19-6 1/4!!!
(Chris Nilsen- South Dakota)
Whew!! That’s all I could really say after what was a great
first day of NCAA Championship action. As with the new format Wednesday and Friday
are all men while Thursday and Saturday are all women. Today we witness some great
semi-final performances and final performances that will shape up the team
battle.
First let’s discuss Grant Holloway. Florida’s do it all man
had a rather disappointing day in the long jump, he failed to qualify. This
left the Gators without scoring points in the long jump for the first time in
years. This also hurt their team title hopes as they did not have room for
error. Holloway is truly talented, but this is now the second time he failed to
qualify in a event that he is capable of winning.
He did however run a great race in the semi-finals of the
110 high hurdles. The junior ran the number two qualifying time of 13.16. His
challenger Daniel Roberts of Kentucky exploded for a meet record time of 13.06,
the second fastest time in NCAA history. I will still hold to my prediction here
that Holloway will find a way to win it in the finals.
In the short sprints Divine Oduduru of Texas Tech looked
smooth. He pulled off two impressive performances running sub 10 in the 100 in
a wind-aided effort and ran a wind legal performance in the 200 clocking in at
19.97. That is quite the feat to dip under both 10 second barrier and 20 second
barrier in the semi-finals of the same meet. He truly is a talent to watch for.
His performance today allows for Texas Tech to remain in the driver’s seat of
the team title race.
On the field we witnessed an all time great performance by
Mississippi State as they finished 1-2-3 in the javelin. They were led by defending
champion Andersen Peters who launched a meet record and third all time NCAA
through of 284 feet 2 inches. His teammates Curtis Thompson and Tyriq Horsford followed
an impressive performance.
We had an upset of sorts in the pole vault. I, along with
many other journalists predicted a sure-fire win for true freshman Mondo Duplantis
of LSU to win the NCAA title. Defending champion Chris Nilsen of South Dakota
would not be denied. He leaped a personal best mark of 19 feet 6 ¼ inches to
break the meet record and claim the NCAA title from Duplantis.
Daniel Haugh of Kennesaw State took down defending champion
Denzel Comenentia of Georgia in the Hammer Throw Haugh launched an impressive
through of 244 feet 10 inches to claim the title. Comenentia was also competing
in the shot put and it clearly was to much for him as nearly missed the final
round of throws.
Speaking of shot-put Adrian Piperi of Texas delighted the
home crowd by upsetting favorite Payton Otterdahl and his challenger Jordan
Geist of Arizona to win the men’s shot put. It took a personal best, but it was
a enough for him to win it all on a through of 69 feet 3 ¼ inches.
JuVuaghn Harrison of
LSU won his first national championship of his career winning the long jump
with a mark of 26 feet 11 inches. His teammate Rayvon Grey failed to qualify to
the final round of jumps highlighting a few disappointing moments for the
Tigers.
Other notable qualifying performances would be the Houston
Cougars in the open 400. Both seniors Kahmari Montgomery and Obi Igbokwe qualified
to the finals. Montgomery will enter in with the top qualifying time of 44.80.
With a USATF title already under his belt he looks to be in prime position for
a great time Friday.
In the 400 hurdles Quincy Hall of South Carolina continued to
look flawless. The talented junior led the way with the top time of 49.01 to qualify
for Friday’s final. Senior Taylor McLaughlin of Michigan looked equally
impressive with his time of 49.28 to qualifying second overall.
In the only running final of the night, the 10,000-meter run
the BYU Cougars capitalized on their entries. The Cougars went 1-3-4 scoring a
total of 21 points to put in the team title race hopes. Senior Clayton Young led
the way with his winning time of 29:16.60. The Cougars have a few athletes
running on Friday and will provide us with an interesting storyline for the
team title picture.
The 4x100 relay looks to be exciting with Florida leading
all qualifiers with the top time of the year 38.35. LSU qualified second with a
time of 38.37 and Florida State was third overall with 38.43. The LSU Tigers
took a big hit to their relay and team title chances when Jaron Flournoy pulled
up in the 100-meter semi-final with what seemed to be an injury. His absence
from their 4x1 will be felt.
Overall great day 1 still more to come Friday but tomorrow
will be about the women.
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