2021 NCAA Outdoor Recap Week 5

 44.30!

(Noah Williams-LSU)

We have made all the way through April. I cannot stress enough the blessing that we have been given to experience an outdoor season while still fighting a pandemic. Adding to that thought it that this weekend was another positive weekend with great new number one performances. 12 Individual performances and a new relay number 1. As we begin the final stretches of the post season times and marks are getting better and better. The team title picture is still not clear, and we will have to wait until the end of the regular season to give them a fair view. In this recap let us look at the new number one’s.

 

SPRINTS/HURDLES

LSU had a fantastic weekend at their home meet, the LSU Alumni Gold. Normally this weekend would be filled with stories from the Penn Relays. Thanks to the pandemic the Penn Relays were again cancelled this year. Instead meets such as LSU Alumni Gold provided us with some big performances.

On the men’s side the 400 was special for the LSU tigers. In the open 400 Noah Williams who transferred from Akron continues to have a stellar 2021 season. Against previous number Bryce Deadmon Williams rocketed to a national leading time of 44.30. His race was quite impressive as he bolted around the track from the start making up the stagger on Deadmon quite early. He claimed the indoor national title in a bit of surprise. Expect for him to continue to improve and lower what is already an impressive time.

In the 400 hurdles true freshman Sean Burrell made his hurdling debut. Burrell was one of the top 400 runners in high school without a senior season. He has proven speed and was expected to eventually challenge for a sub 45 performance as a freshman. Instead he hopped into the 400 hurdles to win in dominating fashion clocking a time of 49.12. LSU has not had a freshman run that fast since Bennie Brazzell who is currently the men’s sprinting coach at LSU. Expect more from Burrell later this season.

On the women’s side at the same meet Alabama junior Tamara Clark became the first collegian under 11 seconds in the 100-meter dash. Against professional competition Clark held her own with a time of 10.96. She finished second to Aleia Hobbs who ran 10.91. Hobbs now competes professionally for Adidas. This is proof that Clark is a true threat to the 100 title. Known more heavily for 200 meter exploits a sub 11 second performance puts you in an elite class.

Favour Ofili of LSU continued her strong freshman campaign. The talented Nigerian further cemented her ranking as the number one 200-meter runner in the nation. She won the race with a time of 22.30, that was slightly wind-aided against a bevy of quality runners. Ofili has already met the A standard for the Olympics now she just needs to focus on continue to lead the NCAA.

Senior Tonea Marshall of LSU continues her strong outdoor campaign in the 100 hurdles. She again improved on her national leading mark with a time of 12.53. Although slightly wind-aided it is indication of a time that she will likely get to later this season. Marshall has been solid with her technique and her speed is unquestioned.

DISTANCE

On the men’s side there were two impressive distance performances. The first comes from true freshman Cole Hocker of Oregon. Hocker beat an impressive field on his home track to win the 5,000-meter run with a time of 13:19.98. He led a race were the top four athletes all ran under 13:30. Hocker is already being talked about as the next great runner from Oregon. I think he has already cemented that winning two NCAA individual titles indoors as a freshman and now he seems to be in shape to win another NCAA title outdoors. Hocker deserves all the accolades that he gets as he has really impressed every race; the effort and the desire is evident on his face.

A new week another new number one in the steeplechase. The number one ranking in this event has changed multiple times this season and Bennett Pascoe of Arkansas State is the latest to do it. Pascoe competed at the John McDonnell Invitational and clocked a national leading time of 8:38.12. He won the impressive race by almost 20 seconds and is currently only one of two athletes to have gone sub 8:40 this outdoor season.

On the women’s side we see that the name Sage Hurta of Colorado appears again. Hurta once led the nation in the 800 and now she leads the nation in her best event, the 1,500. At the Oregon Relays the senior ran an impressive race against professional competition. She finished eighth overall to claim a national leading time of 4:08.38. She is the only sub 4:10 runner in the country and really cemented herself as the favorite. You can never count out anyone from Arkansas or BYU, but I think it is fair to say with that time she is definite favorite.

Mercy Chelangat of Alabama is the latest long-distance star out of Alabama. She ran the top time in the 5,000-meter run at the John McDonnell Invitational and clocked 15:17.79. Chelangat claimed the NCAA title in Cross Country just last month instead of competing indoors. The sophomore is ready to make a name for herself in the long-distance events on the track.

FIELD EVENTS

On the men’s side the jumpers made the noise for the field events. Darryl Sullivan of Tennessee improved upon his lead in the men’s high jump. His winning mark of 7 feet 5 ¼ inches (2.27m)  at the Clark Wood Invitational broke his tie for the number one ranking to give him the number one ranking by ¼ inch.

JuVaughn Harrison of LSU continued his assault on the men’s long jump. He leaped to a mark of 27 feet 8 ¼ inches (8.44m) to the win the event at the LSU Alumni Gold meet. Harrison pulled off the impressive double indoors winning both the High Jump and Long Jump. He is clearly a threat to do it again outdoors.

Our lone top throwing performance came from Ohio State. The Buckeyes clearly are the class of the Big Ten in the women’s throwing events. There recent success of not only Big 10 Champions but national champions speak to that statement. Adelaide Aquilla is one of those champions having claimed the national title in the Shot Put indoors, Aquilla finally makes her outdoor debut at the top of the list. At the Big Ten Illini Relays she became the only athlete in the country over 60 feet with her winning mark of 60 feet ¼ inch.

RELAY

LSU’s 4x100 relay that includes Tonea Marshall, Favour Ofili, Symone Mason and Thelma Davies clocked a NCAA leading time of 42.70. They still are the only team under 43 seconds this season and it looks as if they are the clear easy favorites to win the overall title.

2021 NCAA Outdoor Recap Week 4

1:57.73! 

(Athing Mu-Texas A&M)

The marathon continues, literally. That is a basic description of the regular outdoor season, it is a marathon. Our theme of breaking NCAA records continued. In this recap we will review the previous weekend and speak on a few noticeable outdoor absences.

SPRINTS

The men did not have a major weekend but did have some headlining performances. Perhaps the most impressive of this weekend came in the 100-meter dash. Florida State is no stranger to developing great 100 sprinters and JoVaughn Martin is just the latest star to prove that fact. The sophomore clocked a winning time at the Tom Jones Memorial of 9.94. He is just of many that have run sub 10 for Florida State and he is only a sophomore. I doubt that is his peak, I expect him to better that time.

On the women’s side talented freshman at LSU by way of Nigeria, Favour Ofili, continues to impress the season. The true freshman clocked a winning time of 22.30, although wind-aided to take the number one 200-meter time in the country. She was an All-American indoors and is having quite the outdoor season. She has hit the A standard for the Olympics and will likely compete for her native Nigeria.

DISTANCE

Athing Mu is the biggest headliner this past weekend. The super freshman broke yet another NCAA record, in cold weather. The Texas A&M star wowed the crowd at the Michael Johnson Invitational on the campus of Baylor. Against Aaliyah Miller who won the NCAA Indoor title when Mu decided to focus on the 400. Mu dashed to a winning time of 1:57.73. Breaking the previous NCAA record of 1:59.10 by Raevyn Rogers. It is still the regular season and the weather was less than ideal. Expect for Mu to break that NCAA record again at some point this season.

Maudie Skyring of Florida State introduced herself to the nation. She has All-American pedigree, but she went a step further this past weekend at the Tom Jones Memorial. She ran a solid race in the 1,500 to win and clock a national leading time of 4:11.43. A time that good will not go unnoticed and certainly should be everyone on notice of a new national title threat.

Hannah Steelman of NC State is a repeat from last week. Just last week she was the number one steeplechaser in the country. This week she is now the number 5,000-meter runner. She dominated the field at the Virginia Challenge to clock a winning time of 15:30.87. She lost her number one ranking in the steeplechase, but this is a solid effort. It remains to be seen if she is only going to compete in one event or both. With a time of this quality I expect for Steelman to certainly consider the 5k.

Steelman lost her number one ranking to indoor 5,000-meter champion Joyce Kimeli of Auburn. None for her speed and unique race strategies Kimeli showed her versatile of a distance runner she is. She competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on her home track at the War Eagle Invitational. She dominated the field with a time of 9:37.97 and won the race by almost 40 seconds. Kimeli is currently the only athlete this season to have run sub 9:40. It is still early in her season and remains to be seen what she is going to do.

The lone distance performance came on the men’s side and did not come from a power five school. Ahmed Jaziri of Eastern Kentucky ran an impressive race on his home track. He defeated his teammate, who is now ranked number two in the country, to a time of 8:23.14. He has nearly a 15 second lead on the rest of the field further cementing his talent. This event is wide open on the national level but Jaziri has the top time to date. For now, he should be considered a contender.

FIELD EVENTS

There were no new number one jumping mark but there were a few in the throws. On the men’s side Washington Turner continues to lead the country in the discus throw. The super sophomore had another impressive throw at the West Coast Classic launching the disc 217 feet 5 inches (66.26m). Turner is currently number one in two events with a NCAA title already in his trophy case. It certainly looks as if he will continue to carry the Championship throwing torch that Arizona State has developed over the years.

In the hammer throw another National Champion continued his hot season. Thomas Mardal of Florida, on what is his last home meet as Gator impressed the crowd and further cemented his number one status. The star senior launched a throw of 249 feet 11 inches (76.18m). He currently has over 10 feet lead on the number two ranked athlete and continues to impress each time he steps up to throw. He is clearly the favorite to win the NCAA title in June.

I am detecting a theme here of NCAA Champions making statements, not just on the men but the women also. Samantha Noennig of Arizona is another defending champion who made a statement this week. She again improved upon her number one ranking with her winning throw of 59 feet 7 ½ inches (18.17m) in the Shot Put. Noennig earned her previous national titles at rival Arizona State and is clear she is rounding back into championship form.

Camryn Rogers of California, who is also a defending champion, continued to impress in the hammer throw. Her season continued to get better after her winning performance at the West Coast Classic. The sophomore hit mark of 239 feet 9 inches (73.09m) defeating number two ranked Alyssa Wilson of UCLA who finished second. Rogers has been number one from the start of the outdoor season and defeating Wilson her biggest challenger further cements her as the obvious favorite.

MISSING IN ACTION

There are a few athletes who have noticeably not competed so far, this outdoor season, one in particular is Raymond Ekevwo of Florida. Although he has not registered a time this outdoor season, I do honestly believe that the delay is likely due to the Olympics. Ekevwo has Olympic aspirations and is not looking to burn out before then. There has been no injury news reported as well. Look for him to show up right before the post season.

2021 NCAA Outdoor Recap Week 3

 47-7!

(Ruth Usoro-Texas Tech) 

The season continues. This past weekend there 15 new number one performances and a few all-time collegiate best. The team title picture is still not clear but there are weekly rankings based on the available performances and I will discuss those rankings here in this weekly recap.

 

SPRINTS/HURDLES

Tamara Clark of Alabama has been a top tier talent for years now. She is not new to being at the top of the NCAA performance list. This past weekend she returned to the top of the 100-meter list with a time of 11.07. She won the race on her home track at the Crimson Tide Invitational defeating Symone Mason of LSU (11.21). We are still a month away from the start of the post season but a time of 11.07 will draw attention.

Also on the women’s side at the same meet is LSU senior Tonea Marshall. Marshall was having quite the senior indoor season last year and seemed to be well on her way to winning a national title. The Covid-19 pandemic derailed those plans. She began the season with a bang winning the Texas Relays title. She improved upon her time, albeit wind-aided, but improved her number one ranking. Her winning time of 12.70 ties her with one of the greats in NCAA and LSU history, Tananjalyn Staley. Marshall is the clear leader of the pack and it should remain that way.

On the men’s side there was only one change and that came in the 100-meter dash. Joseph Amoah of Coppin State ran a dominating race at North Carolina A&T to claim the NCAA Division 1 lead with a mark of 10.00. Coppin State is another HBCU success story producing strong sprinters. Amoah has an All-American season to his credit and has been a successful part of Ghana’s sprint core. With the recent push of sprinters from the continent of Africa, Amoah is just the latest star.

DISTANCE

On the women’s side there are two new number one performances in the distance events. First there is Gabrielle Jennings of Furman University. Jennings performance is not just impressive because of her time, 4:12.60 but because of who she beat. In that same race at the Joe Walker Invitational at Ole Miss, was indoor 5,000-meter champion Joyce Kimeli of Auburn. Jennings outgunned Kimeli to win the race 4:12.60 to 4:13.15. Although Kimeli is not a middle-distance runner she is still known for her closing speed which was not enough to defeat Jennings.

Hannah Steelman of North Carolina State was the lone competitor from her school in a meet against North Carolina, Wake Forest and Duke known as the Tobacco Road Challenge. Steelman was clearly not phased by being the only competitor from NC State. She won her race by nearly one minute with a dominant winning time of 9:46.35. Steelman is one of only five women who have gone under 10 minutes and she is currently the only woman to have gone under 9:50.

On the men’s side there were two changes as well. Finley McLear of Miami of Ohio continues to impress. The talented sophomore did not let the fact that he came from a smaller school phase him against the Oregon Ducks at the Indoor Championship last month. Remember he nearly claimed the NCAA title. This past weekend at the Joe Walker Invitational he reclaimed his number one ranking with a time of 1:46.51. This again was against bigger name programs and McLear continues to prove that means nothing to him.

Eliud Kipsang of Alabama had an impressive freshman indoor season. He finished 2^nd at the NCAA Championships as well as at the SEC Indoor Championships. Kipsang pulled off an impressive double on his home track at the Crimson Tide Invitational. He won the 800 in a time of 1:47.20 that placed him fifth on the national list. It was however his 1,500 time that will catch your attention. The freshman logged a time of 3:36.00 moving him to the top of the list. Distance events pan out differently outdoors it will be interesting to see how the competitors in the event will fill out later in the post season.

FIELD EVENTS

Ruth Osoro has had quite the 2021 season. She had a strong indoor season that included her winning the NCAA title in the triple jump. She continues her dominance in the event with her performance this past weekend. She leaped to a mark of 47 feet 7 inches (14.50m). That puts her in the top five performers all-time and draws her even closer to the NCAA record set by Keturah Orji. Osoro is currently the only athlete over 47 feet and she has greater than a foot lengths lead.

Tyra Gittens continues to perform at a high level. In her first Heptathlon of the season she scored a total of 6,274 points on her home track. Highlighting her great performance in each event will be her mark in the long jump that was 21 feet 10 ¾ inches (6.67m). Gittens scored over 6,200 points without going over 6 feet in the high jump. This indicates that we can expect and even better score later this season.

In the throwing events Marie Therese Obst of Georgia continues to climb up the all-time list. Her throw this past weekend improved upon her number one ranking. Her winning mark was 201 feet 4 inches (61.37m). Obst is having quite the season for the Georgia Bulldogs and looks to continue her success into the post season. She now has greater than a 10-foot lead on the rest of the field.

Samantha Noennig is never an unfamiliar face here. She has been mentioned perhaps more times than any athlete on this blog. Noennig again regained the number one mark in the women’s shot put for Arizona. Her NCAA leading mark of 59 feet 6 ¼ inches (18.14m) puts her back into the driver’s seat of the championship conversation.

On the men’s side Zack Anderson of South Dakota is proving that there is more than just great Pole Vaulters in their state. The senior tied with Darryl Sullivan of Tennessee for the number one mark in the nation in the High Jump with a leap of 7 feet 5 inches (2.26m). Both performed admirably this weekend and on their home tracks.

Zach Bradford of Kansas decided to take some of thunder being generated by KC Lightfoot all season long. After a record-breaking indoor season Lightfoot has already jumped over 19 feet this outdoor season. However, conference foe Bradford just leaped into the number one position with his leap of 19 feet ¾ inches (5.81m). He is only a half inch above Lightfoot, but it is reminder that Lightfoot will not have a cakewalk, even at the conference level he will face stiff competition.

Karel Tilga had perhaps the most impressive performance all weekend. He is yet another talented multi-event athlete from Georgia. Tilga claimed the NCAA’s number two all performance scoring a total of 8,484 points. He has almost an 800-point lead on the rest of the field and is competing a such a high level. This is remarkable seeing how he is at a program that specializes in developing champions in this event. Tilga will in all likelihood break the NCAA record if his teammate Kyle Garland doesn’t do it first.

Washington Turner of Arizona State has already broken an NCAA record this season, indoors. Turner moves to the other throwing event he is quite good at, the Discus. At the Jim Click Shootout at the University of Arizona, Turner launched the disc a total of 211 feet 10 inches (64.57m). He has over a 5-foot lead on the field and is currently ranked number one in both the shot put and discus.

RANKINGS

The rankings show that LSU is number one on both sides, men and women. It certainly can’t go without notice that this current iteration of LSU reminds me slightly of the LSU programs of the nineties. This is perhaps however the deepest hurdle group on the women’s side that I have ever seen. That includes the great LSU teams of the 90s, the Illinois group of the 90’s and early 2000’s and the great Texas A&M teams. This group I believe could potentially break the NCAA shuttle hurdle relay record and they may have four athletes run sub 13 seconds in the 100 hurdles and that does not even include the 400 hurdles.

With their relay strength high and their young sprint core getting better and better I see no real threat to them on the women’s side. Sure, there is Arkansas, but can Arkansas compete with LSU’s range. With it being outdoors LSU has more options, a strong core of jumpers, throwers and then of course are their sprinters/hurdlers. This is a solid well-rounded team.

On the men’s side however this is phenomenal collection. Once they can get their exchanges down on the 4x100 relay I think we could be looking at another sub 38 performance. They are deep in the 400 meters, 200 meters, hurdles, jumps and even have a competitive group of distance runners. I still feel you cannot ignore BYU or Florida. Florida will always be a threat and they have more options and better options to score. BYU has an incredible group of distance runners and will be scoring in such large bunches in many of the distance events. Do not forget the rest of the squad which is still formidable. I am not ready yet to declare a solid number one on the men’s side until more of the season has passed.

NCAA Outdoor Recap Week 2

 

(Cole Hocker-Oregon) 

We are officially in April and the outdoor season is in full swing. There have been over 100 meets that have commenced already this outdoor season and welcome return to the absence of last season. This past weekend there were a bevy of great meets and competition that generated 18 new number one performances. We will look at those new numbers in this recap.

 

SPRINTS/HURDLES

The women did most of the damage this weekend in the sprinting events starting with senior Twanisha Terry of USC. The talented star who has been at the top of the collegiate ranks her entire career continued that streak of success. At the Florida Relays she clocked a winning time of 11.08 that placed her number one in the country. Terry lost the NCAA Indoor title in the 60-meter dash but is currently the favorite to win the overall title on Track and Field News NCAA form chart.

In the 200 Tamara Clark of Alabama again proved that she is ready to challenge anyone in the field for the title. She clocked a national leading time at the Florida Relays with 22.50. Abby Steiner was at the meet but did not compete in the open 200. Expect for the rivalry between the two to continue later in the season.

Kaelin Roberts of USC shocked the world when she defended her NCAA Indoor 400 title from Athing Mu of Texas A&M. She also opened her outdoor season in the 400 this weekend at the Florida Relays winning in a time of 51.23. Although not under 51 seconds, she already has an indoor’ s best of 50.84 and we should expect her to lower that time later in the season.

Roberts USC teammate Anna Cockrell is also a defending champion when the 400-meter hurdle title in 2019. At the Florida Relays she nearly matched her time from that last champion winning the race in 55.65. Cockrell has nearly a full second lead on the second ranked competitor this season Leaving her as the easy favorite to win.

The lone top performance from the men in sprints/hurdles comes from USC senior Cameron Samuel. At the Florida Relays Samuel beat a strong field to claim the number one ranking with a time of 49.67. There is no returning champion in this race leaving the field wide open. With that being said I expect for this event to change regularly on the national performing list.

DISTANCE

It seems that anyone who is anybody competed this past weekend at the Hayward Premiere. Competing at Oregon’s new world class facility were quite a few top tier distance programs. The meet was responsible for six number one performances. Similar to the Florida Relays it drew major competition.

In the men’s 800 and 1,500 Cole Hocker of Oregon is again making noise. The talented freshman won the mile and 3,000 this past indoor season. On his home track he claimed victory in the 800 with a time of 1:46.60 and the 1,500 with a time of 3:38.99. Both marks are number one in the country so far. Expect for Hocker to continue to making noise. Being a freshman certainly does not phase him.

In the 5,000-meter run Eduardo Herrera of Colorado took on the monster that is known as BYU’s trio of 5,000 runners. BYU has quite the impressive group not just in this event but overall. However, the 5,000 is an event where they have proven throughout the indoor season where they are potentially the strongest. Herrera had different plans in mind winning the race with a time of 13:24.46. Herrera is the Pac 12 Cross Country athlete of the year and proved his fitness and performance level at the conference cross country meet so we should expect more from Herrera later this season.

Iowa State also wanted some of the headlining action sending both of their top two long distance runners to compete at Hayward Field. Wesley Kiptoo who won the 5,000 indoors claimed victory in the 10,000 with a time of 27:58.10. His teammate, senior Edwin Kurgat finished second with a time 27:58.33. Their times are currently ranked 1 and 2 nationally.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase BYU finally claimed victory. Clayson Shumway beat a quality field to claim the top time clocking in at 8:47.48 to win. This is another event BYU expects to perform well in. I expect for Shumway to become a household name with the currently number 1 ranked team.

On the women’s side senior Sage Hurta again finds herself at the top of the performance list, this time in the 800. The talented miler from Colorado University continues to have quite the season. She claimed the 800 title at the Hayward Premiere with a time of 2:00.62, nearly breaking the 2:00 minute mark. Hurta won the NCAA title in the indoor mile and is already getting her outdoor season off to a great start.

In the 1,500, the likely event for Sage Hurta. Presley Weems of Auburn ran an impressive race at the Florida Relays. She claimed victory in a time of 4:14.35 over the home team’s Imogen Barnett.

In the 10,000 true freshman Grace Forbes certainly was not scared of the daunting distance. The freshman clocked the nation’s number one time with 32:24.48 to win the race. The 10k is not an event distance runners will run a large volume of during the season. This time will however assure us that Forbes will be in the mix later this season.

The lone women’s number one at the Hayward Premiere came in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Charlotte Prouse of New Mexico is the next distance star in line at talent rich New Mexico University. Prouse clocked in at 9:54.65 to win. She is currently one of just four runners who have run under 10 minutes in the event. We are likely to hear more from her later this season.

FIELD

In the jumps events there were no new number one performance this weekend for the men. On the women’s side there was one. The one is a familiar top tier performer, Tyra Gittens. Gittens did previously win the High Jump and Pentathlon at the Indoor Championships a few weeks ago. She continued her strong 2021 season winning the High Jump in the dual with Texas with her mark of 6 feet 2 ¾ inches.

The throwing events is where most the new rankings in field events come from. Senior Thomas Mardal of Florida broke his school record and claimed the number one ranking in the Hammer Throw. On his home field during the Florida Relays the senior launched a throw of 248 feet 7 inches. Florida is currently ranked number three and will be heavily relying on Mardal to be at the top for them to compete for the team title.

On the women’s side Laulagua Tausaga of Iowa garnered her second number one ranking. In the shot put she hit a season’s best mark of 58 feet 10 ¼ inches to win the Big Ten North Florida Invitational. She is already currently ranked number one in the Discus. You can never count out the great throwers at Ohio State but expect for Tausaga to be a big name throughout the season.

In the Hammer Throw a familiar name returns to the front. Defending champion Junior Camryn Rogers of California hit a mark of 235 feet 4 inches. That throw is farther than the mark she hit to win the NCAA title in 2019. Rogers did not have a great indoor season with the weight throw, expect for her to have a better outdoor season with the Hammer.

 

CONCLUSION

So far so good it what I will say to this outdoor season. The marks have been impressive, the team title picture is certainly not clear yet, but the season has not been cancelled and we are blessed to still have competitions. I am happy to see the season progressing and hope it continues.