Week in Review: Tinch makes big leap forward
Hurdler runs 12.87 to win second consecutive Diamond League race in China
Don’t get Cordell Tinch wrong.
The 24-year-old native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, is thrilled to have run 12.87 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles in a Diamond League meet in Shaoxing, China, last Saturday.
And he takes great pride in now being tied for fourth on the all-time performer list in the event.
But when you talk to him about his performance that bettered his previous personal best of 12.96 from 2023, it becomes obvious that winning the race in Shaoxing was more important to him than anything.
“A lot of my friends and a lot of the people we train with, at some point, have been saying, ‘I think at some point this year, you’re going to run in the low 12 eight range,’ ” Tinch said in a Zoom call on Wednesday. “And I was like, ‘Look, you guys are saying all this. But I haven’t won a pro race yet. I need to go to one of these Diamond League meets, and show up and be able to win a race first.’ And you guys are talking about me running this fast.”
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For the record, Tinch had been beaten in 20 consecutive meets in the 110 high hurdles from July of 2023 until early April of this year.
During that stretch, he had four second-place finishes to go with two thirds, four fourths, two fifths, one sixth, four sevenths, one ninth, and two meets in which he did not advance to the final.
After running 13.38 to finish fifth in the inaugural Grand Slam Track meet in Kingston, Jamaica, on April 5, he ran a wind-aided 13.22 to win the Arkansas Spring Invitational a week later and then a wind-aided 12.97 to win the Pittsburg State University Tune-up meet in Pittsburg, Kansas, five days after that.
He then traveled to China and won the first Diamond League meet of his career when he ran a yearly world-leading time of 13.06 in a meet in Xiamen on April 26, followed by his 12.87 stunner in Shaoxing last Saturday.
“It was a surprise that it happened this early,” he said of his time that is only seven hundredths of a second off the world record of 12.80 set by Aries Merritt of the U.S. in 2012. “At some point, I was expecting to run this fast, but I didn’t expect it to be in my second Diamond League meet of the season.”
When asked how he felt during the race , Tinch said it was as smooth an effort as it could have been, considering how far he had traveled to get to Shaoxing. But it was not perfect as his execution over a couple of hurdles near the end of the race could have been better.
Nonetheless, he realized he was running particularly fast late in the contest when he saw the video display board on the infield change from 10 seconds to 11.
Tinch wasn’t purposely watching the board during the race, “but for whatever reason, I saw the clock change to 11 seconds, and I knew we didn’t have very many hurdles left. So in my head, I was like, ‘This is a very fast race. Because if we’re at 11 seconds at this point, we have to be running fast.’ ”
While Tinch was exuberant after crossing the finish line in a time that has only been bettered by three men in history, he also felt a sense of accomplishment because he is starting to get the hang of what it takes to excel as a professional track and field athlete.
Tinch had been a great surprise story in 2023 when he went from having been out of track for nearly three years to winning a combined five NCAA Division II titles in the high hurdles, high jump, and long jump for Pittsburg State.
He had caught a lot of people’s attention when a large aiding breeze of 6.0 meters per second and an elevation of nearly 4,700 feet (1,432 meters) had contributed to a wind-aided 12.87 clocking in the high hurdles in the Division II outdoor championships in Pueblo, Colorado. But his story got even better when he ran a yearly world-leading time of 12.96 in the Arkansas Grand Prix in Fayetteville roughly four weeks later.
After signing a contract with Doyle Management Group in Atlanta, he backed up that performance by finishing second in 13.08 in the USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in early July. But he did not run well in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August as he placed fourth in his first-round heat in 13.49 before finishing a non-qualifying fourth in 13.31 in a semifinal.
Then came a pair of seventh-place finishers in Diamond League meets in Xiamen and Eugene, Oregon, when he ran 13.38 and 13.21, respectively.
While Tinch attributed some of his struggles to that fact that it was taking time to adjust to the expectations that came with being regarded as one of the best high hurdlers in the world, he was also worn out.
As he explained, he had not done any fall conditioning prior to the start of the 2023 indoor season, for he had been working full-time as a salesman for a cell phone company before he decided to start classes — and revive his track and field career — at Pittsburg State in January. And without that conditioning, his energy reserves were running low late in the season.
“Essentially from January through May, I was basically getting in shape and figuring it all out,” he said. “And then you have June and July with the USATF championships, August with the worlds, and September with a couple of Diamond League meets. That’s a lot of months and I think my body was just like, ‘Hey. We went from doing nothing in the fall and I haven’t felt like this before.’ ”
Tinch had a solid base behind him when he began the outdoor season last year. But after running 13.16 and 13.26 in a pair of Diamond League races in Xiamen and the Chinese city of Suzhou, in April, Tinch already felt like he needed a break. That he had had not given himself enough time to fully recover from his 2023 campaign before launching his training regimen.
Things became further complicated when he discovered that an issue with his right hamstring was due to a micro-tear injury that had not healed completely.
Due to the injury, he had not done any hurdle training for nearly four weeks when he placed ninth in 13.38 in the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on May 25. After following that with a fifth-place time of 13.56 in the USA Track & Field New York City Grand Prix on June 9, he was far from 100 percent when he entered the U.S. Olympic Team Trials two weeks later.
The meet did not start well for him as he was eliminated in the qualifying round of the long jump. But he performed admirably in the high hurdles, clocking 13.33 in his heat, 13.19 in his semifinal, and 13.03 to place fourth in the final.
Although the 13.03 was the second-fastest time of his career at that time, it came in the deepest race in history as three-time World champion Grant Holloway placed first in 12.86, followed by Freddie Crittenden in 12.93 and Daniel Roberts in 12.96.
Tinch recalls Pittsburg State coach Kyle Rutledge, with whom he still trains, asking him how his hamstring was holding up at the start of the Trials and he remembers thinking, “We’re at the Olympic Trials. Regardless of how it feels, I gotta go, right? And so to know that I wasn’t 100 percent healthy wasn’t ideal, but at the same time, nobody’s ever 100 percent healthy in this sport. So in my own head, I know that can’t be an excuse. If you’re there, you gotta show up. And I feel like I showed up to the best of my abilities at that time.
“But you know, both Daniel and Freddie showed up. So in that moment, I was happy to get a 13.03. But at the same time, my goal was to make the team.”
Despite his setback at the Trials, Tinch did not get discouraged. He competed in three races in Europe in July before the Olympic Games in Paris, and he ran in another eight meets afterward.
Although he only had one sub-13.20 clocking after the Trials, running that many races was a great learning experience, one he capped by competing in five meets during an 11-day stretch that culminated with a fourth-place time of 13.27 in the Diamond League final in the Memorial van Damme in Brussels.
After a brief indoor season had culminated in a fourth-place finish in the the 60-meter high hurdles in the USATF Indoor Championships in February, Tinch opened his outdoor season with his fifth-place finish in Kingston.
While he has won four consecutive races since then, and his 12.87 clocking is faster than high hurdle greats such as Colin Jackson, Roger Kingdom, Allen Johnson, and Renaldo Nehemiah ever ran, Tinch said his outlook for the rest of the season remains the same.
“It may have changed certain meets that we’re going to go to, or will consider going to,” he said when asked if his huge performance had caused him to re-evaluate his goals. “But it definitely hasn’t change training at all. Because, as I said, one of the interviewers had asked me after the race if I thought I was in 12 eight shape. And I said, ‘No.’ I really didn’t feel that. I just came out here and competed.
“I think that we need to continue to work and continue to build, and not get complacent because we ran 12 eight. That we can ease off a little bit. No. We need to continue to do what got us here in order to get the real goal. Because the goal wasn’t to run 12 eight. The goal is to go to [the USATF championships] and make the [World championship] team. And then go to the worlds and get a medal.”
Nice follow-up: Karsten Warholm of Norway ran a yearly world-leading time of 47.28 seconds in the men’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles in the Diamond League meet in Shaoxing.
His performance came a week after he had opened his season by lowering his world best in the 300 intermediates to 33.05 in a Diamond League meet in the Chinese City of Xiamen. It also left him eight tenths of a second ahead of Matheus Lima of Brazil, who finished second in a personal best of 48.08.
With his latest effort, the 29-year-old Warholm has now run 47.30 or faster an unprecedented 26 times during his career. Reigning Olympic champion Rai Benjamin of the U.S. has run 47.30 or faster 16 times.
Summit meeting: In a battle between the two hottest men’s 400 sprinters in the world so far this season, Christopher Bailey of the U.S. came from behind to defeat Bayapo Ndori of Bostwana, 44.17 seconds to 44.32, in Shaoxing.
Collen Kebinatshipi of Botswana finished third in 44.63 in a race in which Olympic champion Quincy Hall of the U.S. finished eighth in 45.99 in his first race of the year after his training had been interrupted by an injury.
Ndori had won his sixth race of the season without a loss when he turned back Bailey, 44.25 to 44.27, in Xiamen the previous week. But unlike that race, Bailey was able to overtake Ndori in the final straightaway last Saturday.
Ndori, running in lane five, had made up the stagger on Hall, in lane six, fairly early in the race, and he had a lead over Bailey coming off the second turn. However, the 24-year-old American really began to drive with his arms with about 70 meters left in the contest and he overtook Ndori with roughly 30 meters to go.
The victory was the fifth in six races this year for World indoor champion Bailey and his time bettered his personal best of 44.27 that he had run in Xiamen.
“I am happy about refreshing my personal best after last week, it felt great,” Bailey said in quotes on the meet website. “It was not my best race, but I cannot complain about the result. Everything has worked out pretty well right now, I have a lot of faith in my coach.”
He then gave credit to his fellow competitors, saying that “Every time we step on the track together, there is always great competition. I expect everyone to run their best.”
Big rebound: Tsige Duguma bounced back from a disappointing sixth-place finish in the women’s 800 meters in the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, in March by setting an Ethiopian record of 1:56.64 while winning the event in Shaoxing.
The time by the 24-year-old Duguma was the fastest in the world this year, bettered her previous personal best of 1:57.15 that she had set in winning the silver medal in the Olympic Games, and broke the previous Ethiopian record of 1:56.67 set by Werkuha Getachew in 2021.
Duguma was in fifth place when pacesetter Julia Jaguscik of Poland went through 400 meters in 57.54 and she had moved into second behind compatriot Nigist Getachew at 600 meters.
She remained in that position until taking the lead with about 120 meters left in the contest. But the race for first place was essentially over 40 meters later as Duguma had opened up a sizeable lead on her closest pursuers and she would end up finishing more than a second ahead of runner-up Sarah Billings of Australia, who ran a personal best of 1:57.83.
Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, the 2019 World champion, finished third in 1:58.39, followed by Natoya Goule-Toppin of Jamaica in 1:58.43, Addy Wiley of the U.S. in 1:58.59, and World indoor silver medalist Getachew in 1:58.67.
Three for three: Akani Simbine of South Africa won his third 100-meter race of the season without a loss when he clocked 9.98 seconds in Shaoxing.
Olympic silver medalist Kishane Thompson had the lead from the 10- through 90-meter marks before finishing second in 9.99 in his first 100 of the year. He was followed by Olympic 200 champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in 10.03, Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon in 10.07, and Christian Coleman of the U.S. in 10.13.
Thompson, who had finished five thousandths of a second behind gold medalist Noah Lyles of the U.S. in the Olympic Games when they were both credited with times of 9.79, was six hundredths of a second ahead of Simbine at the midway point of last Saturday’s race. But his lead was down to a hundredth at 90 meters and Simbine over took him in the final five meters of the contest.
“Another win,” Simbine said in quotes on the meet website. “I'm not happy with the race but taking the win is good. I'm not happy with the start, it is just frustrating that I did not get it right today but I was at least able to make up for that mistake and get the win.”
An even bigger series: For the second time in a week, Chase Jackson of the U.S. exceeded 20 meters (65 feet 7½ inches) in the shot put on three of her six efforts in Shaoxing. But this time her top three marks of 20.54 (67-4¾), 20.49 (67-2¾), and 20.49 (67-2¾) were all farther than her best put of 20.31 (66-7¾) in Xiamen.
Her 20.54 (67-4¾) put was the top outdoor mark in the world this year and it left her well in front of second-place Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands, who had a best of 19.77 (64-10½) a week after she had defeated Jackson in Xiamen with an effort of 20.47 (67-2).
Fanny Roos of Sweden finished third with a national record of 19.66 (64-6) and she was followed by two-time defending World indoor champion Sarah Mitton of Canada at 19.59 (64-3¼).
“I felt really good tonight,” Jackson said in quotes on the meet website. “On Tuesday, I had a breakthrough in my training so I kind of knew either I could throw really far or I will not be able to hold the breakthrough, but I was able to hold it in, so I am happy with that.
“I have been working on using my left arm more, and I felt what I needed to feel during my training, and I was able to carry it over to the competition. I think I just got a little too excited, so I did not really get hold of the change that I wanted, but I was happy about where I went. I was hoping I could throw a little bit further to get a national record, but I know it will come soon though.”
The 30-year-old Jackson set the U.S. record of 20.76 (68-1½) in the Prefontaine Classic in September of 2023, the month after she had won her second consecutive World title.
Big mark in still air: Valarie Allman’s winning mark of 70.08 (229-11) in the women’s discus in Shaoxing was nearly three and a half meters less than the North American record of 73.52 (241-2) that she had set in a meet in Ramona, Oklahoma, on April 12. But her throw on Saturday came in near windless conditions, while her top effort in Ramona came in a competition in which a stiff breeze helped to keep the discus aloft longer, thus resulting in longer marks.
The 30-year-old Allman had the top three throws in the competition in Shaoxing as Jorinde van Klinken of the Netherlands finished second at 66.22 (217-3) and Yaime Perez of Cuba placed third at 65.00 (213-3).
Allman hit 68.28 (224-0) in the first round before fouling on her second throw. She then hit 69.65 (228-6) in the third round before fouling in the fourth and recording her 70.08 (229-11) in the fifth. She finished her competition with a throw of 63.77 (209-2) while recording her 20th consecutive victory dating back to her second-place finish in the 2023 World championships.
It was the seventh time during her career that the two-time Olympic champion had thrown 70 meters (229-8) or more in a meet. She has also had throws of 70.89 (232-7) and 70.01 (229-8) in the qualifying round of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2024 and ’21, respectively.
“I feel so excited about this competition tonight,” Allman said in quotes on the meet website. “In my first meet in Xiamen last week my nerves got the better of me and today I just knew I was going to go for it. To see 70 metres pop up gives me a lot of confidence and momentum. So I’m leaving China happy and excited to go home, I go with a lot of good perspective of what these next few months need.”
Streak marches on: Mondo Duplantis of Sweden won his 26th consecutive meet when he cleared 6.11 (20-½) in the Diamond League meet in Shaoxing.
Emmanouil Karalis of Greece finished second at 6.01 (19-8½), his highest-ever jump outdoors, and Menno Vloon of the Netherlands placed third at 5.82 (19-1).
Duplantis, the two-time defending Olympic and World champion, cleared 5.62 (18-5¼), 5.92 (19-5), 6.01 (19-8½), and 6.11 (20-0½) on his first attempts before missing three times at a world record height of 6.28 (20-7¼).
The 25-year-old Duplantis has now cleared 6.11 (20-0½) or higher in an unprecedented 19 meets during his career.
Sergey Bubka, who won six World outdoor titles during a career in which he competed for the Soviet Union and Ukraine, jumped 6.11 (20-0 ½) or higher in nine meets.
Fast finisher edges fast starter: Masai Russell, perhaps the best closer in the world right now in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, came from behind to defeat U.S. compatriot Tia Jones in the opening event in the three-day Grand Slam Track meet in Miramar, Florida, last Friday.
Running on a fast track with the maximum allowable tailwind for record purposes of 2.0 meters per second, the 24-year-old Russell clocked 12.17 to Jones’ 12.19 to better the U.S. record of 12.20 that had been a world record when Keni Harrison ran it in 2016.
The times by Russell and Jones were the second and third fastest ever in the event, topped only by the world record of 12.12 set by Tobi Amusan of Nigeria in a semifinal of the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Russell’s time bettered her previous personal best of 12.25 that she had set in winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene last year and Jones’ effort crushed her personal best of 12.38 that she had run in finishing second in the Memorial van Damme meet in Brussels in 2022.
Ackera Nugent of Jamaica placed third in 12.34 in the meet at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar last Friday, and she was followed by Harrison in 12.40, Megan Tapper of Jamaica in 12.50, and Alaysha Johnson of the U.S. in 12.56.
“I don’t even know what to say, these girls bring the best out of me every time," Russell said in an afp.com post.
Russell, who had also come from behind to win the Olympic title last summer, had finishing a disappointing fifth in 12.78 in the inaugural Grand Slam Track meet in Kingston, Jamaica, on April 5 before running 12.65 to finish second in the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational two weeks later and 12.74 to win the Drake Relays last Saturday.
She and Jones were both understandably excited when they saw the results of the race flash on the trackside timer, video board, but it wasn’t until the wind reading was verified at 2.0 meters per second, the maximum allowable for record purposes, that Russell became really animated.
“I didn’t expect that, but I just went out there and competed,” Russell said in an nbcsports.com post. “It shows when you turn your brain off and compete, you don’t know what you’re capable of.”
Hard charger: Jacory Patterson of the U.S., a sprinter who had not run under 45 seconds for 400 meters from 2022-24, produced the first sub-44 performance of the year in the Grand Slam Track meet last Saturday.
Running in lane eight in the one-lap race that was part of the men’s long sprints event category, Patterson powered down the home straightaway to record a 43.98 clocking that bettered his previous personal best of 44.27 that he had had run in winning the first heat of the invitational section of the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, two weeks earlier.
That time had lowered Patterson’s previous personal best of 44.81 from 2021 and was a yearly world-leading mark until compatriot Christopher Robinson ran 44.15 two races later.
Patterson’s 43.98 effort on Saturday left him well ahead of Olympic fourth-place finisher Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago, who placed second in 44.32.
He was followed by Olympic silver medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, who placed third in 44.37, Olympic bronze medalist Muzala Zamukanga of Zambia, who clocked 44.56, and Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic, who finished fifth in 44.78.
“I feel like that helped me a lot,” Patterson said in a trackside interview when Grand Slam Track’s Taliyah Brooks asked him about racing out of lane eight. “Because I didn’t feel anything. I was just able to run my own race.”
Patterson’s victory, which followed his sixth-place finish in the 200 the day before, placed him second behind Richards in the overall standings for the men’s long sprints category and was worth $50,000 in prize money.
The 24-year-old Patterson never advanced to an individual final of the NCAA outdoor championships during his collegiate career at the University of Florida, but he had been a member of a pair of 4 x 400 relay teams that placed first the 2022 and ’23 meets.
He was in fifth place when he went through the first 200 meters 21.55 seconds on Saturday, but he had moved into second behind Richards at 300 meters and his split of 11.60 for the last 100 was significantly faster than Richards’ 12.02.
Patterson, who was ecstatic as he crossed the finish line, said his victory would give me him confidence and momentum going forward and “keep that ball rolling.”
Impressive double: Kenny Bednarek of the U.S. completed a notable double when he won the men’s 200 meters in 19.84 seconds in the Grand Slam Track meet on Sunday.
Bednarek’s time in the short sprints event category was the fastest in the world this year and it left him nearly three tenths of a second ahead of Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain and third-place Oblique Seville of Jamaica, who were each credited with times of 20.13.
It also came a day after he had won the 100 in a wind-aided 9.79 in a race in which Seville was second in 9.84, Ackeem Blake of Jamaica was third in 9.85, and Hughes was fourth in 9.87.
The two victories followed a pair of wins in the inaugural Grand Slam Track meet in Kingston, Jamaica, from April 4-6, and increased Bednarek’s prize money earnings to $200,000 for the two meets.
The 26-year-old Bednarek was simply stronger and smoother than any of his competitors in either race as the two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 200 never displayed any signs of strain on his face or in his sprinting form at the end of either contest.
“I just know I’m right where I need to be,” Bednarek said in a post-race interview with Grand Slam Track’s Taliya Brooks. “I mean, it’s a long season, but you know, getting 19.8 and a 9.7 windy, there’s good times for the end of the year.”
Impressive double II: Like Kenny Bednarek in the men’s 100 and 200 meters, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S. posted a pair of wins in the 400 hurdles and the 400 while competing in the women’s long hurdles event category in the Gran Slam Track meet last weekend.
The two-time Olympic champion in the 400 hurdles won that event in a yearly world-leading time of 52.07 seconds on Friday before placing first in the 400 in a season best of 49.69 on Sunday.
The 25-year-old McLaughlin-Levrone won both races by large margins as Andrenette Knight of Jamaica placed second in the 400 hurdles in 54.08 and heptathlete Anna Hall of the U.S. finished second in the 400 in 51.68.
Like Bednarek, McLaughlin-Levrone has also won $200,000 in prize money after winning the 400 hurdles and the 400 in the long hurdles division in both Grand Slam Track meets.
Perhaps looking to increase her level of competition, as well as the variety of her racing itinerary, McLaughlin said in a post-meet interview on Sunday that she and her coach, Bobby Kersee, were thinking very strongly about having her compete in the women’s short hurdles event category in the next Grand Slam Track meet that is scheduled to be held at Franklin Field in Philadelphia from May 30-June 1.
The short hurdles division consists of the 100 hurdles and the 100.
“I think we might go to the short hurdles,” McLaughlin-Levrone said while speaking with Grand Slam Track’s John Anderson, Sanya Richards-Ross, and Chris Chavez. “Switch it up. Yeah, test myself. Work on some hurdle technique. Work on some sprint.”
Long time coming: Trey Cunningham of the U.S. completed a sweep of the men’s short hurdles event category on Sunday when he won the 100 in a personal best of 10.17 seconds. But his more notable performance came in the 110 high hurdles on Saturday when he ran 13.00 to turn back a high-quality field that included second-place Sasha Zhoya of France in 13.06, Freddie Crittenden of the U.S. in 13.09, and compatriot Jamal Britt in 13.10.
Cunningham’s winning time of 13.00 tied his personal best that he had set in winning the NCAA title when he was a senior at Florida State University in 2022. He had finished second behind U.S. teammate Grant Holloway in the World championships in Eugene, Oregon, later that year, but he had struggled during his first two seasons as a professional.
However, he had run 13.09 while defeating Holloway in the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, on April 19 and his performance on Saturday was the second fastest in the world this year behind a scintillating 12.87 clocking that Cordell Tinch of the U.S. had run in a Diamond League meet in Shaoxing, China, earlier in the day.
“I think I’m finally getting back my rhythm, getting back to where I was at,” Cunningham said in a trackside interview. “I’m just coming out focused on my race”
Contrasting tactics: While the men’s 3,000- and 5,000-meter races of the first two Grand Slam Track meets have been very tactical in nature, the two women’s contests last weekend were refreshingly up-tempo affairs as Agnes Ngetich of Kenya and Hirut Meshesha of Ethiopia won the 5,000 in 14:25.80 and the 3,000 in 8:22.72, respectively.
The 24-year-old Ngetich completed a very productive seven-day period on Friday as her 14:25.80 clocking was a personal best and a yearly world-leading time, and it came six days after she had set a women’s-only world record of 29:27 in the road 10,000 meters in the Adizero Road to Records meet in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
Ngetich is not known for having a great kick so she forced the pace from very early on in the 5,000 in an effort to break away from 20-year-old Ethiopian Medina Eisa, who had won her third consecutive title in the 5k run in the meet in Germany.
As it turned out, Ngetich was unable to drop Eisa. But she managed to hold her off in the homestretch to finish .12 seconds ahead of her.
Meshesha was a distant third in the 5,000 with a time of 14:40.64, but she bounced back to win a thrilling 3,000 on Sunday when her 8:22.72 effort was the fastest outdoor time in the world this year and bettered her previous best of 8:28.46 from last year.
Eisa and Ngetich also set personal bests while finishing second and third in times of 8:23.08 and 8:23.14, while Tsige Gebreselama’s fourth-place time of 8:24.40 just missed her career best of 8:24.47.
As she had done in the 5,000, Ngetich pushed the pace from the start of the 3,000 as she clocked 2:44.49 at 1,000 meters and 5:35.44 at 2,000.
She was still in the lead when she began the bell lap, but Gebreselama briefly took the lead down the backstretch before the 24-year-old Meshesha was in the lead entering the final turn ahead of Ngetich, Eisa, and Gebreselama.
Eisa had moved into second place ahead of Ngetich with 100 meters to go, but she was unable to overtake Meshesha.
Notable series: World record-holder Mykolas Alekna of Cal had three throws of more than 70 meters (229-8) in winning the men’s discus in The Big Meet in Berkeley, California, last Saturday.
Olympic silver medalist Alekna unleashed his top throw of 71.29 (233-10) on his first effort and he also had throws of 71.06 (233-2) in the fifth round, 70.31 (230-8) in the third, and 69.21 (227-0) in the sixth.
Although Alekna’s top mark was more than four meters short of his world record of 75.56 (247-10) that he set in a meet in Ramona, Oklahoma, on April 13, that competition had been held in optimum throwing conditions in which a strong breeze helped to keep the discus aloft longer, thus resulting in farther throws.
Alekna has now thrown more than 70 meters (229-8) in nine meets during his career and his 71.29 (233-10) effort on Saturday is the best mark of his career set outside of Ramona.
Nice improvement: Senior Mya Lesnar of Colorado State University set a pair of personal bests while moving to third on the all-time collegiate performer list in the women’s shot put in the Doug Max Invitational in Fort Collins, Colorado, last Saturday.
Lesnar, who won the event by more than 10 feet, produced her top mark of 19.60 (64-3¾) in the fourth round. But she also had a 19.28 (63-3¼) effort in the second round that topped her previous personal best of 19.10 (62-8) from last year.
Lesnar had finished fifth in the NCAA outdoor championships last year before placing fourth in the indoor meet in March.
Narrow miss: Junior Ethan Strand of the University of North Carolina came within two tenths of a second of the collegiate record in the men’s 1,500 meters in the Duke Twilight meet in Durham, North Carolina, on Sunday.
Strand ran a personal best of 3:33.22 while winning a race that he did not lead until there were about 70 meters to go. NCAA indoor mile champion Abel Teffra of Georgetown placed second in 3:33.84, followed by Parker Wolfe of North Carolina in 3:34.24, Titouan Le Grix of Wingate in 3:34.30, and James Dunne of Georgetown in 3:35.17.
Strand’s time moved him to second on the all-time collegiate list and narrowly missed the collegiate record of 3:33.02 set by senior Liam Murphy of Villanova in the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, North Carolina, on March 27.
Teffra now ranks sixth on the all-time collegiate outdoor list with his time, while Wolfe and Grix are eighth and ninth.
Although I have not seen any official splits for the race, I did find a video on youtube.com and I can report that Wolfe, Strand, and Teffra were running in third, fourth, and fifth place when a pacesetter came through the first 400 in an unofficial 56.1. They had moved up to second, third, and fourth after a second pacesetter passed 800 meters in 1:55.3 and Wolfe was in the lead when he ran past 1,100 meters in 2:38.8 and 1,200 in 2:53.0.
Wolfe continued to lead the race until Teffra went by him with roughly 140 meters left. Strand then made a big move shortly after entering the home straightaway in third place and he sped away from Teffra after passing him with about 70 meters to go.
Quick 800s: Seniors Michaela Rose of LSU and Smilla Kolbe of the University of North Florida produced the second- and fifth-fastest outdoor times in collegiate history in the women’s 800 meters in pair of meets last Saturday.
Rose ran 1:58.12 while winning the LSU Invitational by more than four seconds and Kobe clocked 1:59.02 to win the East Coast Relays at North Florida by more than two and a half seconds.
Rose, who had finished fourth in the 800 in the NCAA indoor championships in March, improved upon her previous best of 1:58.37 from last year and her 1:58.12 clocking drew her within .39 seconds of the collegiate record of 1:57.73 that Athing Mu had set during her freshman — and only collegiate — season at Texas A&M in 2021.
Kolbe, fifth in the 800 in the NCAA indoor championships, sliced more than two seconds off her previous best of 2:01.18 that she had set in the Florida Relays on April 5 while moving to third on the all-time collegiate performer list.
Sprint shocker in Austin: Tate Taylor, a junior at Harlan High School in San Antonio, Texas, set a U.S. national prep record of 9.92 seconds when he won the boys’ 100-meter dash in the Texas UIL 6A State Championships in Austin last Saturday.
Taylor had entered the meet with an outstanding personal best of 10.08, but he crushed that mark while winning a race that included Brayden Williams of Duncanville, who finished second in 10.01 to move into a tie for fourth on the all-time prep performer list.
Taylor’s time trimmed a hundredth of a second off the previous high school best of 9.93 that had been set by senior Christian Miller of Creekside High in St. John’s, Florida, last year.
It also moved him to second on the yearly world performer list and to second on the all-time world U20 list.
Akani Simbine of South Africa, who finished fourth in the Olympic Games last year, currently tops the yearly world list at 9.90.
The world U20 record of 9.91 in the 100 was set in 2022 by Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, who won the Olympic title in the 200 last year.
In addition to his prep record in the 100 on Saturday, Taylor also won the 200 in a personal best of 20.14 and anchored Harlan’s 4 x 100 relay team to a fifth-place finish in 40.09.
His 200 clocking was the fastest prep time in the U.S. this year and moved him into a three-way tie for third on the all-time performer list with Tyreek Hill of Coffee County High in Douglas, Georgia, and Michael Norman of Vista Murietta in Murietta, California.
Two liners: Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Urkraine cleared 2.00 meters (6 feet 6¾ inches) in winning the Diamond League meet in Shaoxing, China, last Saturday. Mahuchikh cleared 1.92 (6-3½), 1.95 (6-4¾), 1.98 (6-6), and 2.00 (6-6¾) on her first attempts before missing three times at 2.03 (6-8). . . . . . . Melissa Jefferson the U.S. won her second consecutive women’s short sprints event category title in the Grand Slam Track meet in Miramar, Florida, last weekend. The Olympic bronze medalist in the 100 won that event in a wind-aided 10.75 seconds on Friday before running a personal best of 22.05 in the 200 to finish second to the 21.95 effort of Olympic champion Gabby Thomas of the U.S. on Saturday. . . . . . . Junior Grace Hartmann of North Carolina State University moved to fourth on the all-time collegiate performer list in the outdoor 5,000 meters when she ran 14:58.11 to win the Duke Twilight meet on Sunday. Hartman is one of five collegiate women to have run under 15 minutes indoor or outdoors during the current academic year. . . . . . . USC put on a superb display of depth in the men’s 400 meters in its annual dual meet against host UCLA last Saturday when the Trojans swept the top three places in the race as juniors Garrett Kaalund and William Jones ran 44.73 and 44.76, respectively, and sophomore Jacob Andrews clocked 45.46. Kaalund and Jones currently rank second and fourth on the yearly collegiate performer list for USC, which won the NCAA indoor title in March. . . . . . . USC set a collegiate dual meet record in the women’s 4 x 400-meter relay when a quartet of juniors Yemi John, Christine Mallard, Takiya Cenci, and sophomore Madison Whyte ran 3:27.72 in its meet against UCLA. The previous dual meet record of 3:29.72 had been set by a USC foursome in 2021.