GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, April 15-16 — A barn-burner of a final event brought the Tom Jones Memorial to a close on a high note for the hosts, even though they lost the climactic 4×4. The win went to an adidas foursome in a world-leading 2:57.72. But the Gators got the headlines for their Collegiate Record 2:58.53 in chasing the pros home. The old mark, 2:59.00, was set by a USC team that included Olympians-to-be Raj Benjamin and Michael Norman at the ’18 NCAA.
Junior Jacory Patterson got Florida off to a quick start, his 44.4 almost matching the blistering 44.2 pace set by Bahamian world champ Steven Gardiner.
Soph Ryan Willie was next up and was able to claw back a 10th from Quincy Hall (44.6) with a 44.5 split.
Jacob Miley, also a soph, kept it close for 200m on the third leg, but teen sensation Erriyon Knighton pulled away with a 45.1 as Miley posted a 46.0.
On the anchor, junior Champion Allison, in his first race since the NCAA indoor, was some 10m down to former Gator Grant Holloway. Holloway ran a smooth 43.8 but actually lost ground at the end as Allison produced a brilliant 43.6.
One who wasn’t surprised by the record was Gator head Mike Holloway, who said, “I kinda knew they were going to do it. I was only debating whether to have them run against the pro team. I felt that they were ready to do that.”
Holloway dismissed the notion that the record came from any surprising effort from any of the team members. All of them performed as expected, he said. “In fact. I think they can still run faster.”
Knighton (10.04) and Grant Holloway (10.21) each won sections of the invitational 100 in PR time, Knighton’s mark making him the =No. 8 Junior ever. Fastest up the straightaway, though, was Georgia’s Matthew Boling, whose PR 9.98 took the yearly U.S. and collegiate leads.
The 800 was a doozy. Texas A&M’s Brandon Miller set a torrid pace hitting the 200 in 24.5, 400 in 50.74 and 600 in 1:17. However, Texas Tech’s Moab Zahafi shadowed him the entire way before surging past on the final curve and dashing away with a superb 1:43.69 for the third fastest time in collegiate history. Zahafi, a 23-year-old Moroccan senior, shed 1.09 off his PR.
“I wasn’t expecting that time,” he said. “My goal was to run 45 or 46 because I had run 1:46.02 in Austin. Thanks to Brandon Miller who pushed the race harder and harder. In the last 150 I did my work. I felt good and I feel in shape.”
JONES MEMORIAL MEN’S RESULTS
100(1.6): 1. **Matthew Boling (Ga) 9.98 PR (AL, CL);
2. **Terrence Jones’ (TxT-Bah) 10.09 PR; 3. Dedrick Vanover (Fl) 10.11 PR; 4. *Courtney Lindsey (TxT) 10.15 =PR; 5. **Javonte Harding (NCAT) 10.19.
II(0.9)–1. ***Godson Oghenebrume’ (LSU-Ngr) 10.12 PR; 2. **Joe Fahnbulleh’ (Fl-Lbr) 10.15 PR; 3. *Don’dre Swint (FlSt) 10.17. III(1.5)–1. *Jacory Patterson (Fl) 10.11 PR; 2. **Tyler Davis (Fl) 10.17 PR. V(1.7)–1. *JoVaughn Martin (FlSt) 10.15.
Inv100: I(-0.1)–1. Erriyon Knighton (adi) 10.04 PR (=8, =10 WJ; =5, =7 AJ);
2. Noah Lyles (adi) 10.05; 3. Nathaneel Mitchell-Blake’ (GB) 10.19; 4. Christopher Belcher (Astra) 10.20; 5. Kendal Williams (adiPure) 10.25; 6. Xie Zhenye’ (Chn) 10.27. II(0.0)–1. Grant Holloway (adi) 10.21 PR; 2. Devin Quinn (Nik) 10.27.
200: I(0.9)–1. Harding 20.34; 2. Daniel Stokes (NCAT) 20.37 PR; 3. ***Tarsis Orogot’ (Al-Uga) 20.39; 4. **Cameron Rose (Clem) 20.50 PR. II(0.8)–1. Tinotenda Matiyenga’ (TCU-Zim) 20.58 PR.
Inv 200: I(1.5)–1. Jereem Richards’ (Tri) 20.12; 2. Trevor Stewart (Puma) 20.45. II(0.9)–1. Charlie Dobson (GB) 20.19 PR; 2. Samson Colebrooke’ (Bah) 20.56.
400: I–1. *Randolph Ross (NCAT) 45.15; 2. **Ryan Willie (Fl) 45.16; 3. *Elija Godwin (Ga) 45.47; 4. ***Emmanuel Bamidele’ (TxAM-Ngr) 45.53; 5. **Chevannie Hanson’ (TxAM-Jam) 45.72 PR; 6. **Khaleb McRae (Al) 45.85; 7. *DaeQwan Butler (FlSt) 45.94.
Inv 400: 1. Matthew Hudson-Smith’ (GB) 44.82; 2. Alonzo Russell’ (Bah) 45.65; 3. Asa Guevara’ (Tri) 46.09; 4. Machel Cedenio’ (Tri) 46.20.
800: I–1. Moad Zahafi’ (TxT-Mor) 1:43.69 PR (WL, CL) (3, 3 C);
2. John Rivera’ (Ms-PR) 1:46.42 PR; 3. **Brandon Miller (TxAM) 1:47.20; 4. *Baylor Franklin (Ms) 1:47.41 PR; 5. **Marco Vilca’ (TxT-Per) 1:47.48 PR; 6. *Aman Thornton (Clem) 1:48.21 PR.
II–1. Rajay Hamilton’ (Jam) 1:46.30 PR;
2. *Navasky Anderson (MsSt) 1:46.51 PR (out AmCL).
1500: Paul Kraemer’ (Fra) 3:43.85 PR.
110H(0.6): 1. Trey Cunningham (FlSt) 13.38; 2. Eric Edwards (LSU) 13.50; 3. *Devon Brooks (Clem) 13.62;
4. *Giano Roberts (Clem) 13.67; 5. Lafranz Campbell’ (Clem-Jam) 13.75; 6. *Cameron Murray (NCSt) 13.90.
Heats: I(0.4)–1. Cunningham 13.22 (WL, AL, CL) (=10, x C; =8, x AmC).
II(2.2)–1. Eric Edwards (LSU) 13.54w; 2. Rasheem Brown’ (NCAT-Cay) 13.62w.
Inv 110H(-1.2): 1. Nicholas Anderson (TruFA) 13.59; 2. Wellington Zaza’ (Lbr) 13.62; 3. Wilhem Belocian’ (Fra) 13.81.
400H: 1. Quincy Hall (adi) 48.55 (WL, AL);
2. Moitalel Mpoke’ (TxAM-Ken) 49.41; 3. Alastair Chalmers’ (GB) 49.72.
4 x 100: I–1. adidas 38.09 (WL, AL) (Quinn, Baker, Holloway, Knighton);
2. Tumbleweed TC 38.46 (Bracy, De Grasse’, Zhenye’, Bromell).
II–1. North Carolina A&T 38.61 (Wright, Ross, Stokes, Harding); 2. Florida 38.70; 3. Florida State 38.88;4. Texas Tech 38.90; 5. TCU 39.10; 6. LSU 39.39; 7. Texas A&M 39.45.
III–1. Clemson 39.35.
4 x 400: 1. adidas 2:57.72 (Gardiner’ 44.2, Hall 44.6, Knighton 45.1, Holloway 43.8);
2. Florida 2:58.53 CR (old CR 2:59.00 USC ’18; old AmCR 2:59.05 Texas A&M ’19) (AL) (Patterson 44.4, Willie 44.5, Miley 46.0, Allison 43.6);
3. Georgia 3:02.10; 4. TCU 3:02.26; 5. Texas A&M 3:02.37. II–1. Tumbleweed TC 3:02.13; 2. Alabama 3:03.60; 3. Mississippi State 3:04.70; 4. Florida State 3:04.74.
Field Events
HJ: 1. *Romaine Beckford’ (SFl-Jam) 7-3 (2.21) PR; 2. Darius Carbin (Ga) 7-3.
LJ: 1. Isaac Grimes (FlSt) 26-0w (7.92) (25-10/7.87); 2. **Jeremiah Davis (FlSt) 26-0 (7.92) PR; 3. Brandon Hicklin (NCAT) 25-7½ (7.81); 4. Damarcus Simpson (WEx) 25-7½ (7.81); 5. ***Malcolm Clemons (Fl) 25-4½ (7.73) PR; 6. **Caleb Foster (Fl) 25-3¼ (7.70) =PR;… 11. Boling 24-5¾ (7.46); 15. Christian Taylor (Nik) 21-9½ (6.64).
TJ: 1. Donald Scott (adi) 54-5½ (16.60); 2. **Jeremiah Davis (FlSt) 52-6 (16.00) PR; 3. *Christian Edwards (Al) 52-5½ (15.99); 4. **Sean Dixon-Bodie (LSU) 51-6½ (15.71).
SP: 1. **John Meyer (LSU) 67-3¼ (20.50) PR.
DT: 1. *Roje Stona’ (Clem-Jam) 213-2 (64.98) PR; 2. **Alan de Falchi’ (Al-Bra) 198-8 (60.57); 3. Edward Shelikoff (Fl) 188-5 (57.43) PR; 4. Gabriel Oladipo (TxT) 188-1 (57.33).
HT: 1. *Alencar Pereira’ (Ga-Bra) 229-11 (70.09); 2. Kieran McKeag (Al) 222-11 (67.94); 3. *James Joycey’ (NC-Aus) 219-10 (67.00).
JT: 1. **DJ Jonsson’ (MsSt-Ice) 248-0 (75.61); 2. Mark Porter (Fl) 234-8 (71.52); 3. *Ahmed Magour’ (Ga-Qat) 234-8 (71.52); 4. *Tyriq Horsford’ (MsSt-Tri) 228-11 (69.79). ◻︎