LESSONS LEARNED

19.95!!!

(Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake)

What have we learned?

I ask myself that question after reviewing the many results from two weekends ago. Conference Championship Weekend has come and gone. We have learned a lot about who is a contender and who is a pretender. This weekend also made the team title hunt picture even clearer. Perhaps the biggest lesson we learned is that the SEC is king...and queen. 

LESSON 1: LSU Men Rules the Relays

LSU had quite a successful SEC Outdoor Championships. Their sprinters as usual had a solid weekend that included many new number 1 marks. Perhaps one of the most notable of their marks was their relay performances against top level competition. The 4x100 relay ran a time of 38.33 with a freshman (Jaron Flournoy from Michigan) as their first leg. Their time is one of the fastest 4x100 relays time in NCAA history. Their 4x400 relay ran time of 3:00.38 to win the SEC title with a 3 second lead. If challenged they have broken their own NCAA record. This group has the potential of setting NCAA records in both events. Let’s hope that the Tigers can continue their positive momentum in the post season.

LESSON 2: NETHANEEL MITCHELL-BLAKE is up NEXT

Blake maybe the spark that ignites the sprint engine at LSU. He has been at the top of the ranks all season long and in both the 100 and 200 meter dash. Blake pulled off an impressive double at the SEC Outdoor Championships winning the 100 meter dash in 10.16 and the 200 meter dash in 19.95. His 200 time is the fastest wind legal time since Walter Dix set the NCAA record in 2007. Also keep in mind that Blake is a junior. There is plenty of talent in this young man and we may see even more at Nationals.

LESSON 3: KETURAH OJRI can really JUMP

Orji is nothing new to anyone who reads this blog. This talented sophomore jumper from Orji has been mentioned multiple times, most notably for her amazing triple jump efforts. At the SEC Championships she again proved she is the queen of the event. She leaped to a mark of 47-11. Unfortunately for us and her it wasn’t quite wind legal. However her mark served notice that she has the potential to set the NCAA record and be considered as the greatest female American triple jumper of all time. A young woman who has yet to reach her prime still has plenty of time to astonish us all.

LESSON 4: LINDON VICTOR is the new favorite in the DECATHLON

Victor a multi-talented junior at Texas A&M had perhaps the stiffest competition this weekend in the decathlon. He went up against the talented two headed monster from Georgia. The Georgia dogs seem to dominate this event at a conference level and at a national level. It took Victor a personal best of 8,446 points to win the men’s decathlon over favorite Maicel Uibo and talented teammate Devon Williams. Both Bulldogs also went over 8,000 points proving the challenging level of competition. Victor is now currently ranked number 1 in the nation.

LESSON 5:  The women’s 10k is wide OPEN

Molly Seidel of Notre Dame announced via her twitter a few days that she will not be competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this season. Seidel is dealing with a sacral stress fracture. Without the defending champion we now know a new champion will be crowned. However there are plenty of big names out of the meet including Erin Finn of Michigan who is redshirting, teammate of Seidel Anna Rohrer and Allie Ostrander a true freshman standout from Boise State. This leaves us void many big names. Dominique Scott of Arkansas could potentially be the favorite to win it since she is the top ranked 10,000 meter runner in the NCAA at this time. Scott is currently attempting the double by winning the 5,000 and 10,000. Her contributions are very important to Arkansas if they want the team title.

PRIVATE LESSON: I really tried to not make this all about the SEC but the conference had an outstanding weekend with a few new number 1 marks. This coming weekend is the preliminary or regional round. I admit that I am not a fan of this regional process and hope that this is the last year of a wasteful weekend. The indoor process works best for me, the top 16 in each event selected. I think for an outdoor meet you can select the top 24 or go back to a provisional and automatic qualifying style format. Regionals is a waste of travel money and time. The next time we chat we will hopefully be previewing the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Here’s to hoping that all the favorites make out of this weekend healthy.