(Jasmine Todd-Oregon)
It is mid-January and there have been plenty of noteworthy performances already. Most of the performances have been performed by sprinters. It is early in the season and still time for athletes all around to perform. The sprinters that have made the early noise have mostly been women.
Remona Burchell came on late last season with a time of 7.11 to claim the indoor 60 meter dash title. If she wants to defend her title she will likely have to put up a record performance and get started early this season. Already Jasmine Todd of Oregon has gotten started with a time of 7.15. Todd has been bitten by the injury bug the last few seasons and will look to finally put together a complete season. Todd's performance set a new facility record at the University of Washington's indoor facility. She had chase from true freshman Ky Westbrook of USC who clocked in at 7.18 to lead an impressive core of sprinters at USC. Kentucky senior and defending indoor 200 meter champion Dezerea Bryant saw to it to make some noise as well with a time of 7.18 and a NCAA leading 200 time of 23.12.
On the men's side the 60 meter dash is also warming up. John Teeters of Oklahoma State blasted off to a time of 6.54 which is currently the nation's number 1 time. NCAA 100 meter champion Trayvon Bromell of Baylor also dipped under 6.6 with a time of 6.58 putting him in 3rd place. Fellow talented sophomore of Mississippi Jalen Miller impressed many in week 1 with a time of 6.56. The early impressive times lead me to believe of the possibility that one of these young sprinters will possibly dip under 6.5 and run 6.4. It's too early to tell but expect some fireworks.
The hurdles had some amazing marks as well. In the 60 hurdles one of the preseason favorites Bridgette Owens of Florida broke her meet record this season with a NCAA leading time of 8.10. Owens has had some injury troubles while at Florida but had a great outdoor season. Fellow Michigander Cindy Ofili of Michigan earned the number three mark in the nation this past week with a time of 8.18.
On the men's side in the hurdles talented junior Isaac Williams of Houston earned a nation leading mark with a time of 7.72 at the beginning of the year to defeat a talented field. Defending champion Omar McCleod of Arkansas by way of Jamaica claimed the number two mark in a competitive dual against Texas with a time of 7.76. Donovan Robertson of Ohio State also tied the number two mark with a time of 7.76. All three are young talents that should be a big part of the sport in the future.
In the field events Donald Scott of Eastern Michigan got things started very early in the men's triple jump with a leap of 53 feet 7 1/2 inches. Scott is one of the many returning All-Americans and now that his football eligibility has been exhausted he can fully focus on the triple jump and can be considered a threat to win the title overall. Fellow MAC athlete Shawn Barber of Akron University also put up a noteworthy performance surpassing 19 feet the in the men's pole vault. Barber seems to be getting an early leap on defending his title.
In the women's pole vault there are two who are far ahead of the competition by at least a foot. Demi Payne of Stephen F. Austin and Sandi Morris of Arkansas. This past weekend both athletes brook the NCAA record, yes in the same weekend. First it was Morris with a mark of 15' 1.5 then later Payne with a mark of 15'2.25. For Arkansas it was business as usual as they routinely have turned out great vaulters. The two will likely battle it out for another national record later this season.
Keeping up with excellence in the MAC Akron continues there success in the women's weight throw. In their dual against Kent State this past weekend there top two athletes scored the top two marks in the nation with a throws beyond 70 feet. Leading the way was Alexis Cooks who threw for 71'1.5 followed by Brittany Funk with a mark of 70'11.25. Both marks are impressive and draw more positive attention to the MAC conference.
Maddie Myers of Washington had the most impressive distance performance of the weekend at the Washington Preview by winning the women's 3,000. Myers won the race by more than 8 seconds with a time of 9:16.03. Morgan Scheutz of LSU also had an impressive weekend as LSU is giving more effort in developing quality distance runners. Schuetz claimed the top time in the women's 800 with a time of 2:06.32. These two talented sophomores are names we should expect to hear more of in the future.
This coming weekend is the Rod McCrary Invitational at the University of Kentucky. Many of the nations premier programs will be competing including, Florida, LSU, USC and Miami amongst others. This is an opportunity for us to really validate the rankings many of the top tier programs have received.
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