Conference Championship Weekend Recap

8,539!!!

(Lindon Victor-Texas A&M)

I believe that this is the season of breaking records. This year every weekend a national record has either been broken or under threat to be broken. This past weekend was Super Conference Championship Weekend and a lot of top tier performances were had. But again, we are identifying another new NCAA Record. In this recap, we will discuss the top five performances from a packed weekend.

WOMEN

5. The fifth spot will be given to three individuals, all field event athletes who moved to the number one spot in their respective events at their conference championships this past weekend. Annie Rhodes of Baylor became the second athlete this season to go over 15 feet winning the Big 12 title with a mark of 15-1 ½. Shadae Lawrence of Kansas State winning the discus with a throw of 205’4 to claim the Big 12 Conference title.  She is currently one of two athletes who have thrown over 200 feet. Then Finally Irena Sediva of Virginia Tech claimed the Javelin throw at the ACC Championships with a mark of 192’6.

4. Hanna Green (Virginia Tech)- Green has been a mainstay in the 800 on a conference level and a national level. This year her senior year Green has seemed to turn things up a notch. She has not ran the 1,500 meter race at the Conference Championship before and was attempting a 800/1500 double. The ACC is full of great 1,500 runners and this season proved to be a tough group. However Green proved superior winning with a time of 4:15.08, she followed that up by winning the 800 in 2:01.28. Green has yet to beat Raevyn Rogers and will have a tough time of it later in the season. But she certainly proved herself a worthy competitor by pulling off an impressive double.

3. Sage Watson (Arizona)- Watson had quite the indoor season running the 400 meters. Watson an Olympian for Team Canada in the 400 meter hurdles led the NCAA Indoors at one point during the season. She has been mostly quiet this outdoor season sitting behind the two studs at USC in Amalie Iuel and Anna Cockrell. At the Conference Championships, she proved herself to be the best of the three winning the event in a time of 55.01. Watson has clearly filled the void left by Georganne Moline and hopes to claim the one thing missing from Moline’s record and that is a national championship.

2. Shakima Wimbley (Miami)- After having a rough start to the outdoor season in the 400, Wimbley turned up the heat at the ACC Championships. Against a challenging field where she entered not ranked number 1 Wimbley vaulted to the top spot with a time of 50.40, a new conference record. She led Miami on a 1-2-3 finish to prove their dominance in the event. Wimbley returned just a few hours later to compete in the 200 where she would dominate the field again with a time of 22.54.

1. Deajah Stevens (Oregon)- I honestly thought this position would be held by Ariana Washington after the season she had last year and the fact that she is defending NCAA Champion at 100 and 200 meters. Instead it has been her teammate all Outdoor season who has simply dominated. Stevens an Olympian who ran for Team USA in the 200-meter dash set the NCAA ablaze this indoor season with a 22.28 preliminary race. Unfortunately, she took a few steps outside the line and was disqualified along with her NCAA and American record. If the Pac 12 Championships are any indication the 200-meter record that has stood since 1989 is in serious jeopardy. Stevens blazed the field to a time of 22.09 which is the second fastest time in NCAA history. However, her time is the fastest at normal low altitude. She’ll be on her home track again in a couple of weeks we may perhaps see her dip under 22 seconds.

MEN

The men’s list was quite difficult formulating to five, there are few top performances were left of this list. The five listed are perhaps the most impactful.

5. Eli Hall (Houston)/Christian Coleman (Tennessee)- We’ve heard Christian Coleman’s name all year long. Hall’s name has been mentioned but not as frequently. The two have been at the top of the 100/200 meter rankings all season long and both put on quite a show this past weekend. Hall dominated on his home track winning the 100 and 200-meter dash at the American Conference Championships. His times were 10.19 for the 100 running into a slight headwind and the 200 with a time of 19.96. His 200-meter time just barely crept of the allowable mark but still pushed him to number 1 in the NCAA.

Coleman also doubled winning the 100 and 200-meter dash at the SEC Championships running under 10 seconds and 20 seconds. His winning times were 9.97 and 19.98, both times were wind legal. It is fair to say that I expect for both to have quite the match up at the NCAA Championships later this outdoor season.

4. Kenny Selmon (North Carolina)- Selmon may have been forgotten through all the noise coming from the SEC fans. With a myriad of top ranked 400 hurdlers in the SEC Selmon who competes in the ACC perhaps went ignored. Well this past weekend he reintroduced himself to the NCAA. Selmon claimed the ACC title with a time of 48.76.

3. Devon Williams (Georgia)- Williams primarily focuses on the decathlon. He is currently ranked 2^nd in the NCAA in the event. At the SEC Championships, he decided to test his skill set against the top ranked freshman Grant Holloway in just the 110-meter-high hurdles. Holloway has led the SEC for majority of the season. Williams however was not only able to beat one on one but also able to tie for the number 1 ranking. His time of 13.37 is the best wind legal time in the NCAA this season. It remains to be seen if he will compete in both the decathlon and the 110 hurdles or just simply one event. He will enter the meet ranked high in both events.

2. Fred Kerley (Texas A&M)- Kerley continues to amaze this season. The 6’2 sprinter has developed quite well since high school and continued his dominance on the season this past weekend. He ran a time of 44.09 which is the 2^nd fastest time in NCAA history while easing up to the finish line. It is fair to say that he would have easily dipped under 44 seconds and broke the NCAA record. In the finals while running in the rain he was still able to hold on and win clocking in at 44.30. Kerley now owns the SEC record and is great position to claim the NCAA record.

1. Lindon Victor (Texas A&M)- It seems that every time this man lines up in the Decathlon he breaks the NCAA record. Victor has already broken the Decathlon record this season and he just did it again at the SEC Championship. Victor scored a total of 8,539 points and now has over a 180-point lead against Devon Williams. It was a bit disappointing to not see the two compete against each other this past weekend but there will be plenty of time left for that later in the year. Victor will be huge for Texas A&M in regards to the team battle.

Final Say: I must say that this season has been quite fantastic. Every weekend something exciting has happened, records have never been broken at this magnitude nor have any of them been under this level of threat before. I honestly believe that one more long standing record will be broken before the season ends.

Next Post: Our next post will be NCAA regional preview. I am still not a fan of this regional format and hope soon they get rid of it. Once the declarations have been made we will have a better understanding of what to expect come National Championship time.