This past weekend I had the chance to go to Seattle and film the championship races. I must admit, it was a great time and I got to see many great races. Obviously I'm a distance runner so I'm a bit biased to the distance races- but they were pretty good. Regardless of the times that people ran, a lot of the races were competitive and came down to a final kick- like the men's DMR wow. Another great race was the men's 4 x 400 (I'm pretty sure it was heat 1) where Arizona came out of nowhere to win the heat. The women's mile was a mix of teamwork and then a deadly kick. The men's 400 winner (from heat 7) ran a great race but his coach stole the show during his celebration.

During the meet there were two events that I didn't have a chance to get on tape- men's shot put and the long jump.

I remember watching the jump- Norris Frederick stood at his starting point ready to go. He sprinted down the runway and soared into air, when he landed the official raised the white flag signaling it was a legal jump. The crowd erupted because they knew it was far. The announcer, Paul Merca, know it was big too but everyone was still waiting for the official distance. "25-07.75"

BOOM-SHACK-A-LACKA (yes Merca really did yell this into the microphone). The long jump area was crowded with spectators and after the jump even more fans came over to watch. Listen to Merca as he talks about the jump as well as other Day 1 action.

Another BIG highlight of the meet was in shot put. As the shot putters started warming up, they announced that Ryan Whiting was throwing today and he had the top throw in the NCAA. I had a feeling that he would go far today and I should try to tape it. It was the beginning of the men's 4 x 400 when Whiting took his monster throw. You heard the thud when the shot put hit the ground then heard a crash when it went into the barricade at the end of the area. Like Frederick's long jump the night before, the spectators were on their feet getting loud knowing they witnessed a very big throw. The facility only got louder waiting for the officials to get the distance. All the noise was so loud that they had to stop the 4 x 400 from starting. The could have gun off but nobody would hear it. 70-05.25 was announced- a new facility record by more then a meter.

Congrats to everyone who competed- it was a great weekend.