NCAA--Passion, Prescience, POW! (Part 1)

Okay, so my title needs a bit of explaining.
The NCAA T&F Championships had TONS of passion---i.e. the passion to win & perform at their best!
The prescience was, um, mine!
(I'll let you know why below!)
And the POW!??
Well, let the results speak for themselves!!
(I'll be dividing this into TWO posts, due to length, and my wanting to give you the MOST results & the most COMPLETE account of this great meet!!

FOUR Collegiate Records only tap the surface!
This sometimes wet & windy edition had shock winners, PR's galore, and controversy!
Not to mention an ESPN livestream that paused as much as it played, the usual breakaways for ads, boring interviews, and the odd field event right in the MIDDLE of a race, plus nauseatingly inane & STUPID commentary from the TV people (although Dwight Stones came close to getting it right!)!!
Anyway, I'm here to give you the FACTS!!

Strong rumors abound that Christian Coleman may turn Pro soon---as in SOON!!
Why not, after what he did in the SEMI of the 100!!
9.82, that's what!!
Shattering the Collegiate Record, the Junior Class Record, and the NCAA Meet Record!!
He moves from 8th A-T Collegiate, tied with 3 others, to the Top!!
He is 4th A-T United States!
And he is 9th A-T World, tied with 1 other!
On my US Combined Events list for the 100 & 200, his 9.82 & 19.85 adds to 29.67, leaving him 10th A-T!!

Two others ran 9.93's in the semi's!
Chris Belcher and Cameron Burrell are both 6th A-T Collegiate, tied with 4 others, including each other!!
They are also both 19th A-T US, tied with 6 others, including each other!!
Kyree King of Oregon ran 10.00, but misses the Collegiate DDD by 0.01 seconds!!

Taken OFF my US list were 3 A-T Greats---
Ryan Bailey, Shawn Crawford, and Walter Dix!!
And OFF the Collegiate list is Carl Lewis, his 10.00 dating from 1981!!

She'd been kicking at the door of the HT Collegiate Record all season!!
Maggie Ewen, a tall all-around thrower from Arizona State, finally nailed her Hammer (HAHA!) out 240-7 from Home Base, erasing the mark set just last year by Olympian DeAnna Price!!
It's also the Junior Class Record and the NCAA Meet Record!!
She moves from 2nd to 1st on the A-T Collegiate list, but remains 8th A-T US!!

Brooke Andersen got a PR of 225-1 in 2nd, moving her from 22nd A-T Collegiate to 16th!
Beatrice Llano's 221-2 makes her 23rd A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!!

One of the most venerable---and maybe even a bit controversial!--Collegiate Records fell to the slightly unexpected winner of the Women's 200!
It was thought one of 2 Ducks might win---either Ariana Washington or Deajah Stevens--but it was Kyra Jefferson who came through with a 22.02 blazer!!
Taking down--after 28 years!!--the altitude-assisted 22.04 of Dawn Sowell, Jefferson got the CR, the Senior Class & Meet Records!!
She moves from 8th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 1st!!
She's 13th A-T US.
But she misses the World list by 0.05 seconds!!

Washington took 2nd, but was well back in 22.39!!
The "controversy" came when--just feet from the finish--Deajah Stevens suddenly collapsed to the track, rolled into lane 2 (She'd been in lane 3!), causing that runner to side-step her, veering into lane 1, causing THAT runner to also stumble a bit!!
When the meet ended, with the Ducks beating Georgia by a tiny margin, Georgia (who was 2nd!) filed a protest, saying Stevens should not have been allowed to run a leg of the 4X400 Relay (More on that in a minute!), because she didn't finish the 200!!
(Several wondered why she didn't walk or crawl to the finish, getting one point for her team!  Later reports were that she was bruised and hurting, and just sat there until help arrived!)
Stevens was given a DQ (Probably because of her impeding the girl in lane 2!), and NOT a DNF!!
(Or maybe it was that the DQ came BEFORE her designation as a DNF!!)

Anyway, a fantastic run by Kyra Jefferson!!

The last CR came in the last event of the 4-day meet---the Women's 4X400 Relay!!
And WHAT a closer it was!!!

The entire Women's meet was on the line!
Georgia had 62.2 (?) points.
UO had 54!
They HAD to score the 10 points given the winner---to win!

It was close all the way.
On paper, USC had the better 400 runners!
When it came down to the last leg, USC's Kendell Ellis had a slight lead over UO's 800 specialist, Raevyn Rogers!
This held around the first curve and down the back-straight!
Rogers tried to pass her, but Ellis was in lane one, so Rogers stayed on the rail.
Ellis was slightly to the outside edge of the lane, so just before the final curve, Rogers slid through, ALMOST (but NOT!!) touching Ellis, and had the lead.
This forced Ellis to the outside, and coming into the last 100, they were almost even!
Then Rogers's 800 strength kicked in--literally KICKED in!!--and it was over, even though Ellis worked hard to close the gap!!

The result was the most exciting--and the FASTEST--4X400 Relay in Collegiate history!!
UO's 3:23.13--with Rogers closing in 49.77!--claimed the CR and the Meet Record!!
(And--eventually!--the team victory!!)
UO moves from 2nd A-T School to 1st.

USC's 3:23.35 (Ellis's leg was 49.63!!) moves them from 6th A-T School to 2nd!!
LSU (3:26.99), Texas A&M (3:27.26), Texas (3:27.27---with Chrisann Gordon having the fastest anchor--a 49.41!!), Florida (3:27.76), and Miami (3:28.90, took places 3 through 7!!

Those were the 4 CR's.
But the rest of the meet was FILLED with great marks!!
I'll do them in the order they happened!

Rudy Winkler came through with a 243-2 Hammer Throw, taking the win from Alexander Young's 241-8.
(A small wee bit of my "prescience" strutting its stuff!!)
Young's mark makes him 24th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!
Gleb Dudarev's PR of 240-11 missed my Collegiate DDD by 9 inches!!

The semi's of the Men's 4X100 Relay gave up a few School Records!!
Auburn was fastest with their 38.47.
North Carolina A&T's 38.48 moves them from 18th A-T School to 9th!
Texas's 38.68 moves them onto the list as 16th A-T School!
(Actually, I was surprised they hadn't run faster before!!)
Oregon's 38.76 moves them from 22nd A-T School, tied with 1 other, to 20th!!
Following them came Texas A&M (38.77), Arkansas (38.79), Houston (38.86), and LSU (38.89)!
Then came Ohio State's 38.92, making them 23rd A-T School!!

Four more Semi's followed--
Fred Kerley cruised a 44.57 in the 400, with Michael Cherry running 44.73.
Chris Belcher took the 200 Semi in 20.01, moving him from 21st A-T Collegiate, to 14th!
Jereem Richards ran 20.04, while Christian Coleman "jogged" 20.21.
Kemar Mowatt's 48.64 beat Eric Futch's 48.66 in the 400H Semi.
And Texas A&M's 4X400 Relay ran 2:59.95 in their Semi, with Fred Kerley reportedly splitting a 43.77!!

Marc Scott helped me be "prescient" in the 10000, but his time of 29:01.54 didn't impress!
(Until it was discovered he suffered a seizure a day or 2 before, and had to be hospitalized!!)
The rain and winds hit during the Men's PV, limiting the winner (Matthew Ludwig) to 18-4.50.
Chris Nilsen finished just 4th, clearing 17-10.50!

Ioannis Kyriazis's JT of 270-11 was just enough to nab the NCAA Meet Record, and more than enough for an easy win!
Filip Mihaljevic upset Mostafa Hassan in the SP, his 69-10.25 a big PR, and moving him from 24th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 17th!
Hassan was 3 feet back in a rare 2017 "off" day!!

KeAndre Bates took the LJ with a leap of 26-5.
In 2nd came Freshman Grant Holloway's 26-3.
(More on this kid later!)

Lindon Victor had a weaker 1st day in the Decathlon, while Devon Williams was charging through!
Tim Duckworth began with the fastest 100 (10.54), but fouled out of the LJ, thus for all intents ending his Dec--even though he finished the event!!
While his 2nd day was decent, Victor settled for the win with 8390 points, beating Williams's 8181, with Luca Wieland (8146) and Steve Bastien (8015) being the others to score 8000 or more!!

The Women's PV had drier weather, but it was still a bit breezy.
Despite that, it was a good competition, even though the marks suffered---if you want to call SIX women clearing at least 14-5.25 "suffering"!!
After Annie Rhodes, Sydney Clute, Kristina Owsinski, and Tori Weeks ended after clearing 14-5.25, it was left to Lexi Weeks and Olivia Gruver to do battle to the end!
They both cleared 14-7.25.
Then Gruver got an OUTdoor PR with her 14-9 clearance!
This moves her from 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 14th, tied with 4 others!!
So after missing once at 14-9, Weeks passed to the next height--14.11.
Both missed their tries (Gruver all 3, Weeks her remaining 2), and Gruver had beaten ONE of the Weeks family's brides-to-be!!
(Actually, she beat BOTH of them!!  LOL)

The Women's JT went pretty much true to form.
Irena Sediva pulled out a 6th round victory, her PR-equaling 192-9 beating Marija Vucenovic's 192-2.
This moves the latter from 15th A-T Collegiate, to 13th!
Ashley Pryke took 3rd with her toss of 186-9, which makes her 21st A-T Collegiate!!

The Women's LJ saw a great competition, and Georgia securing 18 points with their 1-2 finish!!
Keturah Orji had a windy 22-0.25, but Kate Hall beat that with her legal 22-1.
This ties the Frosh Class Record of Carol Lewis, dating from 1982!!
It also makes her 22nd A-T Collegiate, tied with 2 others!
Mike Conley's daughter Sydney took 3rd with her 21-6.25!
Favored Quanesha Burks had a bad day, hitting just 20-7 in 11th place!!

The Women's SP had an upset of sorts.
Remember me saying (in my Preview) that it wouldn't surprise me if Raven Saunders threw either 55 feet--or 65 feet??
Well, she was MUCH closer to that 55 than to the 65!!
Having one of those days (She needs to find consistency!!), her 57-3.75 gave her 4th place!!

Meanwhile Jamaica's Danniel Thomas had HER big day of days!!
Her massive PR of about 2 feet--a 62-10--gave her the National Record of Jamaica, the Senior Class Record--this one previously held by Meg Ritchie's 62-2.75, dating from 1983!!--and moves her from 9th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 2nd!!
Thomas had a solid series, with all 6 Puts hitting 59 feet or better, 4 of them over 60!!
Emmonnie Henderson was 2nd with a near-PR of 58-9.25!

The Semi's of the Women's 4X100 Relay saw the OTHER Collegiate Record holders--the team from LSU--get a DQ!!
This took out BOTH CR holders--as UO got left behind at the Regionals!!
(Others DNFing here were Texas A&M, Miami, and Auburn!!)
Florida led the way with 42.91, while Arkansas's 43.34 moved them from 23rd A-T School to 16th!

As it turned out, the Semi's of the Women's 1500 were faster than the final!!
Dani Jones ran 4:10.74, missing my Collegiate DDD by 0.19 seconds!
Nikki Hiltz's 4:10.80 missed the list by 0.25 secs!
Annemarie Schwanz's 4:10.93 left her 0.38 seconds shy, while Amy Eloise-Neale's 4:11.00 missed by 0.45 seconds!!
Kaela Edwards finished in 15th, running a piddly 4:19.40--not Q'ing!

The Semi's of the Women's 3000SC saw TEN ladies ending in under 10 minutes!!
Hope Schmelzle's 9:50.51 led the way, but close behind were Tori Gerlach (9:50.54), Allie Ostrander (9:50.54--a 5 second PR in just her 3rd-ever SC!!), Maddie Boreman (9:51.00--a 15 second PR!!--my prescience baring its ass!!), Elinor Purrier (9:52.59), Madeline Strandano (9:52.74), Grayson Murphy (9:53.04), with Katy Kunc, Sarah Edwards, and Brianna Ilarda also sub-10.

In the 100H Semi's, 2 Frosh and 4 Sophs Q'ed!, with Toby Amusan's 12.79 leading, and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Alaysha Johnson, and Anna Cockrell all running in the 12.80's!

Four other Semi's came next---
Brooke Feldmeier surprised a few by running her 800 in 2:03.32.
Jazmine Fray shocked a few by NOT Qualifying!!
Sage Watson didn't linger in her 400H Semi, running a quick 54.88--though not a PR!
Anna Cockrell ran 55.64.
Deajah Stevens seemed on course with her Semi of 22.31, while Brittany Brown also looked good with her 22.55.
Ashley Henderson's 23.10 in 10th, however, didn't get her through!!
The 4X400 Semi's were okay, with 4 teams (USC, Florida, A&M, and Ohio State ending under 3:30.
The 400 Semi's saw Chrisann Gordon emerge from the realm of the 51's into a 50.39 gal.
This moved her from 18th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 7th, tied with 1 other.
Shakima Wimbley cruised through in 51.17!

This first part ends here!
But I'll be back with all the rest from Eugene in a few short hours!!