Weekend Recap 2

(Darryl Sullivan)

Another week and another record gone. The indoor season is now in full swing and we were treated to a bevy of good performances this MLK weekend. The rankings still are unclear with regard to the team battle. I would also like to apologize since no podcast came last week. I am in recovery from the FLU and was out Tuesday through Saturday last week and was unable to do so. This week is a different story and we will discuss the team rankings.

Record Holders

Darryl Sullivan of Tennessee had such a special performance this weekend that Athletic Director Philip Fulmer even made mention of his weekend on social media. Sullivan leaped to a mark of 7 feet 7 ¾ inches to claim the High Jump at Virginia Tech Invitational. His performance is fourth all-time by a collegiate athlete, but it is a new SEC Indoor record as well as school record.

Tonea Marshall of LSU is one of the top returnees from last season and although she was only considered a dark horse to win the 60-meter hurdle title. This past weekend she marked herself a true contender. Dominating the field at Texas Tech she launched to a time of 7.86. Her time is a school and SEC Indoor record. Her time maybe rounded down because of the altitude at which you compete at Texas Tech.

True Freshman

In the men’s sprints there will be new champions crowned in the 60 and 200 because Grant Holloway and Divine Oduduru turning professional early. Several freshmen can put their name in a hat for 200-meter consideration starting with Ashton O’Conner of Texas Tech. O’Conner blazed the track at Texas Tech with a time of 20.76. He moves into the number one spot in the nation and is joined by fellow freshman contenders, Cameron Miller of Florida with a time of 20.81 and Joseph Fahnbulleh also of Florida with 20.86. is currently ranked number one in the nation and will have plenty of future opportunities to improve upon that.

Stanford Duo

The women of Stanford now boast two of the best distance runners in the NCAA. In the mile at the UW Preview Jessica Lawson earned the top collegiate time in the race and the nation’s number one time with a clocking of 4:37.64, she finished fourth overall. At the same meet her teammate Ella Donaghu earned top collegiate honors in the 3,000 with her time of 8:58.31. Donaghu finished second overall at the UW Preview and is the only athlete in the NCAA with a time under 9 minutes.

Scorching Number One’s

Raheem Chambers of Miami is not a name we have heard in a while. He is an outstanding 100-meter sprinter and perhaps the next great sprinter from the country of Jamaica. He transferred from Auburn last season and this past weekend sent a reminder to everyone with his time of 6.57. His time of course ranks him as number one in the NCAA and now perhaps a new threat to win the title.

Waleed Suliman of Ole Miss is certainly one of the contenders for the NCAA title in the mile. He garnered the number one ranking with a blazing time of 3:57:03 to win the mile at the Vanderbilt Invitational. A sub four-minute mile this early in the season is a positive sign for Suliman.

Amazing Jumps

Olivia Gruver of Washington became our first 15-foot performance in the pole vault this season. The star senior leaped to a mark of 15-3 ½. She set the outdoor record last season and will look to add another record to her collection this indoor season.

Deborah Acquah of Texas A&M jumped into the school record book with a great leap of 21’6 ¾ to win the Long Jump on her home track. Acquah broke a 22-year-old record. At the same meet Ellen Ekholm of Kentucky took the national lead in the high jump leaping to a win of 6-0 ¾.

New number 1’s

KC Lightfoot of Baylor is now the national leader in the men’s pole vault. He leaped to a mark of 18 -8 ¼. Khayla Dawson of Indiana is the new number one in the women’s shot put with her leading mark of 57-3 ¾ that she hit this weekend at Vanderbilt Invitational.