Here’s the latest in the aches, pains & eligibility departments
Alabama prep Trey Allen was struck by tibial stress syndrome—brought on by dunking a basketball—in the days before he won the New Balance high jump.
Kemoy Campbell, whose collapse in the Millrose 3000 stunned the running world, now has a defibrillator implant and is working through a recovery program. In 6 months the Jamaican’s doctors will decide whether his health is stable enough to allow a return to competitive running. “If I end up running again, I think I would go straight to the marathon,” he says.
Texas Tech’s frosh sprint star KeSean Carter, Texas Tech’s did not start the Big 12 dash final because of a hamstring injury.
Multi-eventer Payton Chadwick did yeoman duty for Arkansas at the NCAA Indoor despite putting a deep one-inch gash in her knee in a clash with a hurdle on Friday. It had to be glued shut before she could return to the field.
NCAA troubles for USC hurdler Anna Cockrell started when her hamstring tightened up in the prelims. She was unable to compete in the final, and was thus ineligible for her normal 4×4 leg. “We decided not to chance her getting injured and jeopardizing her outdoor season,” said coach Caryl Smith Gilbert.
Prep vault star Chloe Cunliffe rehabbed from a wrist injury for much of the indoor season.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce says her training has been going great and she expects to be at full strength in ’19. The 2-time Olympic dash winner sat out ’17 for childbirth and last season had a best of 10.98.
Lisa Gunnarsson, LSU’s star Swedish pole vaulter, had to withdraw from the NCAA because of a stress reaction in a foot.
Allie Kiefer has withdrawn from the London Marathon and her other spring road races with an unspecified injury.
Florida State sprinter Jayla Kirkland had to withdraw from the ACC because of injury, but she managed to compete at NCAAs.
The Big 12’s 400 runner-up, Sara Limp of Texas Tech, missed the NCAA with hamstring troubles.
After taking 3rd in the NCAA 400, Baylor’s Wil London was pulled from the 4×4 at the last minute because a hamstring was bothering him.
Kate Murphy, the prep distance sensation who had to take a medical retirement from her NCAA career at Oregon—before she ever ran a race as a Duck—is training for a comeback. She has been troubled in recent years by popliteal artery entrapment syndrome.
An Achilles injury has forced ’12 Olympic hurdle champ Sally Pearson to delay her return to competition.
Texas Tech’s Jah-Nhai Perinchief, the Big 12 runner-up in both the high jump and triple jump, had to withdraw from the NCAA after straining his hamstring in the HJ warmups.
Luke Puskedra has retired from running at the age of 29. The 2:10:24 marathoner—4th in the ’16 OT race—says he has started a career in real estate. He had track bests of 13:31.88 & 27:56.62.
Another setback for vaulter Sandi Morris, whose recovery from fall ankle surgery was going well. This time it was surgery for an ingrown toenail. She says she will begin her outdoor season in April.
A 3-time NCAA steeple champ for UTEP, Anthony Rotich is now an American citizen. It is unclear how long it will take for the IAAF to grant the 27-year-old Army Reservist eligibility to represent the U.S., though Rotich is confident it will happen before the ’20 season. The former Kenyan’s steeple best of 8:21.19 dates back to ’13.
Dafne Schippers came close to pulling out of the Euro Indoors after falling down the stairs in her house a week before the meet.
A new kind of offense? Guowei Zhang, the ’15 WC silver medalist in the high jump, has been suspended by the Chinese federation for “commercial activities”—he attended two events without permission. □