USTFCCCA News & Notes
Weekend Recap: Collegians Are At It Again!
EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ll continue to update this throughout the day.
Collegiate track & field is so hot right now!
Incredible performances just keep pouring in.
From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | Records & Lists
By our unofficial count, there were 65 meets this weekend alone.
Let’s see what stood out to us at the USTFCCCA National Office.
A Wild Finish For a Wildcat 4×400
Kennedy Lightner had quite the day on Friday.
Competing at the Red Raider Open hosted by Texas Tech, Lightner opened the meet with a scintillating sprint over 200 meters, where he stopped the clock at 20.52. That moved Lightner up to No. 2 on the NCAA DI Descending Order List as of Saturday morning.
Then, Lightner did this.
Lightner used a 44.68 split on the anchor leg of the 4×400 relay to bring Kentucky back from the depths. He swung wide in the final 50 meters to beat Trey Johnson of Houston and Willington Wright of Texas to the finish line by 0.23 seconds: Kentucky won at 3:06.86; Houston was second in 3:07.09; Texas finished third in 3:07.21.
Not to be outdone, the Kentucky women set a school record in the 4×400 when they broke the tape at 3:28.62 for a collegiate-leading mark.
Hey, Siri. Show Me Giving It Your All
Ben Veatch of Indiana hadn’t gone sub-4 in the mile before Friday.
Note that we said “before Friday,” because Veatch changed all of that.
Veatch crossed the finish line at 3:59.73 to become the 602nd man in American history to dip under the fabled barrier, according to Track & Field News. It marked a PR of nearly two seconds.
If You Like Fast Miles…
No athlete has ever gone sub-4 at more than 6000 feet.
Nico Young of Northern Arizona came awfully close on Friday.
Young won the mile at the Lumberjack Team Challenge in 4:02.89, outkicking former teammate Luis Grijalva over the final lap (Grijalva finished runner-up in 4:04.18).
Once the altitude conversion kicks in, Young will surely be the collegiate leader in the event. The meet was held inside the NAU Skydome in Flagstaff, Arizona, which sits at nearly 7000 feet.
But, Seriously … About Those Miles
When you’re one of six athletes to do something in divisional history, then you’re doing something remarkable.
Christian Noble of Lee (Tenn.) became the sixth man in NCAA Division II history to go sub-4 in the mile, regardless of track size. Noble, competing on the 300-meter oval at the Vanderbilt Invitational, went 3:59.70 to finish fourth in a heat that saw the top-4 athletes under the fabled barrier.
Three of those athletes were from Ole Miss, who went 1-2-3.
What’s A Weekend Without A Record?
Grace Devanny of Wesleyan (Conn.) turned in an all-time effort on Friday.
Devanny took down the NCAA Division III all-time best over 500 meters while competing at the NYC Gotham Cup at the Ocean Breeze Indoor Track Facility. She went 1:15.20 to win her heat by two seconds and was the fastest out of 25 competitors.
If you’re wondering, the former record was held by Gina Dello Russo of Stevens at 1:15.47 and eight of the top-10 marks have been turned in since 2019.
Not Weighting Around…
Shey Taiwo is in postseason form already.
Taiwo, the runner-up in the weight throw at the 2021 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships, moved up to No. 7 on the all-time collegiate chart with her opening effort of 24.11m (79-1¼) from the Vanderbilt Invitational yesterday.
During the outdoor season, Taiwo finished NCAA runner-up in the hammer.
…As We Were Saying
Israel Oloyede of Grand Canyon made a statement on Saturday.
Competing at the Dr. Martin Luther King Collegiate Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Oloyede launched the weight 24.45m (80-2¾) to catapult himself to No. 4 on the all-time collegiate chart behind record-holder Michael Lihrman of Wisconsin at 25.58m (83-11¼), Conor McCullough of Southern California at 24.48m (80-3¾) and Thomas Mardal of Florida at 24.46m (80-3).