Week in Review: Thompson zips to another fast 100
Jamaican's 9.75 clocking in national champs fastest in world since 2015
Kishane Thompson continued his ascent up the all-time list in the men’s 100-meter dash when he ran 9.75 seconds in winning that event in the Jamaica Athletics Administration Association Senior and Junior Championships in Kingston last Friday.
Competing on the second day of the four-day meet that determined Jamaica’s representatives for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21, Thompson bettered his previous personal best of 9.77 while posting a solid margin of victory over second-place Oblique Seville, who ran 9.83. Akeem Blake finished third in a personal best of 9.88 after leading the race for the first 40 or so meters, and Ryiem Forde was fourth in 9.98.
Thompson’s time moved him to sixth on the all-time performer list, made him the fourth-fastest Jamaican in history, and was the fastest in the world since Justin Gatlin of the U.S. clocked 9.75 in the Herculis meet in Monaco in July of 2015.
Gatlin had preceded that clocking with a 9.74 effort in May, as well as a 9.75 clocking in June.
Blake, who was running in lane two last Friday, was the clear leader of the race after the first 25 meters of the contest that was run in National Stadium. But the powerfully-built Thompson had caught up to him by the midway point and he drew away from everyone in the second half of the race in which he leaned as he crossed the finish line.
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That performance followed a 10.12 clocking in a qualifying heat the previous day and a 9.80 effort in a semifinal earlier Friday. It also came 20 days after he had run a then-season best of 9.88 in winning the Racers Grand Prix on the same track.
“I’m never going to surprise myself, because I know how capable I am,” Thompson was quoted as saying in a caribbeantoday.com post. “I am very confident; even if I break the world record, it wouldn’t surprise me because I am that confident, and I’m working to achieve all my goals and the accolades.”
Thompson, who came oh so close to winning the Olympic title in Paris last summer before being nipped by Noah Lyles of the U.S. at the finish line, had personal bests of 10.56 in the 100 and 21.23 in the 200 in 2021 before he improved those marks to 10.21 and 20.92 in 2022.
He caught a lot of people’s attention when he ran 9.91 to win a heat of the JAAA championships in 2023, but an injury prevented him from running in the semifinals.
Nonetheless, he ran 10.04 to place fifth in the Herculis meet in July of that year before clocking 9.85 to finish second in a Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China, in early September, and 9.87 to place fourth in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, two weeks later.
He ran a then-personal best of 9.77 to win the Jamaican title last year, but Lyles defeated him by five-thousandths of a second in the Olympic final when both of them were credited with times of 9.79.
Thompson appeared to have the victory well in hand with 40 meters left in that race, but Lyles soon began to make up ground on him and he caught Thompson after the Jamaican had visibly tightened up while straining to cross the finish line in first place.
While Thompson’s 9.75 clocking last Friday left him a ways behind the world record of 9.58 that compatriot Usain Bolt had set in the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, he noted that his execution was not perfect and there was room for improvement.
“Sprinting is not just running, as many people believe; there are a lot of technical things that you have to work on to get it right,” he said. “I still believe I have some tweaks that I can do to kind of get that perfect run.”
Twin steps forward: A strained muscle struck down Tia Clayton’s chances at winning the final of the women’s 100 meters in the JAAA championships last Friday, but Tina Clayton, her slightly less-heralded twin, won the race in a personal best of 10.81 seconds while finishing well ahead of second-place Shericka Jackson at 10.88 and third-place Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at 10.91.
The victory by Tina Clayton secured an individual berth on her first Jamaican senior team in an individual event, while two-time defending World 200 champion Jackson produced her fifth consecutive top-two finish in the 100 in the national championships, and Fraser-Pryce made her eighth World championship team in the 100.
The 20-year-old Tina Clayton had run 11.27 in her qualifying heat last Thursday before winning her semifinal in 10.93 earlier in the meet on Friday. That time had topped her previous personal best of 10.95 that she had run in winning the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, and she lowered it by another .12 seconds in the final.
The 38-year-old Fraser-Pryce, who is expected to retire after this season, had won an unprecedented fifth World title in the 100 in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022 before finishing third in the 2023 meet in Budapest, Hungary.
Her training had been slowed by an injury last year and she withdrew from her semifinal of the Olympic Games after having run 10.92 to place second in her qualifying heat. She said last Friday that she was looking forward to competing in the World championships in Tokyo in September and noted that she had first represented Jamaica at the senior level in a global title meet when she ran on a quartet that placed second in its qualifying heat the 4 x 100 relay in the 2007 World championships in Osaka, Japan.
“One thing I knew I had on my side was experience,” Fraser-Pryce was quoted as saying in a World Athletics post. “I am grateful for that fighting spirit that says it’s never over until it’s over, and once I step on the start line, I am ready. Knowing that I’m not race sharp and running 10.91 is a big deal.
“Many people don’t know that Japan is where I started my first senior international championships. It’s such a full circle moment for me to be going back to Japan.”
Nice drop: Megan Tapper, the bronze medalist in the women’s 100-meter hurdles in the 2021 Olympic Games, slashed a tenth of a second from her personal best when she won that event in 12.34 seconds in the JAAA championships on Sunday.
Ackera Nugent was the favorite entering the race as she had run a season best of 12.30 while finishing third in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet on June 20 and she lowered the Jamaican record to 12.24 last year. But she finished second behind Tapper with a time of 12.41. Amoi Brown placed third in 12.67.
Danielle Williams was not required to place among the top three finishers in the JAAA championships to advance to the World championships in Tokyo because she has an automatic bye into that meet after winning the second World title of her career in the 2023 meet in Budapest, Hungary.
The 31-year-old Tapper had entered the meet in Kingston with a season best of 12.50, but she had equaled that mark in winning her qualifying heat last Saturday before moving into a tie for 19th on the all-time performer list with her 12.34 effort.
She got off to one of her typically quick starts in the final before repelling a late-race challenge from Nugent.
“I know that Ackera is a fantastic athlete, but once I got my lead leg perfect, I knew I would have won,” Tapper was quoted as saying in a jamaica-gleaner.com post. “Running a personal best didn’t surprise me, because in training I was running fast times equal to my PB today.”
Making progress: Nickisha Pryce dipped under 50 seconds in the 400 meters for the first time this season when she won that event in 49.97 in the JAAA championships on Sunday.
Dejanea Oakley finished second in 50.08 after having lowered her personal best to 49.65 while finishing second in the NCAA championships for the University of Georgia.
The 24-year-old Pryce had a break-out season last year when she lowered her personal best from 50.21 to 48.57 while winning the NCAA title for the University of Arkansas and moving to eighth on the all-time performer list. But she had run 50.92 while finishing sixth in the inaugural Grand Slam Track meet of the season in early April before placing fifth in 50.71 in the second meet in early May and second in 50.04 in the third — and what turned out to be the final — meet held on May 31 and June 1.
She ran 50.68 in her first-round heat of the Jamaican championships last Thursday before clocking 50.51 in her semifinal on Friday.
Big changes in the works?: Roje Stona, the Olympic champion in the men’s discus, topped a list of four high-profile athletes who did not compete in the JAAA championships after reportedly filing an application to transfer their national allegiance from Jamaica to Turkiye.
Stona had set an Olympic record of 70.00 meters (229 feet 8 inches) in upsetting Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania for the Olympic title in Paris last summer.
Long jumper Wayne Pinnock, shot putter Rajindra Campbell, and triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert were the other Jamaicans who had reportedly filled out an application to transfer their national allegiance from Jamaica to Turkiye.
Pinnock won a silver medal in the long jump in the Olympic Games and Campbell was the bronze medalist in the shot put.
Hibbert, who placed fourth in the Olympics, had set collegiate records of 17.54 meters (57 feet 6½ inches) in the indoor triple jump and 17.87 (58-7½) in the outdoor event during his freshman — and only — season at the University of Arkansas in 2023.
There was another report last week that Favour Ofili of Nigeria, who placed seventh in the women’s 200 meters in the Olympics, was in the process of switching her national allegiance to Turkiye.
An msn.com post stated that World Athletics had confirmed that its Nationality Review Panel had “received four applications from the Turkish Member Federation requesting athlete transfers… The NRP will review these applications through the standard procedures over the course of the next few months - during which the athletes may not compete for any federation - and its decision.
“World Athletics does not comment on the identity of the athletes involved in ongoing applications, to protect the integrity of the process and the privacy of the individuals involved.”
The post added that World Athletics emphasized that there is a standard three-year waiting period after a transfer of national allegiance is approved before an athlete can represent their new member federation.
If that turns out to be the case for the five aforementioned athletes, they will not be eligible to compete in this year’s World championships in Tokyo in September or in the 2027 global title meet in Beijing. However, they might be able to represent Turkiye in the 2028 Olympic Games that are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles from July 14-30.
Approaching 21 meters: Chase Jackson of the U.S. crushed her national record in the women’s shot put when she unleashed an effort of 20.95 (68-8¾) in winning the Iron Wood Throws Classic meet in Rathdrum, Idaho, last Saturday.
The 30-year-old Jackson finished well in front of second-place Maggie Ewen at 19.69 (64-7¼) and third-place Jaida Ross at 19.62 (64-4½) while bettering her previous U.S. record of 20.76 (68-1½) that she had set in winning the Prefontaine Classic in September of 2023.
It was sixth consecutive victory for Jackson after she had opened her outdoor season with a second-place effort of 20.31 (66-7¾) in a Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China, in late April.
As she did in the winning the 2022 World championships, Jackson produced her best put on her first effort of the competition at the Iron Wood Throwers Center. No doubt looking for something even bigger after her prodigious opener, she fouled on four of her final five puts, with her one fair effort of 20.45 (67-1¼) coming in the fourth round.
In addition to topping her previous national record, Jackson’s 20.95 (68-8¾) effort was the farthest put in the world since August of 2013 when two-time Olympic champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand won the Weltklasse meet in Zurich with a best of 20.98 (68-10). It also came within a centimeter of the North and Central American record of 20.96 (68-9¼) set by Belsy Laza of Cuba in 1992.
“Got a little excited but know I’ve got more in the tank!,” Jackson wrote in a social media post shortly after the meet.
A winning return: Garrett Scantling of the U.S., who finished fourth in the decathlon in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, totaled 8,320 points in winning the JAC Challenge competition that was held in Jacksonville, Florida, last Friday and Saturday.
It was the first decathlon for the 32-year-old Scantling since he completed a three-year suspension for a whereabouts failure violation, as well as filing a false statement in regards to the whereabouts failure.
Scantling had totaled a personal best and yearly world-leading score of 8,867 points in the decathlon in the USA Combined Events Championships in May of 2022. But he had withdrawn from the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, before they started on July 15 of that year and it was soon announced that he had accepted a provisional suspension — that later became a three-year one — for not being available for three random drug tests during a preceding 12-month period.
In regards to those missed tests, he had released a statement that said he was taking “full responsibility for my actions, as it could have been completely avoided.”
While Scantling’s 8,320-point total in his competitive return was more than 500 points shy of his personal best that puts him 10th on the all-time performer list, it exceeded the automatic entry standard of 8,100 points for the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships that will be held in Eugene from July 31-August 3.
The meet will serve as the qualifying competition for the World championships in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21.
Scantling opened the meet in Jacksonville with a time of 10.66 seconds in the 100 meters before he leaped 7.56 (24-9¾) in the long jump, put the shot 17.09 (56-1), cleared 2.00 (6-6¾) in the high jump, and clocked 48.95 in the 400 to complete the first day with 4,474 points.
He then began the second day with a time of 14.08 in the 110 high hurdles before throwing the discus 44.65 (146-6), clearing 4.85 (15-11) in the pole vault, throwing the javelin 62.22 (204-1), and running 5:13.15 in the 1,500.
In a post on Instagram, Scantling wrote the following: ✅ to my First Goal this year!
First competition in 3 years and two months was not without RUST. But I came out, had fun and love what this sport still brings to my life! On to Eugene, Oregon for the USA Championships July 31st😏
I’ll have another post later but thank you to everyone who came out to support me these past two days! My Village is the best Village🤍
“I’m Back” - MJ
Roll continues: Four days after being pulled to a world U20 record in the men’s 1,500 meters, Phanuel Koech of Kenya performed like a seasoned veteran in winning that event in the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czechia, on June 24
The 18-year-old Koech ran 3:29.05 to win a deep race in which Isaac Nader of Portugal finished second in 3:29.27, followed by Josh Hoey of the U.S. in 3:29.75, 19-year-old Cam Myers of Australia in 3:29.80, and Narve Gilje Nordas of Norway in 3:30.73.
Nader’s time was a Portuguese record with Hoey moving to fifth on the all-time U.S. performer list with his effort and Myers becoming the third-fastest Australian in history.
Koech, who placed fifth in the 800 in the World Athletics U20 Championships last year, had set a world U20 record of 3:27.72 while finishing second to Azeddine Habz of France (3:27.49) in the Meeting de Paris Diamond League meet on June 20 when he went from fourth place to second in the final 300 meters of the race.
But he surged past first-place Nader with 250 meters to go in Ostrava and never trailed again.
Nader, who had looked incredibly relaxed in winning the mile in a national record of 3:48.25 in the Bislett Games in Oslo on June 12, had taken the lead with a little less than a lap and a half to go after pacesetter Jan Vukovic had clocked 1:52.32 at 800 meters.
It was a three-man race for first when Nader led Koech and Hoey through 1,100 meters, but it had become a duel between Nader and Koech when the Portuguese runner clocked 2:48.54 at the end of three laps.
Koech moved past Nader midway down the backstretch and though Nader drew within half a stride of Koech early in home straightaway, the Kenyan pulled away during the final 50 meters of the race.
More in the tank?: Peter Bol just missed his Australian record when he won the men’s 800 meters in 1:43.80 in the Golden Spike meet, but it appeared he could have run faster as he eased up in the final six strides of the race in which Mario Bloudek of Croatia finished second in a national record of 1:44.02.
The 31-year-old Bol, who had placed fourth in the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, had been in second place when pacesetter Khaled Benmahdi came through the first lap in 49.86 seconds. But he was in the lead, just ahead of Nicholas Kiplangat of Kenya, when he went through 600 meters and he had a big enough advantage near the end of the race that he looked around once, extended his right arm skyward in celebration, and then stepped off the accelerator in the last 20 or so meters of the contest.
His time of 1:43.80 was just shy of the 1:43.79 national record that he had set in winning the Australian championships in Perth in mid-April.
Bol’s short and sweet post on Instagram was as follows: W in Ostrava! 🥇1:43.80 ⚡️✅
Happy winner: Prudence Sekgodiso of South Africa looked superb while winning the women’s 800 meters in 1:57.16 in the Golden Spike meet as she trimmed a tenth of a second off her personal best set last year.
The 23-year-old Sekgodiso was in third place when No. 1 pacesetter Helene Vogel went through 400 meters in 57.47 seconds and she was in second behind No. 2 pacemaker Paris Peoples entering the backstretch. She moved into the lead after Peoples dropped out 30 meters later and never trailed again.
Nigist Getachew of Ethiopia and Oratile Nowe of Bostwana were not far behind Sekodiso entering the final turn and they were still there turning into the home straightaway. But neither of them were able to make a serious run at the South African as she maintained her form well and stayed relaxed through the finish line of the race in which Nowe finished second in a Botswanan record of 1:57.49 and Getachew placed third in 1:58.02.
Sekgodiso, who had won the World indoor title in March, was ecstatic when she saw her time after crossing the finish line. First, she clapped her hands together. Then, then she let out a celebratory yell before exchanging a double high-five with Nowe, her training partner.
In a post on Instagram, she wrote the following: MR PB!!🥰.
01’57’16🌪️🌪️
Thank you @zlatatretra 🇨🇿
Next up :Eugene DL🇺🇸
Victorious debut: Gout Gout of Australia, the 17-year-old sprinter from Australia, came from behind to win the men’s 200 meters in an Oceania record of 20.02 seconds in the Golden Spike meet.
Gout’s time bettered his previous Oceania record of 20.04 that he had set in winning the Australian All Schools Championships in Brisbane in December and it came in his first professional race in Europe while competing at the senior level.
Gout had been unpressed in winning the All Schools Championships title, but he displayed good composure while pulling away from Reynier Mena of Cuba in the final 30 meters of the contest in Ostrava.
Mena, who had set a Cuban record of 19.63 in 2022, came off the turn in front of Gout. But the Australian teenager soon began to make up ground on him and he had no answer to Gout’s final drive over the last 50 meters of the contest as Gout’s 20.02 clocking moved him into a tie for sixth on the all-time U20 performer list.
Mena placed second in 20.19.
“Another national record! Pretty happy with that. It’s not a bad first-up in Europe,” Gout was quoted as saying in an msn.com post. “I’ve felt stronger in training these last couple of months and I’ve felt good since I got to Europe last Thursday.”
Streak hits four: When Dylan Beard of the U.S. edged compatriot Grant Holloway for first place in the men’s 110-meter high hurdles in the Golden Spike meet, it marked the first time since Holloway began competing for the University of Florida in 2017 that he has been beaten in four consecutive high hurdle races.
The 27-year-old Holloway had lost consecutive races in 2019, ’20, and ’23, but he had never been beaten in four finals in a row until last week when he and Beard were each credited with times of 13.13.
Holloway, the three-time defending World champion and the gold medalist in the Olympic Games in Paris last summer, was clear of the field after the first six flights of hurdles in Ostrava. But Beard made up as lot of ground on him over the last two barriers and during the run-in to the finish list.
Holloway had won his third consecutive title in the 60-meter high hurdles in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, in March, despite the fact that he had reportedly been dealing with a knee issue.
He opened the outdoor season with a second-place time of 13.18 in the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, in mid-April before placing 10th in 13.72 in a Diamond League meet in Xiamen, China, a week later.
After withdrawing the following week’s Diamond League meet in Shanghai, he did not race again until June 20 when he placed fifth in 13.11 in the Meeting de Paris. Then came his runner-up finish in Ostrava.
Big individual mark in team competition: Victoria Hudson raised her Austrian record to 67.76 (222-4) in the women’s javelin while winning the event in the European Athletics Team Championships Second Division meet in Maribor, Slovenia, last Saturday.
Hudson’s throw was the longest in the world this year, topped her previous best of 66.06 (216-8) from last year, and moved her to 14th on the all-time world performer list with the javelin implement that has been in use since 1986.
The 29-year-old Hudson unleashed her record throw on her second attempt after registering a mark of 59.74 (196-0) in the first round. She also had marks of 62.07 (203-7) in the sixth round, 61.08 (200-5) in the third, and 60.49 (198-5) in the fifth.
Sigrid Borge of Norway finished second in the competition in Maribor with a best of 65.66 (215-5) and she was followed by Adriana Vilagos of Serbia at 62.75 (205-10).
That’s more like it: Health issues have slowed long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece for much of the year, but the two-time Olympic champion leaped a yearly world-leading mark of 8.46 (27-9¼) in winning the European Athletics Team Championships First Division meet in Madrid last Saturday.
The 27-year-old Tentoglou registered his top mark in the second round in a competition in which Thobias Montler of Sweden finished second at 8.08 (26-6¼) and World indoor champion Mattia Furlani of Italy placed third at 8.07 (26-5¾).
Tentoglou also had jumps of 8.44 (27-8¼) in the third round and 8.15 (26-9) in the first that would have been good enough to win the competition.
Another sub-44 performer: Khaleb McRae of the U.S. became the 28th man — and the 16th American — to break 44 seconds in the 400 meters when he clocked 43.91 in the Bob Vigars Classic in London, Ontario, in Canada on June 22.
The 24-year-old McRae, who had finished seventh in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last year, began the season with a personal best of 44.68 and that was still his best entering the Vigars Classic. But he bettered that mark by nearly eight tenths of a second while finishing well in front of runner-up Luis Aviles of Mexico, who ran 45.42.
McRae’s time moved him to second on the yearly world performer list behind Zakithi Nene of South Africa, who clocked 43.76 in the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 31.
Falling short: Faith Kipyegon of Kenya ran 4:06.42 in the mile in Paris last Thursday in her much-hyped attempt to become the first woman in history to break four minutes in the event under any conditions.
While Kipyegon’s time was faster than the world record of 4:07.64 that she had set in Monaco in 2023, it will not be eligible for record purposes for a variety of reasons, including the fact that she had 13 pacesetters, including 11 men whom ran with or around her for the entirety of the race, and there were no other female competitors.
In order for a performance to be ratified as a world record, there must be a minimum of three athletes in the competition.
Billed by Nike as Breaking4: Faith Kipyegon vs. the 4-Minute Mile, the event was held in front of what looked to be perhaps two-thousand people in a Stade Charlety venue that seats 20,000.
The 31-year-old Kipyegon, wearing clothes and shoes that Nike had designed specifically for the event, would have needed to average a smidge under 60 seconds per 440 yards, or roughly 59.64 for every 400 meters, to run 3:59.99 for the mile.
Running the entire distance in lane one, with pacesetters in front of her, to her right, and behind her, Kipyegon covered the first 200 meters in 30.07 seconds before coming through 400 in 60.20.
She came through 800 meters in 2:00.75 before clocking 2:30.68 for the first kilometer, but any shot at a sub-4 mile appeared to have evaporated when she came through 1,200 meters in 3:01.84 after running her previous 200 in 31.16.
She then clocked 3:32.85 at 1,400 meters before being credited with a final time of 4:06.42, a clocking that was noticeably faster than the 4:06.91 that was displayed on the video board after she had crossed the finish line.
Kipyegon, who has won an unprecedented three consecutive Olympic titles in the women’s 1,500 meters, said she was “exhausted” when asked how she felt during a trackside interview.
She then added that “I feel good that I tried. That’s why I came, to be the first woman under four minutes… I’ve proved it’s possible, it’s only a matter of time. If it’s not me, it’ll come to someone else.”
Briefs: Olando Bennett ran 13.10 seconds to Demario Prince’s 13.12 in winning the men’s 110-meter high hurdles in the Jamaican Athletics Administration Association Senior and Junior Championships in Kingston last Sunday. Tyler Mason placed third in 13.22 in a race in which 2021 Olympic champion Hansle Parchment was sixth in 13.39. Olympic bronze medalist Rasheed Broadbell had withdrawn from the final after sustaining an injury while warming up for the race. . . . . . . Ralford Mullings had a best of 65.82 meters (215 feet 11 inches) in winning the men’s discus in the JAAA championships last Saturday. Mullings had capped his junior season at the University of Oklahoma when he upset world record-holder Mykolas Alekna of Cal and Lithuania for the NCAA title while raising his personal best to 69.31 (227-4). . . . . . . Katie Moon of the U.S. cleared a yearly outdoor-leading height of 4.83 (15-10) in the women’s pole vault in the Born to Run Invitational in Chula Vista, California, on Sunday. Moon, the silver medalist in last year’s Olympic Games, cleared 4.83 on her first attempt before missing three tries at 4.90 (16-¾). . . . . . . Mondo Duplantis of Sweden won his 29th consecutive competition when he cleared 6.13 (20-1¼) in the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czechia, on June 24. Duplantis, who has now cleared 6.13 or higher in a record 18 meets during his career, missed all three of his attempts at a world record of 6.29 (20-7½). . . . . . . Nicola Olyslagers of Australia won her fourth consecutive meet of the outdoor season when she cleared 2.00 (6-6¾) in the Brnenska Latka Olympia meet in Brno, Czechia, on June 24. Olyslagers, who won her second consecutive World indoor title in March, has cleared 2.00 (6-6¾) in her last two victories after making 2.01 (6-7) in the BAUHAUS -Galan Diamond League meet in Stockholm on June 15. . . . . . . . Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the women’s 400 meters in 49.48 in the European Athletics Team Championships First Division meet in Madrid last Friday. Bol’s performance came three days after she had run 49.98 while finishing third behind Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain (49.15) and Lynna Irby-Jackson of the U.S. (49.82) in the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czechia.
Awards time: Freshman Ishmael Kipkurui of the University of New Mexico and senior Savannah Sutherland of the University of Michigan have been selected as the men’s and women’s outdoor collegiate athletes of the year by Track & Field News.
Kipkurui won the men’s 10,000 meters in the NCAA Track & Field Championships in June after lowering the collegiate record to 26:50.21 in March. He also moved to fourth on the all-time collegiate outdoor list in the 5,000 when he clocked 13:09.24 in April.
The 20-year-old Kenyan’s 26:50.21 clocking in the 10,000 is the fastest time in the world this year and it came in THE TEN meet in San Juan Capistrano, California, on March 29 when he moved from fourth place to first in the final 200 meters of the race while bettering the previous collegiate record of 26:52.72 set by Nico Young of Northern Arizona last year.
Sophomore Ja’Kobe Tharp of Auburn, senior Nathaniel Ezekiel of Baylor, and juniors Ralford Mullings of Oklahoma and Mykolas Alekna of Cal received honorable mention recognition.
Tharp ran 13.05 seconds to win the 110-meter high hurdles in the NCAA championships and move to fifth on the all-time collegiate list.
Ezekiel clocked 47.49 to win the 400 intermediate hurdles in the NCAA meet and move to third on the all-time collegiate list.
Mullings upset Alekna for the NCAA title in the discus when his best throw of 69.13 (227-5) strengthened his hold on second on the all-time collegiate performer list in the event.
Alekna finished second in the NCAA meet with a best of 66.77 (219-0) after having set world records of 74.89 (245-8) and 75.56 (247-10) in a competition in Ramona, Oklahoma, in April when superb wind conditions contributed to a slew of personal bests for the competitors.
Sutherland won her second NCAA title in the women’s 400-meter hurdles when her 52.46 clocking broke the collegiate record of 52.75 that Sydney McLaughlin had set in 2018 during her freshman — and only — season at the University of Kentucky.
McLaughlin sign a professional contract shortly after that.
The 21-year-old Sutherland won her first NCAA title in 2023 and she placed second in the collegiate title meet last year before finishing seventh for Canada in the Olympic Games in Paris.
Sophomore Doris Lemngole of Alabama and juniors Aaliyah Butler of Georgia and Roisin Willis of Stanford received honorable mention recognition.
Lemngole set a pair of collegiate records in the 3,000-meter steeplechase this season, with her 8:58.15 clocking in the NCAA championships crushing the 9:10.13 best she had run in April.
Butler ran 49.26 to win the 400 for team champion Georgia in the NCAA championships and move to fifth on the all-time collegiate list.
Willis won the NCAA title in the 800 with a time of 1:58.13 that made her the third-fastest collegian in history in that event.
Looking forward: The Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the men’s 400 meters and the women’s 100, 1,500, 3,000 steeplechase, and long jump are all scheduled to compete in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday.
The meet, which will be broadcast on NBC from 4-6 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, will include 14 Diamond League events, with the women’s 5,000 meters appearing to offer one of the best chances of a world record.
Beatrice Chebet of Kenya, the reigning Olympic champion in the 5,000 and 10,000, is the top entrant in the 5,000.
She ran 14:03.69 in the 5,000, the second-fastest time in history, in the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meet in Rome on June 6 and she set a world record of 28:54.14 in the 10,000 in the Prefontaine Classic last year.
The world record of 14:00.21 in the women’s 5,000 was set by Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia in the 2023 Prefontaine meet.
Tsegay is entered in the 5,000 on Saturday, but she will be an underdog to Chebet.