58-7 1/2!!!!
Conference Championship weekend certainly did not disappoint.
A total of 19 new number one marks and five of those marks are collegiate
records. The theme has been breaking records for a while, but this weekend was
one for the history books. This week’s post I am going to discuss the new number
one performances, the top championship winning performances and matchups.
SPRINTS/HURDLES
Women
Julien Alfred of Texas continues to be the queen of the
short sprints. She has been dominant since the indoor season started. She
clocked in at 10.84 to run the fastest wind legal 100-meter dash time of the
season to claim the Big 12 title. Alfred won the 200 as well running 22.28. Alfred
has drawn closer to the NCAA record in the 100 and she perhaps will past it later
in the post season.
Britton Wilson is perhaps the only other sprinter having a
better year than Alfred. Wilson has broken the 400-meter NCAA record outdoors
three times this season. She also broke the Indoor record as well. This weekend
she claimed the SEC title in the 400 with a time of 49.13. She not only broke
the NCAA record in the event both also became the 4th fastest
American woman in history surpassing Allyson Felix. Wilson followed that up
with a 400-hurdle time of 53.28. She had quite the impressive double. Let us
hope she is able to carry her success all the way through the outdoor season.
Best Match Up
The 100-meter hurdles at the SEC Outdoor Championship was
incredible. The three best hurdlers in the country, Masai Russell of Kentucky,
Ackera Nugent of Arkansas, and Alia Armstrong of LSU. Nugent broke the NCAA
record indoors that was also previously broken by Russell. Armstrong is the
defending NCAA Champion and a world championship finalist. Armstrong ran a time
of 12.31 in the preliminaries and that was a slightly wind-aided time. Armstrong
followed that up winning the SEC title with a time of 12.40, a legal wind time.
Nugent finished 2nd in 12.43 and Russell was third with 12.47.
Men
Udodi Onwuzurike of Stanford and from my home state of
Michigan joined the sub 20 club in the 200 meters at the Pac-12 championships.
After finishing 2nd in the 100 meters Onwuzurike returned to run an impressive
race. He claimed the Pac-12 title clocking in at 19.91. That is the fastest wind-legal
time this season. Keep an eye out for this young man, he consistently shows up
at championship meets.
Ryan Willie of Florida is the Gators latest 400 star. The
talented junior has been somewhat quiet this outdoor season working primarily
on his speed. He did not even enter as the favorite to win the conference
title. Willie running out of lane 8 of 9 charged towards the finish in the last
80 meters of the race to win in a time of 44.27. Carrying the title of SEC
Champion will immediately put eyes on you but with Willie’s time he is now also
the top 400 runner in the nation.
Ayden Owens-Delerme of Arkansas took a page out of Anna Hall’s
book. The star decathlete just started running the 400 hurdles a few weeks ago.
In fact the finals is his fourth race in the event ever. With each race he got
faster and faster. Thanks to him having great hurdle technique and being a decathlete
that can really run the 400 Owens-Delerme was clearly ready for the challenge. Against
an incredible field he held on to win in a time of 48.26. One of the fastest in
history and the fastest in the nation this year. In the finals there were six
sub 50 second runners in the preliminaries it was eight. This was an incredibly
strong field making his win even more impressive.
Best Match Up
The men’s 400 and 400 hurdles at the SEC Championships was
quite race. The men’s 400 has produced the top three times in the nation led by
Ryan Willie. In the 400 hurdles the top two times in the nation and two sub 49
second performances led by Ayden Owens-Delerme.
DISTANCE
Women
Greta Karinauskaite of California Baptist University is being
mentioned for the first time. She claimed the WAC Outdoor title in the
3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:35.55, the number one time in the NCAA.
She has been a conference champion and top performer since 2021 however the
past two outdoor seasons have ended after the WAC Conference Championship. She is
scheduled to run at regionals and will be interesting to see if she continues
on with her outdoor season.
Men
The lone number one mark in the distance races came at the
Big 12 Championships in the men’s 800. Yusuf Bizimana of Texas clocked in at
1:45.82. The first sub 1:46 of the outdoor season. I expect that we will see the
times drop as the post season continues, but against a strong field Bizimana
was the crown jewel. After winning the 800 meters indoors he is the driver’s
seat to win outdoors.
Best Match Up
The women’s 5,000 at the SEC Championship was the best match
up of the weekend. Parker Valby of Florida made her season debut and ran an
impressive race to win with a time of 15:25.03. Alabama star runner Mercy Chalengat
chased her down and almost claimed victory with her time of 15:25.07. It was
incredible cat and mouse game where Valby made her finishing move earlier with
the goal of outsprinting Chalengat. It worked even if only for a little bit.
Top Performances
Two distance stars lived up to the hype. Dylan Jacobs of
Tennessee claimed the SEC title in the 5,000-meter run with 13:36.93. He ran 11
seconds greater than his closest competitor. He broke the SEC meet record and
continued with his impressive season after transferring from Notre Dame. Jacobs
already has an NCAA title under his belt in the 10k from last season and won
the 5k indoors this season. Expect for Jacobs to add more hardware later in the
postseason.
Katelyn Touhy can never not impress us. It seems that every
chance she steps into a race the NCAA record is under threat. She ran the 5k
last weekend and set a collegiate record. She stepped up to the 10k and claimed
the ACC title with a time of 32:56.75. This young woman simply wins. Running
the 10k for the first time in her collegiate career and she wins a conference
title. There is nothing left be stated after that.
JUMPS
Women
Jasmine Moore of Florida had another impressive weekend. She
completed the Long Jump, Triple Jump double to give the Gators 20 team points
at the SEC Championships. The star jumper took the national lead in the Triple
Jump with a winning mark of 46 feet 4 ¾ inches (14.14m). That mark as impressive
as it is, does not match her NCAA record mark set in indoors. Of course I
expect Moore to improve upon that mark as we continue to progress in the post
season. Her winning long jump mark of 22 feet 7 inches (6.88m).
Ackelia Smith of Texas is the reason why Moore does not have
the top long jump mark. The sophomore represented Texas well at the Big 12 Championships
with a meet record jump of 23 feet 2 ¾ inches (7.08m) to win. Smith by way of
Jamaica continues her impressive season. She becomes Texas’s second 23-foot
jumper.
Men
Jamaica has a bright future in the jumps. In the long jump
star Wayne Pinnock now of Arkansas claimed the SEC title with his personal best
performance of 27 feet 5 ½ inches (8.37m). Pinnock lost his NCAA title this past
indoor season and has been without a major title this entire year. Pinnock’s
win should signal a warning shot to the nation that he is still here.
Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas is apart of that bright future
for Jamaica, and he continues to impress. He is our headliner and a big part of
why jumps this season have been on fire. The superstar true freshman has been
lighting it up all season and really hit a big one at the SEC Championship. His
winning jump of 58 feet 7 inches (17.87m) is not only a Collegiate record but
also a Jamaican Record. The talented youngster continues to impress every
chance he gets.
The High Jump saw the return of Vernon Turner of Oklahoma to
the top of the nation’s list. Turner has an indoor title under his belt and was
the NCAA runner up this past indoor season and last outdoor season. He took a
clear nation lead with his win at the Big 12 Championships with a mark of 7
feet 6 ½ inches. Turner is a consistent quality performer and let us hope he
continues that stretch further in the post season.
Best Match Up
The men’s long jump at the SEC
Championships. Wayne Pinnock against his teammate and fellow Jamaican Carey McLeod
and the indoor champion Cameron Crump of Mississippi State. They would finish
1-2-3 with Pinnock coming out on top.
Top Performer
Jasmine Moore of Florida has another
double winning championship meet. She has not missed since transferring to Florida.
THROWS
Women
Axelina Johansson of Nebraska is a
name we had better get used to in the women’s shot put. She returns to the top
of the NCAA list after winning the Big Ten title with a mark of 64 feet 1 ¼ inches
(19.54m). Johansson nearly claimed the indoor title finishing second nationally
and begin her outdoor title with an early appearance at the top of the list. At
this point it is fair to say she most certainly is a favorite for the rest of
the post season.
Men
Jonah Wilson also of Nebraska claimed
the shot-put title at the Big Ten championships giving the Cornhuskers the rare
double. Wilson dethroned Jordan Geist of Arizona and claimed the top spot with
his throw of 69 feet 11 ½ inches (21.32m). Wilson is new to the list, but a
nearly 70-foot throw is certainly going to catch everyone’s attention.
MULTI’S
Women
Allie Jones of USC returns to this blog
as the new number one in the women’s Heptathlon. The USC senior scored a total
of 6,234 points to dominate the Pac-12 Championships. She claimed four out
seven events in impressive fashion to take the NCAA lead. With the defending
champion having moved on to the professional ranks expect for her name to be
mentioned even more as a threat.
Men
Kyle Garland of Georgia did Kyle
Garland things. The SEC Championship was his outdoor debut. The star decathlete
won a total of eight events out of ten. A truly dominant performance that led
to a point total of 8,589 points. Garland is clearly preparing for the
championship season on the professional level having waited this long to compete
in the decathlon. However, he has nothing left to prove on the collegiate level
and this was proof.
RELAYS
Three collegiate records were
broken this past weekend. On the women’s side the Texas women broke the NCAA
record with a mark of 41.89. They are the first women’s team under 42 seconds;
Julien Alfred, Ezinne Abba, Rhasidat Adeleke and Kevona Davis represent that
strong quartet.
On the men’s side LSU backed up the
talk they had at the beginning of the season running a time of 37.90 to defeat
Florida (37.93) to win the 4x100 relay at the SEC Championships and break the Florida
Gators NCAA record (37.94). Both teams going sub 38 should be no shock, we all
expected a good race. Florida would maintain their hold in the 4x400 relay winning
with a new NCAA record time of 2:57.76 courtesy of 43.32 anchor from Ryan
Willie and 43.9 split from Jacory Patterson.
CLOSING
What an amazing weekend. Every race
had me on the edge of my seat. The major conferences certainly delivered their
big punch, but we cannot ignore the great performances of the small
conferences. Expect for regionals to introduce some smaller schools with big
names.
