t-and-f: AdidasOutdoorChampsBeginTodayJakeMorse,TimHarris,JoshMcDougal,andCraigMiller

[Ricky Quintana]

The 50 states are represented at this year's Adidas Outdoor High School 
Track and Field Championships which begin today, June18 in Raleigh,NC. The 
two day event, in it's 14th year, is the the unofficial high school 
championships.
The fields are stacked in both boys and girls events.
Complete coverage with entry list, previews,live results, pictures, race 
recaps and interviews will and are available at 
http://adidasoutdoor.nationalscholastic.org/index.php
Lengthy pre race interviews with sophomore Craig Miller(frosh record holder 
at 4:14.26), Tim Harris(1:49.75, US#2), Josh McDougal(US #7 All-Time in 3k, 
8:08.34 and 15th All-Time in 5k, 14:12.20), Jake Morse(5:57.83 2k 
steeplechase and 4:11.47 miler) and Katelyn Kaltenbach(2003 Foot Locker 
Champ)are located at
http://adidasoutdoor.nationalscholastic.org/interviews.php

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Re: t-and-f: Kingdom

[kwhitman]

Randy,
Would it kill you to just be excited about a nice
performance rather than parsing a side issue down to the
last molecule standing?






- Original Message Follows -
> 
> In the modern era of elite athletes competing on the elite
> circuit much longer than they used to, and athletes moving
> into Masters (seniors) competition directly from the elite
> circuit or after only a short 'retirement', it is obvious
> that the age grade tables for the upper 30's to about 45
> are totally worthless.
> 
> They were probably built based on observed experience with
> athletes going into training and competion at age 42, not
> having done anything serious since high school competition
> , or never having competed in track at all to that point.
> 
> It also brings into question the motives for using
> adjustment tables like this to begin with. Apparently the
> thinking is that to make an uneducated (as far as seniors
> competition) public appreciate just how great some of the
> performances are, it must be adjusted for direct
> comparison to elite athletes that the public might
> recognize (probably a wrong assumption to begin with in
> the U.S.). If that is a wrong assumption, then it would be
> just as good to reverse the tables and and for every new
> WR (REAL WR) say "that's a fantastic performance for the
> 21-year-old, which would be worth a 14.31 at age 55, which
> would be an age 55 world record!".
> 
> Or if the U.S. public doesn't even recognize most
> elite-level track performance values today, adjust them to
> a sport they are  more likely to recognize- "That's a
> fantastic world record clearance for Stacy Dragila!, which
> is equivalant to a 35 rebound performance in your average
> NBA Game- yeh , GO Stacy- you're now better than Wilt the
> Stilt"
> 
> Best just to drop the comparisons completely and let
> performances at all age levels stand on their own merit, 
> along with the results of head-to-head competition.
> 
> RT
> 
> 

Keith Whitman
Special projects assistant
Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio  43762

(330) 677-4631-Home