NCAA MEN--The Results

Such a simple title!
So, easy part aside, we begin with THE most complicated event of the meet!!
That Men's 4 X 400 Relay!!

Okay, so a team ran 3:00.77, the fastest-ever INdoors!
World and National and Collegiate and Meet Records?
Well, you got the last 2 correct!!
I'll (try to) explain!

Back in 2006, a US 4-some ran 3:01.96 for a "WR" and American Record!
Tell that to the IAAF and USATF!
One guy wasn't drug-tested--or something!--so the IAAF rejected it as a WR, but USATF decided it qualified for the US Record!
With me so far??

When a US team ran 3:02.13 in a WC awhile back, THAT was deemed the WR by the IAAF!
So we come to the spectacular race in College Station over the weekend, where USC ripped that 3:00.77!
But a key member (44.35 2nd leg!!)--Rai Benjamin--is said to be a citizen of Antigua, NOT the USA!
(Even though he LIVES here!  See the Mondo situation!!  LOL)

Anyway, VERY long story short, USC's mark is the Collegiate and Meet Record!!
Second placers Texas A&M wowed the home crowd with their 3:01.39, which DOES become the American Record!!
While a Collegiate team, I will name them the US team for my list, since only Nations are eligible!!
They move from 3rd A-T School to 2nd, and the US moves from 2nd A-T Nation to the Top!!
Florida was just behind A&M with their 3:01.43!
They remain 3rd A-T School!
In 5th came Auburn (behind Arkansas), making them 19th A-T School!
Ohio State ended just 8th, but their 3:05.95 misses my Collegiate DDD by 0.02 seconds!

Sticking to the 400's, what an event THAT was!!!
Michael Norman ran the same time in the open race as he did on his anchor leg in the Relay--44.52!!
Which just happens to be the new WORLD Record!!!

It was a 2-heat Final, and Akeem Bloomfield set the stage for Norman by blazing his 2 laps in 44.86!
He breaks his own National Record of Jamaica!
He moves up a notch on the A-T Collegiate list, from 6th to 5th!
And he moves from 8th A-T World, tied with 1 other, to 6th!

Then came Heat (Final) 2.
And the man who people have been touting for YEARS as having the most potential as a 3-event sprinter!!
Well, he showed quite a bit of that potential here!!
His time took down one of the most revered WR's on the books, one some thought would never be broken!
(Not me!!  I was waiting for one of the OUTdoor 43 guys to try it!!)

Anyway, he gets the WR, the AR, the CR, and the MR--no asterisks needed!!
Add to that list the Collegiate Soph Class Record and the Age 20 Record!!
Quite a haul!!
He moves from 5th A-T Collegiate to 1st!!

Also getting DDD action (No snarky jokes here, please!!) was Mylik Kerley, whose 45.16 makes him 9th A-T Collegiate and US, as well as 15th A-T World!!
Kahmari Montgomery ran 45.24 in 4th, moving him from 24th A-T Collegiate to 11th!!
He is also 12th A-T US, tied with 1 other, and 19th A-T World, tied with 2 others!!
Finishing 5th, Nathon Allen's 45.27 becomes 12th A-T Collegiate, and 23rd A-T World!!

Kicked OFF the US list was Mark Everett, whose 45.44 dated from 1991!

The one-lapper provided some major list-revision also!!
In the heats, Elijah Hall (or Elijah Hall-THOMPSON, as my FAST and Athletics Annuals refer to him!!) sped a 20.26 circuit, tying the Collegiate Senior Class Record!
(Since his Final moved him further up the list, I'll bypass his earlier movements!)
And that was just the Heats!!

In another final run in Heats, Rai Benjamin showed why he's capable of a Relay leg of 44.35 (See above!), as he blasted a lap in 20.34!!
This gave him the National Record of Antigua!
It makes him 13th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!
It also makes him 19th A-T World, tied with 1 other!!

Then came Heat (Final) Number Two!!
And the flashing (right by you!) legs of Mr Hall (or Hall-Thompson??)!
His 20.02 would have been other-worldly--except for the OTHER amazing marks that came before!!
As it is, it gets him the NCAA Meet Record, the Collegiate Record, the Senior Class Record, the American Record, and the Age 23 Record!!
It moves him from 5th A-T Collegiate, tied with 3 others, up to the Top!
On the US list, he moves from 7th, tied with 4 others, also into 1st!
And he moves from 7th A-T World, tied with 4 others, into 2nd!
Divine Oduduru's 20.21 in 2nd wasn't a PR!

OFF my Collegiate list is one Justin Gatlin, whose 20.42 dated from 2002!!

Michael Saruni negative split his 1:45.15 800!!
Hitting the 2-lap line in a piddling 53.04, no one could believe a truly fast time would happen!
But his closing 400 was 52.11, giving him a PR by 0.04 seconds!!

This gave him the NCAA Meet Record!
He remains 2nd A-T Collegiate, and 20th A-T World!
Isaiah Harris took Silver with his 1:46.08!
He's 11th A-T Collegiate, and 12th A-T US!
Robert Heppenstall's 1:46.88 in 3rd misses the Collegiate DDD by 0.04 seconds!!

The Heptathlon went to Tim Duckworth, his 6188 points breaking his own National Record of Great Britain!!
It moves him from 7th A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, to 4th!
Hunter Veith ended with 6090 points, moving him from 18th A-T Collegiate to 11th!
He also moves from 21st to 19th on the A-T US list!!
Tyler Adams was a close-in 3rd, his 6081 score making him 12th A-T Collegiate, and 20th A-T US!
And in 4th came Johannes Erm's 5988, making him 22nd A-T Collegiate!!

Grant Holloway had a "GREAT" day--if you choose to measure him against mere mortals!
But Mr Personality-PLUS isn't scaled by those primitive methods!
And THAT is why his 60H win in 7.47, and his 2nd place in the LJ--a PR of 26-8.25--is only "great"--no CAPS!!

In the LJ, Holloway's big leap came in round 5, giving him the lead!
This missed my Collegiate list by just 1.25 inches!
But then Will Williams--an A&M Senior, but totally unknown to me!!--hit on a 26-10.50 in the final round, taking the W!
This makes him 16th A-T Collegiate!
Charles Brown (No Lucy jokes!!  LOL) reached 26-7.75 in the last round, making for a solid 3-way battle!!

Then Holloway sped over the Barriers in 7.47--a bit slower than his earlier Collegiate Record!!
But enough for a win by 0.13 seconds over Antoine Floyd's 7.60!
He becomes 23rd A-T Collegiate!

In a meet that puts to the test my knowledge of superlatives, I'm afraid I must relegate the "other" events--however glorious SOME of the marks were--to my "group round-up" M.O.!!

Saudi Arabian Hussain  Alhizam took a so-so Pole Vault with his National Record of 18-8.25!
The others, including Chris Nilsen, just didn't have it when it counted!

But knocked OFF the Collegiate list were a couple of "oldies"--Dean Starkey's 18-6.50 from 1989, and Dave Volz's 18-6.50 from 1982!!

The Shot Put also fizzled--at least against pre-meet hype (by ME!).
Jordan Geist finished just 5th with a measly mark of 64-4.50--almost 6 FEET short of his early-season Frosh Class Record!!
Mostafa Hassan's 68-5.25 took the W.

The 60 was marred when the fave--Andre Ewers--False Started in the Heats!
This allowed Elijah Hall---Yes, the same guy who won the 200!!  See above!---to win in 6.52, making him 15th A-T Collegiate, tied with 5 others!!
Raheem Chambers was right behind him--his 6.53 making him 21st A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other!!

While no one reached the 80 foot mark in the Weight Throw, David Lucas came through with a BIG PR of 78-9.75 to win!
He gets the Soph Class and Age 21 Records!!
He moves from 21st A-T Collegiate, tied with 1 other, all the way to 4th, also tied with 1 other!
He also becomes 12th A-T US, as well as 14th A-T World!!

KeAndre Bates got off a good TJ of 54-8.25!
But it wasn't enough to beat the unsung O'Brien Wasome (Yes, apparently his REAL name!!), whose 55-2.25 misses my Collegiate list by just 2 inches!
He's a 21 year old Jamaican and Texas Soph!

The High Jump saw a good 3-way battle between Randall Cunningham, Trey Culver, and Shelby McEwen--after stud Frosh Vernon Turner went out at 7-3.75!

Cunningham was perfect through his 1st six heights, before missing his first try at 7-7.25!
Not sure what happened, but he injured himself, and withdrew!!
But he WON!!

The distance races (except for the earlier-mentioned 800) were in the MoBot & King Ches realm of NON-earth shakers!!
Josh Kerr--after running sick in the DMR the day before!--sped a 54 second final 400 to win the Mile in 3:57.02!
His last "Half" was in the 1:54's--after an 880 yard jog!

Much worse were the 3000 and 5000!!
Andy Trouard provided SOME spark to the results in the shorter race by nipping heavily-favored Justyn Knight!
But the times--in the 8:0's!!--were abominable!!

Knight did win the 5K, but only after WALKING the first few K's!
His 14:14 & change isn't even worth a mention!!

Lastly, the DMR went to Virginia Tech's 9:30.76!
This makes them 22nd A-T School (of times run on LEGAL tracks!!).
They beat Notre Dame's 9:31.22, and Oregon's 9:31.45!

That wraps up my Men's report!
Think we're done---or anywhere NEAR done!!--with the incredible Records & Marks that blew away the walls of the arena?
Think again!

My detailed report of the WOMEN's side of this mind-blowing NCAA meet will be posted in a few short hours!!

See you soon!!