2023 NCAA Outdoor Weekend Recap 4

4:08.29! 

(Katelyn Touhy-NC State) 

This past weekend there were quite a few meets but very few number one marks, a total of five throughout the entire weekend. In this post we will review those marks and gear for what should be an exciting weekend coming.

SPRINTS

In the sprints the lone top mark came in the form of a relay. LSU’s men’s 4x100 relay to be specific. There quarter scooted around their home track to a national leading mark of 38.36. This makes up for the lost last weekend against Florida. They had a strong anchor from Godson Oghenebrume who during the same meet (LSU Alumni Gold) clocked a time of 9.97 in the 100 that was barely wind-aided. The Tigers will be going against Florida again this weekend at the LSU Invitational and it should be another fantastic meet up.

DISTANCE

Women

Katelyn Touhy of NC State who is our highlight for the week continues to lead the way in the distance events. Touhy who was ranked number one in three events this past indoor season returns to the top of the list in the 1,500. At the Wake Forest Invitational Touhy competed against a strong field of collegiates and post collegiate athletes finishing tops among the collegiate athletes. Her time was 4:08.29 and good for third overall. For Touhy that was her season’s debut. Expect for that time to drop even further later in the season. This will not be last time we see her mentioned here this season.

Men

Duncan Hamilton of Montana State was mentioned here last year and was a big contender for the NCAA title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with the event being wide open. Hamilton had an impressive NCAA Outdoor Championships last year finishing runner up in the event. He returned this season as the number two ranked athlete but this past weekend at the EKU Rick Erdmann Twilight he took the number one ranking running a time of 8:25.17 and to also claim victory. Hamilton was mentioned multiple times here last year and I expect much of the same this season.

JUMPS

Our lone jumping performance comes from defending NCAA Champion Lamara Distin of Texas A&M. The star senior leaped to a national leading mark of 6 feet 4 ¾ inches (1.95m) at the LSU Alumni Gold Meet. Against a top collegiate field Distin was dominant and finished as the only athlete over 6 feet. She simply further solidified her position as the number high jumper in college and that does not appear to be changing anytime soon.

THROWS

Our lone top thrower comes from Nebraska. She knocked her teammate down to number two and now has the number one spot in the javelin. Rhema Otabor led a 1-2-3 sweep at the Michael Johnson Invitational at Baylor University. Otabor defeated her teammate Maddie Harris in the same event who was the previous national leader with a throw of 194 feet 6 inches (59.28m). Otabor is also a junior and prove to apart of strong javelin program at Nebraska.

 

UPCOMING WEEKEND

This will be a very busy weekend in track and field. The Penn Relays, The Drake Relays, LSU Invitational, USC versus UCLA, Stanford versus California, and the Jim Green Invitational at Kentucky. I find the Penn Relays to be quite enjoyable but the competition this weekend in all the mentioned meets will be at a premium, so I am expecting a lot of top tier times/marks.