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New faces at the University of Washington InvitationalPublished by
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New faces at the University of Washington Invitational New faces at the University of Washington Invitational The University of Washington shares its outstanding facilities by hosting four indoor track meets every year including this weekend’s edition, the UW-Invitational. Eleven of the top twenty-five schools (as ranked by trackshark.com) were on hand, as well as the Nike Farm Team, Nike Oregon Project, and of course, Team XO. This meet marked the season opener for four XO athletes. The field events were represented by two XO elites, one is an original XO team member, and the other debuted at this meet. Kyley Johnson faced his stiffest competition of the year so far but after tweaking a muscle in his warm-up he was unable to clear what is normally a “gimme” height for him and was forced to bow out earlier than anticipated. Unfortunate as well, because for the first time in exactly one year the competition surpassed Johnson’s facility record (2.16m) as USC posted two jumpers above the old mark. Jesse Williams took the win, an automatic NCAA Nationals qualifier and the facility record at 2.23 meters (7’ 3.75”). “I tweaked something in the warm-up and I just couldn’t do anything with it today. It’s pretty frustrating when stuff like that happens,” remarks a disappointed Johnson. Opposite the infield in the throwing arena, Cari Soong’s Team XO debut turned out to be a clinic in weight throwing. In her dazzling new blue and white XO colors, Soong won the competition on her first throw. She was the only athlete in the competition to eclipse the nineteen-meter mark and she did so on each of her three fair marks. “I was throwing a lot further, but they were fouls. So I’m both pleased and disappointed at the same time,” said Soong after the competition. Soong joins XO after graduating UCLA class of 2004. Her career highlights include All-America honors in each of her indoor seasons, a fifth place finish at last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw, she is a former school record holder at UCLA in the hammer and has personal bests of 216’ 3” in the hammer throw and 67’ 4.75” in the 20 pound weight throw. Soong also made an appearance at last year’s Olympic Trials in Sacramento. She is certainly one to keep an eye on as her 2005 campaign continues. Also competing in the field events was recent University of Oregon grad Trevor Woods. Woods vaulted 15-01.50 to get 11th place in the field. Woods also competed last week in the highly touted Pole vault Summit. The action on the track saw the debuts of three XO runners who now begin to switch over to the spring season after making their debuts on the cross country course last fall. In the 3000-meter race, Paul Kezes and Max King came to fine-tune their skills as a precursor to next months’ World Cross Country Trials. After starting in the back row, the two XO distance studs had the arduous task of picking their way through a talented field of about twenty competitors. This task was complicated as the rabbit (Nike Farm Team member and the day’s mile winner, Chris Estwanik) took the field (more specifically 2000 Olympian Adam Goucher) out in 4:13 for the first mile. “I heard the 400m split at 63 and realized we were moving as fast as it felt,” said Kezes shortly after the race. The pace never let up and in an exciting final two laps when BYU runner Josh Rohatinsky took command over Goucher, it appeared there may have been upset. It was not until the final straightaway when Goucher stepped out into lane two and showed why he is one of the best in the country. Max King’s sentiments will be lost on no one come the World Cross Trials. “Just give me some hills, mud and a couple sharp turns,” he said, “it’ll be a totally different story.” King showed his toughness in out kicking a group of PAC-10 stars finishing in the twelfth position at 8:12 just two spots behind Kezes who finished in 8:07. We will see this duo in both races (4k and 12k) at the World Cross Country Trials in two weeks. In the third (yes, third) heat of the men’s 3000-meter run, James Longoria found himself in a race he could work with. “I felt much better than last week,” says a smiling Longoria afterwards. “It felt a lot smoother and I was able to work my way up a little bit.” A “little bit” actually put him ahead of nine runners and earned him an 8:42 clocking that becomes his new season best. For the second meet in a row, Brayce Forsha doubled up with the mile and the 800-meter races. First, in the mile, he improved on his time from two weeks ago at the same track by two seconds and clocked a 4:08, good for a mid-pack finish in a field that saw 4:01 and 4:02 for the top two finishers. Forsha then joined XO teammates Ross Krempley and Kevin Ullman in the men’s 800-meter run. Krempley and Forsha competed two weeks ago, but this was Ullman’s debut race of the season and as an XO track athlete. Forsha kicked things off with an appearance in the first heat and had this to say afterwards, “Man, I think I’m ready for a week off of the double. I may try running the eight [hundred] fresh with no mile. I’d like to see what I could do.” The third heat in the 800 featured Ross Krempley, 800-meter specialist. After taking a conservative start, he found his speed with less than a hundred meters to go and easily took down three runners before the finish line. “I felt good, it’s just if you make one mistake in this race [the 800m] it costs you,” quoted Krempley. “If you make two, you have a bad race. I made two.” To his credit, Krempley clocked the fastest 800 of the day by the XO trio at 1:54.00. Having recovered from the cross country season and the initial sessions of 800 meter training, XO middle distance runner, Kevin Ullman, stepped onto the indoor track for the first time since his senior year (2001) at Notre Dame’s oversized track where he represented Valparaiso University to a heat win and a then indoor school record (1:54.85). Having taken the 2004 outdoor campaign off to adjust to living and training in Eugene, Ullman entered the meet at a conservative time, placing him in the fourth and final heat of the day’s 800-meter races. “I just wanted to get out there and race again,” said Ullman after his second place finish in his heat and clocking a 1:56. “It felt good to be out there and I know I can run faster than I did today.” Ullman spent two years training in Los Angeles with Santa Monica based club Track West under the guidance of Skip Stolley before contacting Team XO director Ross Krempley in 2004. He now trains with Krempley in Eugene and looks forward to a breakthrough season in 2005. Next Opportunity for Success! Team XO will send a full men’s team to The Winter Cross Country Nationals this year that will act as the World Cross Country Trials for the top U.S. harriers. Paul Kezes, Max King, Rick Fuller, and Tim Julian will form the top four required for a team championship at the twelve-kilometer championship distance. The foursome is confident they could brew a little upset against the nation’s elite clubs. Kezes and King will double in the four-kilometer championship race and will be joined by James Longoria and others. Good luck to the XO cross country elite, and for those in the area, the race will be at Fort Vancouver, Washington and should be an exciting race! Notes: Simidele Adeagbo competed this weekend apart from her XO counterparts at Boise, Idaho. In capturing the top spot in the long jump (6.25m, 20’ 6.25”), she fell just one centimeter short of the facility record (6.26m). She also placed second in the triple jump (13.23m, 43’ 5”). The two marks are both good for qualifiers to the USA Track and Field Indoor National Championships. Kevin Ullman
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