The NCAA Champs started yesterday, and although there were just rounds of qualifying, they were some of the hottest rounds since the Olympics themselves.
The distance runners conserved energy in their prelims of the steeple, and 5000 meters for men and women. Running just enough to get through. But the short sprinters went nuts in the first round! In the 4×1 Texas A&M’s women blew it out with yet another sub 43 second clocking cruising to a 42.93 and showing that they are clearly the class of the field. Similarly on the men’s side the Texas A&M men screamed a school record 38.51 to win their heat while the Florida men won theirs in 38.57 – the top two times in the country! They’ve been among the leaders all season and appear headed for a show down in the finals.
In the heats of the 100 meters the track stayed hot as Alexandria Anderson (TX) flew to a nation leading 11.02 – making her #3 in the world! Five other sprinters had clockings between 11.14 and 11.18. On the men’s side Trindon Holliday (LSU) 10.00, Jacoby Ford (Clem) 10.01 and Deangelo Cherry (MsSt) 10.04 became #’s 7, 8 and 11 in the world with their blazing runs. A three hour weather delay stopped qualifying at that point however and when they returned to the track later for the semis they found themselves running into a headwind resulting in slower times. Still, these three made it to the final which should be sizzling hot!
The final lost another hot sprinter, however, when Jeremy Hall (FL) who entered the meet with a 10.08 best, was DQ’d for a false start. Hall flinched, causing Trindon Holliday to come out of the blocks. Hall was DQ’d for the flinch. I point this out to show the lunacy of the false start rules. The race should have been reset by the starter when he saw movement in the blocks before anyone came out. Instead the event lost a potential headliner. Just as the California State meet did less than a week ago when state leader Ashton Purvis (who later won the 200) was DQ’d in the heats. Anyone that believes “one and done” works needs to take these two into consideration.
But back to the heat . Qualifying continues today in Fayetteville with hurdles (short and long), 200’s 1500’s, 800’s, 4x4s, discus, long jump, and shot put. The first final will take place in the 100000 meters. Expect more hot times.
Speaking of hot times there is anticipation of another hot 100 in Toronto Canada, as Olympic Champion Usain Bolt takes to the track for his first 100 meters since his windy 9.93 in Spanish Town back on Mar 14. Among his competitors will be Americans Shawn Crawford and Bernard Williams. They will be taking aim at Michael Rogers’ world leading 9.94 run in Eugene this past weekend. The women’s 100 hurdles should also produce a quality race as Perdita Felicien, Priscilla Lopes Schliep, Damu Cherry, and Jenny Adams take to the track. Other top names that will be competing in Toronto are Bryan Clay, Lashawn Merritt, and Saif Shaheen.
So lots of hot mid week action on tap for today.