2021 NCAA Indoor Week 2 Recap

 45.51!

(Matthew Boling- Georgia) 

We are now in full indoor mode. All teams have now competed in at least one meet so far. We had quite a few eye-popping performances this past weekend that we need to discuss. But first let me remind the entire track and field fanbase please do not let the Covid-19 challenges with Tokyo ruin your year. Let us celebrate the great indoor season we are having so far. We have not received a word of a major athlete testing positive. In this recap we are looking at the new number one 1 performances. 

WOMEN

There was a total of 8 new number one performances, including one by a defending champion.

Twanisha Terry of USC is the 2019 NCAA Indoor 60-meter Champion and the last person to win a NCAA Championship. At the Woo Pig Classic at Arkansas against a top tier group of programs the defending champion clocked a time of 7.14 to win the race. This is the same time she ran to win the Indoor title in 2019 and was an impressive indoor debut. In that same race was NCAA number one in the 200 Abby Steiner of Kentucky who finished in 7.22.

Another USC sprinter made an impressive indoor debut. Bailey Lear defeated a strong field that included 2019 Indoor Champion and teammate Kaelin Roberts, Kennedy Simon of Texas and senior Morgan Burks Magee of Arkansas. Her winning time of 52.55 placed at the top of the NCAA. Beating a field of this quality proves her number one preseason ranking was not in error.

At the same meet in Arkansas Lauren Gregory had her own impressive performance on her home track. The Arkansas athlete claimed the 3,000-meter title with a time of 9:01.41. A strong early season performance. In that same race was her teammate Katie Izzo. Izzo was ranked number one in the 5,000 in the preseason but she is also the defending SEC Champion in both 3,000 and 5,000. Defeating her early in the season in a event she is strong in proves that Arkansas has a lot of depth on this team.

New school same champion. Chanel Brissett who recently transferred to Texas from USC was the 2019 NCAA Indoor Champion in the 60-meter hurdles. Against a strong field of athletes that included former teammates she claimed victory with a time of 8.07. Texas and USC are locked in a tight team battle with USC having the edge. However, Texas is slowing churning into a hurdling juggernaut under the direction of Edrick Floreal.

Abagail O’Donoghue of LSU continues to impress and rewrite the school’s record book. O’Donoghue leaped to a mark of 6-2 ¼ to claim the high jump competition. LSU was also at the Woo Pig Classic and O’Donoghue dominated the field. She was the only athlete over 6 feet but also won by outjumping the competition by 6 feet.

Madi Malone of Auburn is placing her hat the in the ring for championship consideration. The senior had a throw of 72 feet 10 inches. She is currently one of three athletes to surpass the 70-foot mark so far this season.

It is early in the season, but you can never ignore a good pentathlon performance. Erin Marsh of Duke scored a total of 4,185 points to win the Hokie Invitational. Although Marsh was not mentioned as a contender for a national title, she is the defending ACC Indoor Champion and will most certainly make more noise later this season.

The 4x400 relay race at the Woo Pig Classic helped to end the meet on a big note. Arkansas, Texas, USC, Kentucky and LSU were all competing at the Classic on Arkansas’ track. The home team took the race with a time of 3:32.18 to beat USC 3:32.44. It may come down to the 4x400 relay for the team title between these two programs, this was a noteworthy early season victory for Arkansas.

On the men’s side there were a total of four number one performances and none more eye popping than the performance by Matthew Boling. The talented sprinter from Georgia proved his sprinting range by clocking a national leading time of 45.51 in the 400. He is also amongst the top 5 in the 60-meter dash. Boling was originally a 400-meter sprinter before changing to the 100 his senior season in high school so him performing at a high level in the 400 should not be a complete surprise. What is a surprise is running a national leading time in your first ever collegiate race, that is impressive.

Tennessee is really making a case that they are the new home of Jumps U. Associate Head Coach Travis Geopfert spent his coaching career at Arkansas from 2009-2018 developing all those championship jumpers. Not at Tennessee he is starting to do the same. Outside of Carey McLeod the Volunteers have another talented triple jumper in Jalen Tate. Tate clamed the number one ranking in the country winning at the Hokie Invitational. The senior leaped to a mark of 53 feet 9 inches. With Geopfert success at developing jumpers look for Tate to improve upon this mark and remain a contender throughout the season.

Senior Adrian Piperi of Texas draws closer and closer to a 70-foot throw. The Champion shot putter again dazzled against strong competition. His winning throw of 69 feet 3 ½ inches at the Hokie Invitational further cemented his stranglehold on the number one mark in the nation. He has over 3 feet on the number two ranked athlete, Darius King of Northern Iowa.

The 4x400 relay has North Carolina A&T written all over it. Daniel Stokes, Randolph Ross, Elijah Young and Trevor Stewart warped the track and dominated with a time of 3:04.62! Stokes was a featured athlete with us before having a personal best of 44.25 in the 400. Add a talented young Randolph Ross to the mix and you have a team poised to win.

 

On our next post we will break down the discussion of who is the real jumps U. With Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Kentucky, Texas, Georgia, Florida State and USC this will be interesting discussion that will differ based on the sex.