Conference Championship Weekend Part 3

BIG TEN

The Big Ten Conference is most known for its dominance in the distance areas. There are plenty of great programs in this conference, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State and Minnesota that produce great distance athletes. In recent years the Big Ten has grown as a very well rounded conference with great sprinters, jumpers and throwers. This past weekend the Big Ten held its conference championship and the women's competition had an array of great performances with Penn State claiming the title.

Championship Highlights


100 Meter Dash

Shavon Greaves 11.56 Penn State- Greaves has been one of the premier sprinters in the country and was able to prove that here defending her title.

200 Meter Dash

Shavon Greaves 23.28 Penn State- Greaves completing the double.

400 Meter Dash

Fawn Dorr 52.51 Penn State- The first title in a challenging double performance, Dorr has grown as a strong 400 meter runner.

100 Meter Hurdles

Aleesha Barber 13.11 Penn State- Barber returns to the top of the Big Ten, her last championship winner was an upset over Tiffany Ofili in 2008.

400 Meter Hurdles

Fawn Dorr 57.50 Penn State- Door Completed the phenomenal double and looks to be a top performer at the NCAA Championship meet.

800 Meter Run

Molly Beckwith 2:04.11 Indiana

1,500 Meter Run

Angela Bizzarri 4:15.12 Illinois- Star distance runner put on a solid performance in a great field winning by a hundreth of a second in the first of her double winning performance.

5,000 Meter Run

Angela Bizzarri 16:12.35 Illinois- The second title in a great day for the Illini.

10,000 Meter Run

Megan Duwell 34:02.12 Minnesota

3,000 Meter Steeplechase

Bridget Franek 9:48.26 Penn State- Franek stellar performance broke the conference meet record formally held by former NCAA Champion Anna Williard.

Long Jump

Todea-Kay Willis 20-9.25 Minnesota

Triple Jump

Nkeiru Ugwoaba 42-6 Purdue

High Jump

Rebecca Bucholtz 5-10.75 Michigan State

Pole Vault

Jenny Soceka 13-5.25 Wisconsin

Shot Put

Faith Sherrill 55-10.50 Indiana- Sherell's throw was conference meet record.

Discus

Erin Pendleton 184-09 Michigan- Pendleton led a 1-2 finish for the Michigan Wolverines with number 2 being her sister. Pendleton's performance was a meet record.

Javelin

Maggie Mullen 166-02 Ohio State

Hammer Throw

DeAnne Hahn 185-08 Minnesota

Heptathlon

Dorcas Akinniyi 5584 Wisconsin


A little exhausted, our next post we will take a look at Men in the Big Ten and the men in the Pac-10.

Conference Championship Weekend Part 2

Let's continue our conference championship series and discuss the Big 12. The Big 12 in recent years has moved ahead of the ACC and Pac 10 as the 2nd best BCS Conference. One could make the argument that the Big 12 may be the all around best conference. The Championship meet this weekend certainly provided plenty of great performances in not so great weather, there were disappointments and surprises.


Big 12 Men

The team going in with the most buzz was Pat Henry's Texas A&M squad. Henry's team put on some stunning performances at the Texas and Penn Relays and are coming off an amazing indoor season. The Aggies certainly brought a championship team to the meet in the end it was the Corn huskers of Nebraska that took home the title. Nebraska did not have a stand out victory just a great effort through out the competition by the men of the corn. Oklahoma came in a close second and was definitely not be messed with their solid performances in the sprints as well. Texas A&M came in a disappointing third however a close third.

Highlights

100 Meter Dash: Gerald Phiri 10.13 Texas A&M

200 Meter Dash: Curtis Mitchell 20.46 Texas A&M

400 Meter Dash: Tabarie Henry 45.89 Texas A&M

110 Meter Hurdles: Ronnie Ash 13.31 Oklahoma- Big 12 Meet Record

400 Meter Hurdles: Bryce Brown 49.64 Texas Tech

800 Meter Run: Blake Irwin 1:48.40 Missouri

1,500 Meter Run: Johnathan Stublaski 3:43.31 Oklahoma State

5,000 Meter Run: John Kosgei 14:05.96 Oklahoma State

10,000 Meter Run: John Kosgei 29:24.21 Oklahoma State

3,000 Meter Steeplechase: Hillary Bor 8:47.82 Iowa State

4x100 Meter Relay: Baylor 39.36 (Marcus Boyd, Whitney Prevost, Courtney Thomas and Trey Harts)

4x400 Meter Relay: Texas A&M 3:04.45 (Tran Howell, Bryan Miller, Curtis Mitchell and Tabarie Henry)

Long Jump: Marquise Goodwin 26-0.75 Texas *Freshman

Triple Jump: Zuheir Sharif 52-8.75 Texas A&M

High Jump: Paul Hamilton 7-1.75 Nebraska

Pole Vault: Jordan Scott 17-8.25 Kansas

Shot Put: Mason Finley 62-8.75 Kansas *Freshman

Discus Throw: Mason Finley 197-05 Kansas

Hammer Throw: KP Singh 215-06 Oklahoma

Javelin Throw: Sam Humphreys 243-09 Texas A&M *Freshman

Decathlon: Nick Adcock 7704 Missouri


Big 12 Women

A great championship meet for the women, solid performances all around. The Aggies of Texas A&M won their 8th conference title and 4th in a row under Coach Pat Henry. Henry has brought his winning formula from LSU to Texas A&M and it seems to be working. The Lady Aggies followed Pat Henry's usual trait to success, Hurdles, Sprints, Jumps and Relays. The Aggies were dominant in all areas. Jeneba Tarmoh was the most outstanding athlete for the aggies winning the 100 meter dash, 200 and 4x100 relay. The Aggies are currently number 1 in the nation and this past weekend, even with a bad week for Gabby Mayo were able to perform phenomenally well. Lisa Koll of Iowa continued her long distance dominance with a double victory in the women's 5,000 and 10,000.

Meet Highlights:

100 Meter Dash: Jeneba Tarmoh 11.19 Texas A&M

200 Meter Dash: Jeneba Tarmoh 22.65 Texas A&M

400 Meter Dash: Jessica Beard 52.08 Texas A&M

100 Meter Hurdles: Natasha Ruddock 12.89 Texas A&M

400 Meter Hurdles: Kianna Elahi 57.40 Iowa State

800 Meter Run: Sara Stoakes 2:07.16 Kansas State *Freshman

1,500 Meter Run: Lauren Bonds 4:20.02 Kansas

5,000 Meter Run: Lisa Koll 15:22.42 Iowa State

10,000 Meter Run: Lisa Koll 33:51.74 Iowa State

3,000 Meter Steeplechase: Emma Coburn 9:56.53 Colorado

4x100 Meter Relay Texas A&M 43. 74 (Jeneba Tarmoh, Porscha Lucas, Dominique Duncan and Elizabeth Adeoti)

4x400 Meter Relay Texas A&M 3:31.79 (Andrea Sutherland, Donique Flemings, Ashika Charan and Jessica Beard)

Long Jump: Chantel Malone 21-0.50 Texas

Triple Jump: Ashika Charan 42-9.50 Texas A&M

High Jump: Victoria Lucas 5-8.75 Texas

Pole Vault: Shane Weygandt 14-2.75 Texas Tech *Freshman

Shot Put: Karen Shump 54-8.75 Oklahoma *Freshman

Discus Throw: Brittany Borman 174-05 Oklahoma

Hammer Throw: Alena Krechyk 206-07 Kanasas *Freshman

Javelin Throw: Amy Backel 182-05 Oklahoma

Heptathlon: Chante McMillian 5349 Nebraska


As stated earlier plenty of great individual performances for the Big 12, in our next post we take a look at the Big Ten.

Conference Championship Weekend!!

Whew!!!!!!!!! What a weekend. Although three of the four BCS meets had to deal with a fight from mother nature there were still plenty of great times and performances. The Big 12, SEC, Big Ten and Pac-10 began the post season this past weekend. For some teams it was a great sign of things to come and for some teams the season cannot end any quicker. Let's first take a look at the SEC.


SEC WOMEN

A meet that involved multiple rain delays that lasted for hours still had some great performances. Although I feel the meet should have been moved after hearing about the floods weeks in advance before the meet, Tennessee still did a great job as host. Florida and LSU would be the team story for both men and women with different results.

In the sprints it was supposed to be a LSU domination, although LSU scored plenty of points in the sprints they only had won sprint victory coming in the 400 hurdles from Cassandra Tate who clocked in 57.12 to claim the title. Shaniqua Ferguson of Auburn was able to double in the sprints winning the 100 in 11.19 and 200 in 23.09. Teammate and defending outdoor NCAA Champion Joanna Atkins was able to win the women's 400 in 52.58. Another Auburn teammate Krystal Bodie led the 100 hurdles after the preliminaries but was unsuccessful in finishing in the finals while Kimberly Laing of Alabama was able to claim the title with a time of 13.32.

The Relays were very interesting as well, LSU favored in both did not claim either title, the team was not able to get the baton around again in the 4x100 relay and were not able to beat the nation's number 1 4x400 relay team in Arkansas who consisted of, Regina George, Shelise Williams, Karen Thomas and Whitney Jones to clock in 3:31.05. Auburn claimed the women's title with a time of 43.38, Ferguson was joined by teammates, Atkins, Shaquela Williams and Nivea Smith.

The distance events were quite a story as well, host Tennessee was a lock to win many events at the championship meet and score the bulk of their team points in the distance events and they did not disappoint. Phoebe the defending champion at 800 meters was able to defend her title with a solid 2:01.81 effort over the three LSU Tigers that included senior and runner-up LaTavia Thomas. Brittany Sheffey was the teams best hope in the 1,500 finishing second to Charlotte Browning who won the mile indoors at both NCAA's and the SEC meet. Browning clocked in a 4:13.96 while Sheffey clocked in at 4:19.34. Florida had two big performances in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase to help aide their team title hopes, senior Julie Northrup and Genevieve LaCaze finished 2-3 respectively with times of 10:23.53 and 10:30.12. South Carolina's Beatrice Bouwitt was victorious with a performance of 10:20.14. The 5,000 meter senior Jackie Arneson of Tennessee was able to go out with a bang while fellow teammate Brittany Sheffey was a close second, their times were 16:20.89 and 16:21.93. Finally Bridget Lyons won the women's 10,000 with a 34:44.88 giving the Georgia Bulldogs 10 points.

The Jumps was were the Florida Gators were expecting to dominate, Shara Proctor certainly aided in assisting with that dominance. Proctor won both the women's long jump and triple jump with marks of 21-11.50 and 43-3.25. Arkansas was able to assert their Pole Vault dominance going 1-2 and tied for 3 scoring a total of 21 points alone. Tina Sutej lead the way with a leap of 13-9.75 senior teammate Janice Keppler was able to reach the mark with more tries. The High Jump was supposed to be the Brittany Carter show, Carter of LSU has already jumped over 6 feet multiple times this season, however freshman Maya Pressley of Auburn was able to come away with the title reaching a height 5-10.75, Carter of LSU was able to reach that mark however it took more tries.

The Throws was another area for the Gators to do well, this group also lived up to the hype. All word in the shot put Mariam Kevkhishvilli continued her dominance with a throw of 59-0 Kevkhishvilli was just shy of her meet record she set last season, teammate Kelly Medeiros was 2nd with a throw of 54-2.50. Senior Evelyn Dekkers was able to claim a conference title as well with a mark of 168-08, ten big points for the Gators. True freshman Ashley Miller of Florida was able hold her own in the women's discus throw reaching 164-05, just shy of Samia Stokes of LSU winning mark of 168-05. The Hammer throw was the only throwing event without any Gator points, Nikola Lomnicka of Georgia hurled the hammer 207-07 to claim the title.

LSU claimed the team title with their ability to score multiple times in almost every event they competed, the 4x100 relay was a huge disappoint hopefully they will get it together by Regionals this should be an interesting group was the get the baton around. For LSU this a great sign of things to come with such a young team.

SEC MEN

The Florida Gators have slipped to number 3 in the national rankings. Their sprinters, the strength of their team have been very inconsistent. Outside of Jeff Demps, we are still waiting on Jeremy Hall and Terrell Wilks to reach their sub 10.2 performances of last season. The Gators started off with some very poor performances in the men's 200 meter preliminaries. Calvin Smith was the only sprinter out of four to make it to the finals. However with a solid team effort the Gators were able to rebound and win the team title over LSU.

In the sprints Florida football star Jeffrey Demps claimed the titled clocking in at 10.06 over Marcus Rowland over Auburn. Kentucky senior Rondel Sorillo who claimed the men's title in 20.66, senior Calvin Smith of Florida was fifth scoring 4 points for the Gators. In the 400 Smith was able to live up to world leading mark of 44.81 finishing fifth clocking in at 45.42. Freshman star Kirani James of Alabama claimed the title clocking in at 45.01. Sophomore sensation Barret Nugent kept LSU's title hopes alive with his win in the men's 110 meter hurdles clocking in at 13.56 over Booker Nunley of South Carolina. Johnny Dutch of South Carolina defended his title with a time of 49.56 in the men's 400 meter hurdles.

The Relay races brought some surprising results, most surprising was Mississippi State over Florida in the men's 4x100 relay, it seems to me that maybe Jeremy Rankin should first leg over Chris Rainey, the men of Mississippi State clocked in at 39.09 while Florida clocked in 39.10. For Mississippi State, Justin Christian, Kendall May, Dwight Mullings and Tavaris Tate got the baton around the track in a blazing time. The Gators consisted of Rainey, Wilks, Hall and Demps. The 4x400 relay almost had a meet record. The Gators led Smith, Tony McQuay, Christian Taylor and R.J. Anderson clocked in at 3:02.69.

The Jumps were a huge highlight for the Gators. In the men's triple jump the Gators were able to score 18 points with Christian Taylor leaping to 54-8.75 to win while freshman Omar Craddock was 2nd with a leap of 53-7. Taylor scored 8 points in the men's long jump with a 2nd place finish mark of 26-10.50. Taylor's mark a championship jump in any other year however Arkansas Alain Bailey leaped to a world leading mark of 27-4.75. In the high jump the gators were only able to score 4 points with Frankie Hammond and Brian Turner in a tie for 5th place with a jump of 6-8.75. True freshman Ricky Robertson of Ole Miss was able to claim the title with a mark of 7-2.50. Senior Elliott Haynie of South Carolina claimed the men's pole vault title reaching a height of 17-3.75.

Similar to the women, the throws was an area for Florida to score well along with the Tigers of LSU. Kemal Mesic finished second twice for the Gators scoring 16 huge points. Mesic's throw of 60-1.25 was not enough to beat senior Israel Machovic of Georgia winning mark of 60-10.50 in the men's shot put. Colin Boeves of Kentucky reached 181-09 which was enough to beat Mesic's mark of 177-02. In the men's hammer throw the Gators were relying heavily on true freshman Jeremy Postin who set a school record early in the season, Postin placed 7th with a throw of 190-11. Walter Henning of LSU was just too much for the rest of the field with his winning throw of 237-03, not far from the meet record. Mario Ariet finished 5th in the men's javelin for Florida with his mark of 214-07. Brian Moore of Georgia added to the Bulldogs great day in the throwing events with his mark of 239-04 to claim the title.

The Gators were able to win their first team title since 1987 scoring 124 team points. Hopefully some of the sprinters can improve as the team gets ready for Regionals in two weeks. Our next post will be a Big 12 review.

THE SEASON FAR PART 2

In part one we discussed the Florida Men and both men and women of Texas A&M. Let's continue our discussion of the best teams thus far with the Oregon women, Florida State men and LSU men and women.



OREGON WOMEN

A very well rounded team Vin Lanana has put together at Oregon. Since his arrival his goal was to wake up the women's program, he has done just that with a program strong in the sprints, jumps, distance and throwing events. Headlining the Lady Ducks are sprinters Amber Purvis and Keshia Baker. Purvis is one of the nation's fastest short sprinters with times of 11.38 and 23.00. Baker has a 51 second personal best. Senior Zoe Buckman and freshman star Jordan Hasay help carry the flag in the distance events. Buckman is currently ranked number 2 in the nation in the women's mile with a time of 4:12.80. The Ducks have heptathlon Brianne Theisen leading the nation with a score of 5942, look for the champion to defend her title.

FLORIDA STATE MEN

The Seminoles right now are taking a back seat in their home state after having dominated for 3-4 years. However the Seminoles still have a strong program to be proud of. The Seminoles had a outside chance of winning the title however that took a serious hit when it was announced that senior sprinter Charles Clark injured his quad and would be out for the season. Although they maybe out of the title hunt the Seminoles still have a lot of talent. Maurice Mitchell, Kevin Borlee and Brandon Byram are three talented young sprinters that will aide in the future success of the Seminoles.


LSU WOMEN

The Lady Tigers of LSU have the greatest collegiate track and field history. At one point the Tigers were able to generate 11 consecutive national titles from 1987-1997. They were able to generate three more titles in 2000, 2003 and 2008. All of the Lady Tigers national title teams except for two in 1987 and 2008 were coached by Pat Henry who is now the head coach of Texas A&M. Dennis Shaver has certainly done a fine job as Henry's replacement, Shaver winning his own national title in 2008 and will look to do it again this season. The majority of Shaver's team is young, however they are talented enough to compete with the Texas A&M Aggies and have enough certain seniors to lead them in the right direction. Seniors Samantha Henry and LaTavia Thomas led the team in the respected events. Henry leads the team in the 100 meter dash with the fourth fastest time in the nation at 11.18, Henry is third in the nation in the 200 with 22.94. LaTavia Thomas leads the nation in the women's 800 with a time of 2:01.40 while fellow senior Kayann Thompson is 2nd with 2:03.54 and junior Brittany Hall is third with 2:03.76. What's missing from the great LSU team is what the old LSU teams had plenty of, hurdlers. Shaver was able to recruit high school star Jasmine Stowers but more hurdlers are needed.


LSU MEN

The one thing I can say about Dennis Shaver is that he has definitely made the men more competitive. Henry did do a great job with the men's program winning three national titles 1989, 1990 and 2002 however they were always overshadowed by the women's program. Under Shaver it seems the team is on equal ground.

The Tigers have a very well rounded team similar to that of the Lady Ducks. The sprints as usual are loaded even after losing Rynell Parson. There has not been a word on Parson since he ran that sub 6.70 early in the indoor season. However Jerel Hill currently leads the team in 100 meter dash with a time of 10.34. The Tigers true sprint depth comes from the 400 were they have four guys that can go under 47 seconds starting with senior Armanti Hayes, Caleb Williams, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Robert Simmons. In the 800 they are equally successful with Jamal James, Sadiki White and freshman Sadiki White. Richard Jones is currently ranked number 2 in the national with a time of 1:46.90. Talented sophomore hurdler Barrent Nugent is a huge factor in LSU title hopes, his season best of 13.58 is currently ranked 4th in the nation. Freshman star Demar Forbes and Zedric Thomas currently pave the way for the Tigers in the jumps, Forbes with a team leading 25-10.75 has one of the top long jump marks in the nation. Forbes and Thomas should make a big splash this championship season.

THE SEASON SO FAR

What a interesting season we have had so far in collegiate track and field. There have been so major let downs and wonderful surprises. We are now entering the conference championship season which is for some athletes there last meet with the team or the best shot to qualify in the new regional format. Let's take a look at how some teams have performed thus far.


Florida Men

The Florida Gators had an amazing indoor season. Freshman star Tony McQuay lit up the track in the 200 and 400 along with his senior Calvin Smith. Football phenom Jeff Demps led the team in the 60 meter dash and won the NCAA indoor title. Christian Taylor won the triple jump indoors. With all that the Gators accomplished during the indoor season the outdoor season obviously began with a ton of hype. In the beginning of the season the Gators were able to match the hype. The Gators put on a record setting performance at the Florida Relays, setting school records in both the 4x200 relay and 4x400 relay. Once the Gators arrived at the Penn Relays and lost alot of the fan fare they gained during the beginning of the season. A dropped baton in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays and peforming a full second slower in the 4x200 relay. The past couple of years the Penn Relays have not been kind to the Gators and this year was certainly no different. With the team's below average performance there are doubts if Mike Holloway's Gators can finally win a outdoor title. The SEC Championships in Knoxville will be very telling.

Texas A&M Men

The Aggies were obviously the second best men's team entering the outdoor season. The Aggies have the phenomenal team success that the Gators have but were not given their chance because of the great performances the Gators put on early in the season. Junior Curtis Mitchell is the favorite to win the men's 200 meter title, Mitchell has certainly lived up to expectation after a great indoor season. Mitchell has served as a solid anchor on the 4x100 relay and excellent relay leg on the 4x400 relay. The depth the Aggies have in all the sprints will certainly aid to defending their outdoor title and the reason why they are currently number 1 on everyone lists. The Aggies will show their full fire power for the first time at the Big 12 Championship at the University of Missouri.


Texas A&M Women

Pat Henry seems to be the best win it comes to the sprints. After an extremely successful career at LSU, Henry has brought the succes to Texas A&M. The Lady Aggies have already won the Big 12 conference title three years in a row and have already won the NCAA title last season. This year's team is loaded with talent. Porscha Lucas, Gabby Mayo, Jessica Beard, Jeneba Tarmoh, Dominique Duncan, Natasha Ruddcok, Vashti Thomas and host of other phenoms. The teams wealth of talent and top rated peformers should give the Aggies a huge boost at the NCAA Championship. The Aggies don't have the middle distance strength that Pat Henry's LSU teams had but they are getting their. The ability to score in every sprint event and the ability to dominate the jumps will aide them in winning the outdoor title. The Big 12 Championship held at the University of Missouri should see the women's team raise up the trophy for the fourth time in a row.


Thanks for being readers, our next post we will discuss the Oregon Women, Florida State Men and LSU Men's and Women's program.