Conference Championship Recap

13.07!

(Grant Holloway-Florida, Daniel Roberts-Kentucky)

A weekend of speed. That is what I will call it. Conference Championship weekend is always the start of the post season and it is clear we are headed for another great one. This weekend we saw a new collegiate record keeping up with the recent theme. This recap we will continue our theme this season of reviewing NCAA number one marks and the best performances of the weekend.

We will start our recap in a different position, the pole vault. True freshman Mondo Duplantis came in as the next big thing in pole vaulting and has certainly lived up to the hype all year long. HE shines at the biggest moments with consistently high performances. The super freshman again broke the collegiate record with his mark of 19 feet 8 ¼ inches surpassing Lawrence Johnson. He is currently the world number one and the early favorite to not only win an NCAA title but the world IAAF title as well.

Our next topic is not necessarily a big upset, but it is still an upset. All year Daniel Roberts has been chasing Florida star Grant Holloway. In the indoor season it was the 60 hurdles now outdoors it is the 110 hurdles. Their rivalry has been mostly one-sided with Holloway winning every competition, but their races have always been extremely close. Their race early in the season at the Florida Relays was the closest the two had all year, 13.28-13.30.

At the SEC Championship this past weekend, Holloway made noise in the preliminary race running a new NCAA number one mark of 13.07. Roberts was in the field and witnessed the performance finishing in second. In the finals however, Roberts proved to be the superior runner blasting out of the blocks first to attack the first hurdle and he never relinquished his lead. The junior tied Holloway’s leading mark of 13.07. We will see more of these two throughout the year but for now Roberts gets to enjoy a major conference title victory. Their shared mark of 13.07 now ties both for second all time only to the legendary Renaldo Nehemiah.

The sprinters certainly did not disappoint this weekend. In the men’s 100 alone there were three sub 10 performances and a fourth wind-aided mark. Senior Cravon Gillespie of Oregon took the top mark for the weekend at the Pac-12 championships with his time of 9.97. His mark is currently ranked second in the nation and makes him the top challenger to Divine Oduduru. He also had the top 200-meter mark of the weekend with a time of 20.17.

Oduduru of Texas Tech won the Big 12 title with his time of 9.99, his second time under 10 seconds this season further cementing his status as perhaps the best sprinter in the nation. Finally, there was Hakim Sami Brown of Florida who won the SEC title with a time of 9.99, the third athlete coached by Mike Holloway to run under 10 seconds. Mario Burke of Houston ran a time of 9.95, however it was wind-aided.

Quincy Hall of South Carolina has proven to be more of open 400-meter runner than a 400 hurdler. The talented junior ran the only sub 45 second 400 of the weekend winning the SEC title in a time of 44.60. Hall is still the number two 400 runner in the nation and is the best 400 meter threat the Gamecocks have had since the great Otis Harris.

Devin Dixon of Texas A&M returned to top form in the 800. After strong regular indoor season the junior fizzled out at the national meet and did not live up to the top billing he generated throughout a terrific regular season. His outdoor season started slow but the past weekend was a reminder to the entire nation of his talent. He defeated a sloid field at the SEC Championships to with a NCAA leading time of 1:44.76. He is currently the only athlete in the nation under 1:45 and he reasserted himself as the favorite. Indoor champion Bryce Hoppel of Kansas defeated the deepest conference field in the Big 12 to win with a time of 1:45.95. He too looks poised for a strong postseason.

Cooper Teare of Oregon took perhaps the most shocking performance of the weekend. Teare claimed the Pac-12 title in the 5,000-meter run over heavy favorite senior Grant Fisher of Stanford.  Fisher is a former NCAA Champion in the event and has yet to win the Pac-12 in his best event. Teare is among the next crop of young distance stars for Oregon and his win at the Pac-12 championship proved the hype around him was accurate. Teare is smart tactical runner proving it by defeating the former champion.

The 400 hurdles had a wild weekend with Cameron Samuel of USC taking the top mark. Samuel ran a dominant race at the Pac-12 championship clocking in at 49.09, the new national number one mark. The USC Trojans have now gone back to back in the event in conference and could potentially do the same at the national level. The race of the weekend however will go to Infinite Tucker of Texas A&M who gained social media stardom after his literal dive at the SEC Championships to defeat his teammate Robert Grant 49.38 to 49.47.

USC produced another number one NCAA leading mark in the high jump with sophomore Earnie Sears. The sophomore won the Pac-12 title with a mark of 7 feet 5 ¼ inches. His mark ties the number one mark held by Roberto Vilches of Missouri. The sophomore already now has two conference titles in his young career now having gone back to back.

Jordan Scott of Virginia is having quite the year in the triple jump. It has been a few years since we have had a season were a Florida gator is not the story going into the post season. Scott had a strong performance at the NCAA Indoor championships jumping 55 feet to win the Indoor title. He has followed that up with a 57-foot performance to win the ACC title. Although slightly wind-aided the mark is indication of the tremendous talent and performance that Scott is capable of.

Jamari Ward of Missouri had quite the weekend in the long jump. He leaped to a seasonal best of 26 feet 7 inches to win the SEC title over a deep and talented field. The mark is close to his personal best and ties him for the number two mark in the nation.

On the men’s side for the throwing events there was no new number one, however there were top great top three performances. Freshman Ethan Dabbs of Virginia claimed the ACC title in the javelin with his NCAA number three mark of 249 feet 6 inches. Winning the event by more than 16 feet. Senior Daniel Haugh of Kennesaw State also earned a NCAA number three mark in the Hammer throw at the Atlantic Sun Championship with a mark of 246 feet 2 inches. Haugh is the now the top performing athlete in the event from a small conference.

On the women’s side there were five new number one marks. The first big performance from the weekend comes from senior Yanis David of Florida. David has taken over a the premier jumper in the country with the graduation of Keturah Orji. The super senior from Guadelepe leaped to the number two mark all time and a SEC meet record in the triple jump. Her mark of 47 feet 1 inches was apart of an impressive double she completed. The senior won the long jump with a mark of 21 feet 10 inches. Her long jump mark is currently number two, but she did defeat the long jump leader Aliyah Whisby one on one.

In the hurdles Janeek Brown of Arkansas by way of Jamaica has been the story since her breakout performance at the National Relay Championship. She again improved her NCAA leading mark in the 100 hurdles with a time of 12.55. Brown has the speed to be an elite level hurdler and the time that she ran to win the SEC title this weekend ranks her among the world’s best and the top hurdler from Jamaica.

Andrea Stapleton-Johnson of BYU had perhaps the best non-conference championship performance of the weekend. The Cougars are independent in the outdoor season and do not compete a conference championship. On the home field Johnson leaped to a new NCAA number mark of 6 feet 2 ¼ inches wo win the high jump. Her mark is ¼ inches higher than Nicole Greene of North Carolina won the ACC title with her mark of 6-2.

Shadae Lawrence of Colorado State formerly of Kansas State has continued her winning ways in the Discus. Lawrence became the newly crowned Moutnain West Champion this past weekend with her winning throw of 213 feet 5 inches. She has over a nine-foot lead of her closest competitor on the national list. Her national leading throw is also a personal best. Lawrence is the defending NCAA champion and in great position to defend her crown.

In the short sprints LSU true freshman Sha’Carri Richardson had an impressive double to win the SEC title. A rare accomplishment to be completed in such a tough conference. However, Richardson is no ordinary competitor. She ran a league leading time of 11.00 in the 100. Her time unfortunately was slightly wind-aided but still impressive. Her 200 time of 22.57 places her third in the country and was the first 200-meter win for LSU since Kimberlyn Duncan.

In the long sprints Kethlin Cambell of Arkansas ran a sensational race against an extremely challenging field to claim the number two time in the nation with 51.03. Her SEC victory cements her status as a competitor. Campbell had an impressive indoor season and it is carrying over to outdoors. Campbell also defeated number one ranked Sharika Barnett of Florida in the race and is one of the many favorites to win a title for a loaded Arkansas team.

Jessica Hull of Oregon won another Pac-12 title in the 1,500 her signature event. The senior and defending national champion have been having a great year and this past weekend proved her championship expertise. The senior ran the top 1,500 time over the weekend with a time of 4:16.42. She has still not run a personal record this season proving that there maybe more in the tank for a strong performance later in the postseason.

The remaining top performance from this weekend were by two relays. USC women’s 4x100 has been impressive all season long and improved upon their number one mark. A team of Mecca McGlaston, Angie Annelus, Lanae Tava Thomas and Twanisha Terry scorched the track for a time of 42.44. It is the fastest time in school history and the fastest time in Pac-12 history. USC is now the third fastest program in history in the 4x100 relay.

Texas A&M men have been incredibly consistent in 4x400 relay and again took the number one ranking this season with their mark of 3:01.77. The defeated LSU among others to claim the SEC title.

The team title picture is still unclear on the men’s side. LSU did win their first SEC title since 1990 however do they have enough to win a national title remains to be seen. Never count Florida out they have performed well at the national level the past few seasons. We should no more after the regional qualifying meet.