NCAA Championsip Meet Review

What a weekend. It seems as though Oregon University should be the host of the NCAA Championship meet every year, great atmosphere and phenomenal performances all weekend. Instead of my normal way of reviewing Championship meets I am only going to focus on the team race and the best individual performances.


Men's Review

The Men's team race definitely lived up to the hype. For the second year in the row it came down to the very last event. Unfortunately for me my favorite track team the Florida Gators were on the losing side yet again. The 4x400 relay which was absent Christian Taylor who was still competing in the long jump had a fantastic anchor leg from senior Calvin Smith who anchored a 43.69 split. Unfortunately without Taylor the Gators finished third clocking in 3:01.87 while the eventual champions Texas A&M clocked in at 3:00.89. It seems as though Pat Henry's squad was just too much for Gators although the Aggies won by one point keep in mind they did that without the 4x100 relay for the second year in a row.

The Gators had great individual performances from Christian Taylor who won the Men's Triple Jump leaping to 56-10 almost three full feet better than 2nd place. Jeff Demps was able to run sub 10 with a 9.95 performance with a slight headwind that would still make his performance a sub 10 second run.

Ashton Eaton was unable to break the Men's Decathlon NCAA record but still put on a great performance in the event scoring a total of 8,457 points. Eaton did have some bad luck in the men's long jump by not making it to the finals.

The long jump was the final and most watched event, Gators only needed for Christian Taylor to finish 2nd to win it although he was predicted to win the event. Unfortunately Taylor was only able to finish 4th. The Aggies depth in the sprints and jumps was too much to overcome for the Gators.

The two most surprising performances came from Andrew Riley of Illinois and Rondel Sorillo of Kentucky. In the men's 110 meter hurdles Ronnie Ash was a virtual lock with his solid performances all season long, however in the finals Riley went toe to toe with Ash and was too much coming off the final hurdle to win in 13.45. Sorillo was facing the same challenge, Curtis Mitchell had dominated the men's 200 since January of this season, in the finals Mitchell who is a slow starting sprinter could not overcome Sorillo who had a solid start and a even better finish.
In the end Mitchell's 2nd place 8 point finish was enough for the Aggies.

One of the most amazing performances however did not come from the Aggies or the Gators, however it came from the hometown Oregon Ducks senior Andrew Wheating who became the 4th man ever to win the 800 and 1,500 double. Wheating clocked in at 1:45.69 to beat freshman Robby Andrews of Virginia. Wheating also led 1-2-3 finish in the men's mile with a time of 3:47.94.


Women

The Women of A&M were also able to defend their NCAA title with a stunning performance on the track scoring 72 points, 20 points ahead of 2nd place Oregon. The Aggies performed like all the great Pat Henry coached teams, with phenomenal sprints, hurdles, jumps and relays. Porscha Lucas and Jeneba Tarmoh led the way for the Aggies. Lucas was able to defend her national title clockin in 22.82 while Tarmoh finished 2nd. Lucas was 2nd a day earlier in the women's 100 to Blessing Okagbare who clocked in at 10.98. Tarmoh finished 3rd in the women's 100.

In the 4x100 relay the Aggies were without star Gabby Mayo however Jessica Beard was able to anchor well for the Aggies who won the event in a time 42.81. Beard was joined by Lucas, Tarmoh and Dominique Duncan. Beard was also able to provide 8 big points in the women's 400 finishing 2nd behind Francena McCrory who won in 50.69, not the sub 50 performance she was expected to do.

The Ducks had some amazing individual performances most notably Brianne Theisen was able to win the women's heptathlon in 6,094 points. Freshman star Jordan Hasay finished 3rd in the women's mile clocking in at 4:16.43 while indoor champion Charlotte Browning won the event in 4:15.84 to keep the Gators in the team hunt. Mariam Kevkhishvili was another expected champion for Florida defending her national title with a throw of 59-5.

Lisa Koll was able to double in the two longest races of the meet the, 5,000 meter run and 10,000 meter run. Koll a senior for Iowa State looks to have bright future in long distance running.

*****

Now that the college season is over, our future posts will focus on professional and amateur athletics during this summer season.