USTFCCCA News & Notes
Weekend Recap: Parker’s NCAA DIII Record Leads The Way
EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ll continue to update this post throughout the weekend.
It’s not slowing down!
Not the athletes. Not the season.
From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | Records & Lists
Impressive performances by collegiate track & field athletes continue to pour in during the outdoor season.
Here are a few that stood out to us from this past weekend.
Parker Does It Again!
Kassie Parker had her eyes on history, 400 meters at a time.
By the time Parker crossed the finish line at Cobb Track at Angell Field on Friday night, she had traversed 25 laps faster than any other female athlete in NCAA Division III history. Parker, who etched her name all over the indoor record book, did so in her first race outdoors, placing fourth in the elite section of the Women’s 10,000 Meters at the Stanford Invitational in 33:03.61.
The previous record of 33:21.80, set by Keene State’s Mary Proulx, had stood since 2003.
Prior to Parker’s record-breaking effort on Friday night, the closest any other athlete had come to Proulx’s all-time best in the past 19 years was Taryn Cordani of Ithaca back in 2018 with her mark of 33:34.06. And before Cordani, Lenore Moreno of La Verne was the only other athlete in NCAA DIII history under 34 minutes since 2009 with her 33:49.04 clocking in 2014.
Parker ran a masterful race in California, splitting 16:35 and then 16:28.
Lauren Gregory of Arkansas won the race in 32:24.21, followed by Amelia Mazza-Downie of New Mexico in 32:55.29. Brighton Phoenix athlete Beth Kidger took third in 33:01.14, with the Loras standout right behind her in 33:03.61 for yet another history-altering performance.
Goodness! Gig ‘Em, Charokee!
Charokee Young joined an exclusive list on Saturday.
Young and 2016 The Bowerman winner Courtney Okolo are the only two women in collegiate history who have covered 400 meters in 50 seconds or faster in April. The other three women who have gone sub-50 in the event did so in either May or June.
Look at how smooth this looked for Young.
Talk About Marquee Matchups
Star power was in full force at the Gator Invitational this weekend.
You don’t have to look further than Heat 1 of the Men’s 200 Meters.
That’s where this dynamic group toed the start line: 2021 NCAA Outdoor 200m champion Joseph Fahnbulleh of Florida, 2021 NCAA Indoor 200m champion Matthew Boling of Georgia, 2021 Outdoor and 2022 Indoor 400m champion Randolph Ross Jr. of North Carolina A&T, as well as several other outstanding athletes.
Go ahead and watch it.
Orediggers Impress at Stanford
It was a good evening for Colorado School of Mines at the Stanford Invitational.
Not one, but two all-time marks were turned in by the Orediggers at Cobb Track at Angell Field.
Jake Mitchem got the party started with a PR 8:37.87 in the elite section of the men’s steeplechase to finish sixth overall. That effort moves him to No. 9 on the NCAA DII all-time list and makes him the DII leader by more than 11 seconds.
Dillon Powell closed out the evening for Colorado School of Mines with a ninth place finish in the elite section of the men’s 10,000 meters in 28:22.78 to become eighth-best performer in NCAA DII history. Powell moved ahead of Isaac Harding of Grand Valley State’s 28:25.98 for the DII lead in the event, which is now No. 10 on the all-time list.
An All-Time Dual Meet!
Texas and Texas A&M hooked up for the second straight year in a dual meet, and the Longhorns prevailed in both the men’s and women’s contests – 105½ to 96½ and 102 to 100, respectively. This year the long-time rivals met in College Station after last year’s affair in Austin.
Besides the 50.00 in the women’s 400 by Charokee Young (see above), several other notable marks were turned in, and the meet was perfect fodder for attempts at “collegiate dual meet records,” an unofficial compilation maintained by Track & Field News.
Young’s mark was the fastest ever achieved in a dual meet, with runner-up Stacey Ann Williams (50.56) and third-place Kennedy Simon (50.68), both of Texas, also under the former dual meet record of 50.91.
Adrian “Tripp” Piperi of Texas started the day off in record watch mode, winning the men’s shot put at 21.53m (70-7¾), merely the second-best ever in a collegiate dual meet. The best of 21.72m (71-3¼) was set in 1984.
After the women’s 400, Julien Alfred of Texas won the women’s 100 in 11.07, which equaled the dual meet record set in 1983 by Merlene Ottey of Nebraska and tied in 2016 by LSU’s Aleia Hobbs.
Next up on the record watch was the women’s high jump, which featured Tyra Gittens of Texas competing for the first time at her former home at A&M’s E.B. Cushing Stadium. Gittens needed a collegiate dual meet record of 1.95m (6-4¾) to defeat the Aggies’ Lamara Distin (1.93m/6-4), who had beaten Gittens in their last three meetings. The previous dual meet best was 1.94m (6-4¼).
In the women’s 200, Laila Owens of Texas A&M edged Rhasidat Adeleke of Texas 22.57 to 22.59 as both dipped below the previous collegiate dual meet record of 22.71.
The final record came in the final event, the men’s 4×400 relay. With Jonathan Jones contributing a blazing 43.48 third leg for Texas, the Longhorns won in 3:02.33 to break the previous dual meet best of 3:02.74 that had stood since 1986.