2022 NCAA Outdoor Recap 8

3:21.93! 

(Kentucky Women's 4x400 Relay)

Conference Championship weekend did not disappoint and as I predicted we have a new NCAA record and quite a few changes to the national list. This past weekend there was a total of 14 new number one performances. In this recap we will review the top performances from the weekend and discuss what the new rankings mean heading into regionals.

SPRINTS/HURDLES

Women

Melissa Jefferson continues to shine this season. After a stunning win at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the star from Coastal Carolina claimed the top wind legal time of the year with a 10.88 100-meter victory at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships. Jefferson continues to perform at a high level and deserves mentioned more from every publication. Regardless of what everyone runs, she shows up against top competition.

Also, you cannot ignore the time Julien Alfred of Texas ran this weekend at the Big 12 Championships. Her time was wind-aided, but she ran 10.81 in the preliminaries and 10.80 in the finals. Alfred like always had her rocket start in both races. Texas has become so dominant in the sprints, look for them to continue this trend further in the post season.

Demisha Rowell of Texas Tech was another positive highlight from the Big 12 Championships. Battling with her fellow Jamaican Ackera Nugent of Baylor, Rowell closed in on Nugent in the final few hurdles and out leaned her at the line. Her winning time was a wind-aided 12.44. The 100 hurdles is hot again this year and will be a highly anticipated event come nationals.

In the 400 hurdles Britton Wilson of Arkansas is proof that a change a scenery can be a big help. Wilson claimed a rare double this past weekend at the SEC Championships. In the 400 hurdles she claimed a new number one time with 53.75. She also claimed the 400 open title with a mark of 50.05. That double is extremely rare and very challenging to do. Wilson’s open 400 time proves there is a lot of room of improvement in 400 hurdle race, we may potentially see her dip under 53 seconds!

Men

The wind was blowing strong at the Big 12 Championships because the top tier marks from the men’s side were too hard to ignore as well. Texas men are having their best season in school history. The number one ranked Longhorns have talent all over the track and especially in the sprints. On the men’s side Micaiah Harris had quite the double. He ran a wind-aided 100 time of 9.93, he came back in the 200 to run another wind-aided time of 19.79. That is the time that puts him at the top of the NCAA performance list. With all the performances coming out of the Big 12 Championships by the Texas Longhorns is the SEC ready for them to join in a few years?

In the 400 the Texas Longhorns had their Mr. Everything star step in her premiere event. Jonathan Jones broke the school record with a time of 44.43. His mark immediately vaulted to the top spot in the nation. He is also ranked in the top three in the 800 meters as well making this quite the interesting decision come regionals and potentially nationals.

The final top mark in the sprints and hurdles section comes from true freshman Nathaniel Ezekiel of Baylor. Yes again, the Big 12. Ezekiel outdueled senior Isaiah Livingston of Oklahoma to claim the event title in a time of 48.42. His mark is now the number one ranked time in the nation, and he has the top spot for majority of the season. Pretty impressive season so far for the true freshman.

DISTANCE

Our top performers on the distance side came from the women. At the ACC Championships Katelyn Tuohy of NC State was a name that many expected to be mentioned. The talented young star certainly did not disappoint running 4:06.84 in the 1,500 in route to the ACC title. She was the standout in a field that included three top 10 performances in the year. Touhy was one of the dark horses to contend for the NCAA title and this is further evidence of that.

Abby Nichols of Colorado continues to have a great season. It seems every year we are talking about a Colorado athlete at the top of the performance list fresh after Conference Championship weekend. Nichols competed in a highly competitive 10,000-meter race at the Pac-12 Championships and came away with a solid performance with a time of 32:27.25 that garnered her a Pac-12 title. In the Pac-12 championships the top three times ran in the nation were ran in that race making her time and performance more special.

JUMPS

Just like the distance events the top jumping performances this past weekend came from the women’s side. In the long jump the Big 12 produced another number one ranking with Monae Nichols of Texas Tech. She has been the leader majority of the outdoor season and here she is claiming sole control of the list. She leaped to a mark of 22 feet 10 ½ inches (6.97m). In a year with a highly competitive long jump competition, Nichols is finding ways to stand out.

In the triple jump Jasmine Moore of Florida continues her reign as queen. She reclaimed her national lead after briefly loosing it to her teammate. Moore leaped to a mark of 47 feet 5 ¼ inches (14.46m). Moore was dominant at the SEC Outdoor Championships this past weekend claiming both the triple jump and long jump titles. She like Nichols always finds a way to stand out.

THROWS

The top throwing marks from this weekend came from the men. In the discus true freshman Mykolas Alekna of California scored his first Pac-12 title with a winning throw of 225 feet 6 inches (68.73m). Alekna is one two throwers who are top ranked from the California Golden Bears and could be the next Bear in line for a long successful career.

In the Javelin Ethan Dabbs of Virginia had a big performance at the ACC Championships. When it has come to the Javelin other years we have relied heavily on SEC and Pac-12 performers. This time it is a senior from Virginia who had a mark of 272 feet even (82.92). Dabbs has dominated the ACC since 2019 but it was his number one ranked throw this past weekend that put him on the map.

RELAYS

Both top relay marks come on the women’s side. Texas women continue their dominance in the 4x100 relay with a time of 42.35. I fully expect for the Longhorns to become the first team under 42 seconds in NCAA history. Have two athletes that run sub 11 seconds and two other athletes who are close, it is only a matter of time.

In the 4x400 relay we had our only NCAA record change here. It was the SEC Championships where Kentucky clocked a time of 3:21.93. In that same field two other teams ran 3:22 (Texas A&M and Arkansas) for what has been a banner year in the 4x400 relay. Texas did not field a team after wrapping up the team title. I expect for Texas to reclaim their national record and for all teams to improve upon their times ran this weekend.

RANKINGS

Texas is the number one ranked team for both men and women, this weekend was further proof of why that ranking is totally accurate. It is their depth, and their championship performances meet after meet. Florida women earned the number two ranking after winning the SEC Championship and that’s without points from Grace Stark or their 4x1 relay. Arkansas and Oregon cannot be ignored on the men’s side, but I am not sure they have enough to challenge Texas.