Week in Review: Moving forward and running fast
Boling joins sub-10 and sub-20 clubs after loss in Florida Relays
I can’t tell you with absolute certainty that an early-season loss to a Southeastern Conference rival lit a fire under Matthew Boling.
However, the University of Georgia sprinter has achieved two major milestones since fellow sophomore Joseph Fahnbulleh of Florida and Liberia powered past him in the final 20 meters of a heat of the men’s 200-meter dash of the Florida Relays on April 1.
The first milestone came on April 16 when Boling joined the sub-10 club in the 100 meters by running 9.98 seconds to win the Tom Jones Memorial meet at the University of Florida’s Percy Beard Track.
The second came in the Georgia Tech Invitational at George C. Griffin Track on Saturday when he broke 20 seconds for the first time with a 19.92 clocking. Running in lane five on the eight-lane oval, Boling had a lead of about a half-stride over second-place Alaba Akintola (20.34) of Middle Tennessee State coming out of the turn. But he expanded his advantage significantly over the Nigerian in the home straightaway and won by more than fourth tenths of a second.
The time bettered Boling’s previous best of 20.06 set last year, tied him for third on the yearly world outdoor list, and moved him to 10th on the all-time collegiate list. It also came into a slight headwind of 0.9 meters per second.
Boling, who can be very short and succinct when it comes to his Instagram posts, wrote of the race: 19.92 #progress #AMDG.
Speeding away from a good – but not elite – sprinter such as Akintola is different than holding off someone such as defending NCAA champion and Olympic fifth-place finisher Fahnbulleh in the 200. However, Boling’s performance on Saturday should put the memory of his Florida Relays loss a little further behind him.
Time waits for no one: As someone who got hooked on track and field while watching the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich on television, I remember when breaking 20 seconds in the 200 meters was a really big deal.
I recall Ukranian Valeriy Borsov of the Soviet Union running 20.00 to easily turn back Larry Black of the U.S. (20.19) for the gold medal in Munich. And going through some old statistical annuals revealed that only 11 men had broken 20 seconds by the end of the 1980s.
Boling became the 83rd man – as well as the 36th American – to do so. His time ties him for 60th on the all-time world performer list with John Carlos, who ran a then-world best to win the 1968 U.S. Olympic Trials in Echo Summit, California.
Carlos, who was part of the San Jose State University Speed City trio of Tommie Smith and Lee Evans, was never given credit for setting a world record because of the “brush” spikes he wore that day.
Pair of fast deuces: Christian Coleman of the U.S. and Abby Steiner of the University of Kentucky turned in notable performances in winning the men’s and women’s 200 meters in the Kentucky Invitational on Friday.
Coleman, the 2019 World champion in the 100, ran 19.92 to easily defeat second-place Lance Lang of Kentucky (20.30). The time was the third-fastest ever for Coleman, who set his personal best of 19.85 in 2017.
Steiner ran a career best of 22.05 to finish more than a second ahead of teammate and fellow junior Karimah Davis, and move to third on the yearly world list, and to fourth on the all-time collegiate list. It was also faster than the U.S indoor record of 22.09 she set in winning the Southeastern Conference title in February.
Endurance double: Christian Noble of Lee University (Tennessee) set an NCAA Division II record in winning the invitational section of the men’s 1,500 meters in 3 minutes 36.00 seconds in the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field on Friday.
Approximately an hour later, he toed the starting line for the invitational 5,000 in which he finished fifth in 13:35.61.
Noble, a graduate student, moved to 11th on the all-time collegiate list in the 1,500 and also exceeded the qualifying standard of 3:37.00 for the USA Track & Field Championships from June 23-26.
With U.S. Olympian Cole Hocker acting as a pace setter, Noble passed through 300 meters in 43.21 before clocking 1:41.18 (57.97) at 700 meters and 2:39.60 (58.42) at 1,100. Hocker pulled out of the race shortly after that and Noble ran his final lap in 56.40 to hold off Oregon senior Reed Brown, who finished second in 3:36.44.
It was the fourth Division II record of the year for Noble, who set indoor bests of 3:56.10 in the mile and 7:50.98 in the 3,000 in the Boston University Last Chance Meet on Feb. 27, and an outdoor mark of 13:24.78 to win the 5,000 in the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University on March 24.
“Let’s make that 4 DII records this year!” Noble wrote in an Instagram post. “Hard to describe how much fun I had out there! Apparently there is more in the tank since my body was able to handle a 13:35 an hour later. Huge thanks to everyone who said hi after and was cheering during the race. Y’all are incredible! Big thanks to @leeflames for giving me the opportunity and to run fast and have fun!”
Like father, like son: Olin Hacker of Wisconsin ran 13:19.34 to win the men’s 5,000 meters in the Oregon Relays.
Hacker, a graduate student, ran his final 1,600 in 4:07.15 to move to third on the yearly collegiate performer list.
He is the son of Tim Hacker, who led Wisconsin to NCAA cross-country titles in 1982 and ’85, and won the individual championship in ’85.
Fast, but windy: I don’t always give much credence to wind-aided marks, but Gabby Thomas definitely disagrees with that way of thinking when it pertains to Brittany Brown’s winning time of 10.66 in the women’s 100 in the two-day Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas, on Saturday.
Although the race was aided by a wind of 3.2 meters per second – 2.0 is the maximum allowed for record purposes – Brown was a decisive winner over second-place Thomas (10.80), the Olympic bronze medalist in the 200, and third-place Tamar Clark (10.81).
Brown’s personal best of 10.99 – set earlier this year – pales in comparison to her wind-aided best, but she did run a career best of 22.22 to win the silver medal in the 200 in the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
Thomas gave major props to her opponent.
Strong rebound: Khallifah Rosser ran a personal best of 48.26 to win the men’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles in the Michael Johnson Invitational on Friday.
His performance, fastest in the world this year, came six days after he ran 49.22 to finish second to Trevor Bassitt (49.15) of Ashland University in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. It also pulled Baylor senior Jayson Baldridge to a yearly collegiate-leading time of 49.10 in second.
Rosser had run his previous best of 48.81 to finish fifth in the U.S. Olympic Trials last year.
Moving forward: Allyssa Wilson of Texas State moved to fourth on the all-time collegiate list in the women’s hammer throw with her winning performance in the Michael Johnson Invitational on Friday.
The senior unleashed her winning effort of 73.20 meters (240 feet 2 inches) in the first round, and also had a toss of 72.35 (237-4) in the third round.
Wilson finished sixth in the Olympic Trials last year as a UCLA junior, but transferred to Texas State after Bruin throws coach John Frazier was hired as the school’s director of track and field and cross country in August.
Brief leader: Ethan Dabbs of Virginia raised the yearly collegiate lead in the men’s javelin throw to 80.41 (263-9) in winning the UVA Invitational on Friday.
However, that mark lasted for less than 24 hours as Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi of Baylor and Nigeria threw 81.07 (265-11) to win the Michael Johnson Invitational on Saturday.
Nnamdi, a freshman, had thrown a previous best of 78.42 (257-3) to finish third in the invitational section of the Texas Relays in March 25.
Off and running: Defending Olympic champion Athing Mu was an easy winner in the women’s 800 meters in the Michael Johnson Invitational on Saturday.
Mu ran 2:02.07 in her first 800 of the year after ending her 2021 season with a American record of 1:55.04 to win the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in August.
She is scheduled to run the 600 in the Penn Relays on Saturday against a field that will include fellow American Ajee Wilson and Jamaican Natoya Goule.
Wilson won the World indoor title last month after finishing third in the World outdoor meet in 2017 and ’19.
Goule place fourth in the World indoor meet and was ranked third in the world by Track & Field News last year.
That was quick: Thanks to Steven Gardiner, Michael Cherry’s run as the yearly world leader in the men’s 400 meters lasted one week.
Cherry, fourth in the 400 in the Olympic Games for the U.S., had opened his season with an impressive 44.28 clocking in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on April 16. But defending World and Olympic champion Gardiner clocked 44.22 in winning the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge on Saturday.
The Bahamian turned back a high-quality field that included second-place Vernon Norwood (44.59) of the U.S. and third-place Matthew Hudson-Smith (44.61) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Windy jumping: Ese Brume of Nigeria won the women’s long jump with a wind-aided mark of 7.08 (23-2¾) in the LSU Alumni Gold meet.
It was the farthest outdoor mark in the world this year under any conditions. The silver medalist in the World Indoor Championships also had a second wind-aided mark of 7.06 (23-2), as well as a non-wind-aided best of 6.75 (22-1¾).
Learning curve: Cambrea Sturgis appears to be getting the hang of being a professional athlete.
Sturgis signed with Adidas shortly after winning NCAA titles in the women’s 100 and 200 meters as a North Carolina A&T sophomore last year. But she was eliminated in the semifinals of each event in the Olympic Trials and had not turned in any attention-grabbing performances this season until Saturday.
That’s when she rocketed to a personal best of 10.87 to win the Aggie Invitational at North Carolina A&T. The time was the fastest in the world this year and gave Sturgis a large margin of victory over second-place Kayla White (11.13), who finished eighth in the Olympic Trials.
Three for three: Devon Allen had a notable afternoon in the Navy Spring Invitational at Annapolis, Maryland, on Saturday.
The volunteer coach at the Naval Academy won the men’s 110-meter high hurdles in 13.12, the 100 in 10.20 and the 200 in 20.65.
The high hurdle clocking was the fastest in the world this year, topping a 13.20 effort run by Olympic champion Hansle Parchment in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday.
Allen, who recently signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, was not pushed in any of his races as his margins of victory were more than half a second in each of them.
On the board: Allyson Felix made her first individual race of the year a victorious one in the South Carolina Outdoor Open on Saturday.
The five-time U.S. Olympian won the women’s 200 meters in 22.40 to edge runner-up Melissa Jefferson of Coastal Carolina, who ran 22.46.
Felix, who recently announced that this will be her final season after winning an unprecedented 27 combined medals in Olympic and World Championship competition, opened her season on April 16 when she teamed up with Shamier Little, Dalilah Muhammad and Athing Mu to win the women’s invitational 1,600 relay in 3:25.35 in the Mt. SAC Relays.
Her next race is scheduled to be the women’s 300 in the Penn Relays on Saturday.
Buckeye boost: Adelaide Aquilla of Ohio State improved upon the yearly collegiate best in the women’s shotput in the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus on Friday.
The defending NCAA outdoor champion unleashed her best effort of 18.94 (62-1¾) in the second round. The third-placed finisher in the Olympic Trials also popped an 18.84 (61-9¾) effort in the fourth round before fouling her final two attempts.
Good duel: Kate Tuohy of North Carolina State produced a yearly collegiate leading mark of 15:14.61 in the women’s 5,000 meters in the University of Virginia Challenge on Friday after being pushed for much of the race by Jenna Magness of Michigan State.
Magness had finished 14th – one place ahead of Tuohy – in the NCAA cross-country championships in November. But Tuohy had placed second to Magness’ sixth in the 5,000 in the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
The Spartan senior shadowed Tuohy for the first 3,400 meters of the race, but the Wolfpack sophomore opened up a two-second lead with three laps left and won by more than 11 seconds as Magness finished in 15:26.21.
Tuohy and Magness were two of 14 runners who recorded personal bests in the race in which there were 20 finishers.
Strong start and scintillating finish: Last week began and ended with two outstanding performances in the women’s marathon.
First, Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won the women’s division of the Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes 2 seconds on April 18. That completed a hat trick that included victories in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in August, when she ran 2:27:20, and in the New York City Marathon in November, when she ran 2:22:39.
Six days later, Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia won the women’s division of the Hamburg Marathon in Germany in 2:17:23, the fastest time ever recorded by a woman running her first marathon.
Yehualaw’s time was the third-fastest in the world this year and moved her to sixth on the all-time world performer list, just behind Jepchirchir, who ran 2:17:16 in the Valencia Marathon in Spain in 2020.
Impressive numbers: I have always wondered if some of the ultra-running records were a bit on the soft side and would be smashed if elite marathon runners ever transitioned to the 100-kilometer or 100-mile races.
However, I was duly impressed when I saw that Lithuania’s Aleksandr Sorokin set a world record of 6:05:40 in a 100-kilometer race in Bedford, United Kingdom, on Saturday.
Depending on how you slice and dice Sorokin’s time, which broke the previous best of 6:09:14 set by Japan’s Nao Kazami in 2018, he averaged 36:34 for 10 consecutive 10ks, 18:17 for 20 consecutive 5Ks, or about 5:52.8 per mile for 62.2 miles.
For those who are wondering, 5:52.8 mile pace would have brought Sorokin through a marathon in about 2:34:11 and two consecutive marathons in 5:08:22. After that he would have had another 15.6 kilometers (9¾ miles) or so left to run.
Amazing.