10:54.47!
(Alice Hill, Chloe Foster, Aurora Rynda, Hannah Meier)
This past weekend was quiet but there were still quite a few
notable performances. Overall there were three new number one performances and
a small cast of quality top ten performances. The team picture is becoming ever
clearer. As we head into the post season we have all become aware the fun part is about to begin.
We begin our recap with Kortnei Johnson of LSU. LSU a school
that is home to may great sprint queens. Johnson is clearly the next in line.
The senior among a host of other LSU Tigers competed on their home track at
the LSU Twilight. Against last years sprinter queen and now professional Aleia
Hobbs, Johnson darted out to a second-place finish behind Hobbs with only 0.01
seconds between them. Johnson stopped the clock in a national leading time of
7.14. Her performance is just in time before the SEC Championship were she we
will go toe to toe with the previous number one Kiara Parker of Arkansas.
On the men’s side the most noteworthy performance was Tyrell
Richard. Although his performance did not rank him number one, he did garner
the number two ranking. The senior from South Carolina State blazed South
Carolina’s indoor track to the time of 45.39. He is 0.04 off the NCAA leader
and immediately stepped into the contender seat with a time like that. After
missing last indoor season Championships Richard is making his final season
count.
The Distance Medley Relay took center stage this weekend as
expected. Many top programs used that as a week to put their best foot forward
to garner a top 12 time. The reason for that is most of the athletes will be competing
in multiple events this weekend at their respective conference championships.
Over the past few years top tier programs use this as a week to strengthen
their chances to qualify since the athletes will only be competing in one
event.
The Michigan women is one of the top tier programs who used
this philosophy. Competing at the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame the
Michigan women broke a school and Big Ten Record with a winning time of 10:54.47.
The group beat second place Indiana by three seconds solidifying their strong
performance. For Michigan this is quite the impressive feet since the school
almost regularly sends a team to nationals and have won the event a few times
as well. The Lady Wolverines now rank number one in the nation over Oklahoma
State.
Host Notre Dame impressed in the Distance Medley Relay this
weekend in front of their home crowd. The Irish put their best foot forward
beating favorite Wisconsin with a time of 9:26.10. Their time is one of the
best times in the history of the event. Wisconsin ran 9:26.24 in a solid runner
up effort. The Irish’s time is even more impressive since they do not have an athlete
ranked in the top 16 in any of the distance events or the 400. This is a solid
group of runners with a common goal.
UPCOMING
Yes this post was small. There were many premier athletes resting this past weekend in preparation for conference championship weekend. This week I will provide previews to the major conference
championships and their major story lines. No preview will be given until the
declarations and heat sheets are available and who is running what is made
known. Get ready for a outstanding post-season.
No comments:
Post a Comment