Gainesville, Florida, March 29-31—In both sunny and stormy conditions Sydney McLaughlin’s collegiate outdoor debut left fans gaping as she stunned observers at the Florida Relays.
On Thursday—with skies still sunny—the Kentucky yearling lined up for the 200 against fellow hurdlers Kendra Harrison and Kori Carter and delivered a convincing 22.39 victory from lane 6 over Joanna Atkins (22.81), as Harrison nabbed a PR 22.81 in 3rd.
The time made McLaughlin No. 24 all-time among world Juniors all-time, and No. 2 among the American U20 set as she cut her PR from the 22.68 she ran at the NCAA Indoor. Perhaps most significantly, it’s the fastest Junior time in nearly 14 years.
Friday—as the photo shows—brought pounding rain. McLaughlin nonetheless brought her best game to the 400, strongly pulling away from Florida’s Sharrika Barnett and driving home in a PR 50.07, moving to No. 2 all-time collegian behind Courtney Okolo (49.71), as well as No. 2 U.S. Junior ever behind Sanya Richards-Ross (49.89).
Barnett finished in 50.93, slashing her outdoor best by 0.74.
On Saturday the weather relented and the baton events took center stage. A Kentucky foursome led the 4×1 in 43.13 and an all-star team with Tori Bowie on third leg took the 4×2 in 1:28.77.
But the drama came in the 4×4, with Purdue getting out to a 5m lead in the first half despite a strong second leg for Kentucky’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. That’s when McLaughlin took the stick, and after 100 she charged into the lead and soon put Purdue and the rest of the field out of contention.
She had a 10m lead entering the final straight, a lead that become more insurmountable with every stride as she held her form to the end to clock 49.45 as she handed off to Kayelle Clarke. The Wildcats won in 3:26.92, becoming the No. 10 school ever, as Purdue notched a very respectable 3:28.52.
“I felt good,” the 18-year-old McLaughlin said. “I’m just shaking the rust off. There are a lot of technical things I need to fix, but this is just prep for the 400m hurdles. It’s great to be able to come out and set a PR in my first race like that. It’s a good indication of how the rest of the season is going to go.”
In the 4 x 100H, Georgia Tech showed solid form to clock 53.16, becoming the No. 5 school in history. In the 4×8, a HOKA NJ/NYTC team won handily in 8:24.79, with Princeton alum Cecilia Barowski impressing on a 2:00.65 third leg that shows she is ready to go after her PR of 2:00.90 this spring.
In other action, Camacho-Quinn dominated the hurdles with a 12.77 into an 0.8 wind to run away from Raven Clay (13.27).
On the field, Yanis David of Florida led the triple jump with her second-round 44-6¼ (13.57), but on the final round, Iowa State’s Jhoanmy Luque recovered from a rough series that included four fouls and popped an outdoor PR 44-9½ (13.65) to take the win.
Holloway Lights Up The Men’s Side
Strong performances by Grant Holloway and other Florida Gators produced some of the best moments in the men’s events.
On Friday the super-soph crushed the hurdles in 13.45, the fourth-best time of his career, putting him well ahead of the 13.70 of Florida State yearling Trey Cunningham.
No jumping made it onto Holloway’s dance card this time out, but he produced a 44.6 second leg on the Gators’ world-leading 3:01.00 winner.
The most inspired stickwork in the race belonged to Tennessee senior Nathan Strother, no stranger to running quickly from far back, who blistered a 43.95 leg on the Vols’ 6th-place squad. The day before Strother had won the rainy 400 in 45.46.
Gator frosh Cory Poole took the collegiate lead in the 400H at 50.35. Olympic/World hurdle champ Omar McLeod jumped into both sprints, finishing 2nd in the 200 in a PR 20.49 to Bahamian Steven Gardiner’s lifetime best 20.20 before winning the next day’s 100 in 10.32.
Another world champ, Justin Gatlin, led off the U.S.A. Red 4×1, though the team was edged by the Dominican Republic, 38.89-38.96.
On the field, Samford senior Tray Oates vaulted a PR 18-6¾ (5.66) to win by over a foot as Matthew Campbell of Albany State took the high jump at 7-5.
The throws saw Florida State’s Austin Droogsma win the shot at 66-8 (20.32), Marek Bárta of Virginia Tech the discus at 200-6 (61.13) and Mississippi State’s Anderson Peters dominate the javelin with his best of 267-7 (81.57).
COLLEGE INVITATIONAL MEN’S RESULTS
Gainesville, Florida; March 29-31—
(3/29—400; 3/30—200, HJ, LJ, HT)
200: I(0.9)–1. Ncincilili Titi’ (SC) 20.36; 2. ***Terrance Laird (PennSt) 20.41 PR; 3. Riak Reese (Kent) 20.43 =PR; 4. *Mustaqeem Williams (Tn) 20.50 PR; 5. Malik Moffett (PennSt) 20.66. II(0.7)–1. *Rodney Rowe (NCAT) 20.58 PR.
400: 1. Alonzo Russell’ (Bah) 45.44; 2. Christian Taylor (unat) 45.48; 3. TJ Holmes (Nik) 46.45; 4. Bershawn Jackson (Nik) 46.50.
400H: I–1. Jeffery Gibson’ (Bah) 49.21; 2. Annsert Whyte’ (Jam) 49.48; 3. Javier Culson’ (PR) 49.91; 4. Jordin Andrade’ (CPV) 50.38.
II–1. Shawn Rowe’ (Jam) 49.17; 2. Kalmon Stokes (unat) 50.35; 3. Romel Lewis’ (Jam) 50.51.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Matthew Campbell’ (Alb) 7-5 (2.26) PR; 2. **Clayton Brown’ (Fl) 7-3¾ (2.23) PR; 3. *Samuel Shoultz (Md) 7-3¾ PR; 4. Jalen Ford (IaSt) 7-1 (2.16) PR; 5. *Jhonny Victor (Fl) 7-1 PR; 6. ***Rahman Minor (Pur) 7-1 PR.
LJ: 1. KeAndre Bates (Fl) 25-2¾ (7.69); 2. Corion Knight (FlSt) 25-¾ (7.64).
HT: 1. Diego Del Real’ (Mex) 247-1 (75.33); 2. *Anders Eriksson’ (Fl) 240-6 (73.31) PR; 3. ***Thomas Mardal’ (Fl) 235-10 (71.88) PR; 4. Rudy Winkler (Rut) 235-5 (71.76); 5. ***Kevin Arreaga’ (Mia) 227-5 (69.33); 6. *Morgan Shigo (PennSt) 222-2 (67.72); 7. *AJ McFarland (Fl) 219-4 (66.87); 8. *Stevan Veselinović’ (Char) 218-0 (66.44).
COLLEGE OPEN MEN’S RESULTS
(3/29—200, JT; 3/30—100, 400, 800, 1500, St, 110H, 400H, LJ)
100(0.2): 1. Omar McLeod’ (Jam) 10.32.
200(2.0): 1. Steven Gardiner’ (Bah) 20.20 PR; 2. McLeod’ 20.49 PR; 3. Yancarlos Martinez’ (DR) 20.50; 4. Teray Smith’ (Bah) 20.50. II(2.2)–1. *Mobolade Ajomale (AArt) 20.82w. III(2.3)–1. ***Dwight St. Hillaire’ (Ky) 20.61w. IV(1.6)–1. *Kwantreyl McConico (Tn) 20.56 PR. V(3.6)–1. ***Jelani Walker (Ky) 20.73w.
400: I–1. Nathan Strother (Tn) 45.46; 2. St. Hillaire’ 45.62; 3. *Kunle Fasasi’ (Fl) 45.83. II–1. ***Chantz Sawyers’ (Fl) 45.88 PR; 2. ***Benjamin Vedel’ (Fl) 46.20.
800: I–1. *Avery Bartlett (GaT) 1:47.76; 2. *Isaiah Harris (PennSt) 1:47.90; 3. *Dejon Devroe (MsSt) 1:47.97 PR; 4. Edward Kemboi’ (Ken) 1:48.14; 5. Dage Minors’ (FP) 1:48.99 PR. II–1. Shaquille Dill’ (StA) 1:48.70; 2. Brandon Lasater (AtlTC) 1:48.94.
1500: 1. Ford Palmer (HokaNJNY) 3:42.66; 2. **Ben Young (Ky) 3:42.75 PR; 3. Rob Napolitano (unat) 3:43.37; 4. *Jack Guyton (Fl) 3:43.57 PR; 5. Andreas Arroyo’ (PR) 3:43.60.
St: 1. Mark Parrish (unat) 8:55.37.
110H(0.7): 1. **Grant Holloway (Fl) 13.45; 2. ***Trey Cunningham (FlSt) 13.70; 3. Freddie Crittenden (unat) 13.72; 4. Nicholas Anderson (unat) 13.80.
400H: 1. ***Cory Poole (Fl) 50.35; 2. **Jaelen Williams (Hamp) 50.73.
Relay Events
4 x 100: I–1. Dominican Republic 38.89 (Valdez’, Andujar’, De Oleo’, Martinez’); 2. USA Red 38.96 (Gatlin, Spearmon, Mitchell, Atkins); 3. USA White 38.96 (Young, Walker, Friday, Belcher); 4. Holland 39.17.
II–1. North Carolina A&T 39.15; 2. Florida 39.15; 3. Penn State 39.69; 4. Tennessee 39.98. III–1. Coppin State 39.73.
4 x 200: 1. PURE Athletics 1:20.79 (Edward’, N. Lyles, J. Lyles, Harvey’); 2. USA White 1:21.10 (Young, Walker, Friday, Belcher); 3. USA Blue 1:21.46 (Gatlin, Spearmon, L. Merritt, Berry). II–1. Florida 1:21.63 (Fasasi’, Vedel’, Timpson, Clark).
4 x 400: I–1. PURE Athletics 3:03.00 (Verburg, N. Lyles, McQuay 45.57, J. Lyles 45.05); 2. USA Blue 3:03.44 (Clement, Holmes, Futch 44.77, Glass 44.84); 3. USA White 3:03.69 (Berry, Merritt, Smith 45.80, Hutchinson 45.26); 4. USA Red 3:04.80 (Clemons, Robinson, Mitchell 46.28, Spearmon 46.10);
II–1. Florida 3:01.00 (WL) (Fasasi’ 46.4, Holloway 44.6, Sawyers’ 45.29, Vedel’ 44.74);
2. Iowa 3:04.38 (Frye 46.30, Harris 44.70); 3. Mississippi State 3:07.01; 4. Western Kentucky 3:07.10; 5. Iowa State 3:10.30; 6. Tennessee 3:11.12 (Strother 43.95).
4 x 800: 1. HOKA NJ/NYTC 7:18.29 (Garn 1:50.67, Mcasey 1:49.33, Palmer 1:49.59, Giesting 12:48.70); 2. Indiana 7:20.23; 3. Florida 7:22.41; 4. Mississippi State 7:22.43; 5. Georgia Tech 7:28.84.
SpMed: I–1. Mississippi State 3:18.57; 2. Hampton 3:21.49. II–1. South Carolina 3:22.29.
4 x 110H: I–1. Mississippi State 57.16. II–1. North Carolina A&T 57.47.
Field Events
HJ: 1. **Reggie Miller (MsSt) 6-11 (2.11) PR.
PV: 1. Tray Oates (Samf) 18-6¾ (5.66) PR; 2. **Sean Clarke (Penn) 17-5½ (5.32).
LJ: 1. Lloyd Hylton (Morg) 25-1¼ (7.65) PR; 2. *Travis Riley (Ky) 25-½ (7.63).
TJ: 1. Bates 52-11½ (16.14); 2. *Armani Wallace (FlSt) 52-8¾ (16.07); 3. *Eric Bethea (In) 51-8½ (15.76); 4. John Lemke (McN) 51-7¼w (15.73); 5. Montel Nevers’ (FlSt) 51-1 (15.57).
SP: 1. Austin Droogsma (FlSt) 66-8 (20.32) PR; 2. Josh Awotunde (SC) 64-10¾ (19.78); 3. ***Connor Bandel (Fl) 61-5¾ (18.74); 4. Gian Ragonesi’ (Mia) 61-3 (18.67).
DT: 1. Marek Bárta’ (VaT) 200-6 (61.13); 2. *Reno Tuufuli (Ia) 193-8 (59.03); 3. *Greg Thompson’ (Md) 190-3 (57.99); 4. *Noah Castle (Ky) 190-1 (57.95) PR; 5. Jared Thomas (unat) 187-6 (57.17); 6. *David Lucas (PennSt) 185-4 (56.51); 7. Ragonesi’ 183-9 (56.02).
HT: 1. **Aléxios Prodanás’ (UMBC) 212-5 (64.76); 2. *Michael Alvernaz (Troy) 207-0 (63.09) PR.
JT: 1. *Anderson Peters’ (MsSt) 267-7 (81.57); 2. Nicolas Quijera’ (MsSt) 248-7 (75.78); 3. Capers Williamson (unat) 229-10 (70.06).
COLLEGE INVITATIONAL WOMEN’S RESULTS
(3/29—400, 400H; 3/30—200, HJ, LJ, DT, HT)
200: I(0.5)–1. ***Ka’Tia Seymour (FlSt) 22.96; 2. Shania Collins (Tn) 23.08; 3. ***Alfreda Steele (Mia) 23.22 PR; 4. *Shauna Helps’ (FlSt) 23.31. II(0.6)–1. *Maia McCoy (Tn) 23.30 PR.
400: 1. Robin Reynolds (unat) 52.38; 2. Kyra Jefferson (Nik) 53.58.
400H: 1. Grace Claxton’ (PR) 56.30; 2. Noelle Montcalm’ (Can) 57.24; 3. Kiah Seymour (unat) 58.25; 4. **Faith Ross (Ky) 58.86.
4 x 400: 1. USA Red 3:27.07 (Jefferson, Beard, Wimbley 50.75, Seymour 52.20); 2. USA White 3:30.23 (Reynolds, Atkins, Muscaro 52.49, Dismuke 52.21); 3. Holland 3:33.40.
Field Events:
HJ: 1. *Clarissa Cutliff (FlInt) 5-11¼ (1.81).
LJ: 1. Darrielle McQueen (Fl) 20-11¾ (6.39); 2. Jhoanmy Luque’ (IaSt) 20-5 (6.22).
SP: 1. Lloydricia Cameron (Fl) 55-10¼ (17.02); 2. Gleneve Grange’ (FlSt) 54-3¼ (16.54); 3. **Divine Oladipo’ (Ct) 51-9 (15.77).
DT: 1. **Shanice Love’ (FlSt) 188-3 (57.39) PR; 2. **Laulauga Tausaga (Ia) 188-1 (57.33); 3. Ieva Zarankaitė’ (FlSt) 175-10 (53.59); 4. Claudia Ababio (Md) 175-5 (53.47); 5. Cameron 173-2 (52.78); 6. Micaela Hazlewood (Pur) 170-7 (52.01); 7. Chioma Onyekwere’ (Ngr) 167-11 (51.19).
HT: 1. **Emma Thor’ (VaT) 206-3 (62.86); 2. *Pavla Kuklova’ (VaT) 205-0 (62.49); 3. Michaela Preachuk (SAl) 201-9 (61.50) PR.
COLLEGE OPEN WOMEN’S RESULTS
(3/29—200; 3/30—100, 400, 800, 100H, 400H, HT)
100(1.1): 1. Javianne Oliver (Nik) 11.39; 2. Kerron Stewart’ (Jam) 11.41.
200: I(1.5)–1. ***Sydney McLaughlin (Ky) 22.39 PR (WJL, AJL) (4, =9 WJ; 2, =5 AJ);
2. Joanna Atkins (LSpeed) 22.81; 3. Kendra Harrison (adi) 22.81 PR; 4. *Kianna Gray (Ky) 22.96; 5. Kori Carter (Nik) 23.23. II(3.0)–1. *Jasmine Camacho-Quinn’ (Ky) 22.59w; 2. Kayelle Clarke’ (Ky) 22.91w; 3. Oliver 23.13w. III(2.3)–1. ***Celera Barnes (Ky) 23.30w.
400: I–1. McLaughlin 50.07 PR (WL, AL, CL, WJL, AJL) (2, 3 C; 5, 11 WJ; 2, 2 AJ);
2. *Sharrika Barnett (Fl) 50.93 PR; 3. Brionna Thomas (Pur) 51.72 PR; 4. Akua Obeng-Akrofi’ (Col) 52.75; 5. **Aliyah Abrams’ (SC) 52.91; 6. **Chloe Abbott (Pur) 53.08. II–1. ***Taylor Manson (Fl) 52.43; 2. Jahneya Mitchell (Pur) 52.68; 3. **Wadeline Jonathas (MaB) 53.18.
800: I–1. Cecilia Barowski (HokaNJNY) 2:04.38; 2. Deborah Rodriguez’ (Uru) 2:04.45; 3. Michelle Howell (Jack) 2:04.61 PR; 4. *Susan Aneno’ (Ct) 2:04.79; 5. Marta Freitas’ (Por) 2:05.01; 6. Síofra Cléirigh-Büttner’ (Vill) 2:05.13; 7. Rosie Chamberlain’ (UCF) 2:05.46; 8. Cory McGee (NBal) 2:06.47.
II–1. ***Kayla Johnson (Mia) 2:03.92 PR (WJL, AJL);
2. Kendell Wiles (In) 2:05.44 PR; 3. *Kristen Metcalfe (EmR) 2:05.76 PR; 4. **McKenna Keegan (Vill) 2:06.20 PR; 5. Danielle Aragon (HokaNJNY) 2:06.21; 6. Kelsey Margey (Vill) 2:06.46; 7. **Reagan Bustamante (Vand) 2:06.50 PR; 8. Ericka Charles (Nik) 2:07.18.
1500: 1. Ce’aira Brown (HokaNJNY) 4:09.44 PR; 2. Rhianwedd Price-Weimer’ (MsSt) 4:10.31; 3. **Danae Rivers (PennSt) 4:10.82 PR; 4. Angela Piccirillo (Juv) 4:15.94; 5. **Elisabeth Bergh’ (Fl) 4:19.71 PR; 6. **Kaley Ciluffo (Vill) 4:19.79 PR.
St: 1. Katy Kunc (Ky) 10:17.40; 2. *Haley Harris (In) 10:24.81 PR.
100H: I(-0.8)–1. Camacho-Quinn’ 12.77; 2. Raven Clay (unat) 13.27; 3. *Kayla White (NCAT) 13.30; 4. Ebony Morrison (TruF) 13.32. II(-0.3)–1. *Jeanine Williams’ (GaT) 13.15.
400H: I–1. **Shannon Kalawan’ (StA) 56.99; 2. Symone Black (Pur) 57.03. II–1. *Samantha Gonzalez (Mia) 58.49 PR.
Relay Events
4 x 100: I–1. USA Red 43.76 (Bryant, Hill, Conley, Whitney); 2. USA White 43.79 (Carter, Pierre, Manning, Townsend). II–1. Kentucky 43.13 (Barnes, Camacho-Quinn’, Clarke’, Gray); 2. Miami 43.76 (Knott, Steele, Mason, McMinn); 3. Tennessee 43.96 (Collins, Cantrell, Dyer, Majors);
4. Iowa 44.44; 5. North Carolina A&T 44.65; 6. Purdue 44.76.
4 x 200: 1. PURE Athletics 1:28.77 (=3 W) (Baptiste’, Wimbley, Bowie, Henry-Robinson’)
2. USA Blue 1:32.90 (Bryant, Whitney, Carter, Manning).
II–1. Purdue 1:32.38 (#9 school) (Abbott, Bracey, Roberson, Thomas).
III–1. Iowa 1:35.11. IV–1. Nebraska 1:34.07.
4 x 400: I–1. Mississippi State 3:35.71; 2. North Carolina A&T 3:36.91; 3. Penn 3:37.17; 4. Nebraska 3:37.20; 5. Tennessee Tech 3:38.03; 6. Jacksonville 3:39.07.
II–1. Kentucky 3:26.92 (#10 school) (Ross, Camacho-Quinn’, McLaughlin 49.45, Clarke’ 52.72);
2. Purdue 3:28.52 (Abbott, Thomas, Black, Mitchell 51.22); 3. Florida 3:31.95 (Barnett 50.61); 4. Miami 3:33.19; 5. Tennessee 3:34.13.
4 x 800: 1. HOKA NJ/NYTC 8:24.79 (Wilson 2:09.56, Aragon 4:07.49, Barowski 2:00.65, Brown 2:07.09); 2. Indiana 8:38.26; 3. Connecticut 8:45.52; 4. UCF 8:49.87; 5. Vanderbilt 8:51.03; 6. North Carolina A&T 8:59.80.
SpMed: 1. Indiana 3:49.09 (Grabowski, Williams, Price, Harris); 2. Purdue 3:51.96; 3. Hampton 3:52.54.
DisMed: 1. HOKA NJNYTC 11:14.13 (Wilson, Aragon, Barowski, Brown); 2. Florida 11:27.35.
4 x 100H: I–1. Georgia Tech 53.16 (9 C; #5 school) (Williams’, Collins, Stewart, Bauman); 2. Purdue 54.85; 3. Mississippi State 56.01. II–1. South Carolina 54.99; 2. Florida 56.44. III–1. Albany 56.68; 2. Boston U 56.89. V–1. Troy 56.87; 2. Bethune-Cookman 57.12.
Field Events
HJ: 1. **Jūlija Tarvide’ (Kenn) 5-8¾ (1.75).
PV: 1. Diamara Planell’ (PR) 13-11¼ (4.25).
TJ: 1. Luque’ 44-9½ (13.65) out PR; 2. *Yanis David’ (Fl) 44-6¼ (13.57); 3. *Hanifah Abdulqadir’ (SC) 42-11¾ (13.10) PR; 4. Jahisha Thomas’ (Ia) 42-9½ (13.04); 5. *Latavia Coombs’ (Ky) 42-4¾ (12.92); 6. *Anisa Toppin (NCAT) 42-1¼ (12.83) PR.
HT: 1. *Gabby Durant (UCF) 195-11 (59.73) PR.
JT: 1. Avione Allgood (Fl) 173-1 (52.77); 2. ***Laura Paredes’ (FlSt) 171-10 (52.38); 3. ***Kelechi Nwanaga (MdBC) 169-5 (51.64); 4. *Megan Reed (Fl) 156-5 (47.69).
