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Pro Track and Field Buffs- 2018 outdoor season news and highlights

AztecBuff

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With there being many #ForeverBuffs pro track and field stars (lead by Olympic medalists and past world champions Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn) active, I have been planning on starting this thread so we can note and comment on any news from the Pro Buffs during this outdoor season. (Assume THE highlighted races and events this season the elite runners will be pointing to will be the Diamond League Championships, which look to be scheduled for the end of August.)

I am starting this now because Jenny Simpson (maybe the greatest U.S. Championship race distance runner of either gender in the modern era***) has started off the season STRONG by setting an American record in the 2 mile run. (This isn't a world standard distance, so isn't run that often compared to others, but a record is a record, especially this early in a season!)

CONGRATS TO HER!


(And props to #ForeverBuff (and still Wetmore/ Burroughs coached teammate) Shalaya Kipp for the pacing.)

Amateur Youtube video of the race -


***For those who don't follow that closely- in addition to her high profile bronze in the 1500M in the last Olympics, Ms. Simpson has been EXTREMELY strong and consistent in the World Championships (these are considered at least (if not more) prestigious to track fans than the Olympics), where she has earned a gold and two silvers over the years. (Believe the only time she hasn't medalled in her last 4 World Championships was when she was "flat-tired" and lost a shoe during the 2015 Championships race.)

Note- This is the one of every four years where there is neither an Olympics or World Championships (which are run every other year) held. Therefore, this is often when runners (1) concentrate a little more on earning record times- either U.S, world or personal bests) than winning races (although I'm sure for the likes of Ms,'s. Simpson and Coburn a Diamond League Championship might still be a/ the major goal for the year) and (2) will run other distances than their specialties.
 
Jenny was born in Webster City, Iowa. Congrats #ForeverBuff Jenny Simpson

From today's Des Moines Register

Simpson set an American record in the 2-mile run as the crowd, which has shared so many thrills along with her at Drake Stadium, pushed her toward the finish with a standing ovation.
"It feels like these people have been on a journey with me," said Simpson, who was born in Webster City and has won all 11 of her Drake races. "I felt a story here and the fans are a big part of it."
Click to expand...

Simpson — a three-time Olympian and 2016 bronze medalist in the steeplechase — has, in a sense, grown up on the Blue Oval.

She won three steeplechase titles while in college at Colorado. She has won the 1,500 six times, the 5,000 once and the 2-mile run for the first time (it was the first time it was contested at Drake).
Click to expand...
 
Jenny Simpson is racing again, again going longer (a 3K) than her normal 1500M, in a couple days in Doha, Qatar. With Ms. Simpson obviously in good early season form after her Drake race, be interesting to see how she fares, especially against the elite competition toeing the line Friday. Among other things, it will be interesting to see is she can get close to breaking the OLD American record (8:25.83), still held by former Buff Mary Decker Slaney, who set the mark back in 1985 (per https://www.usatf.org/statistics/records/view.asp?division=american&location=outdoor track & field&age=open&sport=TF).

Per http://www.letsrun.com/news/2018/04/tv-streaming-information-2018-doha-diamond-league/, sounds like it's being televised on the "Olympic Channel" live, with overall action starting at 10:00 AM MT, with the 3K looking to be the last event scheduled. (Schedule, list of entrants, and live results (when available) for the Doha meet can be found at https://doha.diamondleague.com/programme-results-doha/ .)



_______________________________________________________________________________________

Also, wanted to note another #Foreverbuff, Sara Vaughn, who was a major story at last year's U.S. Championships when she impressively made her 1st major National Championship team at 31 when she finished 3rd as an un-sponsored athlete, while also being a realtor and mom of three, is racing in her main distance (the 1500M) for the 1st time this outdoor season. She's in the list of entries in the invitational Section (Section 1) at tomorrow's Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational. Live results for that meet should be available through https://trackmeet.io/meets/1029 when the races start, with Ms. Vaughn's race scheduled to start at, I believe, 10:10 PM MT.
(This meet as also being on the current Buffs' schedule, but I can't see anyone entered who's on the current team.)
 
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Jenny Simpson recently finished her race in Doha, and finishes a close-looking 4th place against a world class field. Looks like it could develop into a great year for her.


And, congrats to Sara Vaughn for getting the win at Stanford yesterday evening.

 
For anyone planning on going out to watch the Bolder Boulder Pro races this year, be sure to give a little extra cheer to Buff great*** Shalaya Kipp, who looks to be running in it this year.



(***Ms. Kipp (http://cubuffs.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=240), who last competed for the Buffs in 2014, was, among MANY things, an NCAA champion and Olympian in the steeplechase, and I believe remains the only Buff woman ever to be a 4-time All-American in cross country. She is still at the University as a Professional Research Asst. in the Integrative Physiology Dept.)
 
Wanted to mention the #1 annual international U.S. track meet, the Prefontaine Classic, is being held this evening and tomorrow.

For Buffs-
1) Current (junior year) Buff Dani Jones, who is redshirting this outdoor track season, and ForeverBuff Sarah Vaughn, are running in the "National 1500 meter" this evening, with the race scheduled to start 7:42 PM PT/ 8:42 PM PT this evening.

2) Then, Jenny Simpson is racing in the main "Diamond League" meet 1500 meters tomorrow, with the start of her race scheduled for 1:50 PM PT/ 2:50 PM MT.

Video-
TV - No coverage for today. Tomorrow's Diamond League portion of the meet is on NBC from 2:00 - 4:00 PM MT.
Streaming - Friday and Saturday are available for those with NBC Sports Gold subscription at https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2018/05/23/prefontaine-classic-tv-broadcast-streaming-schedule/ .

Live results - https://eugene.diamondleague.com/program-results-eugene/
 
Wow- looks like a great race by Buff (redshirting) junior Dani Jones. In I believe her 1st outdoor race of the season, she wins against a field made up mainly of pro runners, running what I believe is a PR for her of 4:07.74 (http://flashresults.com/2018_Meets/Outdoor/05-25_PrefontaineClassic/004-1-01.htm). (As reference, the top women's collegiate 1500M time by ANY D1 runner showing up so far this season is over 2 seconds slower (4:10.03) than what Ms. Jones just ran (per https://www.tfrrs.org/lists/2279.html#13.)

 
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With Jenny Simpson ready to tow the line in the elite race of the Prefontaine Classic in about 6 hours, some more coverage below on Dani Jones' win.
(Note- forgot to mention earlier a/ the BIG part of Ms. Jones' effort is that her time easily qualifies her for this year's U.S. National Championships. Per http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2018/USATF-Outdoor-Championships/Qualifying-Standards.aspx, the qualifying standard is 4:11,which Ms. Jones easily obtained yesterday.)

Portion of a cubuffs.com article addressing her performance - http://cubuffs.com/news/2018/5/26/track-and-field-cu-has-successful-second-day-in-sacramento.aspx
"
By: Rosie Jeffery, Interim SID Assistant
Release: May 25, 2018

Colorado advanced three more athletes in the preliminaries, Dani Jones advances to nationals in the women's 1,500
...

Jones finished with an impressive time of 4:07.74 at the Prefontaine Classic, and assistant coach Heather Burroughs was there to witness it.

"Dani was the only collegian in this race. All the others are professional runners," Burroughs said, "We are grateful the meet director gave her a chance to be here and really excited that she won it. She made a decisive move to the lead with 400 to go and ran away from a very talented field. This race qualifies her for the USA Nationals in June where she'll have the chance to race many of these women again."

"Tonight was a good night. I don't think the time reflects my fitness, but I'm proud of the race I ran and the confidence I had," Jones said of her race tonight, "My coaches and my teammates have been wonderful these past couple months, along with Jenny Simpson and the rest of the pros. I couldn't ask for a better group. I'm thankful for the meet directors at pre as well, for giving me a chance to race at such a great event."
...
"
________________________________________________________________________________________

A general Flotrack article on yesterday's Prefontaine action that features her performance - https://www.flotrack.org/articles/6205670-collegian-jones-upsets-pros-at-pre-classic-national-1500

"
Collegian Jones Upsets Pros At Pre Classic National 1500

May 26, 2018
Kevin Sully

EUGENE, OREGON (25-May) -- On a chilly evening here at historic Hayward Field, University of Colorado redshirt junior Dani Jones beat back the collective challenge of 14 professional women to win the national section of the 1500m on the first day of the two-day Prefontaine Classic, the third stop of the 2018 IAAF Diamond League.

Jones, 21, who was second at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in the mile back in March, ran tucked in the pack, trying to avoid some of the pushing, shoving and spiking that knocked two contenders, Sara Vaughn and Emily Lipari, out of the race and left another athlete, Ce'Aira Brown, bleeding badly just above her left Achilles. Jones took the lead at the bell from Cory McGee and Lauren Johnson, built a small cushion on the backstretch, then pulled away from her closest rivals on the strength of a 64-flat final circuit to win by a full second in a career best 4:07.74. Alexa Efraimson finished second with a strong stretch run in 4:08.70, while Cory McGee held on for third in 4:09.09. Johnson faded to seventh in 4:11.55.
...
"
____________________________________________________________________________________

Video interview with her-


(Definitely showing a LOT of Buff pride, as she said one of the reasons she's redshirting this year is so she can still wear the Buff uniform at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials.)
 
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In what doesn't happen often, Buff great Jenny Simpson gets out-kicked by a fellow American (ASU grad Shelby Houlihan) after taking the lead for at minimum the last lap of the Diamond League 1500M, and ends up in 3rd. Still solid sub 4 minute times for the top 4, so I assume she won't be too concerned with the loss. (Dani Jones came back to be a pace setter for this one, and seemed to do a good job.)
 
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#ForeverBuff Emma Coburn is running (I believe) her 1st steeplechase race (her specialty) of the year at the Rome Diamond League meet being held tomorrow. Per a few things of note:

 
#ForeverBuff and current steeplechase World Champ Emma Coburn is running her 1st steeple race of the year tomorrow at the big Rome Diamond League Meet. A few things I could find for those interested:

 
#ForeverBuff Emma Coburn is racing in a few hours in the Oslo Diamond League 3000M steeplechase. TV Coverage looks to be on NBC Sports Network, with her race scheduled to start 12:20 PM Mountain time.






Diamond League article - https://oslo.diamondleague.com/en/n...il/News/meeting-record-the-target-for-coburn/
(From that, a couple potential times she might have aspirations on beating (if of course it turns out to be a fast rather than tactical race.) - Meet record - 9:07.14; Her current U.S. record - 9:02.58 . As noted in an earlier post, she was able to run 9:08.13 in her 1st steeplechase of the year ~ one week ago in spite of having a pretty major stumble after the water jump on the last lap.)

Live schedule/ results - https://oslo.diamondleague.com/en/programme-results/programme-2018/
 
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Emma Coburn gets 2nd in the Oslo steeple by .07 seconds, as her final straight charge finishes JUST short. Her time (9:09.70) probably wasn't quite what she was looking for, but this race has to have a BIG *, as the organizers evidently screwed up and, for at minimum the 1st 2-3 laps, had one of the barriers at the men's height rather than the women's.
(Ms. Coburn looked to be the 1st to notice the barrier issue and motioned back immediately after jumping it the 1st time (???) that there was a problem. She was able to hurdle it without too much apparent problem, but assume it had to cost her at minimum a little time. At least a couple of the women didn't even attempt to jump that barrier the 1st time they came up to it, which cost them MANY valuable seconds, including a fellow American and last year's World Champ silver medalist, who was able to rally some to finish 4th.)
 
A couple more meets with Buffs in action this weekend:

  • #ForeverBuff great Jenny Simpson is entered in Sunday's Stockholm Diamond League 1500M. Coverage on NBC Sports Network is scheduled to start at 8:00 AM MT. Per the schedule (also with live results - https://stockholm.diamondleague.com/en/lists-results-stockholm/), the women's 1500M race is the last one of the meet, and, if I''m converting the time correctly, scheduled to start at 9:51 AM MT.
  • And, it looks like there's a small herd of both current and alum Buffs at the Portland Track Festival, being competed this Saturday and Sunday at Fort Lewis College. (From the schedule, all the Buffs will be in Sunday races.) Looks like the Buffs Just quickly going down the entries list . Just from quickly eyeballing the PRELIMINARY entries list, Buff names familiar to me include -
Current Buff students (in order of race start time) -
Nathan Pixler (Men's 800M High Performance (Section 7 of 7, 4:35 PM MT))
Annie Hill (Incoming freshman Buff- Women's 1500M High Performance (Section 4 of 4, 5:00 PM MT))
Lucy May (Women's 1500M High Performance (Section 3 of 4, 7:35 PM MT)- Believe Ms. May is now technically a Buff grad, but still shows with a Colorado affiliation, and assume gets to wear the Colorado uniform for this race.)
Sage Hurta (Women's 1,500M High Performance (Section 2 of 4, 7:45 PM MT))
Dani Jones (1500M High Performance (Section 1 of 4, 7:55 PM MT))
Joseph (Joe) Klecker (Men's 5000M High Performance (Section 1 of 2, 9:30 PM MT). Believe he redshirted both indoor and outdoor track this year, so this might (???) be his 1st race of the year.)

Alums (in order of race start time) -
EDIT- Martin Medina (Open 5000M, Section 1 of 2, Saturday, 8:10 PM MT or 8:30 PM MT. Finished in 5th place (out of 37 finishers).)
Nick Harris (Men's 1500M High Performance (Section 4 of 7, 5:40 PM MT))
Maddie Alm (Women's 1500M High Performance (Section 3 of 4, 7:35 PM MT))
Sara Sutherland (Women's 1500M High Performance (Section 2 of 4, 7:45 PM MT))
Sarah Vaughn (Women's 800M High Performance, Women's 1500M High Performance (Section 1 of 4, 7:55 PM MT))

More Festival Info -
Homepage - http://www.portlandtrack.com/ptf/

Schedule - http://www.portlandtrack.com/schedule

Start lists / Heat Sheets (Listing who's running in which section of their distance race.) - https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...528612825097/PTF+Sunday+HP+Heats+-+Update.pdf

Video of the Festival is only available for those who have a Flotrack premium subscription.

Edit- Live Results - https://live.athletictiming.net/meets/855
 
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Not quite in line with the thread title (they're not pros), but still wanted to mention it looks like a few incoming Buffs are racing in one of the big annual high school age meets, the Brooks PR Invitational, this evening in Seattle. In order of their race time (converted from PT to MT) -
  • Alex Scales in the Boy's 800M run- 7:05 PM MT start
  • Annie Hill (Also racing at the above-noted Portland Track Festival on Sunday) in the Girl's mile - 7:35 PM MT start
  • Gabe Fendel in the Boy's mile - 7:45 PM MT start
Webpage with free live stream, schedule and full list of entries-
http://brooks-pr-invitational.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=5619&do=videos&video_id=245278
 
Jenny Simpson ended up 4th in today's Stockholm Diamond League 1500M race. Sounds like she may not have met her expectations for the race, but still earned some more Diamond League points to help her qualify for the Finals (at the end of August). And, she finished in just over 4:00, so her time was solid if not spectacular.


_______________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the Start Lists for the Portland Track Festival has been posted, so I added a link to those in post #20, as well as listing out when the various Buffs (past and present) are scheduled to race (all times hopefully converted to Mountain time).
 
Maybe the biggest weekend to date for many of the track Buffs (especially the pros), as the 2018 U.S. (USATF) Track and Field Championships run from this Thursday through Sunday at Drake Stadium.

(Note - this is the one year in four where there's neither a World Championships or Olympics, so this championships may not have the luster of other years. Per a Flotrack article (https://www.flotrack.org/articles/6...eview-all-the-big-names-will-be-in-des-moines), it does say "... the individual champion does earn a spot for the inaugural Athletics World Cup in London.".)

Eyeballing the list of entries (see below for link), there are many current and #ForeverBuffs racing that I can see. (Sorry in advance if I missed anyone.) -
Athletes ((C)urrent, (A)lum); (Time of races (converted to MT))-

Women's 3000M Steeplechase (1st round- Thursday, 12:50 PM MT; Finals- Saturday- 2:20 PM MT)
Emma Coburn (A)
Shalaya Kipp (A)
Sage Hurta (C)

Women's 1500M (1st round- Thursday, 2:35 PM MT; Finals- Saturday- 2:46 PM MT)
Jenny Simpson (A)
Sara Vaughn (A)
Danielle Jones (C)
Sara Sutherland (A)

Women's 5000M (Finals (only) - Sunday, 2:22 PM MT)
Sara Sutherland (A)
Erin Clark (C)

Men's 5000M (Finals (only) - Sunday, 3:30 PM MT)
Joe Klecker (C)

_____________________________________________________________

Various event links and other info -
Event homepage - http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2018/USATF-Outdoor-Championships.aspx

Schedule - http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2018/USATF-Outdoor-Championships/Schedule.aspx

List of entries - https://www.flotrack.org/events/6180307-2018-usatf-outdoor-championships/entries

Heat Sheets/ Start lists - (6/21 edit- link now available) - https://www.usatf.org/usatf/files/8f/8fe29306-5bb6-4346-95fe-0a5b19122fdb.pdf

Live video coverage - See http://usatfoutdoor.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=49&do=news&news_id=536839 for full schedule.
(In general, looks like a NBC Sports Gold subscription will enable very good coverage. It "will carry live track AND field event feeds. The dedicated feeds will be commercial free."

Otherwise, TV coverage is-
"
TV Broadcast Schedule. Times Eastern USA (Converted to Mountain time)
Friday 6/21 11:00pm - 1:00am NBCSN Tape Delayed (9:00 PM - 11:00 PM MT)
Saturday 6/22 4:00pm - 6:00pm NBC Live (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM MT)
Sunday 6/23 4:00pm - 6:00pm NBC Live (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM MT)
"

Live Results (edited 6/20) - https://results.usatf.org/2018Outdoors/ (Secondary option if 1st isn't working for some reason - http://usatfoutdoor.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?do=info&event_id=49 )
 
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cubuffs.com article previewing the U.S. Championships action, which for the Buffs begins today at 12:50 PM MT with women's steeplechase*** preliminaries, followed by the women's 1500M prelims*** at 2:35 PM MT - https://cubuffs.com/news/2018/6/20/...-compete-at-usatf-nationals-this-weekend.aspx

Good luck to the 7 runners/ racers starting their championships today!

"
Buffs to Compete at USATF Nationals This Weekend

By: Rosie Jeffery, Interim SID Assistant
Release: June 20, 2018

BOULDER – A small contingent of current and former University of Colorado track and field athletes are heading to Des Moines, Iowa, for the USA Track and Field (USATF) Outdoor Championships this week.

The competition begins on Thursday, June 21, and will continue through Sunday, June 24. Three women and one man will represent the current CU athletes, and four former female Buffs will also compete.

Current Pac-12 steeplechase champion Sage Hurta will be competing in that event this week. "Sage had a really great season until the NCAA preliminary round; it was a big disappointment for her, she didn't want to stop there," CU head coach Mark Wetmore said. "We figured she would get into one of three different events for Des Moines; she chose the steeplechase, and we will be trying to jump back on the horse that threw her."

Former Buffs Emma Coburn, the American record holder in the event, and Shalaya Kipp will also be racing in the steeplechase.

Dani Jones will race the women's 1,500. Although Jones redshirted this season, she competed in the prestigious Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., on May 25, winning the national section with a personal best time of 4:07.33.

"The importance of this meet is to once again go against women at the highest level in the United States, people who a year from now will be trying to get spots on the U.S. team for the world championship," Wetmore said. "The goal is to measure herself against them, find out what the race circumstances are when it's going along at a pace that she wouldn't experience at a college level, the physicality of it and the different level of confidence. She's putting her toe in the water of the big leagues."

Jones won't be the only runner in the event with CU ties as former Buffs Jenny Simpson, Sara Vaughn and Sara Sutherland will also be competing. Simpson is going for her sixth consecutive national championship in the event.

"Jenny has won a handful of these 1,500 national championships," Wetmore said. "She has won one at the steeplechase and the 5,000; I do not know if anybody else has ever done anything like that. This year there is a new excellent runner, or emerged excellent runner, Shelby Houlihan, from the Portland group, who beat Jenny in Eugene a month ago. So, can she defend her title? What do I expect from her? I expect she (Jenny) will be hard to beat, it will take a great race from anybody to beat her."

Erin Clark, who just exhausted her eligibility with the Buffs, will race in the 5k at the US Championships. "Erin ran the 10,000 and the 5,000 at the Pac-12s; then she did it again at the NCAA preliminary round and again at nationals," Wetmore said. "By the NCAA finals, she was as empty as you could be. Maybe we have filled her up a little since then, so we will see."

Joe Klecker is the lone male who will represent CU and will also compete in the 5k. Klecker did not race for the Buffs during the NCAA season, but ran once during the spring to prepare for the championships. "Joe is really well rested, his well is topped off, he has only run one race since cross country, he has no reason to go into this race feeling empty at all," Wetmore said.
...
"
____________________________________________________________________________________

***Per the now-released Start lists (https://www.usatf.org/usatf/files/8f/8fe29306-5bb6-4346-95fe-0a5b19122fdb.pdf), looks like:
  • All 3 Buffs (Coburn, Kipp and Hurta) are in heat 1 of 2 of the steeple. (Qualifying for Saturday's final will be "Top 5 (finishers in each heat) + next 4 fastest".)
  • In the women's 1500M prelims, Jones, Vaughn and Simpson are in heat 1 of 3, while Sutherland is in heat 2. (Qualifying for Saturday's final will be "Top 3 (finishers in each heat) + next 3 fastest.)
 
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Heat one of the steeple has started pretty fast, with Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp in a top 3 that already have ~3 seconds on 4th place after 3 laps. Sage Hurta in 8th in what looks like near the front of a 3rd group.
 
Ms's. Coburn and Kipp easily qualify for Saturday's steeple final, finishing 1st and 3rd, respectively in heat 1.

Ms. Hurta finishes in 9th, so won't be advancing, but obviously it's a nice year even qualifying for the Championships as a young (just finished her sophomore year) runner. (Like at NCAA Regionals, where she somewhat unexpectedly didn't qualify for Nationals, she was in the hunt late here for a qualifying spot, but seemed to lose gas late and finished a ways back (~8 seconds) from the last auto- qualifying spot for her heat.)
 
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Jenny Simpson wins heat 1, so easily auto-qualifies. Dani Jones finishes 6th, so is in the "bubble" time qualifying spot, and will have to have slow times the final 2 heats to be one of the 3 time qualifiers. (Her time (4:08.82) was within ~1-1/2 seconds of her PR in humid Des Moines, so a very good effort for a prelim..) Sara Vaughn took the lead at the start of the final lap, but faded and so has no chance to advance.
 
After being in 1st through 2 laps and in 2nd at the bell, Sara Sutherland fades to 6th in a slower heat 2 so won't qualify for the finals. Believe I heard Ms. Sutherland is coming back from injury. Best luck to her in the 5K Sunday.

Note- Because heat 2 was slow, Ms. Jones still in the final time qualifying spot with one heat to go. (The heat 2 WINNER was over 1-1/2 seconds slower than Ms. Jones.)
 
Looking good for Ms. Jones to qualify, as heat 3 is 8 seconds off her pace through the 700 meter mark.
 
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