LAST ONE, BEST ONE !
The post season has officially started, not only does that
indicate conference championships but the last chance meets as well. The last
chance meets are for athletes to meet the qualifying standards to compete in
their respected regional competition. Although it was the start of the postseason
this week was relatively quiet regarding number one performances, there was
only one. So, in this post we will recap the major stories from Conference
Championships that have already completed and a new division two national
record.
THE LONE NUMBER ONE
The lone number one performance from this weekend came from
the men’s side in the 1,500. Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame is the defending
champion from 2019. Against a strong field at the Oregon Twilight Nuguse was
able to defeat fellow senior Cooper Teare of Oregon on his home track 3:35.96
to 3:35.97. Teare and Nuguse are sure to gives us more later this post season
but at least for now we know that Nuguse’s title defense will be a great race.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T GOES OUT WITH A BANG
This is North Carolina A&T’s last season in the MEAC and
I am pretty sure that majority of the conference is happy to see them go. North
Carolina A&T put on a sprinting clinic. Talented freshman Javonte Harding put
on quite an impressive display of sprinting running a time of 10.21 in the 100
and 20.21 in the 200. Harding anchored their 400 relay and ran a leg on their
winning 1600 relay. Four golds as a freshman is an impressive feat. His
teammate Randolph Ross garnered his first outdoor conference title as well
winning the 400 in a time of 44.60. A new personal record and the fourth ranked
time in the country.
On the women’s side Cambrea Sturgis lead the sprinting hall
that was on display. Sturgis ran a wind-aided 11.03 in the 100-meter dash and a
wind legal time of 22.88 in the 200. Although wind-aided Sturgis is currently ranked
third in the country and big championship expectations later this season. Sturgis
also anchored their winning 400 relay with a time 43.75. There were several
sweeps by the Aggies, 100, 200, 800, 100 hurdles and high jump. They had an
incredible championship display. The SWAC is their new conference and will
certainly be more of a challenge.
NATIONAL RECORD
Our theme for the past few years has been the fall of
national records, most notably in Division 1 where some of the records have
stood for a decade or longer. In Division two Benjamin Azamati of West Texas
A&M by way of Ghana. Azamati has already broken the record in the 100 with
his all division national leading time of 9.97. This past weekend he broke the
200 record with a time of 20.13. Azamati has now met the Olympic Standard for
both the 100/200-meter races. Azamati also proves that he is no fluke and could
certainly hang with the best in Division 1.
THE MAC
It was surprising to me as a Eastern Michigan alumnus to see
the MAC have their conference championship a week before conference championship
weekend. Conference championship weekend are normally about the Power 5 conferences,
but the MAC always been able to make noise amongst the big conferences. This
past weekend the MAC still made noise albeit on a smaller scale.
Miami of Ohio really made a statement this weekend. Olivia
Bechtel is the other big star at Miami and she ran two dominant races, the 200
and 400. Bechtel claimed the 400 in a time of 51.65. Her time is in the 400 is
a new MAC record. She claimed the 200-meter title with a time of 23.41.
On the men’s side her teammate Finley McLear lived up to the
hype that he has developed all season. McLear led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 800 with
his winning time of 1:49.04. Miami also swept the 1,500 to make a strong
statement about their talent and depth in the middle-distance races.
Amir Williams of Akron made noise in the men’s sprints. He
ran a 10.24 in the semi-finals of the 100 and 10.35 in the finals. It was 200
time that was special, his winning time of 20.45. He is a sophomore and
currently ranked 17th in the country. It remains to be seen with all
the changes coming to Akron if he follows Noah Williams to a new school for
2021-2022 season. My hope is that he stays and continues to dominate the MAC
Conference.
Conference Championship Weekend
As the big weekend comes this week there were major storylines
all over the place. The team battle will certainly shake up as there will be
athletes who have not competed all indoor season that will be competing this
weekend to try and hit their regional qualifying mark. My expectations for the
men is that Florida, LSU and Florida State will all make major noise at their
respective conference championships. On the women’s side, USC, Arkansas and
Texas should make some major noise and shake up the rankings.
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