Spray from the Runninng & Track Spigot

It's a wild time of year for a running and track reporter ... or fan ... or parent.

Track and field's various competition levels have been holding their climactic meets over the last few weeks -- conference, regional, sectional, and national competitions. The pros are building up for the USA meet in two weeks and Grandma's Marathon is wedged into this coming weekend.

This past weekend, of course, packed in both the High School State Meet and the NCAA Division I Championships. Proud track parents Bob and Linda Heath, exemplifying the everything-at-once time of the year, watched younger son Elliott run the 1600m race at the state meet on Saturday morning in Klas Stadium and then, just after the Class AA session ended, caught elder son Garrett's NCAA 1500m race live on the big screen in the Klas Center -- with a few dozen lunching State Meet officials.

It's been the same wild time for us here at DtB. With all that's going on this time of year, it seems like someone has opened the running and track spigot wide open and our bucket is just barely big enough to catch everything.

In an effort to make sure we don't leave anything really important spilled on the ground, here's a miscellanea of items left over from the last few days ...

-- Ruby Radocaj finished 9th in the NCAA javelin ... we failed to note that in the NCAA news flashes during our State Meet coverage.

-- Heather Dorniden describes her PR, school-record, 3rd place NCAA 800m race, HERE.

-- John Millea, the crackerjack high school sports scribe for the Star-Tribune, produced his usual fine coverage from the State meet ... you can find it all HERE, but we especially recommend his description of the Class AA boys shot put, HERE.

-- From across the river, Bruce Brothers described the Class AA 3200 run well, HERE, for the Pioneer Press.

-- Also, since hearts as well as records get broken at State, you may want to read Andy Greder's Duluth News-Tribune story, HERE, about Grand Rapids hurdler Jessica Butler. You can watch her race, HERE.

-- If you're impressed by feats like an 82-year-old man throwing a discus 85 feet -- as former Hamline throws coach Dick Mulkern did at the USATF - Minnesota Masters Championship on Sunday -- check out THESE results.

-- Finally, some Minnesotans shined at the Prefontaine Classic yesterday. MSU-Mankato high jump star Jim Dilling placed 4th at 7-04 1/2, former Duluth East standout Kara Goucher ran 4:10.29 for 8th in the 1500m, and former Stillwater Pony Sean Graham ran 8:27.64 to finish 11th in the two-mile.