WACO, TEXAS, April 17—In a breathtaking display of frontrunning power, Athing Mu crushed the Collegiate and American Junior (U20) Records in the 800 with a world-leading 1:57.73 at the Michael Johnson Invitational.
Texas A&M’s prize frosh led from the start, passing the 200 in 28.0 and the 400 in 59.7. However, she didn’t start to gap the field until she began a strong drive on the backstretch of the final lap. Her third 200 took 29.5 (1:29.2), and then she really sped up, covering the final furlong in 28.5.
By the finish, the 18-year-old yearling had a lead of about 20m over NCAA Indoor champ Aaliyah Miller of Baylor (2:00.87 PR), as Olicia Williams took 3rd (2:01.78 PR).
Mu took down her own CR of 1:58.40, set indoors this winter. The previous fastest outdoor mark belonged to Raevyn Rogers, who ran 1:59.10 for Oregon in ’17. The old AJR was Ajee’ Wilson’s teen best of 1:58.21 from the ’13 Worlds. She also moved to No. 6 world Junior ever (see chart).
Said Mu, “I didn’t really have a goal, I kind of self-consciously thought ‘I may as well just come out here and run a Collegiate Record at 1:59.’ You could say I was thinking 1:59, but I also just wanted to come out here to be competitive and just run my race.
“Going into the race I didn’t know how I was going to run the race. There were other fast runners in the race and I didn’t know if I wanted to go out there, pace it myself and go run a fast time. I just wanted to come out here and see where I’m at, this is my first 800m this season outdoors. I was kind of skeptical of the first 200m. I didn’t know if I should go out or wait for someone else.”
Baylor head Todd Harbour, coach of Miller, couldn’t hide his amazement: “It was an incredible performance — 1:57, that’s probably a stadium record that’ll never be broken. That’s probably one of the fastest times this time of the year probably ever.
Concluded A&M head Pat Henry, “She’s in a league of her own right now.”
JOHNSON INVITATIONAL MEN’S RESULTS
(4/16—1500, HT, JT)
100(1.4): 1. Emmanuel Matadi’ (Lbr) 10.12; 2. Brandon Carnes (adi) 10.19.
800: 1. ***Brandon Miller (TxAM) 1:47.33 PR.
1500: 1. ***Yusuf Bizimana’ (Tx-GB) 3:42.90 PR.
400H: 1. *Moitalel Mpoke’ (TxAM-SA) 50.53.
PV: 1. **Zach Bradford (Ks) 18-8¾ (5.71); 2. Kyle Pater (AFWC) 18-4¾ (5.61); 3. **Branson Ellis (SFA) 17-9 (5.41).
TJ: 1. *Tejaswin Shankar’ (KsSt-Ind) 52-1¼ (15.88) PR.
DT: 1. *Gabriel Oladipo (TxT) 185-11 (56.67).
HT: 1. Gleb Dudarev’ (Ks-Blr) 229-10 (70.06).
JT: 1. **Zion Hill’ (NTx-Bar) 222-9 (67.89); 2. *Cord Neal (SFA) 220-9 (67.29).
JOHNSON WOMEN’S RESULTS
(4/16—HT, JT)
100(1.5): 1. Gabby Thomas (NBal) 11.21; 2. Morolake Akinosun (Nik) 11.23; 3. Tynia Gaither’ (Bah) 11.42.
200(1.9): 1. Thomas 22.92; 2. Jodie Williams’ (GB) 23.23;… 8. Dalilah Muhammad (Nik) 24.00.
800: 1. ***Athing Mu (TxAM) 1:57.73 CR, AJR (old CR 1:58.40i Mu ’21; old AJR 1:58.21 Ajee’ Wilson [adi] ’13) (AL) (10, x A; 6, x WJ) (28.0, 31.7 [59.7], 29.5 [1:29.2], 29.5) (59.7/58.0);
2. *Aaliyah Miller (Bay) 2:00.87 PR; 3. Olicia Williams (unat) 2:01.78 PR; 4. Olivia Baker (GardStTC) 2:02.94.
100H(2.3): 1. *Chanel Brissett (Tx) 12.85w; 2. Summer Thorpe (TxAM) 13.19w; 3. *Vitoria Alves’ (KsSt-Bra) 13.29w.
400H: III–1. ***Dominique Mustin (TxAM) 58.49.
IV–1. Gianna Woodruff’ (Pan) 56.22; 2. Ashley Spencer (Nik) 56.63; 3. Melissa Gonzalez’ (Col) 57.89; 4. Nnenya Hailey (unat) 58.83.
4 x 100: 1. Baylor 44.50.
4 x 400: 1. TBBTC 3:35.61; 2. Kansas 3:37.30.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Rachel McCoy (unat) 5-11¼ (1.81).
PV: 1. **Samantha Van Hoecke (Ks) 13-9¾ (4.21) PR.
TJ: 1. **Chantoba Bright’ (KsSt-Guy) 43-3¼ (13.19) PR; 2. ***Rhianna Phipps’ (KsSt-Jam) 42-4 (12.90); 3. ***Victoria Gorlova’ (Ks-Rus) 42-3¼w (12.88).
SP: 1. Elena Bruckner (Tx) 56-2½ (17.13); 2. *Kayli Johnson (TxT) 53-11 (16.43); 3. **Alexandra Emilianov’ (Ks-Mol) 53-10½ (16.42).
DT: 1. Bruckner 182-5 (55.61); 2. Emilianov’ 177-4 (54.06); 3. *Seasons Usual (TxT) 175-2 (53.39); 4. Ashley Petr (KsSt) 174-11 (53.32); 5. Johnson 173-11 (53.02).
HT: 1. Helene Ingvaldsen’ (KsSt-Nor) 215-7 (65.71); 2. *Shaelyn Ward (KsSt) 202-3 (61.65).
JT: 1. *Rhiley Fritz (Tx) 156-7 (47.74).