Weekend Recap

49.71!!!

(Courtney Okolo-Texas)

We are heading towards our regular season finale. As we draw closer to the close of the regular season many top athletes who have not ran yet this outdoor season competed for the first time this past weekend. Some results had athletes meet expectations and some realized there is plenty of work to be done before championship season begins. Let us recap what was another weekend of solid performances with this weekend’s best.

WOMEN

BRONZE: Alexis Weeks (Arkansas)- Weeks is the latest pole vaulting star to come out of the University of Arkansas. Arkansas remains the A standard in this event and Weeks used this past weekend to confirm her status as a championship contender. Weeks vaulted to the top mark in the country this past weekend with a leap of 15-2 ¾. She joins a list of three athletes who have surpassed the 15 foot mark this season. Weeks is the only freshman of that group and will look to improve and provide more sparks this championship season.

SILVER: Nnenya Hailey (Arizona)- This past weekend Hailey continued incredible season by proving she is a real threat to claim the NCAA title in the women’s 400 meter hurdles. Hailey has been Arizona’s best high hurdler all season. At one point she led the entire NCAA. She has now climbed to the top of the women’s 400 hurdles bettering her teammate’s number 1 mark with a time of 54.98. Her time is the first sub 55 second 400 hurdle time of the year.  Hailey now leads a 1-2 punch for Arizona and is clearly in the driver’s seat while defending champion from Texas A&M Shamier Little has yet to go under 56 seconds.

GOLD:  Courtney Okolo (Texas)- What a great year Okolo is having. She was incredible recruit coming out of high school and is proving to be quite the talent while in college at the University of 400 meters, uh I mean Texas. Having set many school and NCAA records one could wonder was there anything left for her to do. This weekend she proved that the answer was yes. Okolo blasted a new NCAA record time in the women’s 400 with a mark of 49.71. Her time is now number 1 all time in the NCAA and is the first athlete to run sub 50 during the regular season. Her time also puts her number 2 in the world behind Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas.

MEN

BRONZE: NICHOLAS SCARVELIS (UCLA)- Scarvelis continued his great outdoor season this past weekend by claiming the number 1 mark in the NCAA in the men’s shot put at the Triton Invitational. His mark of 67-7 ½ was enough to defeat all the top collegiate athletes falling just shy of winning against a professional. Scarvelis is in great position to make a name for himself this coming championship season.

SILVER: BRYON ROBINSON (TEXAS)- Robinson leaped to the top time in the NCAA in the men’s 400 hurdles while competing at LSU for the LSU Alumni Gold Meet. His time of 49.10 surpasses the number 1 mark held by Eric Futch of Florida who previously beat him in their only match up of the season. Robinson who has not faced Futch since their early season match up has clearly sent a message not only to Futch but to rest of the NCAA that he is a serious contender for championship hardware.

GOLD: HENRY WYNNE (VIRGINIA)- The newest number 1 in the men’s 1,500 has quite the impressive time. Henry Wynne of Virginia scorched the track for a blazing time of 3:38.05 that placed him firmly in the NCAA’s number 1 spot. His time and performance was likely to the delight of the home crowd that he ran in front of at the Virginia Challenge. Perhaps the most important fact to take away from such a great performance is perhaps the fact that he beat fellow conference stud Justyn Knight of Syracuse. The ACC currently now has 3 athletes in the top 10 alone. 

RELAY GOLD: This week’s Relay Gold honor goes to the Men of LSU. LSU historically has always had an amazing relays. Even if they have no one in the finals of the 100 or 400 they seem to always be a threat in the relays. This past weekend in front of a home crowd the notched 2 number performances. The 4x100 relay clocked in at 38.94 and the 4x400 relay clocked in at 3:00.38. Their 4x400 relay time is quite impressive and puts further distance between them, Texas A&M and Florida.