6,272!
It is now the end of January and that is when things start to heat up. Right on schedule we had a solid weekend with 20 number one performances. We have a new national collegiate record along with a new national record for the country of Puerto Rico. In this recap we will look back at the top performances from the weekend while looking at the noticeable changes in the team rankings.
SPRINTS/HURDLES
Women
Grace Stark of Florida has consistently been a headline
every time she has competed throughout her college career. She already had a
number one mark in the 60-meter hurdles set in her seasonal debut. By the way
that time was third best mark in collegiate history in her debut. This past
weekend at Clemson University she ran a 7.12 in the 60-meter dash in the
semi-finals and came back in the finals to run a 7.14.
Although Julien Alfred of Texas ran a time of 7.10 it was
converted down to 7.12 due to the elevation. Her number one ranking is now
shared with Stark who is tied for first in both the 60-meter dash and 60-meter
hurdles. It seems as if she is following the exact same process as Grant
Holloway. She was a contender for national titles in both events in high school
and now we are seeing the same in college.
In the 400 we had a surprise number one ranking. We expect
top marks from the Power 5 big name schools. But in the women’s 400 our new
number one time comes from a smaller school. Lauren Gale of Colorado state
defeated her field on an elevated 300-meter track by more than a second. She
clocked in at 51.50. Her time easily makes her the NCAA number one and
currently the only athlete under 52 seconds this season.
You were probably wondering who tied Grace Stark’s number
one mark in the 60-meter hurdles. This past weekend Alia Armstrong of LSU became
that athlete. Clocking in at 7.86 at the Razorback Invitational. The super
sophomore is picking up were Tonea Marshall left off. LSU has really done a
phenomenal job at developing hurdles throughout their history, but this recent
crop of hurdlers has been special. Armstrong may not have the speed that Stark
has put she has proven that she does have strong technique.
Men
I know it would not be long before Matthew Boling of Georgia
returned to the blog. This past weekend he ran a dominant race against strong
competition at the Razorback Invitational and again cemented himself as the top
200 runner with his mark of 20.27. Boling is currently number one in both the
200 and long jump. It remains to be seen if he steps down to run the 60-meter
dash. With his 200-meter mark I am sure we will get a great time. He has run
the race more smoothly than in recent years coming off the final turn with such
determination and an incredible stride.
Senior Trey Cunningham of Florida State continues to roll on
in the 60-meter hurdles. Although he did not run the finals at Texas Tech, he
ran sub 7.5 in the preliminaries and semi-finals. In the preliminaries he ran
7.49 and, in the finals, he ran 7.46. That was two 7.4 performances in one evening.
Again, he did not run in the finals surprisingly, but he reminded the nation
why he is number one.
DISTANCE
Women
This past weekend something rare happened in the women’s
800. At two different locations two athletes ran the exact same time. Quinn
Owen of Arkansas ran at the Razorback Invitational on her home track to clock
in at 2:04.03. At the Sykes & Sabock held at Penn State freshman Allison Johnson
won on her home track with the exact same time. This a great sign for both
programs, Owen gives Arkansas another 800 threat with Shafiqua Maloney. For
Penn State Johnson is the next threat they have since Danae Rivers.
Courtney Wayment of BYU is at the top again. Wayment already
holds the number one 5,000-meter time set early December. Now she can add the
3,000 on her list. Both the top male and female performers in the 3,000 came
this weekend from the Millrose Games. Wayment finished 6th overall
in the race but top among collegiate athletes with a time of 8:50.05. Wayment
is the defending 3,000-meter champion and is already off to a great start this
season.
Men
Senior Morgan Beadlescomb of Michigan State is the lone new
number one mark on the distance side for men. Like Wayment he competed at the
Millrose Games among the professionals. He was the top collegian finishing seventh
with a time of 7:43.22. Beadlescomb is a returning All-American who will likely
hear more from throughout this season.
JUMPS
Women
There were three new number one jumps marks for women. The
first big mark goes to Jasmine Moore of Florida. The transfer student has lived
up to the hype throughout her career and had a big weekend. Moore won the Triple
Jump competition at Clemson with a mark of 47 feet 9 inches (14.55m). Her mark
is a new NCAA record, and it is official. Moore is having another solid year
and is also currently in the top 5 in the long jump as well. With Florida’s new
team ranking Moore is huge piece in their team title hopes.
Alysah Hickey of Oregon is the latest jumps star from the Ducks
program. The super sophomore tied the number one mark with a jump of 21 feet 10
¼ inches (6.66m) at the Razorback Invitational. The defending Pac-12 champion
is off to a great start this season. Maybe by the end of the indoor season we
will see a 22-foot jump.
Sidney Sapp of Texas is having an impressive season. Up
until a few weeks ago Sapp had never even gone over 6 feet. In the past few weeks,
she has gone over twice. She even tied the number one mark at Texas Tech this
past weekend with a leap of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88m). This is a testament to her
hard work but also to the quality program being ran at Texas under Edrick
Floreal.
Men
Roberto Vilches of Missouri broke the tie at the top for
number one High Jump ranking among men. Vilches competed at the Razorback
Invitational against stellar competition. The junior outlasted the competition
with a leap of 7 feet 5 inches (2.26m). Vilches still has not matched his
personal best. We could potentially be hearing more from him later this season.
Chengetayi Mapaya of TCU was the top performer for much of
the regular season last indoor season. It was a stunning upset when Oregon’s Emmanuel
Ihemeje took over on his final attempt at indoor nationals 2021. This is his
first number one mark since before that moment. He defeated a strong field at
Texas Tech with a mark of 54 feet 1 inch (16.48m). Ihemeje has yet to compete
this indoor season but that was a strong mark by Mapaya.
THROWS
Women
Shey Taiwo of Ole Miss continues to stay in the spotlight.
She broke though this past weekend at surpassed 80 feet. At Indiana University
the senior launched the weight throw a total of 82 feet 1 inch (25.02m). She is
currently the only athlete over 80 feet this season and has almost a 5-foot
lead on the next top thrower, which is her teammate, Jasmine Mitchell. Taiwo is
on fire!
MULTI’S
Women
Kristine Blazevica is a talented young athlete from Latvia. This
is hopefully her first full indoor season after her last season ended after one
competition. She is off to a great start in 2022, representing Texas she scored
a total of 4,402 points to win the Pentathlon at Texas Tech. With Anna Hall
having score 4,370 for Florida to finish second overall for the weekend, that
is a testament to how well Blazevica performed.
Men
Ayden Owens transferred to Arkansas after completing his
degree at Michigan. Owens is one of the top athletes in the world in both the
heptathlon and decathlon. Owens had an impressive weekend and one of the
all-time best. Owens scored a total of 6,272 points in the men’s heptathlon
against a strong field that included Kyle Garland of Georgia. His mark is number
two in NCAA history only behind Ashton Eaton. It is also a new national record
for his native Puerto Rico. He is also currently number one in the world. I do
not how you could debut any stronger than that.
RELAYS
Women
A banner weekend for relays with some impressive performances.
On the women’s side we have our top DMR time and the first sub-11-minute group of
the season. Of course, that would be Arkansas. The Lady Razorbacks dominated
the competition and never really saw a challenge clocking in at 10:51.63. They
are 8 seconds ahead of the closet competition this early in the season. Is it
to early to predict a new NCAA record?
Men
There are two new number one rankings in the relays for men.
First in the 4x400 relay we were treated to a great race between Florida and
North Carolina A &T. Florida held on to win with a time of 3:03.21.
Randolph Ross of North Carolina A&T ran a great anchor leg with a time of
44.1.
In the distance medley relay Oklahoma State became our first
sub 9:30 team. The Cowboys ran against two other top tier programs in Oregon
and Stanford at the Razorback Invitational. Their winning time was 9:28.88, more
than two seconds ahead of runner-up Oregon.
TEAM RANKINGS
Women
Florida took over the number one ranking this weekend and
you can certainly see why. This weekend they highlighted their diversity in
ability to score. They have two top three relays, the top two triple jumpers in
the country. Two distance runners ranked in the top 10 in their events. The top
sprint/hurdler in the country, great long jumpers, high jumpers, multi-event
athletes and of course great long sprinters. They have a similar blueprint to
Arkansas which is the reason for their number one ranking.
Men
North Carolina A&T ascended to the number ranking after quite
an impressive weekend. Head coach Duane Ross has been inching his team ever so
close to this number one ranking. They have been a household name for quite a while,
and they truly are title contenders. They may have the deepest hurdle stable in
the country, no surprise there since Coach Ross is a 110-meter hurdle Olympian.
The sprints are perhaps where they can do the most damage with their ability to
score anywhere from 60-400. Having the top 400-meter runner in the country in
Randolph Ross does not hurt either. Javonte Harding a talented young sprinter (20.33/200) will
certainly challenge Boling and Fahnbulleh for the 200 title.
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