PART 1- SPRINTS/HURDLES/JUMPS
PART 2- DISTANCE/THROWS/MULTI’S/RELAYS
PART 1
SPRINTS
Looking at the women’s sprint we have a defending champion
from 2019 leading the way in the 60-meter dash. Twanisha (TeeTee) Terry of USC
ran 7.14 in 2019 to win a great race. She debuted her 2021 season with that
same time. She is a threat to win every race she competes in. In my opinion her
biggest challenge will come from Julien Alfred of Texas. Alfred was the number
one runner last season before Covid struck and Terry had to take a back seat.
Alfred has a strong start and if Terry cannot match her start Alfred may end up
wearing the crown.
In the 200 it is all Abby Steiner of Kentucky. The sprint star
was number one last season with a time of 22.57 to win the 2020 SEC Indoor
Championship. This season she joined the all-time top five running a national
leading mark of 22.41. Kynnedy Flannel of Texas is the only real challenger having
run 22.62 this season but Steiner should claim the title.
In the 400 Texas A&M freshman star Athing Mu has been
the talk of the season. She has been the headliner of several recaps and has
broken two NCAA records already this season. She stunned everyone when it was
announced that instead of competing in the 800 were, she broke the collegiate
indoor record, she will be competing in the 400 where she broke the World Junior
Record. Her time of 50.52 was nothing to sneeze at but neither was her 800 time
of 1:58.40.
No other athlete in the field has a sub 51 second PR this
season. However, Talitha Diggs a fellow freshman from Florida and daughter of Olympian
Joetta Clark-Diggs, did win the SEC Indoor title with a time of 51.14. That too
is impressive time for a freshman. Having ran 22.9 early in the season Diggs
may have room for improvement and can dip under 51 seconds. It should be a
great race, but I see no way that Mu loses but I will show respect to the
phenomenal freshman season Diggs is having.
In the men’s sprint the 60-meter dash is all, but a given. With
a true freshman Micah Williams of Oregon having run a converted 6.53 that was
6.49 and the returning number one Raymond Ekevwo of Florida who has only raced
once this season, there is no clear favorite.
Williams is amongst a trio of sprinters from Oregon in the 60
and is the headliner of the group. Ekevwo ran only a relaxed prelim of 6.57 at
the Tyson Invitational one month ago before tripping at the finish line
slightly and had a bit of limpness. He is still slated to run and will be
looking to finally garner the national title he has been looking for. Ricco
Braithwaite of Indiana clocked a 6.55 to win the Big 10 Championship and is
perhaps the best chance the Big 10 has had in recent memory to compete for the
title of the fastest in the NCAA.
In the 200 we will hopefully get another battle between the
top two 200-meter sprinters in the country. Terrance Laird of LSU with a
national leading mark of 20.28 and the SEC Indoor Champion. Along with the
runner-up Joseph Fahnbulleh of Florida. The two were in separate heats in the
finals and did not get a chance to compete. They did however at the Tyson
Invitational and could only be separated by one thousandth of a second. Matthew
Boling of Georgia in the race should also make things interesting. This is a wide-open
race and lane assignments will go along way in determining the victor.
The 400 has seen a sonic boom this season. There are 17
total athletes that have ran 45 seconds this season in the 400. The top 8 all
currently have a season best of 45.5 or better. This will be challenging race
with an impressive field of athletes, as you should expect at nationals.
However, this group is especially noteworthy seeing how so many have ran 45 and
how there seems to be more than one capable of dipping under 45 seconds. With
the race being held at the fast track at Arkansas we should be in for some
great times.
Randolph Ross of North Carolina A&T and son of head
coach and Olympian Duane Ross has been the talk of the 400 majority of the
season. Leading a strong contingent of sprinters from North Carolina A&T
who have become a powerhouse HBCU capable of competing with the elite programs.
Ross held the number one ranking with his 400 time of 45.2 until Conference
Championship Weekend. Tyler Johnson of Ohio State blazed the track at the Spire
Institute to a dominating victory in the Big 10 Championships with a time of
45.07. Although Johnson has the top time, I think Ross will be able to claim
the victory.
HURDLES
Chanel Brissett made major headlines this season when she
transferred from USC to Texas. Two programs that regularly compete for national
titles. Brissett is the last Indoor Champion in the 60-meter hurdles for USC in
2019. She took a midseason defeat from Grace Stark of Florida but quickly
rebounded to become the NCAA front runner with her leading time 7.91. Brissett is
apart of talented Texas trio in the 60 hurdles, and I expect her to defend her
title.
Trey Cunningham of Florida State has not relinquished his
stranglehold on the top time once this season. With Florida State in the national
title hunt Cunningham remains a big piece of their goals. Cunningham was a
strong candidate last season for national champion as well. His 7.55 gives him
a full leg up on his competition and he should be crowned the victor on
Saturday.
JUMPS
The jumpers have been jumping this year, literally. The Men’s
Pole Vault record has been broken multiple times this season and the women’s triple
jump record is under direct threat. The long jumpers have reached marks we have
not seen in years. I expect to see at least one new national record.
On the men’s side KC Lightfoot of Baylor has been the headliner.
He has broken the NCAA record three times this season. He is in a class all his
own and shows no sign of slowing down. He is the only athlete in the field that
has jumped 19 feet. His leading mark of 19 feet 8 ¼ inches is nearly almost a
foot ahead of his closest competitor. Lightfoot has consistently performed well
in big moments this season and I expect that to continue.
In the long jump senior Isaac Grimes of Florida State lead
the way for majority of the season. He leaped to a mark of 27 feet 4 inches and
did not relinquish that top spot. JuVaughn Harrison of LSU did however match
that mark to claim the SEC Indoor title. Harrison will have a busy weekend
competing in both the high jump and long jump. Although that is challenging ask,
he was able to complete that double at the SEC Championships winning both.
Nationals is a different monster and although the SEC is the best conference in
the land, I think he will find it challenging. Grimes will only compete in the
long jump and will not have to worry about his performance in another event. I
pick Grimes to squeeze out a close victory.
In the high jump Harrison is currently ranked number one
overall with his mark of 7 feet 5 ¾ inches. The talented junior seems to perform
at his best in this event, but he is competing in both the high jump and long
jump. His competition should come from Earnest Sears of USC (7 feet 5 inches)
and Tejaswin Shankar of Kansas State (7 feet 4 ¾ inches). Sears was the early
leader in the season as well as last season. Shankar won the outdoor title in
2018 when he was a freshman. He has yet to repeat that same success on a
national level but has become increasingly more athletic by competing in multiple
events. Sears to me gives Harrison the strongest challenge but I think Harrison
will walk away a winner at least once this weekend.
In the triple jump Carey McLeod of Tennessee took the lead
over after a strong SEC Championships. McLeod with a mark of 56 feet 4 inches.
He was the SEC field athlete of the year last indoor season and had a bit of
slow start this season. He has a one-foot lead over number two ranked
Chengetayi Mapaya of TCU. Mapaya has performed at high level all season long
but a 56-foot jump McLeod is to hard to ignore. McLeod should win the title.
On the women’s side Ruth Usoro is the only name that matters
in the horizontal jumps. The senior from Texas Tech currently leads the nation
in both the long jump and triple jump. She is also near the overall records in
both events. Her mark in the long jump is 22 feet 4 ½ inches and in the triple
jump 47 feet 1 ½ inches. Usoro seems to get better as the competition goes so I
not only expect her to double but to break the national record in either event.
In the long jump her teammate Monae’ Nichols has a season’s
best of 22 feet 1 ¾ inches capable of challenging her. In the triple jump she
has more than a foot lead over number two ranked Jasmine Moore of Georgia with
her mark of 45 feet 10 inches
The High Jump is having quite the year as well. The SEC has
three athletes who have jumped over 6 feet. Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M had a
rough day in the pentathlon in the SEC Championship. She made up for it in the
high jump. She leaped to a mark of 6 feet 3 ¼ inches surpassing Anna Hall of Georgia
who leaped 6 feet 2 ¼ inches. Abigail O’Donoghue of LSU led for most of the
season and finished in third with the same mark as Hall with more attempts.
Those three will still be the big three names going into the meet, but I think despite
Gittens performance Georgia athletes perform very well in field events at the
national meets, I think Hall takes the gold.
The Pole Vault is currently being led by Lisa Gunnarson of LSU.
LSU jumps are performing at high level in recent years, Gunnarson seems to be
the next in line to win a title. She leads the NCAA with a mark of 14 feet 10
inches. She has almost a 3-inch lead on the number two ranked athlete and has
been a high-level performer all year long. This is a needed ten points for the
Lady Tigers.
Our next post will be Part 2, and that will release tomorrow
March 11.
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