Published Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Goodman more than meets the eye at Junior Outdoors
The Newnan Times-Herald
Think it was a good weekend for Transformers? Well, on the big scene rather than the big screen, Chalonda Goodman was ready to change her identity from a prep-level to collegiate track superstar following last weekend's 2009 USA Track and Field Junior Outdoor Championships.
Competing in the heart of Nike country in Eugene, Ore., in front a crowd including sneaker maven Phil Knight, the Newnan standout made headlines for the second-straight weekend with impressive victories in the 100 and 200 at the USATF Outdoors.
In a pair of times that both earned her a place on the U.S. Junior National team for the upcoming Pan American Championships -- as well as dwarfed impressive times at the Nike Outdoor Nationals -- Goodman added another double victory in as many weeks.
She blazed to a victory Friday in the 100 meters with a personal-best time of 11.19 seconds with a slight tailwind, competing among a group of incoming collegiate freshmen and rising sophomores. Goodman then followed that effort up on Saturday with a winning time of 22.74 in the 200.
Though wind in both events prevented Goodman from earning meet records, the victories may have made an immediate statement for the incoming University of Texas freshman's future goals. Already in two events this summer, Goodman has dropped her state-winning prep times into new territory. Over the last two weekends, both on a national stage, she lowered her season-best 100 time to 11.30 with a meet-record time at the Nike Outdoors and then ran as low as 11.16 during Friday's preliminaries at the USATF Outdoors.
"I felt great. I'm so excited right now.," said Goodman. "This is unbelievable. I'm just so excited to make the Junior team."
Goodman now awaits a trip to the Pan Am Junior World Championships to be held at Port of Spain, Trinidad from July 31-Aug 2. It is possible, however, that the games could be canceled due to the H1N1 virus that has become better known in the public eye as swine flu. Three other major events in Trinidad and Tobago scheduled for next month have already been canceled due to the increase in H1N1 cases.
Harold Goodman, Chalonda's father and coach, said that she still may attend one more upcoming meet, the RISE Magazine Invitationals to be held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
"We'll see how she feels in the next week or so," he said.
Last weekend, Chalonda seemed just fine despite missing an opportunity to receive a regular adjustment from her regular doctor, who out of town at a meet with a group of athletes from the Bahamas.
In between events at the trainers tent, one doctor measured a 1/2 inch difference in the length of Goodman's legs
"Her right leg was actually a half-inch shorter than her left and her hips were out of adjustment. So we don't know what she might have run if we had had the adjustment (last) week," said Harold Goodman.
Regardless, Chalonda lowered both her season highs at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. In the 100, her time of 11.19 put her well ahead of Oregon freshman Amber Purvis (11.42) and California prep standout Jessica Davis (11.49). Goodman's preliminary and final times both challenged meet records of 11.11, though tailwinds would have prevented a new mark.
More importantly, Goodman's personal best in the 100 brought her even closer to an A-level qualifying mark for the Summer Olympics. The 'A' mark to earn an automatic berth in the U.S. Olympic trials was most recently at 11.13 in the 100 and 22.8 in the 200.
The latter is well in reach after last weekend's impressive effort of 22.74 with a 2.4-measured tailwind, much less than a 6.8 from the 100, but still too large to be eligible to eclipse Marion Jones' 1992 meet-record of 22.94.
Goodman's time dominated a field including second-place finisher Dominique Duncan, a sophomore at rival Texas A&M, who crossed in 23.18.
"I really had to focus on getting out, because I was in lane three. I had to pick up the stagger in the race," said Chalonda. "That was mainly my focus at the beginning of the race. My momentum carried me off the turn and then I was able to finish strong."
