Nightcap at Hayward

WOW! It's hard to put into words everything that went on tonight, so I think the best way to recap is to make a top 10 list - I ranked them from 10 (best) to 1 (bestest!). Here goes nothing...

10) Marshavet Hooker runs 4th fastest 100 meter time ever. 10.74 for Hooker was the fourth fastest 100 time ever recorded, under any conditions. The wind was too strong at her back for it to be any kind of record, but it was still an impressive display. On a side note, Alyson Felix is better looking in person than she is on tv - and she is pretty good looking on tv.

9) Fighter plane flyover and opening ceremonies. Eugene has proven to me they know how to do this Olympic Trial thing right. After the opening ceremonies, in which all the members of the 1980 US team were recognized, two fighter planes zoomed right over the West grandstands!

8) Adam Nelson comes up large in the shot put - figuratively and literally. It was one and done for Nelson, who put the shot 69-feet, which was an automatic qualifying throw to the finals. Nelson, along with the other men shot putters, is huge. I like the shot, but there is too much yelling, screaming and overall bigness for me to handle.

7) FREE FOOD. A great many Kit kats, Reeses, and one of my all-time favorites, Dream Pop Ice Cream bars were consumed today - and all of it was free of charge. I better make sure to brush my teeth more than once a day occasionally this weekend, because a lot of junk food will be eaten.

6) 20,964 and 6,672. It was a record setting day at Hayward as far as attendance goes. More than 20,000 fans witnessed the best track and field that the US has to offer and 6,000 more decided to just come down to the track area and hang out (see pictures of the festival).

5) High school sophomore runs 2:04 800. Laura Roesler impressed the crowd, and me, by recording an unbelievably fast time in the 800 prelims and showing the maturity of a veteran runner. She qualified for the semis, so we'll get to see her run tomorrow afternoon.

4) The crowd. I'm still in shock about not only the number of people that showed up today, but also the track intellect of the crowd. They always know when to cheer, and boy do they cheer when one of their own - either U of O runner or Oregon Track Club runner - speeds to the front of the pack. Hayward was full of electricity today.

3) Meeting Mikey, the pride of Eugene. Not a whole lot of good comes from eating Mexican in the first place. Eating cheap Mexican late at night is even worse. However, making the trip to Muchos Gracios was well worth it because I got to meet Eugene's finest: Mikey! (see picture).

2) 5,000 meter prelims. Galen got the win in the 2nd heat by outkicking the other qualifiers. Many question his homestretch celebration, but when 20,000 people explode into a roar for you when you go to pass, the celebration might just be warranted - it's the home crowd. Lagat, Tegankamp, Solinsky and others all looked good. What an unbelievable experience to get to watch the 5,000 from the infield of Hayward.

1) Flanagan wins women's 10,000 and Begley hits "A" standard. Shalane Flanagan used a blistering last lap (65 seconds) to pull away from the always attractive Kara Goucher. Equally as impressive as Flanagan's win was Amy Begley's 3rd place finishing time of 31:43, two seconds under the Olympic "A" qualifying standard, meaning she will be competing for the US in Beijing. The crowd was huge in helping her pull through in that final lap (67 seconds).

Check out the pictures and feel free to make a few comments! Day 2 is over. Off to bed.