Whew! What a weekend. College track and field drummed up
such a frenzy that there was segment on Sports Center titled “this week in
track and field”. There was a total of four national records and a total of 18
new number one ranked performances. Add to that the team title picture shifted again
on both sides. This was the type of weekend that not only the sport needed for
more media attention but also to make those loyal fans excited about the post season, which is coming next weekend. In this recap we will be looking at the new
number one performances and the biggest stories of the weekend.
RECORD RELAY
Texas A&M women have clearly taken the 400-meter title
from Texas. This past weekend there 4x400 relay clocked an incredible time.
With freshman Athing Mu anchoring a blazing split of 50.27 the Aggies crossed
the finish line in a time of 3:26.27. They smashed the record set by USC in 2017
(3:27.04) by almost a second. The other splits are Jania Martin 53.04, Syaria Richardson 51.85 and Charokee Young 51.11. There
is still the post season and there is still outdoors. Incredible.
The long sprinters stole the weekend. On the women’s side
Abby Steiner of Kentucky continues to dominate the 200. At the Tiger Paw Invitational,
she dominated her race with a time of 22.52. That time is a new personal best
and it surpass the time she ran last year at the SEC Indoor Championships.
On the men’s side Terrance Laird of LSU was able to out lean
Joseph Fahnbulleh of Florida with a time of 20.41 to 20.42 win the 200 at the
Tyson Invitational. In that race was last year’s number one ranked Micaiah
Thomas of Texas making the victory even more impressive. Both Laird and
Fahnbulleh will be competing again at the SEC Indoor Championships and with
times this close the race can go either way.
In the 400 it was raining 45’s this weekend. This weekend
has seven 45 second runs. Randolph Ross of North Carolina A&T proved to be
the best of the bunch with his time of 45.21. In that very same race was Jacory
Patterson of Virginia Tech who ran 45.24 and his time ranks third nationally.
The top 8 have all ran 45.5 or better. This could be the most challenging 400
meters ever, I predict more than one athlete going sub 45 at the championship
meet.
In the 60 hurdles the best two are in the state of Florida
but at rival schools. In the women’s 60-meter hurdles we finally have our sub 8
second performance from Grace Stark of Florida. The super sophomore defeated a
strong field with a winning time of 7.96. In that same race was 2019 Indoor
Champion Chanel Brissett who clocked a 7.98. The two are currently the only
athletes under 8 seconds this indoor season.
In the men’s race Trey Cunningham of Florida State continues
to dominate his field. His winning time of 7.55 in the 60-meter hurdles further
solidifies his stranglehold on the number one ranking. Cunningham is a big piece
of Florida State’s team title hopes and he clearly seems to be able to hold up
his part.
The milers are having quite the year on the men’s side. Last
week we mentioned the four sub minute milers from Virginia Tech and how amazing
that was. Now we look at the national rankings and see Oregon has four and they
are all faster. Along with the fact none of the four athletes from Virginia
Tech are the top 16!!! There is a total of 30 sub-4-minute milers.
The most special of those milers currently happens to be
Oregon’s Cooper Teare. He was highlighted on ESPN for breaking the mile NCAA
record with a time of 3:50.39, his teammate Cole Hocker joined him with his
time of 3:50.55. That makes the two fastest milers in collegiate history Oregon
Ducks who are on the exact same team.
In the women’s mile Sage Hurta, a senior from Colorado, is
the latest star to represent the school. The senior clocked a winning time of
4:31.8 to garner the number one ranking. She already has a conference title in
the 3,000-meter steeplechase as a freshman, but she is missing a national
title. What event she runs remains to be seen but with a number one ranking in
the mile already this is clearly the event she should consider.
Charlie Hunter of Oregon has also run under four minutes, but
he joins the recap for earning a number one ranking in the 800. His winning time
of 1:45.59 at the Tyson Invitational at the University of Arkansas vaulted him
into the number one spot. Will Hunter attempt a double by running the mile and
the 800? Maybe, maybe not. What Oregon knows for sure if they want to get
points out the 800 for the team title Hunter should be able to produce.
THE LONG RUNNERS
In the longer distance races, we have two new number one
performances. Starting with the 3,000 we have Courtney Wayment (yes that is how
it is spelled) of BYU surging to a strong sub-9-minute performance at the UW
Invite. BYU also saw Olivia Hoj finish second amongst collegians in that race
with a time of 8:56.91 giving the Cougars the top two rankings in the country.
Much can be said about the great distance programs of the west, Oregon,
Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, and Stanford. You cannot
however forget that BYU is more than capable of competing with them.
In the men’s 5,000 Connor Maritz of BYU is proof of the
schools growing distance strength. At the same meet at UW Maritz led a 1-2-3
blitz with him winning with a time of 13:28. The top three times in the 5,000
are now are owned by BYU. What made this even more incredible is that all
runners were under 13:30. They also have four other athletes that have gone
under 14 minutes. Maritz is clearly the cream of the crop and the new favorite
to win it all.
KC Lightfoot of Baylor continues to set records in the men’s
pole vault. He has set the national record in the race a total of 2 times
already this season. He is also the only athlete this season to have gone over
19 feet. At the Texas Tech Shootout, he leaped to another national record with
a mark of 19 feet 8 ¼ inches. His mark impressed enough were he could be seen
on the segment with ESPN. I thought that Lightfoot was done setting national
records a few weeks ago, clearly, he is not. With us heading into the
postseason we must keep an open mind and know that he will probably break it
again.
The men’s long jump got a treat this weekend. We finally
have our 27-foot indoor jump. It came from senior Issac Grimes of Florida State
who leaped to 27 feet 4 inches. Florida State has team title hopes and taking
the Jumps U moniker back from rival Florida is a key piece to winning it.
Grimes leads a strong contingent of jumpers from Florida State but make no
mistake that he is the best. Grimes now joins the all-time top 10 list.
In the triple jump Chengetayi Mapaya of TCU has been
mentioned on this blog before. This weekend he further cemented his position as
the favorite after leaping to a mark of 55 feet 3 ½ inches. He is the first 55-foot
jump of the season and gives him more than a foot on the rest of the field. No
other athlete has even jumper 54 feet. Mapaya has become the clear favorite
heading into the post season.
I knew that we would get 70-foot shot put throw at some
point this indoor season. I have mentioned it on this blog at least twice. I
was convinced that Adrian Piperi of Texas would be the only one. He met that
expectation last weekend. This weekend Turner Washington of Arizona State did
him one better. The super sophomore launched it 71 feet 8 ¼ inches. His mark was
a new NCAA record, and he became the first person to unseat Piperi from his
number one ranking. I guess it will not be a walk in the park. All credit to Washington
for his monster throw. It is even more impressive since his spent most of the
competition in second. He garnered the victory on his very last throw.
On the women’s side Samantha Noenning of now Arizona returned
to the top of the performance list. Her throw of 59 feet 10 ½ inches brought
her back into the spotlight. She made headline news transferring from Arizona State
to Arizona. Her mark shows she is still capable of winning the title.
Shey Taiwo of Ole Miss took the top mark in the weight throw
with her mark of 74 feet 9 ¼ inches. Taiwo is the latest talent from Ole Miss which
continues to be a strong throwing power. Taiwo was a strong performer last
season and has so far continued that trend.
The team title picture became clearer on the men’s side.
Oregon just simply has too much for anyone to truly challenge. They will be
able to score in bunches in multiple events but will of course rely on the
backbone of their program, their distance runners.
On the women’s side Arkansas is still the favorite. The Lady
Razorbacks can practically score in almost every event and are especially
potent with their long sprinters and distance runners. USC and Texas A&M still
have strong potent teams but may not have the depth.
