THE WHITEBOARD in Savannah Sutherland’s room tells the whole story — in big numbers: 52.70. A target time 0.05 faster than Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s Collegiate Record.
With that number in her head, running smoothly and seemingly effortlessly, the Michigan senior from Borden, Saskatchewan, circled the track once more and hurdled 10 times. At age 19 in ’23, Sutherland had won the NCAA title with a then-PR 54.45. She was runner-up last year to USC’s Jasmine Jones, again with a PR, 53.26.
What could she do this time, now 2 years on from her first win and a veteran of the Paris Olympic final (7th in 53.88)?
Sutherland not only broke her own Canadian Record, but also displaced McLaughlin-Levrone as CR-holder with a blinder of a time, 52.46.
“I just had to put my fears aside and run fearlessly,” Sutherland said. “Before the race, I told my coach, ‘This will be the last time I will put on this Wolverine uniform. I want to do everyone proud!’ So I ran my best.”
That she did. She moved out quickly from the start in lane 6. By the middle of the backstretch, everyone else was chasing after silver. Georgia frosh Michelle Smith in lane 5 was closest but the Wolverine kept pushing the pace. By the final curve she was a stagger ahead of Smith as well.
As Sutherland sprinted toward the finish, a battle developed among Vanderbilt junior Alyria McBride (lane 4), Smith (5) and Texas soph Akala Garrett (7).
The trio were nearly even with two hurdles remaining. Then Garrett, the ’22 World Junior gold medalist, turned on the heat to secure a clear hold on 2nd after the final barrier and finish in 54.66. Smith held onto 3rd with 55.20.
Miami soph Sanaa Hebron was 7th on the curve but sprinted furiously after hurdle 10 to move up to 4th in 55.46 and edge Florida State senior Tyra Wilson’s 55.57.
“It felt easy in the moment,” said Sutherland of having knocked down an icon’s record. “I think the hardest part was probably getting over my fear and just having to go run it. I knew I had something in me, so just had to let it go.”
She added, “It means a lot, yeah. I mean, I grew up looking up to [McLaughlin-Levrone], so it’s definitely very special to me. I got to meet her this summer and run against her in the final in Paris, so it was almost a full circle moment for me.”
Of her whiteboard target, Sutherland said, “Every morning I woke up and I looked at it. So I’ve been manifesting it for a while, and usually I do have a personal best in the NCAA final. So I definitely knew I was capable of it.”
WOMEN’S 400 HURDLES RESULTS
FINAL (June 14)
1. Savannah Sutherland’ (Mi-Can) 52.46 CR (old CR 52.75 Sydney McLaughlin [Ky] ’18) (9, x W);
2. **Akala Garrett (Tx) 54.66;
3. ***Michelle Smith’ (Ga-VI) 55.20;
4. **Sanaa Hebron (Mia) 55.46;
5. Tyra Wilson (FlSt) 55.57;
6. *Chloe Fair (Harv) 55.81 PR;
7. **Amelliah Birdow (TCU) 55.84 PR;
8. *Allyria McBride (Vand) 56.20;
9. ***Braelyn Baker (Duke) 56.54.
SEMIS (June 12)
I–1. Sutherland’ 54.13; 2. McBride 56.26; 3. *Safhia Hinds (KsSt) 57.18; 4. Aliya Garozzo (Duke) 57.37; 5. ***Macaela Walker (Cinc) 57.75; 6. Loubna Benhadja’ (UTEP-Alg) 58.41; 7. Dyandra Gray’ (Mn-Jam) 58.86; 8. Calisha Taylor’ (Bay-Jam) 59.70.
II–1. Smith’ 55.65; 2. Birdow 56.44; 3. *Aniya Woodruff (How) 56.44; 4. *Jessicka Woods (MsSt) 56.72; 5. *Natalie Block (Milw) 56.92 PR; 6. Yasmeen Tinsley (Monm) 57.53; 7. LiNay Perry (NnAz) 58.33; 8. **Tia Williams (TCU) 59.17.
III–1. Garrett 55.07; 2. Hebron 55.73; 3. Fair 55.91; 4. Baker 56.35 PR; 5. Wilson 56.39; 6. ***Mackenzie Collins (Tx) 58.07; 7. *Jourdin Edwards (KsSt) 58.16; 8. Jenna James’ (Ok-Can) 58.18.
