Week in Review: Fast times at Boston U
Wildschutt, Young, and Kurgat lead onslaught of superb 5,000-meter performances in John Thomas Terrier Classic
The 200-meter oval at the Boston University Track & Tennis Center added to its well-deserved reputation as one of the fastest on the planet when five men broke 13 minutes and another six dipped under 13:05 in the 5,000 meters in the John Thomas Terrier Classic on Jan. 26.
Those cumulative marks were produced in two separate races that had been seeded in such a way that neither one of them was regarded as superior to the other.
Both races had pace setters whose singular goal was to bring the fields through the first 3,000 meters in 7:51 — which projected to a final time of 13:05 — before stepping off the track and letting the remaining competitors duke it out over the final two kilometers.
The time of 13:05.00 was foremost on everyone’s mind because it is the qualifying standard for the Olympic Games in Paris in August. Meeting it in Boston wouldn’t necessarily guarantee someone of an automatic berth in the Olympics, but it would prevent him from having to chase that mark later in the year if he ended up in a situation where he had to meet it in order to be named to a national team.
The first of the two fastest sections, called the Scarlet Heat, was right on pace when its designated rabbits came through the first kilometer in 2:36.96 and the second in 5:14.09. But things lagged a bit during the third kilometer as AJ Ernst came through 3,000 meters in 7:53.27 before stepping off the track.
American Joe Klecker proceeded to lead the race for the next lap and a half before George Mills of Great Britain moved to the front.
Mills would take the field through 4,000 meters in 10:28.09 and through 4,200 in 10:58.85 before American Yared Nuguse, best known for his exploits in the 1,500 meters and mile, moved to the fore going down the backstretch with 550 meters to go.
Nuguse continued to lead through 4,600 meters in 11:59.73, but Kenyan Edwin Kurgat made an authoritative move down the backstretch of the second-to-last lap and the race for first place was essentially over.
Mills passed Nuguse before the start of the bell lap, but there was no catching Kurgat as the former Iowa State University standout crossed the finish line in 12:57.52 after running his last lap in 28.12 and his final 400 in 57.66.
Mills finished second in 12:58.68, followed by Nuguse in 13:02.09, Geordie Beamish of New Zealand in 13:04.33, Ben Flanagan of Canada in 13:04.62, and Klecker in 13:06.02.
Kurgat’s time slashed nearly 11 seconds off his previous best of 13:08.46 that he had run in finishing second in the USA Track & Field Los Angeles Grand Prix at UCLA last May, as he moved to 11th on the all-time performer list.
“I think the crowd was really helpful,” Kurgat said in a FloTrack interview when he was asked if he heard the cheers when he made his big move. “Once the crowd got going, I wanted to go faster and faster and that’s why I started using my arms and everything just to pump them and make sure I run a good time.”
Behind Kurgat, Mills moved to second on the all-time British performer list with his effort and Nuguse became the fifth fastest American. Beamish set an Oceania record with his time and Flanagan moved to second on the all-time Canadian list with his.
However, due to the quality of the field in the next race, which was called the White Heat, there was no guarantee that any of the above-mentioned marks would remain in the same positions on the all-time list after another 15 minutes had elapsed.
The pace setters in that heat led the field through the first three kilometers in 2:37.18, 5:14.67 (2:37.49), and 7:51.43 (2:36.76).
Sam Atkin of Great Britain took over the lead after pace setter Brian Barraza pulled off the track after 3,000 meters and he was still in the lead when he came through four kilometers in 10:26.89, which was 1.2 seconds faster than the previous race.
South African Adriaan Wildschutt, a former standout at Florida State, then led the field through 4,200 meters in 10:57.47 and 4,400 in 11:28.35. But Nico Young of Northern Arizona University, who had run as far back as 13th place early in the race and was in ninth place at the midway mark, surged into the lead heading down the backstretch of the 23rd lap and it was a three-man race for first when he came through 4,600 meters in 11:59.15.
He was still in the lead with a lap to go, but Wildschutt passed him heading down the final backstretch and Young was unable to make a serious run at him during the last 125 meters of the contest.
Wildschutt finished in 12:56.76, followed by Young in 12:57.14, Atkin in 12:58.73, Abdi Nur of the U.S. in 13:03.17, John Heymans of Belgium in 13:03.46, and Morgan Beadlescomb of the U.S. in 13:03.57.
“I knew I was in good shape and I just had to execute,” Wildschutt said in a FloTrack interview.
He then added that he has had been working on his finishing speed in recent weeks so, as he put it, he could kick well at the end of a race when he was really tired.
“I wanted to close fast,” he said. “That’s the one thing I always struggled with in college and I could never really put it together at the NCAA level.”
The 25-year-old Wildschutt cut more than five seconds off his previous best while moving to ninth on the all-time indoor performance and performer list.
Young now ranks 12th in both categories and is the fourth-fastest American in history. In addition, he slashed more than six seconds off the previous collegiate record of 13:03.78 that had been set by NCAA cross country champion Graham Blanks of Harvard in the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on the same track on Dec. 2 of last year.
Kurgat now sits at 13th on the all-time performer list, with Mills at 15th, Atkin at 16th, Nuguse at 19th, and Nur, Heymans, and Beadlescomb at 21st, 22nd, and 23rd.
10,000 in his future?: Nico Young of Northern Arizona University was ecstatic after becoming the first collegian in history to break 13 minutes in the men’s 5,000 meters in the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic on Jan. 26, but he wasn’t shocked with his 12:57.14 clocking to place second in the second section of the meet.
He said in a FloTrack interview that “I knew I could break 13 on my best day and… it was a great day today.”
He said later in the same interview that he was “planning to run a 10K outdoors.” However, he did not have any specifics about when that might occur.
Young has never run a 10,000-meter race on the track, but collegiate distance fans have been eagerly anticipating him doing so because he has performed so consistently well in the NCAA cross country championships that are contested over 10-kilometer courses.
Young has finished fourth, 11th, second, and sixth in his four appearances in the national cross country title meet.
Making strides: Sophomore Colin Sahlman of Northern Arizona University turned in the best performance of his collegiate career when he ran 3:53.19 to win the fastest heat of the men’s mile in the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic on Jan. 26.
Sahlman’s time moved him to 10th on the all-time collegiate performer list and slashed three-plus seconds from his previous best of 3:56.24 that he had run as a senior at Newbury Park High School in Southern California in 2022. But most importantly, his victory came against a field that included Canadian Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, who finished second in 3:53.41, and American Craig Engels, who placed third in 3:54.03.
Sahlman was in fourth place when he came through the 1,009-meter mark in 2:27.80 and past 1,209 meters in 2:57.38. But he had moved up to third with a lap left in the race and he quickly pulled into second midway through the second-to-last turn.
He then made up a good 8-9 meters on Philibert-Thiboutot going down the backstretch, reduced his deficit further around the turn, and then sped past him with 20 meters left in the race before raising his right arm skyward as he crossed the finish line.
Looking remarkably fresh, Sahlman never tied up as he ran his final 200 in 27.26 seconds, his last 400 in 55.79, and his final 800 in 1:55.18.
In a post-race interview on FloTrack, he said his fitness level was very high because he was in the midst of “one of the longest periods I’ve gone without being sick or injured.”
The beat goes on: Ethiopia’s dominance of the all-time indoor list in the women’s 5,000 meters increased further in the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic last Saturday when Senayet Getachew, Fentaye Belayneh, and Aynadis Mebratu finished first, second, and third in a race in which the top six finishers bettered the automatic qualifying standard of 14:52.00 for the Olympic Games in Paris in August.
Meeting or bettering the standard does not guarantee a woman of an automatic berth in the Olympics, but it would prevent her from having to chase that mark later in the year if she ended up in situation where she had to meet it to be named to a national team.
After pace setter Maddy Berkson led the field through the first kilometer in 2:58.71 in Boston, fellow American Alicia Monson took up the rabbiting duties through 2,000 meters in 5:58.34 and 3,000 in 8:54.54 before dropping out of the race.
Getachew, Mebratu, and Belayneh were running 1-2-3 at that point with Spaniard Marta Garcia and Americans Josette Andrews and Courtney Wayment also part of the lead group.
The 18-year-old Getachew never gave up the lead for the remainder of the race as she was in first place when she came through 4,000 meters in 11:51.56, 4,400 in 13:02.56, and 4,800 in 14:12.04.
She then ran the final 200 in 30.90 to cross the finish line in 14:42.94, followed by Belayneh in 14:43.25 and Mebratu in 14:44.94.
Garcia placed fourth in 14:46.37, with Andrews at 14:46.51 and Wayment at 14:49.78.
Getachew’s time moved her to 12th on the all-time performer list and slashed more than 11 seconds off the world U20 (under 20) record of 14:53.99 that was set by Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia in 2004.
Belayneh moved to 13th on the all-time list with Mebratu at 15th as Ethiopians now occupy 11 of the top 15 positions, including the top four.
Garcia’s national record moved her to 16th on the all-time list while Andrews’ time puts her 17th and makes her the second-fastest American in history. For her part, Wayment moved to sixth on the all-time U.S. list.
Big season opener: Nicola Olyslagers of Australia tied her own Oceania record in the women’s high jump when she cleared 2.03 meters (6 feet 8 inches) to win the ACT State Championships in the Australian capital of Canberra on Saturday.
It was the first meet of the year for Olyslagers, the bronze medalist in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last year. She had first cleared 2.03 when she finished second in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, last September.
In a post on her Instagram account, the 27-year-old Olyslagers linked to a World Athletics post which can be seen below.
Raising the bar: Chris Nilsen of the U.S. won his third pole vault competition of the indoor season without a loss when he cleared 6.01 (19-8¾) in the University of South Dakota Alumni Meet on Jan. 26.
The 26-year-old Nilsen, who tied for third in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last year, made 5.43 (17-9¾), 5.60 (18-4½), 5.75 (18-10¼), and 5.85 (19-2¼) on his first attempts. He then cleared 6.01 on his second attempt before missing all three of his tries at 6.10 (20-0¼).
The 6.01 clearance was the highest vault in the world this year.
Record-breaking opener: Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, the world-record-holder in the women’s 100-meter hurdles outdoors, set an African record of 7.77 seconds in winning the 60 hurdles in the Astana Indoor Meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, last Saturday.
Amusan, who had won her qualifying heat in 7.91, won the final going away as she finished well ahead of two-time World indoor champion Nia Ali of the U.S. in second place (7.89) and Sarah Lavin of Ireland in third (7.91).
The 26-year-old Amusan bettered the previous African record of 7.82 set by Glory Alozie of Nigeria in 1999. Her time also moved her to second on the yearly world list behind Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, who has run a national record of 7.75.
Brief season opener: Mondo Duplantis of Sweden only cleared two heights in the men’s pole vault in his season-opening competition in the Astana Indoor Meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, last Saturday. But the second height of 5.80 (19-0½) was good enough for the win for the defending Olympic and two-time defending World champion.
The 24-year-old Duplantis, who was competing in his first meet since raising his world record to 6.23 (20-5¼) in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, last September, cleared 5.60 (18-4½) on his first attempt before passing at 5.70 (18-8¼) and 5.75 (18-10¼). He then cleared 5.80 on his second attempt to win the competition before missing all three of his attempts at 6.00 (19-8¼).
“It wasn’t the best performance,” Duplantis said in a European Athletics post. “Not by any means, but I know that I’m in good shape. I didn’t feel so light on the ground today as far as running wise. The running didn’t feel that good, a little bit flat.
“Other than that it was cool, nice to be here. A new place to jump. My dream is to continue the way that I am at right now. I always (want to) be jumping as well as I think I can jump. Today I don't really think I did that.”
National record in season opener: World 800-meter outdoor champion Marco Arop of Canada set a national record of 1:45.50 in the indoor version of that event in the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, last Saturday.
Running without the aid of a pace setter in the eighth — and final — section of the meet, Arop led the six-runner field through 200 meters in 25.94, 400 in 53.19 (27.25), and 600 in 1:19.54 (26.35) before running the final 200 meters in 25.97. His 1:45.50 performance saw him run the second half of the race in 52.31, nearly a second faster than what he ran for the first two laps as he bettered the previous Canadian indoor record of 1:46.47 set by Gary Reed in 2004.
The 25-year-old Arop led five collegians across the line, with Sam Austin of Florida finishing second in 1:46.80 and Darius Kipyego of Iowa State placing third in 1:46.86.
Arop had lowered the Canadian outdoor record in the 800 to 1:42.85 last year when he finished second to Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya (1:42.80) in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, in September.
Season opener in the books: Noah Lyles of the U.S., the defending World champion in the men’s 100 and 200 meters, opened his indoor season by winning the 60-meter dash in the Florida Collegiate Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, last week.
The 26-year-old Lyles ran 6.63 seconds to finish two hundredths of a second in front of Eric Harrison of Trinidad and Tobago, who ran 6.65 in the meet at the Alachua County Sports & Events Center.
Lyles’s personal best of 6.51 in the 60 came in winning last year’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston.
He is expected to run in the 2024 edition of the meet tomorrow.
Breakout season ahead?: Ewa Swoboda of Poland posted the fastest indoor time in the world this year in the women’s 60-meter dash when she ran 7.04 seconds in the Orlen Cup in the Polish City of Lodz last Saturday.
Yet it was the performance of second-place Zaynab Dosso of Italy that really caught my eye.
The 26-year-old Swoboda had a clear lead after the first half of the race as she had one of her typically great starts. But the 24-year-old Dosso made up a lot of ground on her during the final 20 meters and just missed catching her while crossing the finish line in 7.05.
Dosso, who has a personal best of 11.14 in the 100 outdoors, entered the Orlen Cup with a best of 7.14 in the 60. However, she ran 7.09 in her qualifying heat before cutting another four hundredths off that mark in the final.
Swoboda, who has personal bests of 6.99 in the 60 and 10.94 in the 100, clocked 7.08 in her qualifying heat in Lodz.
Solid start: Cordell Tinch of the U.S., who had burst onto the national and world scene in 2023 after being out of the sport for three years, won the men’s 60-meter high hurdles in the Wendy’s Invitational in Pittsburg, Kansas, last Saturday.
Tinch, 23, clocked 7.68 seconds to finish well ahead of Pittsburg State University junior Daylin Williams (7.84) while running in his first race of the indoor season.
A year ago at this time, Tinch had not competed in a track and field meet since February of 2020. However, he was about to embark on a season at Pittsburg State that would see him win NCAA Division II titles in the 60 hurdles and high jump indoors, and in the 110 high hurdles, high jump, and long jump outdoors.
In addition, he would lower his personal best in the high hurdles from 13.63 to 12.96 and improve his best in the high jump to 2.22 (7-3¼) and in the long jump to 8.16 (26-9¼).
He would also finish second in the high hurdles in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in July to qualify for the national team that competed in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August. Although he was eliminated in the semifinals of that meet and did not run as well after the World Championships as he had before it, he was the No. 8-ranked high hurdler in the world by Track & Field News for the 2023 season.
Three for three: Freshman Tinoda Matsatsa of Georgetown University won his third race of the season without a loss on Jan. 26 when he ran 1:46.87 to win a tight 800-meter contest in the Penn State University National Open in College Park, Pennsylvania.
Carter Fitzgerald of Penn State led the field through the first lap in 25.05 seconds and the second in 50.95 before dropping out of the race.
Teammate Oliver Desmeules then took over and he was in first place when he came through 600 meters in 1:18:37, followed by Matsatsa in 1:18.50 and Sean Dolan of Villanova in third in 1:19.10.
Although Desmeules faded to fourth place on the final lap, Matsatsa did not have it easy as his 1:46.87 personal best left him just in front of Connor Murphy of Virginia at 1:46.95 and Dolan at 1:46.96.
Murphy moved up three places on the last lap as his 27.31 split made up more than a second on Matsatsa, who labored through his final 200 in 28.38.
Previously this season, Matsatsa had run 1:16.68 for 600 meters on the same track on Jan. 13 and a collegiate record of 2:18.05 in the 1,000 in the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Virginia, six days later.
Wire to wire: Sophomore Qussama El Bouchayby of the University of Alabama narrowly missed the collegiate record in the men’s 600 meters when he ran 1:14.88 in winning the event in the Clemson Bob Pollock Invitational last Saturday.
Running in the invitational race against teammates Chris Robinson and Spencer Gudgel, El Bouchayby led at 200 meters in 23.67 and 400 in 49.26 (25.59) before running the third lap in 25.63.
The time by El Bouchayby, a Moroccan who ran 1:45.31 in the 800 last year, was only nine hundredths of a second shy of the collegiate record of 1:14.79 set by Michael Saruni of Texas El Paso in 2018.
Robinson, the defending NCAA champion in the 400 intermediate hurdles, finished second in 1:16.71 on Saturday, followed by Gudgel in 1:18.71.
Rolling on his home track: Senior Luke Houser of the University of Washington turned in his second noteworthy performance of the season when he ran a personal best of 3:51.73 in winning the men’s mile in the UW Invitational at the Dempsey Indoor Center in Seattle last Saturday.
Houser’s time, which came on the facility’s 307-meter oval, was the fourth-fastest collegiate time in history, and the fastest ever run on an oversized track.
The top three times were run on 200-meter tracks, which have tighter turns than larger ovals and are therefore viewed as being slower than their bigger counterparts.
The defending NCAA indoor champion in the mile, Houser turned back a depth-laden field as American Brandon Kidder placed second in 3:53.09, and UW teammates Joe Waskom and Nathan Green finished third and fourth, respectively, with times of 3:53.64 and 3:53.74.
Waskom placed second to Green in the 1,500 meters in the NCAA outdoor championships in June of last year before finishing second in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in July to earn a spot on the U.S. team that competed in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August.
Houser’s victory on Saturday came two weeks after he had run a personal best of 7:40.40 in winning the 3,000 in the UW Preview Meet at the Dempsey Center.
That’s more like it: Freshman Hana Moll of the University of Washington bounced back from a sub-par season opener to win the women’s pole vault at 4.64 (15-2¾) in the UW Invitational at the Dempsey Indoor Center in Seattle last Saturday.
Moll, a finalist in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last August following her senior year at Capital High School in Olympia, Washington, cleared the same height as Katerina Stefanidi of Greece on Saturday, but won the event because she cleared 4.64 on her second attempt and 2016 Olympic champion Stefanidi made it on her third try.
Moll’s winning height moved her to fifth on the all-time collegiate performer list and was an improvement over her 4.43 (14-6¼) effort that placed her fourth in the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada, on Jan. 12.
Moll took 12 jumps during the competition.
She needed two attempts to clear 4.10 (13-5¼) and 4.25 (13-11¼), before clearing 4.35 (14-3¼) 4.45 (14-7¼), and 4.55 (14-11) on her first tries.
She then made 4.64 on her second attempt before missing all three of her tries at 4.73 (15-6¼).
Two liners: Brianna Lyston of LSU moved into a six-way tie for fourth on the all-time collegiate performer list in the women’s 60-meter dash when she ran 7.07 seconds in posting the fastest time in the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, last Saturday. Lyston, a sophomore from Jamaica, had run 7.14 in her qualifying heat before finishing well in front of second-place Kaila Jackson of Georgia (7.20) in the final. . . . . Amber Anning of Arkansas moved to 10th on the all-time collegiate performer list in the women’s 400 meters when she ran 50.56 in winning the 11th — and final — section of the event in the Razorback Invitational last Saturday. The senior from Great Britain finished well ahead of Georgia sophomore Aaliyah Butler, who placed second in 51.34.. . . . . Allie Jones of USC moved to 10th on the all-time collegiate performer list in the women’s pentathlon when she totaled 4,528 points in winning the combined event in the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 26. The second-place finisher in last year’s NCAA indoor championships posted marks of 8.20 seconds in the 60 hurdles, 1.69 meters (5 feet 6½ inches) in the high jump, 13.18 (43-3) in the shot put, 6.24 (20-5¾) in the long jump, and 2:11.74 in the 800. . . . . Anass Essayi of South Carolina moved to eighth on the all-time collegiate performer list in the men’s 3,000 meters when he finished third in 7:39.11 in the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic on Jan. 26. Essayi, a junior from Morocco, finished behind first-place Jack Rowe of Great Britain (7:38.52) and second-place Amor Kemboi of Kenya (7:38.99). . . . . Aaron Las Heras and Theo Quax of Northern Arizona University became the fifth and sixth Lumberjack runners to have run under 13:20 in the 5,000 meters indoors when they clocked 13:16.68 and 13:16.83 in the finishing first and second in the third section of the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic on Jan. 26. Las Heras and Quax moved to 13th and 15th, respectively, on the all-time collegiate performer list with their times, while Las Heras moved to second on Spain’s all-time list and Quax did the same on New Zealand’s. . . . . Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, the defending World champion in the men’s triple jump, opened his indoor season with a victory in the Meeting de L’Eure in Val-De-Reuil, France, last Sunday. Zango’s top jump of 17.15 (56-3¼) gave him a comfortable margin of victory over Cuban Lazaro Martinez (16.81/55-2), the silver medalist in the World Championships. . . . . Dribe Welteji of Ethiopia, winner of the women’s mile in the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia, last October, posted a winning time of 4:23.76 in that event in the Astana Indoor Meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, last Saturday. Welteji placed second in the 1,500 in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last August, but set a world record for the road mile when she ran 4:20.98 in winning the World Road Running title.
Records runs: Workenesh Edesa of Ethiopia set a course record and second-place Honami Maeda of Japan broke a longtime national record in the Osaka Women’s Marathon on Sunday.
Edesa ran 2 hours 18 minutes 51 seconds to equal her personal best and better the course record of 2:20:52 set by Japan’s Mizuki Matsuda in 2022.
The 27-year-old Maeda began to push the pace after the halfway mark, but ultimately finished second in 2:18:59 to break the previous Japanese record of 2:19:12 that 2004 Olympic champion Mizuki Noguchi set in winning the Berlin Marathon in 2005.
Matsuda, a three-time winner in Osaka, placed third in 2:23:07, followed by Stella Chesang of Uganda in 2:23:36 and Sayaka Sato of Japan in 2:24:43.
Those five runners had come through the first 10 kilometers of the race in 32:59 before passing through the halfway mark in 1:09:46.
Maeda had a five-second lead over second-place Edesa when she came through 30 kilometers in 1:38:36. But Edesa, 31, drew even with Maeda about a kilometer later and was up by 11 seconds when she passed 35 kilometers in 1:54:46.
Maeda lowered her previous best of 2:22:32 by more than three minutes, but she said in a World Athletics post that she was unsure late in the contest if she would be able to break the national record.
“In the later part of the race, I wasn’t sure if I could accomplish my goal because the wind and rain hit me in the final stages,” she said.
Turning pro: Jamaican Jayden Hibbert, who set a pair of collegiate records in the men’s triple jump as a freshman at the University of Arkansas last year, announced on Jan. 25 that he had signed a professional contract.
In doing so, he gave up his final three years of collegiate eligibility.
Hibbert, who just turned 19, raised the collegiate record in the indoor triple jump to 17.54 (57-6½) in the NCAA championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, last March.
He then broke the previous outdoor best when he won the Southeastern Conference title with a leap of 17.87 (58-7½) at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium in May.
He won the NCAA outdoor title in early June with a jump of 17.56 (57-7½) before bounding 17.68 (58-0¼) to win the Jamaican championships a month later and 17.66 (57-11¼) to place second in the Herculis Diamond League meet in Monaco on July 21.
He was expected to contend for the gold medal in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last August, and had the top mark in the qualifying round at 17.70 (58-1). But he did not register a mark in the final as he bailed out on his first attempt after sustaining a hamstring injury and he then passed his second and third attempts.
Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso won the gold medal with a leap of 17.64 (57-10½).
Turning pro II: Addy Wiley of Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana, who had finished fifth in the women’s 1,500 meters in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships last year, announced on Jan. 23 that she had signed a professional contract with Adidas.
By doing so, she will forgo the final three years of her collegiate eligibility in track and final and her last two years of cross country.
Wiley, who had set a national high school record of 4:26.16 in the girls’ 1,600 during her senior season at North High School in Huntington in 2022, placed second in the NAIA Cross Country Championships as a freshman before winning the 600, 800, mile, and 3,000 in the indoor track and field championships last March, and in the 800 and 1,500 during the outdoor meet in May.
She ended the collegiate season with personal bests of 2:02.33 in the 800 and 4:11.43 in the 1,500, but improved substantially upon those marks during the summer, running 1:57.64 to place second in the 800 in the Gala dei Castelli meet in Bellinzona, Switzerland, on Sept. 4 and clocking 3:59.17 to finish eighth in the 1,500 in the Memorial van Damme Diamond League meet in Brussels four days later.
She won the NAIA cross country title for Huntington in November, but her turning pro does not come as a surprise for she was the No. 5-ranked 1,500 runner in the U.S. for 2023 and the No. 9-ranked 800 performer by Track & Field News.