some hurdle work, including 6H speedbuilders, 1H starts, 3H relative spacings, 2H random spacings. Training were Holly, Brian, Joe, Mike, Logan, Nathalie, Kasey. Missing: Nate. Annika (work).

4/29 At KC. After warm up, spent time working on approach and approach with scissors -- about 10x. Followed with a couple bungee bar jumps near opening height. Also took a regular bar jump at opening, and then about 3 jumps at opening +3 inches. Worked on staying in curve (no step out), pushing the speed and lean, quick last step and good plant angle. Mollie, Kasey, Madeline, Alex, Mike, Brad and Jerome all jumped.

4/30 At KC. Circles, swings, skips, pickup, accel and then a timed fly. Brad PR 8.78 mps, Joe 9.42, Mollie 7.61, Nate 8.54, Holly 8.02. Timed 30m block start. Brad PR 4.09, Mollie 4.80, Nate 4.52, Holly 4.54. Hurdle warm up was H1 falling, H2 3-pt, H3 block -- all -3. Then block starts, H1, H2, H3, H4. Within those reps, timed H1 starts. Brad PR 2.20, Joe 2.12, Mollie 2.33, Holly PR 2.07, Annika 2.22. Also timed splits. Brad PR 1.38, Joe 1.31, Mollie PR 1.36, Holly PR 1.17, Annika PR 1.46.

Beloit Relays: Strong showing with several PRs

4/26 At Beloit. Joe let the way again. This time with a couple 2nds, running a PR 15.37 in 110H and 58.30 in 400H. Brad also got a PR with his 17.38 (#10 all time), and he also got a PR in HJ (5-8) -- both were large improvements. Holly had a small improvement in 100H for a PR 16.47 (#3 all time), and she got a major improvement in 400H, with her 68.85 (#2 all time). Brian's first 400H race of the year was a good one, running a PR 58.42 (#5 all time) for 3rd. Logan had a good race, too, running 60.66 in 5th. Mike scored, too, jumping 6-0 for 6th in HJ and running 62.9 for 8th in 400H. Annika ran 20.42 for 9th in 100H and 87.12 for 10th in 400H. Great day for Alex in HJ, getting a PR 4-8.25 (#6 all time) for 6th and Madeline with 4-6.25 for 7th. Nathalie, Kasey and Nate were no-shows.

Complete results