44 Again?
We have officially made it to the post season. This past
weekend was the last of the regular season and all that is left is
championships. There were also a few championships of note that also took
place already. Overall, the weekend was quiet with only one new number one performance.
In this recap we will look at the major story lines heading into this weekend, conference championship weekend and the latest rankings.
SPRINTS/HURDLES
Women
In no other conference is the sprint battle more contested
than in the SEC. What a loaded conference and to think they will be adding
Oklahoma and Texas in the coming years. Perhaps the event that will likely garner
the most attention will be the 400. This is shaping up to be quite the year in
the event and the defending champion, Talitha Diggs of Florida, has only ran
once all season in it. This is the perfect opportunity for her to reclaim her number
one ranking and she has proven all season she has the speed to do it. Alexis Holmes
of Kentucky and Charokee Young of Texas A&M will be there to challenge her.
Holmes currently has the number one ranked mark with a time of 51.27.
The hurdles will be another hotly contested event with Grace
Stark of Florida and Alia Armstrong of LSU going head-to-head again. Last go
around Armstrong was victorious and Stark looked flat in the final. Florida
will bring their “A” game to the SEC Championships and perhaps we will get a
new SEC record out of this race. Stark currently has the faster 60-meter sprint
time, but Armstrong has solid technique.
The last major headline on the women’s side in the sprints
is perhaps what will happen in the rest of the nation. Anavia Battle announced
herself with a 22.49 this past weekend good enough for number two. She will not
have the same challenge as Abby Steiner of Kentucky will, but she is capable of
a great time none the less. Also, what will Texas do, this team is reminiscent
of the Bev Kearney coached teams back in the lates 90’s early 00’s. All that is
missing is the hurdlers.
Men
Just like the women the SEC is loaded for the men, and they
have several major headliners in that meet. Matthew Boling has been impressive
all season and looks poised to defend his national title in the 200 with his
season leading time of 20.27. However, he did not win the 200 last indoor
season at the SEC meet and this would be his first SEC crown. He will face stiff
challenge from Kennedy Lightner of Kentucky. He is also favored in the Long Jump.
Another highlight will come in the 400. We are left wondering
what could have been with Elijah Goodwin of Georgia, he nearly stops in the
race at the Tiger Paw Invite at Clemson assuming he tripped someone up. Randolph
Ross of North Carolina A&T took that as his que to leap to the front and claim
the nation’s top time. Goodwin still ran a 45.38. It will be interesting to see
what he does this weekend. I sense he will go under 45 seconds. Ross will have
a busy weekend running for North Carolina A&T but it will be on a flat
track.
Our final men’s headline will come from Trey Cunningham of
Florida State. This young man has been on fire all indoor season. He has even
gone toe to toe with the world’s elite and only finished second to world number
one Grant Holloway. Speaking of Holloway, he may lose his NCAA record of 7.35
this indoor season to Cunningham. Cunningham ran a time of 7.42 recently and looked
relaxed while doing it. He can certainly lower his time and may do so breaking
the NCAA record.
DISTANCE
Women
Senior Shafiqua Maloney of Arkansas is coming into her own
this season. She has been a strong 400/800 runner for the Lady Razorbacks for several
seasons. In this season she has taken more of a command running the 800. Her
NCAA leading time of 2:01.74 is over a second ahead of her closest competitor.
She has 51 second speed and I think she is capable of possibly going sub 2:00.
Arkansas is currently ranked number three in the country and will rely heavily
on this woman.
The next major headline is also in the SEC from Arkansas is
Lauren Gregory. What an incredible career she has had at Arkansas, and she has another
year of eligibility. Gregory is ranked number one in the SEC in two events, the
mile and 5,000 and is currently ranked number two in the 3,000. The headline is
what will Lauren run. Will she attempt a triple crown, or will she play it safe?
Either way she is certainly likely to walk out of the meet with multiple gold medals
and that does not include the Distance Medley Relay they are favored to win as
well.
Perhaps the most interesting story of all will take place in
the ACC. Who has the better distance program, NC State, Florida State, Virginia
or Virginia Tech. This conference is becoming similar to the Big 10 with its plethora
of strong distance programs. We cannot forget Notre Dame is also competing as
well. But the four programs mentioned really have carried the conference this
season. NC State seems to be the strongest in the longer distances will Virginia
Tech is stronger in the shorter. NC State has 3 in the top 10 in the conference
for the mile, 5 in the 3,000 and 3 in the 5,000. They are headlined by Kelsey
Chmiel who is currently ranked number two in the nation in the 5,000.
Between all those talented programs we will certainly get a
strong DMR performance and perhaps some changes in the national rankings. The lone
national number one however comes from Florida State in Lauren Ryan who leads
the 3,000. Expect big times from the ACC Championship.
Men
Texas has perhaps the deepest 800 group I have ever seen.
They have a total of 4 athletes that can run 1:48 or better, that includes
Jonathan Jones. Jones has primarily been an All-American 400 runner for the
Longhorns and was expected to contend for the title. But he stepped up in
distance to run his lone 800 of the season in a time of 1:46.93, currently
number two in the nation and in the conference. With his speed he certainly can
go faster, the question is will he run it.
The mile is also a favorite and this year has been
incredible. There are over 50 men that have run a sub-4-minute mile this current
indoor season. In fact, to even make the top 50 list you must run 3:58.7 or
better. This includes the incredible mile performance by Morgan Beadlescomb of
Michigan State. He currently leads the conference in both the mile and the 3,000
he may run the 5,000 since he claimed the title at the Outdoor Championships
this past spring. My hope however is that he will still compete in the mile, a
time of 3:52.03 that leads the nation is to hard to ignore. I believe he could
potentially lower his time. He is in perhaps the best conference to do it. The mile
will see its performance list change come Monday.
Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame has had such an incredible
career. He has broken several NCAA records and even has an NCAA title in
cupboard. Nuguse is currently ranked number one in the 3,000 with his NCAA record
time of 7:38.13. The ACC is full of strong distance programs and on the men’s
side Notre Dame is certainly one of the best. Nuguse is number one in both the mile
and 3,000 in the ACC and should double for the Fighting Irish. Nuguse always brings
his best to each race, and I believe this weekend will be no difference. I am almost
certain we will be hearing from him again following this weekend.
JUMPS
Women
The primary headline for women’s jumps is will Jasmine Moore
of Florida break the NCAA triple jump record again. Her national leading mark
of 47 feet 9 inches (14.55m) was an impressive performance for the junior. She
has been a top tier jumper since her youth days. She trains with the number two
triple jumper in the country with Natricia Hooper. The SEC meet tends to bring
out the best in people and if there is another national record in her, this
would be the meet to show it.
15 feet anyone? That is the question heading into
championship weekend for the Pole Vault. We have been spoiled the past few
years with some record-breaking Pole Vault marks. We have forgotten that 14
feet is still good. Lisa Gunnarson, the defending champion from LSU, has only
competed once this season and has a national leading mark of 14 feet 9 ½ inches.
She is close to surpassing 15 feet and with the quality training program she is
under at LSU this could be the weekend that she reaches 15 feet.
Men
On the men’s side of the jumps the Pole Vault is equally as interesting.
There are three athletes with a personal best of over 19 feet. They are led by
Zach McWhorter of BYU. He seized the number one ranking at the beginning of the
season and has not relinquished it. Zach Bradford of Kansas who has been close
to winning the NCAA title and has had a solid career for the Jayhawks is
closing strong. He has yet to reach 19 feet this season, but he is clearly
capable as he has done so in the past. They are ranked number 1 and number 3.
The two schools will soon be conference foes but for now we will have to wait
to see what these two do at Nationals in a competition against each other.
Matthew Boling is the other big headline in the jumps. He is
not only leading the nation in the 200 but also in the long jump. He is currently
the only athlete to have jumped 27 feet this season with his mark of 27 feet 1
inch (8.25m). Under the tutelage of Caryl Smith-Gilbert and her amazing staff
at Georgia, Boling is having quite the season. I expect for him to improve upon
his national leading mark in not just the 200 but the long jump as well.
THROWS
Women
There have been two women who have dominated the throws
discussion all season. First there is Adelaide Aquilla of Ohio State, she is
the defending champion in the shot put. She is also the national leader with
her mark of 62 feet 7 ¾ inches (19.09). Aquilla has seen no competition at all
this season and the Big Ten Championships will be an opportunity for her to
improve upon her number one ranking.
Shey Taiwo of Ole Miss is the other headline. The senior has
literally dominated the event all season, she has improved upon her own
national leading mark a few times this season. She currently leads with a throw
of 82 feet 7 ¾ inches. She has a 7-foot lead over her closest competitor her
teammate Jasmine Mitchell. Her other teammate Jalani Davis sits fourth nationally.
Including the number three ranking athlete from Auburn and the SEC meet has
another headlining event that should produce some fireworks.
Men
Adrian Piperi of Texas has not defeated defending champion
Turner Washington head-to-head. He has however taken over the number one
ranking and has the only 70-foot throw of the season with his mark of 70 feet 4
inches. Piperi is a big clog in Texas’ team title hopes. Piperi has carried
that great throwing tradition at Texas and will look to further improve upon
his marks to strengthen his chances for a national title.
I do not get to gloat much but in the weight throw I
certainly will. My alma mater Eastern Michigan has two athletes in the top five
in the nation with Newlyn Stephenson and Taije Bryant. They will be competing in
the Mid-American Conference Championships this weekend and conference foe Jake
Wickey of Kent State (currently ranked in the top five) will be there to challenge
them. Eastern is always either the favorite or close second to win the title
every championship. This is no different. They will need big points from the
throwers to overcome a strong Akron team.
MULTI’S
Women
I think the obvious headline is what will Tyra Gittens do.
She already stunned this season when she transferred from Texas A&M to
Texas. She has only competed in one meet this season, not in the pentathlon but
in the long jump and high jump. Both marks are ranked in the top 12 with her high
jump mark tied for 2nd. Gittens is the defending champion and a
juggernaut in the event. She is capable of breaking records in multiple events.
With no pentathlon score on the season this is a perfect time for her show that
she is still that girl.
Men
Ayden Owens of Arkansas has been on a new level since
transferring from Michigan. In the heptathlon he has set a new school record
and Puerto Rican record with his score of 6,272 points. He has another school
record on his resume thanks to his performance as a member of their 4x400
relay. Owens has only scratched the surface of his potential and as the
preseason favorite it looks as if he will continue that. Will he compete in the
heptathlon, or will he compete in a myriad of individual events? That remains
to be seen but he is certainly going to draw attention wherever he competes.
RELAYS
I know this may sound like a broken record but for the 4x400
relay races the SEC will be king this weekend. On the women’s side five of the twelve
teams in the nation will be competing at the meet alone. Leading the way is the
national leading Kentucky Wildcats. Arkansas is always championship ready and South
Carolina along with Florida have been here before. This should be an excellent
race.
On the men’s side there are seven teams in the top twelve in
the country in the SEC. Leading the way is the Florida Gators with their time of
3:02.09. They are so close to not only breaking their indoor school record but
also the NCAA record. Having three athletes on your team that can run sub 46 is
a big part of the reason why. The Gators are in always in a team title hunt and
will look to close out the weekend strong.
Will the DMR be a factor this weekend? That is the big
question heading into championship weekend. Many teams use the week before to
garner DMR marks. Their athletes are competing in too many individual events to
put together a strong mark to qualify for nationals. However stranger things
have happened. Keep an eye out for a team or two to sneak into the top twelve. Our
lone number one ranking came from Washington with their time of 9:21.10. They
are not competing this weekend as there is no Indoor Pac-12 championship meet.
RANKINGS
Arkansas men regain the top ranking and Texas women further
strengthen their position as the number one team. Both are favorites to walk
away as conference champions. The one thing about Conference Championship
weekend is that it always brings out the best in teams. We will see what the teams
are made of, there are always surprises.
No comments:
Post a Comment