45.07!
April is officially here, and our outdoor regular season is fully underway. April showers bring May flowers is the old saying and that was clear and present at a rainy and wet Florida Relays. Things are still fresh and new but there were quite a few noticeable performances. In this recap of the weekend, we will look at the new number one performances and discuss the team rankings.
SPRINTS
Women
It seems that the dual between Texas and Texas A&M
brought out the best in both programs. The dual meet alone had a total of three
number one performances on the weekend, two of them in the sprints. For all the
talk that Texas was able to do after an incredible Texas Relays performance it
was the Aggies who walked away with number one performances in the dual.
In the open 200 Laila Owens of Texas A&M claimed victory
in the Texas dual meet with a time of 22.57. She defeated Rhasidat Adekele of
Texas who ran the number two ranked time in 22.59. Owens teammate Charokee
Young defeated a strong duo of quarter milers from Texas running her winning
time of 50.00 to claim the 400-meter title.
Men
The dual also produced a couple of top tier times on the men’s
side as well. Football player Devon Achane of Texas A&M tied the number one
200-meter time with his winning time of 20.20. He tied that time with Jacory
Patterson of Florida who claimed the 200-meter title at the Florida Relays.
In the 400 Jonathan Jones of Texas claimed victory in the
dual with a time of 45.07. That now ranks him number one in the nation in both
the 400 and 800. What is perhaps even more impressive about the victory is that
Brandon Miller of Texas A&M was in that same field and fell to Jones. Jones
has proven his considerable speed can he get it to translate even greater in
the 800 to defeat Miller who is the favorite to win it all, that remains to be
seen.
DISTANCE
Women
The Stanford Invitational was the place to be for top ranked
distance performances. Four new number one performances were performed and the
meet. However, there was one event that was more competitive at the Florida
Relays. That was the women’s 800. The top five performances in the NCAA so far
were performed in this race at the Florida Relays.
Leading the charge on her home field is Florida junior Imogen
Barrett who clocked in at 2:02.02. Right behind her was senior McKenna Keegan
of Villanova who ran 2:03.19. What is perhaps most impressive about her performance
is that was performed during poor weather conditions in Gainesville, Florida
which stormed heavily on two of the three days of competition.
At the Stanford Invitational Abby Nichols makes a name for
herself as the top collegiate in the women’s 5,000-meter invite. Nichols
finished fourth overall with her national leading time of 15:27.11. In that
same meet Lauren Gregory of Arkansas again finds herself a top the performance
list, this time in the 10,000. In the invitational section Gregory was
victorious with her time of 32:34.21. There were professionals in both races,
Gregory just had the best performance of them all.
Men
On the men’s side the only top performances came at the
Stanford Invitational. In the 5,000 sophomore Ky Robinson ran an impressive
opener leader a 1-2-3 finish by the Cardinals on their home track with a time
of 13:23.61. The Cardinals now have the top three times in the nation in the 5k
but what is more noteworthy is that they are all sophomores.
Ryan Smeeton of Oklahoma State is picking up where he left
off. The All-American began his outdoor season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase
with a winning performance. Smeeton claimed the title in the invitational
section with a time of 8:34.37. That is the number one time in the nation and
is not his personal best. As one of the top returnees in the country, get used
to hearing his name.
JUMPS
The top jumps performance came solely on the women’s side
and from the dual between Texas and Texas A&M in the long jump. Deborah
Acquah is another Texas A&M aggie that is a star jumper leaping to the top
of the rankings. Acquah is a dual with Tyra Gittens of Texas, the previous
number one, leaped to a mark of 22 feet 7 ¼ inches (6.89m). Her mark was full
foot ahead of her closest competitor Gittens who finished 2nd.
THROWS
The top throwers were also on the women’s side and one of
the top performances can from defending NCAA Champion Camryn Rogers of Cal in
the hammer throw. Rogers launched her hammer a total of 243 feet 4 inches (74.18m),
to claim the title at the Stanford Invitational. Rogers nearly matched her
personal best set last season at the NCAA Championships. She has consistently
performed well in this event and this season will likely be no different.
In the discus Texas Tech senior Seasons Usual, yes that is
her name, again continues to impress. This week with another number one performance
throw of 195 feet 2 inches (59.49m). Having seen her in person at the Texas
Relays, this is a champion in the making. I suspect she will again appear on
this blog later in the season.
RANKINGS
I do not want to make a big discussion regarding the
rankings. It is still early and there are still athletes who have not competed.
I do feel that Texas at the top of both rankings does make sense for now. I
still think that the Florida men have proven to have quite a lot of talent and
strong relay performances that may perhaps get overlooked. However, I cannot
ignore the overall success of this Texas team.
On the women’s side Texas has again proven their depth will
simply be a problem for team’s to overcome. You cannot ignore the strength of
Texas A&M they will be difficult to defeat.
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