(Ronnie Baker-TCU)
(NCAA 60 Meter Record Holder)
The Champions have been crowned. Another year and another successful
indoor season concluded. With this being an Olympic year it was my expectation
that this year would be one of the best in NCAA history, it certainly was.
There were a few eye popping NCAA records and new world number 1’s. In this
post I will try to recap the major performances from what was a truly special
meet.
SPRINTS
The men’s 60 meter dash was one of the best races of the
entire weekend. Defending Indoor Champion Ronnie Baker of TCU cemented himself
as the favorite to win after defeating John Teeters of Oklahoma State at the
Big 12 Conference Championship with a then world leading time of 6.51. In this
very race was young Cameron Burrell of Houston, son of the great former world
record holder Leroy Burrell who also had an impressive time coming in.
Burrell was the talk of the track world after he ran a new
world leading time of 6.50 in the preliminaries. Baker not to be dismayed lined
up and used an outstanding start to beat Burrell to the line. His time of 6.47
is a new NCAA record and the current world number 1. Burrell was a close 2nd
with a time of 6.48 that matched his father’s lifetime best.
In the women’s 60 meter dash Texas Teahna Daniels became the
fastest freshman in NCAA history. She claimed the NCAA title in the women’s 60
dash with a time of 7.11, placing in the all-time top 5 list for women
sprinters. She defeated Hannah Cunliffe of Oregon who previously ran an NCAA
leading time of 7.12 in the prelims. Daniels had a stellar high school career
and looks to continue to succeed at the NCAA level. Her time in the 60 meter dash is amongst the
fastest in the world this year.
Daniels saw her teammates due a Texas two step in the 400
meters. Zach Bilderback and Courtney Okolo both won the 400 meter dash for
their university. For Bilderback he became the first man to win for the
Longhorns and Okolo joined a long line of successful 400 runners for what can
be dubbed as “400 University”. Okolo’s winning time of 50.69 is amongst the
fastest in NCAA history and Bilderback won in a time of 46.03.
HURDLES
Cindy Ofili of Michigan entered this season as the
championship favorite to win it. She had an outstanding 2015 outdoor campaign
which saw her clock in at 12.60 to finish 2nd at the NCAA Outdoor
Championship. She didn’t disappoint early on in the season when she set a
personal best for the first time in 2 years in her first meet. She kept setting
personal best throughout the indoor season until she ran again at the Big 10
Indoor Championships where she would lose to conference foe Devyne Charlton.
Charlton also matched her then number 1 ranking. Her luck looked to have
seemingly ran out after her preliminary race where she finished 5th
in her heat and had to qualify on time due a misstep in her race. She put all
that behind her and set her blocks and blasted off to a personal and school
best time of 7.89 to win the NCAA title. Her time betters her sister’s school
record and places at number 9 all time in NCAA history.
Devon Allen of Oregon is another hurdler with a long story.
Allen’s story is due to injury with his other favorite sport football. He
injured himself in the previous season and had to sit out all last season for
track and field. His speed was slowing coming back during the football season
but the question remained would he return to hurdling or track and field in
general. Each week this season he has taken a step in that direction to getting
better. Allen caught everyone’s attention when ran a time of 7.60 to match the
number 1 mark in the country set by Jordan Moore of LSU. He then proved that he
is back to his 2014 NCAA Outdoor title winning ways when he beat Moore one on
one with a time of 7.56. Allen is certainly back and with outdoor season of
competition one can only wonder what Allen can do.
DISTANCE
With two less than interesting mile races, the 3k and 5k
turned out to be great spectacles on both men and women’s sides. Two stars
proved why they are the best in the business.
On the men’s side Edward Cheserek of Oregon continued to
impose his will on his fellow distance competitors. Cheserek began the weekend
by winning a very competitive 5,000 meter race. His winning time of 13:47.89
was just slightly 2 seconds ahead of runner up Thomas Curtin of Virginia Tech.
Curtin gave Cheserek an honest race but was unable to beat the champ. What is
perhaps more impressive of Cheserek is that with less than an hour to rest he
anchored the Men’s Distance Medley Relay to another victory giving Oregon 10
much needed team points. The very next day he displayed that same dominance in
the 3,000 meter race with a winning time of 8:00.40. With that victory Chesrek
sealed himself in the distance running and NCAA track and field hall of fame.
He tripled within a short time frame against incredible competition.
Molly Seidel had a double on her mind to add to her NCAA
Championship trophy case. She entered both the 3,000 and 5,000 meter races as
the favorite to win. Seidel was able to live up to the hype and beat Michigan’s
Erin Finn in both events to the line. Her time of 8:57.86 in the 3,000 was the
only sub 9 minute performance in the race. She had an impressive victory in the
5,000 winning by more than 7 seconds in a time of 15:15.21. Seidel has so far
had one of the greatest women’s distance running careers by any collegian.
Expect more big things out of her this outdoor season.
The 800 was a less than spectacular race. It cost two teams
big points, both Texas A&M and Florida were counting on the 800 runners to
not only make it to the finals but to also perform well. Donovan Brazier of
A&M and Andres Arroyo were 1-3 entering in the competition. Arroyo and
Brazier had one heck of race two weeks ago at the SEC Indoor Championships
which saw Brazier hold on to defeat Arroyo. Neither made it to the finals with
Brazier suffering and injury and Arroyo having an inability to qualify. He was another huge disappointment for a
rough weekend for the Florida Gators.
The women’s 800 saw Raevyn Rogers of Oregon win the NCAA
title but her time was not what everyone hope for. After lighting the field up earlier
in the season with a time of 2:00.90 many had predicted she would use this
stage to break Tennessee’s Nicole Cook’s 800 meter indoor record. Her winning
time of 2:04.68 was well short of the NCAA record but did secure another
national title and garner 10 team points for the Lady Ducks.
FIELD EVENTS
Now this category had plenty of upsets, disappointments and
shocks. What can you say other than it was a typical NCAA Championship weekend.
In the women’s shot put Raven Sanders had lit the NCAA on
fire. She arrived as a freshman last season at Southern Illinois and continued
to pump out championship hardware just like her high school days. This season
she now competes for Ole Miss following her coach, she began the season so well
by breaking the NCAA record and standing as the only woman to surpass 60 feet
for the season. She had all but won the Indoor title and was the easiest
favorite in the field. However she was unable to qualify to the finals. She had
one poor throw and two fouls. Dani Winters of Kansas State was able to hang on
and win with a mark of 58-11 ½.
In the men’s shot put senior Ryan Crouser of Texas proved
that he is the best thrower in the game. He has had a stellar championship
career and just added to it. This past weekend he had 5 of the best 10 throws
all competition by himself. His winning mark of 69-9 ¾ almost put him over 70
feet again this season and was certainly too much for his competitors to keep
up with. He also owned the 2nd best mark in the field as well.
The weight throw also had a strong favorite on the men’s
side. Chukuebua Enekwechi of Purdue led the field the entire season. He also
had such a lead against his competition it was practically a guarantee that he
would win. Alexander Young of Southeast Louisiana Unviersity clearly did not believe
in the hype. Young would use his best throw to surpass Enekwechi and hold on to
win with a mark of 78-1 not even a full foot farther than Enekwechi.
The craziness may have started with the women’s pentathlon.
This event had a lot riding on it. Georgia was counting on Kendall Williams for
team points and Kansas State Akela Jones was in line of being considered the
greatest Indoor multi-event athlete ever. Williams has broken the NCAA record
in the event each of the past two seasons. Jones had nearly broken her record
early this season is on the top of the NCAA list for 3 events.
Jones began with the 60 hurdles triple over the last hurdle
virtually eliminating her from the competition. She performed honorably
throughout the competition winning the high jump, the long jump and the shot
put. She surprisingly pulled out of the 800 and finished 14th
overall. She would garner an NCAA title in a hotly contested high jump with a
winning mark of 6-1 ½. Williams was able to maintain a high level consistency
in each event finishing close to Jones in most events. Williams performance was
able to garner a new NCAA record of 4,703 points.
Jarrion Lawson of Arkansas was able to live up to
expectations and earn the NCAA title in the men’s long jump. He won the event
on his very last jump. He had to overcome early foul trouble however to make
the finals and to give his team 10 needed points. His mark of 26-1 is not as
far as his season’s best, but it was enough to win the title.
Quaneesha Burks of Alabama has been the woman to beat all
season long. Burks winning mark of 22’3 ¾ was the only the only 22 foot jump in
the field. Akela Jones made headlines here because her mark in the heptathlon
was the exact same as Burks winning mark for the women’s long jump. Burks can
continue to make headlines this coming outdoor season if she is also able to
surpass 23 feet.
The men’s high jump also had another upset, I hope your
sensing the theme. Neither Bradley Akins of Texas Tech nor his rival Christoff
Bryan of Kansas State claimed the title in the event. Adkins had been number
one up until the Big 12 Championships a couple weeks ago when he was beaten by
Bryan. Adkins not only did not win the event he did not score. It was his
teammate Trey Culver who shocked everyone with his winning jump of 7’3 ¾.
In the men’s heptathlon the upset theme continued with
favorite Garrett Scantling of Georgia finishing 3rd after arriving
at the meet as the only athlete in the field to have surpass 6,000 points. Zack
Ziemek of Wisconsin had a great weekend with a few personal best including the
winning mark of 6,173 points. He led the way by winning two events and
remaining in the top 10 amongst the rest.
In the triple jump Eric Sloan of USC continued the upset
theme by finishing 4th. Clive Pullen of Arkansas stepped up added to
the long history of Arkansas triple jumpers with his winning mark of 54’7.25.
Sloan owns the number 1 mark in the nation but was unable to produce that same
effort this past weekend allowing Pullen to give his team 10 valuable points.
Perhaps the only heavy favorite to win their event was
talented sophomore triple jumper Keturah Orji of Georgia. She climbed to the
top of the podium in the event last outdoor season and hasn’t stop. Jones has
three marks that were the best of the entire competition. Her winning mark of
46-4 nearly broke a longstanding NCAA record.
Alexis Weeks a talented freshman from Arkansas lived up to
the hype about her as well. Weeks was the only competitor the break the 15 foot
barrier in the women’s pole vault this past weekend. Her winning mark of 15-2
was one of her two 15 foot jumps this past weekend.
RELAY WINNERS
WOMEN’S 4X400 TEXAS- 3:28.27
WOMEN’S DISTANCE MEDLEY GEORGETOWN- 10:57.21
MEN’S 4X400 LSU- 3:04.28
MEN’S DISTANCE MEDLEY OREGON- 9:27.27
