Weekend Recap

11.07!

(Morolake Akinosun-Texas)

(Texas Relays 100 Meter Champion)

The first major weekend in college track and field has come and gone. This past weekend there were a few big named meets all going on at the same time. The Texas Relays, the Florida Relays and the Stanford Invitational. In each meet the top collegians were not only challenged by each other but also by the professionals they were competing against. Each meet brought us many memorial performances and world leading times. However there were more meets than just those three. With a weekend full of great performances let’s take a look at the top 3 of each sex.

TOP 3 WOMEN

3. AKELA JONES (KANSAS STATE)- Akela Jones returns to our list after spending nearly every week on the top list during the indoor season. She has proven herself to be quite the talent in a myriad of events and explains why she was a favorite heading into the Indoor National Championship to win the women’s pentathlon. Due to a fall in the women’s hurdle she was unable to challenge for the national title even though she had some amazing performances following that. She returns to this list having competed in the women’s high jump winning with a mark of 6’2 ¾ at the Bruins Legend Invitational at UCLA. Her mark vaulted to the number 1 ranking in the NCAA another great start to the outdoor season.

2. DOMONIQUE SCOTT (ARKANSAS)- Scott has been the unquestioned leader for the Lady Razorbacks. The National Championship powerhouse is more commonly known for their male distance stars. However things are changing and Scott has represented Arkansas just as well as any of her male counterparts. She dominated the 5,000 meter race with a time of 15:25.10. Her time was nearly 20 seconds ahead of closes competitor lapping many of her competitors in what was a dominant race. Scott has put up quite a time this early in the season and expect for her to be there challenging Molly Seidel of Notre Dame and Erin Finn of Michigan.

1. MOROLAKE AKINOSUN (TEXAS)- Akinosun has been a high level sprinter ever since her arrival at the University of Texas. She nearly won the 100 meter dash at the NCAA Championships last outdoor season and has been this season with a bang. Akinosun clocked in at 11.07 to win the Texas Relays 100 meters. It is one of the fastest times ever ran by a collegian in Texas Relay History. Her time which was wind legal vaulted her into the number 1 spot in the NCAA ahead of Shayla Sanders of Florida. It has been since Alexandria Anderson in 2009 win the Texas had a 100 meter champion. Look for Akinosun to try to change that and maybe break Carlette Guidry’s school record in the process.

TOP 3 MEN

3. TREY CULVER (TEXAS TECH)- After surprising the field at the NCAA Indoor Championships by winning the high jump Trey Culver has been able to live up to the hype as the best high jumper in college. He again leaped to the top mark this past weekend at the Texas Relays with a mark of 7-5. Although her finished 2^nd in the event he had the top collegiate mark in the event and the top collegiate mark of the current outdoor season. Texas Tech has had a pretty solid history with their jumpers, Culver is clearly the next in line.

2. AHMED ALI (ALABAMA)- Ali was a top recruit coming out of high school but unfortunately he was unable to qualify to meet university standards. He spent his first two years at a junior college making big waves. Ali has had to sit behind some very talented sprinters and wait his turn. Now a senior Ali seems poised to make his name known. Ali clocked in a wind legal time of 20.16 to win the 200 meter dash at the Florida Relays. He won the race by almost a half of second. His dominant performance should catch the attention of many and place him among the favorites to win the event.

1. LSU 4X400 Relay- It is rare that I put a relay on this list. This list is generally used for the great individual performances. However I feel that that there time and performance was quite impressive especially considering it is so early in the season. LSU claimed the 4x400 relay title at the Texas Relays with an impressive time of 3:01.83. I’m going to out on a limb and say this group has the potential to challenge not just for a national title but for their own NCAA Outdoor record. None of the recent LSU teams have been able to come close to a time of that quality this early. LSU sent an early message to Texas A&M, Florida and Texas.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: ZAK SEDDON (FLORIDA STATE)- 3000 METER STEEPLECHASE, TEVIN HESTER (CLEMSON)- 100 METER DASH. FLORIDA WOMEN 4X100 and 4x400 RELAY.