John McDonnell To Retire After 36 Years, 42 Titles
Thirty-Six years, 25 Olympians, 42 NCAA National Titles, 181 All-Americans who have earned 643 All-America honors. That’s just some of the legacy the incomparable John McDonnell leaves behind when he retires from his head coach position at the University of Arkansas at the end of the 2008 season.
Read more at: [Google News]
No Positives at the 2008 World Indoor Championships
We all know what kinds of positives I mean, too. Positive tests for steroids, juice, gym candy. Whatever you want to call it, there was none of it at the 2008 IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Valencia, Spain. Has our sport managed to clean itself up? This is certainly a good sign. Now we’re just left with the unenviable task of cleaning up our image. (Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that ESPN is covering the sport of Track & Field!)
Read more at: [ESPN]
“Bird’s Nest” Architect Discusses Efforts To Fine-Tune Beijing Olympic Stadium
Li Xinggang, the chief architect of the Beijing Olympic Stadium (dubbed the “Bird’s Nest” because of its shape) discusses the fine points of getting his creation ready of the Olympic Games, which begin on 8/08/2008. “We did find some minor problems. For instance, we designed duo doors for the washrooms. Users were meant to enter and exit from different doors, but Chinese users are not accustomed to this and they just turned back and exited from the same door. Now we have to rethink the design: do we revise it and yield to conventional practice or insist on our own design and ask users to learn a new way?”
Read more at: [Beijing08]
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Many of America’s most accomplished track and field stars, including several former University of Arkansas athletes, will compete Friday night at the 2007 Tyson Invitational at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center on the UA campus in Fayetteville.
The fourth stop of the 2008 USA Track & Field Visa Championship Series, the Tyson Invitational will be televised on February 17 from 5-7 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN.
After the second scoring meet of the 2008 Visa Championships Series, 2005 world champion shot putter Adam Nelson leads the men’s Race for the Visa Championship with 1,245 points. 60m hurdler Antwon Hicks is second with 1,202 points. Hurdler Damu Cherry leads the women with 1,172 points, with Arkansas alum Christin Wurth-Thomas second with 1,166 points. Wurth will contest the mile in Fayetteville.
Spearmon leads sprints
Two-time World Outdoor individual medalist Wallace Spearmon, a former Razorback and a resident of Fayetteville, is entered in both the 60 meters and the 200m.
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John McDonnell (Pictured) of Arkansas and Josh McDougal of Liberty lead a select group of coaches and athletes being honored as regional award winners for the Division I men’s cross country season.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced today the men’s coaches and athletes of the year for nine Division I regions.
McDonnell, the legendary Arkansas coach who has won 11 NCAA cross country championships, is the South Central Region Men’s Coach of the Year. The USTFCCCA Hall of Famer led the seventh-ranked Razorbacks to their 18th straight regional title.
McDougal is the Southeast Region Men’s Athlete of the Year. The Liberty senior won his third regional title Saturday in Louisville.
Each of the men’s coaches and athletes of the year advanced to Monday’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Mark Wetmore of defending NCAA champion Colorado is the Chick Hislop Mountain Region Men’s Coach of the Year.
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Arkansas’ John McDonnell was chosen as the SEC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, it was announced by the conference on Tuesday.
The award marks McDonnell’s 13th consecutive SEC Cross Country Coach of the Year award and 16th overall after guiding his Razorbacks to another SEC Championship. The Hogs won Arkansas’ 34th-consecutive cross country conference title and its 17th-consecutive SEC cross country title. The title win also marks Arkansas’ 82nd conference title (cross country, indoor and outdoor).
McDonnell has been named National Coach of the Year 12 times in indoor track, 11 times in outdoor track and seven times in cross country for a total of 30 awards. He has been Conference Coach of the Year a remarkable 48 times, and Region Coach of the Year 61 times.
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Damp and chilly weather in Lexington didn’t slow the Hogs down as John McDonnell’s team took the 2007 SEC Cross Country title at Kentucky Horse Park on Saturday. The Hogs won Arkansas’ 34th-consecutive cross country conference title and its 17th-consecutive SEC cross country title. The title win also marks Arkansas’ 82nd conference title (cross country, indoor and outdoor).
“(The consecutive streak of conference championships) is my greatest achievement,” McDonnell said. “I take great pride in it because so many things can happen, good and bad. It’s unpredictable. To have enough depth is really the key. To win something like this for 34-years straight is pretty special.”
The Razorbacks won the team title with 36 points. Florida was second in the team race with 74 points. Alabama was third with 82 points. The Crimson Tide’s Emmanuel Bor was the race winner with a time of 23:50.45.
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The text of the NCAA release on violations by the Arkansas men’s track and field program:
The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized University of Arkansas, Fayetteville for major violations in its men’s track and field program. This case involved several violations of NCAA recruiting rules committed by one former assistant coach and one prospective student-athlete, including unethical conduct by the former coach and an admitted failure to monitor by the university.
For more of this story, click on: [NCAA]
Fast Times Vs. Competition
Interesting debate over at the Track & Field News Message Board about whether it is better to have fast marks or competitive races in Track & Field. Read more at: [Track & Field News]
Univ. of Arkansas Stripped of Two Team National Titles
The university of Arkansas Track & Field team has been stripped of two national championships and is now on probation for 3 years stemming from an incident involving unethical conduct by a former assistant coach, Lance Brauman, who also coaches Tyson Gay.
Read more at: [ESPN]
High Jump WR Holder Javier Sotomayor Makes Headlines
Cuban High Jump world-record holder Javier Sotomayor has been making the news rounds lately, weighing in on doping (”Doping… does not demean the sport as such.”), predicting Beijing sucess for Cuba’s track & field team and as “brand ambassador for Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon.” Read more at: [The Hindu][Granma International][Indian Express]
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Episode sponsored by: Bill Rodgers Sportswear
After 21 years BR Sportswear is closing out their line of high -quality running apparel. Visit shopfest.com to take advantage of an unprecedented 50% discount on all in-stock items!
Episode 79 of The Final Sprint Podcast features my interview with legendary University of Arkansas track and XC coach John McDonnell.
In the interview, Coach McDonnell reflects on the stellar IAAF World T&F Champ performances by former Razorbacks Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon, explains why Gay was one of the most disciplined and driven athletes he ever coached, and responds to those critical of the recruitment of international runners, such as former Razorback Alistair Craig, for NCAA Teams.
Download the podcast to hear Coach McDonnell discuss these topics, as well as, the benefits and challenges of his current XC squad’s youth, how to develop a young runner possessing incredible, pure talent (i.e. incoming frosh Duncan Phillips), his lower mileage training regimen vs. 100+ miles/week philosophies of coaches like Colorado’s Mark Wetmore, and when and why he would eventually decide to cap off his Hall of Fame career and retire from coaching.
Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you
Host: Adam Jacobs | Guest: Coach John McDonnell
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File Size: 12.5 MB | Length: 18:15 MIN
Episode sponsored by: Bill Rodgers Sportswear
After 21 years Bill Rodgers Sportswear is closing out their line of high-quality running apparel. Visit shopfest.com to take advantage of an unprecedented 50% discount on all in-stock items!
Former Hogs Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon, Jr. took first and second place, respectively, in the 200-meter finals on day four of competition at the AT&T USA Championships at Indianapolis’ Michael A. Carroll Stadium on the campus of IUPUI.
With a personal best and the fastest time run in the world this year, Gay won the event with a clocking of 19.62 into a headwind. The clocking moves him to No. 2 on the all-time list behind Michael Johnson’s 19.32. Before today’s race he sat at No. 5 with his former PR of 19.68.
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