This indoor season, we’ve all been spoiled. It seems that every weekend, another record is in jeopardy of being erased. When will the madness end?

After last night, the answer is a definitive, "Who knows." The Brooks PR Invitational makes the claim that it puts the “fastest on the fastest” and after its third annual meeting, that statement is dead on.

Last night, the west coast was buzzing with stars. No, we’re not talking about the Oscars, but another Hollywood-esque venue a bit north of Los Angeles. Nestled in the cool locale of Seattle, Washington, the Brooks PR brought the who’s who of high school of track and field out for a yet another showcase of the best talent in North America.

It seems that every year, some of the performances are a bit surprising. We’re not sure why this is the case (we see the start list, after all), but I think there’s some rationale that can explain this phenomenon.

In short, fans are just too accustomed to seeing greatness every weekend. Whether it’s a world record miss in the women’s 1500m in Stockholm or a high school record attempt in Seattle, there will come a point where the word “record” isn’t mentioned in a preview or recap.

But with the way things have gone as of late, maybe not. Whatever happened to just being satisfied with high school US #1 marks?

We could remember those times, but this ship is full steam ahead. We may never go back to the way things were and if meets like Brooks PR continues to grow, then we’ll no longer be caught off guard by the extraordinary.

In an effort to try prepare for next year, there are three “things” you should bring with you to the next Brooks PR Invitational.

The Record Book

Unlike my father’s crossword puzzle, the record book isn’t written in pen. This year, two races almost had us breaking out the eraser because two high school all-time marks were almost shattered.

The performance of the night goes to the event with the lowest (or highest, depending on your usage) all-time mark. It wasn’t won by a high school athlete or even a man, but a beast.

Cameron Burrell knew he had the win in the dash and he knew it’d be quick one. With 10m to go, he let out a yell that was almost picked up by the microphones off in the distance.


Not really, but it’s still pretty neat.

Not only did he upset last year’s winner Levonte Whitfield, but Burrell’s winning time of 6.61 was good for #2 all-time.

If Burrell was in the NCAA, he’d be ranked third overall in the men’s 60m dash. Let that sink in for a bit.

In the end, Casey Combest’s HSR of 6.57 from ’99 still stands.

But the boy’s 60m wasn’t the only surprise of the meet. Add some hurdles and switch over to the girl’s side and you have another contender for race of the night.

It looked like the record attempt might’ve been for last year’s winner and then #2 all-time, Dior Hall. Last year, she had been close to Jackie Coward’s record of 8.16 (at altitude).

Would 2013 be the year where “close” would be swapped with “shattered?”

It wasn’t Hall that had the best shot at engraving her name among the legends, but her competitor in the lane next to her. It was California’s Sasha Wallace that would get the jump on Hall in the race and in the record book.

Wallace’s winning time of 8.18 vaulted her to #3 all-time (note: Milesplit has it as #3 all-time, but Track and Field News would have it at #2. If you know, shoot us an email).

But it wasn’t just the winner that stole the show, but the entire race itself. This was one of the deepest girl’s 60mH races in history.

Event 3 Girls 60 Meter Hurdles
===============================================================
dempsy: 7.98 3/4/2006 Virginia Powell, USC 
brooks pr: 8.28 Dior Hall 
Name Year Team Finals
===============================================================
Section 2 Finals 
1 Wallace, Sasha Castro Valley, CA 8.18
2 Hall, Dior Denver, CO 8.21
3 Ross-Ransom, Skylar Houston, TX 8.33
4 Williams, Kendell Marietta, GA 8.35
5 Morrison, Deshaunda Calgary, -- 8.65


Track and Field News All-Time 60mH List (old)

60 HURDLES
8.16(A)	Jackie Coward (West, Knoxville, Tennessee)	2008
8.19	**Dior Hall (Washington, Denver, Colorado)	2012
8.23(A)	Trinity Wilson (St Mary’s, Berkeley, California)	2012
8.25	Lindsay Rowe (Cardozo, Oakland Gardens, New York)	2007
8.27(A)	Vashti Thomas (Mt. Pleasant, San José, California)	2008
8.30	*Jasmin Stowers (Pendleton, South Carolina)	2009

A Frontrunner

Everyone has their own racing style. Without even starting to make Prefontaine references, we’ll just say to keep an eye on the guys and girls that take the lead earlier and don’t ever relinquish it.

It was the first of the evening and it certainly set the tone for the rest of the night. The expected matchup of Erin Finn versus Wesley Frazier (aka “Eagle versus Badger) was less of a battle and more of a “catch me if you can.”

Finn took the hot pace early and never looked back (except if you count looking up at the Dempsey’s Jumbotron to see who was behind her, but that’s semantics).

Finn said she wanted to try and test the 10 minute barrier and she wasn’t kidding. Early splits of 2:26 (800m) and 4:58 (mile) left her all alone as she rounded the brightly lit turns at the Dempsey on pace for a huge run.

She wouldn’t crack 10 minutes, but her winning time of 10:08.24 would be good for a meet record and US #2 mark.

Honestly though, did we expect anything different from a confident Erin Finn?

In the girl’s 800m, another Michigander took the lead early and kept things toasty. Hannah Meier, who won the mile at Brooks PR last year, dropped down to the 800m and continued her winning way.

Meier gapped the field early on and with a good reason: Her split through 400m was a cool 60-seconds. Despite the hot pace, Meier remained composed as she went on to win in a US #1 time of 2:07.45.


Grosse Pointe Farms is just unfair.

Over on the boy’s side, we also saw last year’s winner take the race wire to wire. Canada’s Tyler Smith lead from the gun and despite a fast finish from Kentucky’s Tre’Tez Kinnaird, Smith would come away the victor.

His meet record time of 1:50.89 isn’t a US #1 mark for obvious reasons, but Kinnaird’s second place time of 1:50.97 would be good for that slot.

It wasn’t quite the sub-1:50 we had hoped for, but a meet record nevertheless.

The last of our frontrunners comes from the girl’s 400m. It’s always a bit crazy to watch the 400m indoors because once the athletes pass the break line, all bets are off.

When Precious Holmes reached those tiny cones, she was off to the races. Holmes had a gap on the field, but it wasn’t permanent as Shamier Little was making moves to the outside. Coming off the final turn, Little would make a run at Holmes, but Holmes wouldn’t give away her lead.

In the final meters, Holmes found another gear to take home the win in a US #1 time of 54.37.

Unlike the previous two examples, Holmes’ lead wasn’t an overwhelming guarantee that  she’d take the win. Holmes may have had the lead, but the field did come back at her.

This brings us to our final item that you should remember for next year, an accordion... ?

An Accordion

The accordion is making a comeback, at least at Brooks PR. Races that are strung out, condense, then thin out towards the end are aptly dubbed, the accordion. The girl’s 400m was a good start, but there were two examples that better fit this title.

The deep field in the boy’s 2-mile was content to sit behind the early leader, Jake Leingang. Although he had been tasked with pacing the field, the future Oregon Duck wasn’t interested in exerting too much energy. The slow early pace of consistent 71-second quarters forced some impatient runners to the edge of lane two, which boded well (or for some, badly) for a fast finish.


The lion is stalking his prey.

NC State recruit Jacob Thomson calmly sat in second place nearly the entire race, but the real threat of Bernie Montoya was lurking in the back.

As the pace picked up, runners started to drop off as Leingang and Thomson pushed from the front. Then, the all white headband of Bernie Montoya came into view as he made his push to the front.

With one lap to go, Montoya would take the lead, but Thomson hung tight.

On the final turn, Thomson would make a big push to take the lead heading into the straight. But the man with the best finishing speed in the field wouldn’t be denied; Montoya would take the win in 8:54.63.

Montoya, Thomson, and Leingang would all dip below Daniel Vertiz’ meet record of 8:59.15. So much for that slow early pace.

In the final event of the evening, there would be some front running, some accordion playing, and a big surprise at the end.

The boy’s mile had New Jersey’s Chris Marco take the early lead while everyone else was satisfied to keep their distance. Marco lead through 800m in 2:08, but some big names were ready to bounce.

The first move came from the pre-race favorite, Jacob Burcham. The soon to be Oklahoma Sooner was nipping Marco’s heels with 300m to go, but the real threat was still to come.

Over the last lap, Southlake Carroll’s Trevor Gilley showed that he was the class of the field. With one big move on the backstretch, Gilley blew away the competition and came away with a win and US #1 time of 4:08.24.

It wasn’t just his race tactics, but his performances over the last year that make him the perfect candidate for the accordion category.

In 2012, Gilley was last in the boy’s mile. One year later, he’s blowing away the field. Back in Texas, I bet there were some Southlake fans cheering over the last 300m.


Watching in style.
Photo: @J_Pickle31

The 2013 Brooks PR Invitational sets the bar pretty high for next year. Seven US #1 marks, seven meet records, and two almost high school records will be tough to beat.

We expect more US #1s, but will those legendary high school records stand another assault at the Dempsey?

New Meet Records

	Preview Record	New Record
B 60m	Damiere Byrd - 6.70	Cameron Burrell - 6.61
B 800m	Keffri Neal - 1:50.92	Tyler Smith - 1:50.89
B 2-Mile	Daniel Vertiz - 8:59.15	Bernie Montoya - 8:54.63
G 60mH	Dior Hall - 8.28	Sasha Wallace - 8.18
G 800m	Shelby Houlihan - 2:08.59	Hannah Meier - 2:07.45
G 2-Mile	Molly Seidel - 10:13.45	Erin Finn - 10:08.24