Track Madness is here! Voters have 24 hours to voice their opinions in Round One - today's poll features the West Region and will stay open until tonight at 12 a.m. CT / 1 a.m. ET
Round 1:
7/27, 12 a.m. - 7/28, 12 a.m. - North Region
7/28, 12 a.m. - 7/29, 12 a.m. - West Region
7/29, 12 a.m. - 7/30, 12 a.m. - East Region
7/30, 12 a.m. - 7/31, 12 a.m. - South Region
ROUND 2 BRACKET RELEASED: 7/31
Round 2 Voting Opens Monday, 8/3
Vote below for your favorite moments!
MATCHUP ONE
1) Candace Hill crushed the 100m National Record at Brooks PR Invitational with a 10.98. The sophomore is the first high school girl to break 11 seconds in the 100m, beating the previous NR by .12 (Kaylin Whitney, 11.10). Hill also set the American Junior Record, a World Youth Best and #10 in the World this year. For comparison, her 10.98 would rank #8 All-Time in the NCAA 100m. This simply was the most impressive national record on paper.
WATCH Candace Hill's 10.98 National Record
Candace Hill Brooks PR post race interview
2) The girls from Rush Henrietta, NY smashed the 1600 SMR record by more than three seconds in 3:47.65 to take the win at NBNO. It was only their second time running the SMR together as a team all year. The group ran the record time in the middle of a down pour with puddles covering the track. Similar to how she anchored her squad to a NBNI win in this event during indoors, Sammy Watson ran the 800m anchor leg again, this time splitting a blistering 2:03.
Rush Henrietta post race interview
MATCHUP TWO
1) On June 6, 2015, Jasmyne Graham of Roosevelt, CA ran possibly the most impressive hurdle double in US high school history. She won the 300m Hurdles in 40.73, running the US #9 All-Time. Even more impressive, in the 100m Hurdles, Graham ran a US #5 All-Time 13.17. Only .01 behind her was the new US #6 All-Time 100m Hurdler, Mecca McGlaston.
2) The Loucks Games 3200m race was one for the record books, literally! The race saw four different state records go down, including New York by Brannigan (8:42.92), Connecticut by Ostberg (8:43.93), New Hampshire by Eli Moskowitz (3rd, 8:44.79), and Rhode Island by Jack Salisbury (8th, 8:56.55). At the time, five of the nation's top six 3200m times were ran at the Loucks Games. It was one of the deepest 3200m races ever seen on the East Coast with ten guys running sub-9:00.
Loucks Games 2 Mile
Full Loucks Games 2 Mile Recap
MATCHUP THREE
1) Charlotte Brown became a national sensation after her remarkable performance at the Texas State Meet. The legally blind pole vaulter defied odds when she cleared 11-6 to take third place. The senior has been vaulting since seventh grade. Brown uses a beeper to help her vault, which lets her know where to place the pole. The Purdue commits story was picked up by several other national media outlets.
Post meet interview with Charlotte Brown
2) Grant Fisher was in a league of his own at New Balance Nationals Indoor, crushing the rest of the field in the 1 Mile when the unthinkable happened. On pace to run a sub 4:00 mile, the senior tripped on the rail and fell off the track toward the infield. After several steps in the infield, Fisher recovered and still raced to victory despite losing valuable time due to the mishap. Many people debate if his 4:03 would have been good for a sub 4:00 Mile if he didn't clip the rail and nearly have a face full of track. But hey, a meet record after all that is not that bad.
Champ Boys Mile Grant Fisher 4:03 almost falls 2015 NBI
MATCHUP FOUR
1) Anna Rohrer defies the odds and wins her second Foot Locker title two years after she won her first FL title in 2013 as a sophomore. The only other person to win two FL titles in nonconsecutive years is Jordan Hasay (2005, 2008). The cross country season sandwiched in between Rohrer's two FL titles included six weeks in a wheelchair because she broke the navicular bones in both of her feet. To chalk her second national XC win up to a "comeback" is quite simply an understatement.
On The Rise: Anna Rohrer - Episode 1
On The Rise: Anna Rohrer - Episode 2
735 Days Between Foot Locker Titles for Anna Rohrer
WATCH Foot Locker Nationals Girls Race
Post Race Interview with Anna Rohrer
2) Amongst the many Jamaican powerhouse teams at the Penn Relays, the Lyles brothers carried their T.C. Williams, VA team to the 4x400m Championships of America final with a 3:12.17 in prelims. That new US #1 time came to be from the other two legs running slower than 50 seconds and both Noah (45.60) and Josephus (45.71) running in the 45s. Despite losing in the Finals to race winner Calabar (JAM), the Lyles bros had the two fastest splits of the entire field, just as they did in the prelims.
T.C Williams and Lyles Brothers post race interview
Boys 4x400 (T.C. Williams US #1 3:12) - 2015 Penn Relays