Weekend Recap 3

(Tyler Day-Northern Arizona)

We have made it to the end of January and only have about four weeks until Conference Championship weekend which is the start of the post season. This weekend’s bevy of new number one performances indicate that many athletes and coaches are also aware of the timeline as many are stepping up their performances.

Blazing Speed

In the sprints there were several new number one performances on the women’s side and just one new number one on the men’s side. Micaiah Harris of Texas was that guy. Competing at the MLK Invitational in New Mexico he dominated the 200 with a time of 20.53. That time has since been adjusted to 20.60 because of the altitude. This was his seasonal debut and quite an impressive one. With the field wide open we certainly should consider Harris a contender for the title.

Julien Alfred was the other half of the impressive weekend that the University of Texas had. The super sophomore blazed the track to a time of 7.10 to win the 60-meter dash at the MLK Invitational. It is the fastest time ran in January by a collegiate athlete in history. Her time was converted to 7.12 which is still an all-time great performance and the leader of the 60-meter dash this season.

Perhaps no program had a better weekend than the women of Kentucky. Abby Steiner garnered the number one ranking in the 200 with a time of 23.06, Alexis Holmes garnered the number one ranking in the 400 with a time of 52.27. Their high jumping teammate Ellen Ekholm reclaimed the number one mark in the high jump with 6 feet 1 ¼ inches. Steiner would link up with Holmes in the 4x400 relay and they would clock a time of 3:31.29. Four new number one marks in one weekend should tell you the type of team that Kentucky has. Their ranking is for real.

Throwers Delight

The throwers this weekend was on fire. On the men’s side Gleb Dudarev of Kanasas proved why there should be little doubt about him as the primary contender in the men’s weight throw. He joined the All-time collegiate list with his winning throw of 80 feet even. He has over a 6-foot lead and has firmly planted himself as the top ranked contender. The shot put again changed hands this weekend. Jonathan Thraldsen of Minnesota took over the number one spot with his mark of 67’3 ¼. How long he remains number one, remains to be seen.

On the women’s side Ole Miss treated us to quite the impressive weekend in the women’s weight throw. True freshman Jasmine Mitchell on her first throw temporarily had the NCAA lead with a mark of 72’11 ¼. On the next round throw her teammate Shay Taiwo launched a throw of 73’8 ¼ to take over the NCAA lead. Neither would improve upon their marks but would finish 1-2 in the NCAA.

Dominant Half-Milers

The 800-meter run saw both men and women produce new NCAA leading marks. On the men’s side Iowa state has another great Kenyan runner in Festus Lagat. Lagat blazed his home track to the time of 1:47.55. His teammate Roshon Roomes was close behind with his time of 1:47.74 to finish second in the race and the NCAA. Lagat is no stranger to competitive marks let see what he provides us later this season.

Carley Thomas of Washington took over the top spot of the women’s side with her time of 2:03.06 at the Dr. Sanders Columbia Challenge. The true freshman took down the top two competitors in the NCAA in Nia Akins of Penn and Danae Rivers of Penn State. Thomas is only a freshman but that was an impressive performance.

True Runners

Whittni Orton of BYU is the latest star coming out of the Mormon school. Orton ran an impressive time of 4:29.76 to finish second in the mile at Dr. Sanders Columbia. She was only beaten by professional Nikki Hiltz of Adidas. Orton is the first sub 4:30 miler of the season and we can expect more from her later in the season.

Ryan Adams of Furman was another number one performance at the Dr. Sanders Columbia Challenge competing in the 3,000. He ran an impressive ran to finish race to finish second overall only losing to professional Jordan Gusman. His time was 7:49.45.

Tyler Day is perhaps the highlight of the weekend after he ran the third fastest time in the NCAA history in the 5,000 with a time of 13:16.95. Day ran a solid race only to finish second to Paul Tanui of Nike. Day’s performance vaulted him into the driver’s seat as the contender for the title. Day has nearly an eight second lead on his closest competitor. Could he perhaps improve upon his time, it remains to be seen.

Big Jumps

Besides Ellen Ekholm and her High Jump leading performance. Ruth Usoro of Texas Tech took over the lead in the triple jump. Her mark of 44’3 ¼ leaped her pass an impressive field of talent. She has certainly made herself a contender but there are still big jumps expected this weekend at the Tyson Invitational. How long will she hold on to the number one spot is the story.

KC Lightfoot of Baylor again improves his stranglehold on the number one ranking in the Pole Vault. He leads the NCAA with a mark of 19’0 ¼ after this past weekend. He is the first 19-foot jumper of the season and is firmly in the driver’s seat.

Multi-Talented

Madeline Holmberg of Penn State is the new number one in the Pentathlon with her score of 4,171 points. Holmberg is a bit of a new name, but the event is wide open.