GOING OUT WITH A BANG!
The women closed the NCAA Championships in style. USC sent
off coach Caryl Smith-Gilbert with a national title, Athing Mu continued to
shock and awe in more ways than one. We also saw one historic program in LSU
implode and go from the favorite to win to not even making the podium. In this
recap we will look at all the champions and what to expect from the next.
Women’s
Review
Sprints
100 Meter Dash/200 Meter Dash
No event I felt garnered more conversation on social media than
this. Not only was there major talk before, but the conversation was equally
polarizing. The big four consisted of, Twanisha Terry of USC, Cambrea Sturgis
of North Carolina A&T, Kemba Nelson of Oregon, and Tamara Clark of Alabama.
All four had registered sub 11 second performances this season. Once all four
ran impressive semi-final race the conversation grew even larger.
Sturgis blasted out of the blocks first and never let up,
Terry closed strong but was not able to make up. Sturgis winning time was
10.74, it was wind-aided so not enough to break Richardson’s record but an
impressive mark. Sturgis followed that 100-meter win by running a dominate 200-meter
race. Entering the race Clark was set to be her main competition and she was,
but Sturgis clearly had Champion on her mind. She clocked in at 22.12.
The conversation between US and Jamaica added more fuel to
the fire with this race. Nelson certainly representing her native Jamaica and
the remainder representing the US. With Sturgis win the conversation quickly
shifted to the women’s American sprint depth and Sturgis summer potential. I
think it is certainly conceivable that we will see Sturgis competing at this
summer’s Olympics.
400 Meter Dash
Athing Mu has certainly been a record breaker this season.
Whether is has been the 400 or 800 it seems we cannot talk about her and not
include a record-breaking performance. This weekend was no different. The star
freshman from Texas A&M ran a dazzling 400-meter race. She made up the
stagger on the field rather quickly and won by more than a second. Her winning
time of 49.57 is a new NCAA record and the closest to her was also a freshman,
Talitha Diggs of Florida with 50.74. Mu’s times this season have been off the
charts. She has confirmed that she will run the 800 at Olympic Trials but she
has already proven to be a rare talent in the 400 as well. She now owns three
NCAA Outdoor records.
Hurdles
100/400 Meter Hurdles
Perhaps the most shocking story to come out of this event
was that Tonea Marshall of LSU was missing. She had been the preeminent
favorite since the beginning of the outdoor season. She clocked a national
leading time of 12.44 at Regionals and was the favorite on the team title
favorite being relied upon for 10 big points. Instead Marshall was a scratch
leaving the race wide open.
This was a perfect opportunity for USC to pounce and add
more points to their team title hopes and that is exactly what happened. 400
Hurdle favorite Anna Cockrell took advantage of Marshalls absent. Leading from
the gun Cockrell dominated the field clocking in at 12.59 for the win.
Cockrell came right back to dominate the 400 hurdles as
well. Winning the race by more than a second with a time of 54.68. Cockrell
completed the rare hurdles double and as of late has seemed to be stronger as a
100 hurdler than 400. Cockrell’s name is one we should get used to on the
professional circuit.
Distance
800 Meter Run
With no Athing Mu the 800 was now a more competitive race.
Mu blasted the NCAA record during the regular season and looks to run for Team
USA in the Olympics by competing in the event at the Olympic Trials. Aaliyah Miller
of Baylor claimed the event indoors and was looking to do the same outdoors. Unfortunately,
she did not qualify to the finals. Michaela Mayer of Virginia who entered the
meet number one after a strong showing at eastern regionals stepped up. Mayer
ran a personal best 2:00.28 to hold off Laurie Barton of Clemson and Gabrielle
Wilkinson of Florida who closed strong.
1,500 Meter Run
Sage Hurta had led the performance list most of the season
and was an obvious favorite to win the NCAA title. Hurta was the latest in a
long line of championship level distance runners from Colorado. BYU has of late
joined the West Coast Distance Machine and has been quite dominant with their
development. Anna Camp of BYU beat out Hurta and it took a personal best time
of 4:08.53 to do it. Although she was the lone distance champion for BYU they still
had an impressive weekend.
5,000 Meter Run
Perhaps the most shocking of the distance events upsets was
in the 5k. It seemed in every distance event the favorite was not able to step
up and win. Mercy Chelangat of Alabama had an impressive Cross-Country campaign
and looked to be perfect to win the NCAA title. It was instead senior Elly
Hennes of NC State who claimed the title in 15:28.05. Hennes outclassed a
strong field, including Katie Wasserman of Notre Dame who looked to have an
outside shot of the title.
10,000 Meter Run
As previously stated, it seemed the theme of the women’s
distance events was for the favorites to all lose. Chelangat of Alabama was favored
to complete the 5k/10k double starting with the 10k. It was the hometown
favorite Carmela Baez of Oregon who claimed the title. Her time of 32:16.13 was
a personal best and proof that Oregon women are still strong in the distance
events.
3,000 Meter Steeplechase
Courtney Wayment had been the favorite to win the NCAA title
since the beginning of the regular season. The indoor 3,000-meter champion
looked poised to win it, so of course she did not. Joyce Kimeli of Auburn was another
strong contender and the indoor 5,000-meter champion. She ran a daring last lap
and with the final 70 meters looked to be in clear position to win it. Instead it
was the small and mighty Mahala Norris of Air Force that won it all with a time
of 9:31.79.
Jumps
Long Jump
Tara Davis of Texas set the NCAA record early in the season,
removing the legendary Jackie Joyner-Kersee from the record books. It took
everything in her at nationals to claim the NCAA title. The former high school
star finally had the year she had been looking for and capped it off with the
NCAA title on her 5th jump, a mark of 21-11 ¾ (6.70m). It is well
away from her 23-foot jump in March, however it is a win and the weather was
certainly not her friend.
Triple Jump
In the women’s triple jump, favorite Ruth Usoro of Texas
Tech took the lead on her third jump and did not relinquish for the remainder
of the competition. Her winning jump of 46 feet 6 ¾ inches (14.19m) was just
enough to keep Jasmine Moore of Georgia at bay who leaped to 46 feet 4 ¼ inches
(14.13m).
High Jump
It was clear during the competition that the tough and
grueling weekend that Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M was going through had
finally affected her in an event. She nearly won the high jump and won an
impressive Heptathlon. She just did not have the energy to compete against a
fresh group of high jumpers. Rachel Glenn of South Carolina, a freshman from
Long Beach, California was certainly not phased by the big stage. She leaped to
a personal best jump of 6 feet 4 inches (1.93m). Glenn is also a low hurdle and
will in the future likely attempt to double.
Pole Vault
This was an event that did go well for LSU, who had a rough weekend.
Lisa Gunnarson who entered the meet as the favorite when Nastassja Campbell of
Arkasansas failed to qualify. Gunnarson lived up to the height to outlast the
competition with her height of 14 feet 5 ¼ inches (4.40m). Gunnarson is only a
junior and will return next season with a target on her back.
Throws
Shot Put
No surprise here, indoor champion Adelaide Acquilla of Ohio
State was able to live to the hype as the favorite. The Buckeyes have quite the
stable of female throwers and Acquilla certainly appears to be the class of the
team. Acquilla was one of two athletes to throw over 60 feet with her mark of
62 feet 3 ¼ inches (18.98m).
Discus
Jorinde Van Klinken of Arizona State continued that amazing
throwing tradition there. Arizona State certainly specializes in national
champions. Van Klinken not only won but set a new meet record with her mark of 213
feet 3 inches (65.01m). Van Klinken is another champion junior that will be returning
next year, is the national record on her mind….
Hammer Throw
Camryn Rogers of California put on quite the show in the
hammer throw. She began the competition with not only a personal best but an
NCAA record. She would follow that up with her final throw by breaking it again
with a mark of 247 feet 9 inches (75.52m). Rogers had been quite the thrower
and successfully defended her 2019 NCAA title.
Javelin Throw
Marie Therese-Obst of Georgia maybe the last Bulldog for a
while to win the Javelin title. She joined the all-time top five list early in
the season and never looked back. Her coach Petros Kyprianou will be moving on
next season and she is not likely to remain. However her throw of 195 feet 10
inches (59.69m) will cement her as a champion forever.
Heptathlon
As stated earlier Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M put on quite
the display in the Heptathlon. Competing against Michelle Atherley of Miami the
two superstars went head to head in a number of events. Gittens came out number
one in three events. She was top 10 in all other events except for one, the
800. She was able to score a total of 6,285 points to secure the victory. Not a
personal best, but still a gusty performance for an athlete in high demand.
Relays
4x100
It came down to the wire as expected. Oregon dropped the baton
on the second exchange giving way to Texas A&M taking the lead coming off
the curb. It was the strong anchor of Twanisha Terry of USC and Thelma Davies
of LSU that surpassed the Aggies to take it to the line. Terry out leaned
Davies at the tape to claim the NCAA title in a time of 42.82.
4x400
It looked to be a USC sweep. No one would be shocked, USC
had five qualifiers to the national meet. Instead we witnessed the fastest
split ever by a collegiate athlete. Athing Mu took the baton in second place
and galloped quickly to the front. She never led up and seem to get stronger as
the race went on. The super freshman ran a 48.85 split to lead Texas A&M to
a NCAA record time of 3:22.34. That broke Oregon’s NCAA record on their home
track, making that win even more special.
Team
I thought LSU would put up more of a fight, they certainly
had the athletes to win a national title but quite a few things did not go
there way. They were unable to qualify an athlete in the 100 meters, which was
a complete shock as they have been known for the 100 in recent years. USC capitalize
on literally every opportunity. Anna Cockrell in the hurdles, the 400 relay and
scoring points all over the track. The USC Trojans score 73 points. It was
quite the final win for coach Caryl Smith-Gilbert.
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