For meet credentials, the NCAA directs all reporters who will be covering the 2009 Men's and Women's Cross Country National Championship meet at Terre Haute to contact Mike Williams at Indiana State University, at mwilliams73@isugw.indstate.edu.

Terre Haute will be the host site for the national championships for the seventh time. Indiana St. hosted its first championship in 2002, and then from 2004 to the present.

A note from President Ron Bellamy in Eugene: 

As an organization, I believe that TAFWA accomplished something this year, in the improvement of our Web site into something that can grow and evolve with us in the future.  While there will  be inevitable things to get used to in such a transformation, I believe that it's necessary for our viability.

Some things I propose we address before the end of the year:

1. We currently do not have a vice president. My term runs through the end of 2009; I propose that we form a nominating committee to come up with a candidate who could be elected by acclaim to serve as VP in the coming year, and be ready to take over at the end of next year. If you are interested in serving on such a committee, have ideas about such a committee, or wish to nominate someone for this position, please let me know by emailing me at ron.bellamy@registerguard.com .

2. I would like us to create two new TAFWA awards for 2009, to cover work done in 2008: An award for photography, and an award for excellence in blogging and Web coverage. I would like input from members on what the criteria would be: submit five photos, for example? Submit five links for Web coverage and blogging? Please give me some suggestions.

3. The USATF outdoor meet is at Hayward Field next June. I'll attempt to find out how closely the media arrangements and mixed-zone access will mirror the Olympic Trials or whether it will be a scaled-down situation. I'll communicate that in a future posting.

-- Ron

As cross country season begins, the USTFCCCA has gathered preseason national rankings from its member coaches.  They've once again divvied them up by region.  You can view in full the coaches' association poll by visiting the organization's site. 

Michigan, Georgetown, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Iona, Alabama, Texas, NC State and Oregon were the top vote-getters on the men's side for their respective regions.  On the women's side, Michigan State, Princeton, Minnesota, Colorado State, Providence, Florida State, Arkansas, Duke, Oregon were at the top of their regions.
 

TAFWA President Ron Bellamy has called for any feedback from journalists who covered the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene.   He is hoping to receive any opinions about the experience so as to improve the media conditions for future coverage from Hayward Field (most notably, the USATF meet will be held there in 2009 and 2011, and the Trials coming back to Eugene in 2012). 

To that end, Ron has started a discussion thread in the "discussion" section of the web site, which is password-protected for TAFWA members.  (For those looking to become members, please click on the "membership" tab above.)  Please remember that you have to be logged into your TAFWA account to view the appropriate discusion thread, titled "Note from TAFWA President:  Feedback from Eugene. "

"From my experience, a lot of what was provided was first-rate, not simply in comparison with other track and field championships, but with media treatment in other sports, such as the NBA finals or NCAA Final Four," Ron writes to the membership.  "The media work tent, the media food, the mixed-zone access all were better than I've seen.  It was good that Oregon set up the temporary staircase linking press row and the interview tent."

Ron also mentions a few areas of possible improvement -- to participate in the discussion thread that will be used to improve the experience for coming events in "Tracktown, U.S.A.," please log on the discussion page and click on the forum titled "Note from TAFWA President:  Feedback from Eugene. "

Another related note from the president:  those of you going to Beijing, please share that on the discussion board as well.   It might be good for members to know who'll be joining them for the Olympics, as not everyone who covered the Trials will be heading east in August.

 

John Meyer of the Denver Post received the organization's highest honor last week when he was awarded the Jesse Abramson Award for excellence in track and field writing.  The presentation of the honor was made during the annual TAFWA breakfast that was held in Eugene before Monday's session of the Olympic Trials.  Kudos go out to Nike and John Capriotti for sponsoring the event, which was well attended by journalists and those working the meet.

Also during the reception, it was announced that multi-events expert Frank Zarnowski will receive the FAST award for service in statistics.

Special guests at the breakfast were Bubba Thornton, U.S. men’s Olympic coach, courtesy of Jill Geer, USATF director of communications; Vin Lananna, director of track and field at the University of Oregon and co-chair of Eugene 08; and the three women who ran their way on to the U.S. Olympic team in the 100 meters: Muna Lee, Torri Edwards and Lauryn Williams. 

For those who'll be filing stories from Beijing next month:  the Foreign Correspondents Club of China has created the Reporters' Guide to China during the run-up to the Olympics.  The document is based on input from experienced China-based journalists to help foreign media work more effectively and anticipate some of the challenges involved in reporting from China.

The publication includes summaries of the reporting environment in the country, as well as info about helpful resources including government contacts, local assistants in-country, travel tips while in China, and other tips for novitiates to the country.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China represents the interests of the foreign news media in Beijing to the Chinese authorities and has working relations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Council, BOCOG, the Beijing municipal government, foreign governments and the IOC on various issues.

The NGO Human Rights Watch has also published a pocket guide for reporters planning to travel to China to cover the Olympics. It has been produced with the support of the Committee to Protect Journalists, and it gives advice to journalists on how to report in a largely closed country.  The handbook covers a number of key issues including risks and rights, safety tips, and details about Internet surveillance in China.

With the U.S. Olympic Trials only days away in Eugene, the pre-event coverage is starting to ramp up. A number of TAFWA members have already been providing blanket coverage of the prep leading up to the Olympic Trials and all news Eugene.

Being the host site and having a site purely dedicated to track & field, the Eugene Register-Guard is a good place to start. Members Curtis Anderson and Ron Bellamy have been providing thorough ongoing coverage at "Road to Eugene '08"

Member Elliott Almond of the San Jose Mercury-News has been on top of track news in his Olympic blog, "Inside the Rings."

Member Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune has his own pre- Olympic coverage updated reguarly at his site, "Globetrotting: a Worldly View of Sports."

Member Ken Stone has been keeping up his blog, "Masters News & Views," and will be adding updated coverage of action from Hayward Field through the Olympic Trials.

And members Scott Bush and David Woods likewise have their own sites that will be updated throughout. Be sure to bookmark some of these sites as the anticipation for Eugene '08 heats up.

Veteran track & field writer and longtime TAFWA member David Campbell has retired from the profession, which included 40 years as sports editor of the Waco Tribune-Herald. Upon retiring from that post 15 years ago, Dave became editor-in-chief of the Baylor Bear Insider, but he has "put down his pen" upon the conclusion of this school year. The Waco Tribune-Herald had this glowing profile http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/06/08/06082008wac... of Dave and his career in journalism. He served as a mentor to many in the profession, and his list of proteges "includes John McClain and David Barron of the Houston Chronicle, award-winning columnist and author David Casstevens and Hollis Biddle, who retired last fall after 55 years at the Trib," the Tribune-Herald reports. “He was all of ours’ idol. And at some point, we all tried to write like him,” said McClain, who worked at the Trib from 1973-76. “He’d write something like ‘terrible swift swords,’ that sounded like poetry. But it would look so bad when we wrote it.” “I felt like I moved into heaven right then,” Biddle said of his move from the news desk to the sports department in 1954. “Of course, trying to gain any information or knowledge you can of the game, the first guy you look and follow is Dave Campbell. What a mind. He’s never forgotten anything since 1942.”

The nation's track & field journalism community had a chance to gather at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field national championships in Des Moines this week, as TAFWA hosted its annual breakfast meeting for journalists in conjunction with the final collegiate meet of the season. Journalists from several U.S. papers, magazines, and newswires descended upon Des Moines and reported on the several days of activity. Breakfast was served while athletes and Division I coaches participated in a panel discussion on the ongoing championship meet and the current status of the sport. Members James Dunaway of Austin, Tex., and Mike Mahon of Drake University took the laboring oars with staging this event.