The Penn Relays kick off Olympic year coverage of Track and Field on NBC

Leo Manzano ran strong and
then plugged his Twitter handle
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

With most of the excitement in the American distance running world coming tomorrow at the Payton Jordan Invitational (at Stanford), I tuned into NBC's broadcast of the Penn Relays pretty casually. It's safe to say that my expectations were exceeded (if you followed my Tweets). While I focus on distance running here, I do appreciate the sprints (and more so, the relays) and it was great to see the American stars competing.

With the 4x100 as the first event, it was great to see a strong squad of Mike Rodgers, Justin Gatlin, Doc Patton and Walter Dix looking very strong, especially Gatlin, who appears to be sponsored by Adidas now (in addition to Chinese company XTEP).

So far there have been short pieces with Gatlin, Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix. Is Gatlin going to be one of the focal points for public interest stories the Olympic year? It appears that way early. The Women go on and dominate the 4x100 as well.

Now is when I started getting all kinds of interesting inquiries to find more information on certain female middle distance runners. NBC does a short piece on Erica Moore, who came on big during the indoor season to take the US 800 Title and then the Bronze at the World Championships. Unfortunately, her team dropped the baton and she never got to run. With her team's demise, the USA Blue team stormed to victory, thanks to a big last lap and very smartly executed leg by the popular Maggie Vessey. Vessey gives a great interview with Lewis Johnson and the internet starts to explode with Vessey fever.

Dwight Stones then interviews new USATF CEO Max Siegel (who says some nice things) after a piece on Sandra Richards-Ross and you immediately start to think that NBC has done some serious prep for this broadcast. Thank goodness! It was well done from top to bottom with great announcing and nice personal interest pieces to move the story along for some of the most "medal likely" athletes.

You ask & you shall receive "Maggie Vessey nude" googlers

There's plenty of obligatory Bill Cosby shots before they do a recap of last year's Distance Medley. Then the Bernard Lagat party starts. Lagat will be one of the most likely distance medal shots this summer in London (in the 5000). It wasn't his day today, as Leo Manzano got the best of him, but there's few better guys in the sport. Russell Brown and Tyler Mulder had excellent 1200 legs and reminded us of how difficult it's going to be to make the team in the 800 and 1500 this year. David Neville and Michael Tinsley both ran strong 400 legs before a newly shorn Nick Symmonds dominated the 800 leg over Khadevis Robinson. His 1:44.0 split should answer some of the questions that people had about Symmonds early season struggles. He got the baton to Lagat early, but Manzano caught up by lap four and showed his true miler speed down the homestretch.

Now in possibly a planned mention, Manzano plugged his (and his teammates) Twitter account(s). Fascinated by the Darren Rovell numbers side of sports, I immediately hopped over to Manzano's Twitter page and watched the numbers rise and rise. 30 new followers in 30 seconds and probably 100 more in the hour that I paid attention. People are watching and paying attention track and field on television.

The meet ends with an interview with Carl Lewis and US domination in the 4x400's. Sandra Richards-Ross is very fit... and she's married to Super Bowl Champion, Aaron Ross (one thing track fans have heard ad nauseum). Full results are available here. Next up on NBC, Prefontaine (I'll be there).

Future Track on TV broadcasts are available here

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The Run Down: Bernard Lagat and Erica Moore take the Medal stand

Erica Moore, a new American
 middle distance star
(photo:TrackAndFieldPhoto)

The last day of the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Track and Field Championships was a good one for two American runners in particular. The legend, Bernard Lagat, was victorious once again, while a new star was born in converted heptathlete, Erica Moore.

As the announcers ran through the list of competitors in the Men's 3000, it was obvious that Bernard Lagat was going to have his hands full to just make the medal stand. That wasn't what Lagat was thinking, as he did what he has done time and time again. He bided his time and worked to the front, at just the right time, to pass Kenya's Augustine Choge with 100 meters to go and take the 3000 victory. One of the best indoor runners of all time, this one was of Lagat's finest performances, especially amongst a field of this caliber. He will cherish this Gold Medal. Choge held on for the Silver and Edwin Soi held off Mo Farah for the Bronze. (Update: Soi was disqualified for infringement, but then reinstated after Kenyan appeal)

Golden God, Bernard Lagat

A bigger surprise was in the Women's 800, where the fledgling star, Erica Moore, took the field out hard from the gun and held on over the last straightaway for a hard fought Bronze Medal. Moore looked incredible even after she was passed over the last lap and held her form until the last 10 meters or so when gravity began to take over. She dove through the finish to hold off a hard charging Fantu Magiso for the Bronze and a new PR of 1:59.97. Kenya's Pamela Jelimo returned to form after a few awful years for the win, while the Ukraine's Nataliia Lupu took the Silver.

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The Run Down: Jenny Simpson's double at USA's leads a big weekend

Simpson had lots to smile about in Albuquerque
 (photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

It was another incredible weekend to be a Track and Field fan. Whether you were competing or spectating, it was hard to keep up with it all. The USA Indoor Championships were happening in Albuquerque, NM, tons of conference meets were going on all over the country (USTFCCA has an excellent page with links to all results) and the Brooks PR Invite ended the weekend for the top preps the in country.

Jenny Simpson's performances led the way, as she repeated her 1500/3000 double at USA's. On Friday, she bided her time in the 3000 and took the win in a tactical 9:19.15 over Jackie Areson and Sara Hall and Saturday, she held off a hard charging Brenda Martinez and the newly signed to Nike, Sara Vaughn. It looks like she'll be skipping World's in Instanbul, so the above four ladies will be booking their tickets. Also, it should be noted that Erica Moore looked superb in the 800, winning in a very nice 2:01.08, and pulling her teammate, Phoebe Wright, along with her for a trip to Turkey.

Introducing Erica Moore...
(photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

On the Men's side, Bernard Lagat said it best with the line (to the AP): "I just wanted to show those guys that Daddy can still kick." That may have been the understatement of the night, as he left Lopez Lomong, a 1:45 and 3:32 guy in the blocks with a 25 second last lap in the Men's 3000. Duane Soloman made it look easy in the 800 and pulled Michael Rutt along with him to Worlds, while Leo Manzano outkicked an unknowing Matt Centrowitz in the 1500. Centro may indeed have heard him coming after he went past Galen Rupp, but it sure didn't look like it.

In the collegiate world, Southern Utah's Cam Levins quadrupled to help the Thunderbirds take the Summit League Men's title. There was also an 800 round he had to run in there to complete this impressive feat. Here's how his weekend went:

Friday - qualified in 800 semifinal (1:54) then won the 3000 final in 8:19 (meet record).

Saturday - at 1:20 pm, he won the Mile in 4:10. At 2:45 pm, he won the 800 in 1:50 (meet record). Finally, at 3:25 pm, he won the 5000 in 14:35. What a weekend. Hope he's got something left for NCAA's and Outdoor!

Martinez runs out of real estate in the
 1500 (photo: TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Finally, the Brooks PR Invite was back and produced some excellent results. Molly Seidel continued her excellent season by winning a competitive two mile in 10:13.45, while Texas' Daniel Vertiz ran a very strong race from the front and broke the meet record (in the same event) with a nice 8:59.15. He also led North Dakota's Jake Leingang under 9 in the process. Check out Flotrack's Crack Recap here.

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Thanks again to Splitcaster for sponsoring the blog this week. If you're interested in sponsoring writing about running (and other great sites like TrackFocus, Track Superfan, Paul Merca and the House of Run podcast) in the future, check out The Relay Network.