The men’s 4×4 brought down the house at Clemson’s Tiger Paw Invitational, with a screaming finish that put both USC and Florida under the old Collegiate Record.
The Gators led at the first exchange, with Kunle Fasasi’s 46.08 clear of Zach Shinnick’s 46.28.
Second leg Grant Holloway (45.12) hoped to put the race away, but was run down by USC’s Rai Benjamin (44.63).
The third leg didn’t change much, as Ricky Morgan (45.72) stayed ahead of Chantz Sawyers (45.67).
On anchor, the Trojans ran Michael Norman (see sidebar), whose 45.35 clinched the win over Florida newcomer Benjamin Lobo Vedel (45.36).
Texas A&M closed hard with Mylik Kerley’s 44.87 to produce the No. 6 collegiate time ever, 3:02.95.
That wasn’t nearly enough to match USC’s 3:01.98, or Florida’s 3:02.23.
“The relay is always fun,” said Norman. “The energy that was created in the arena made it so competitive.”
“We recruited these guys to take our program to the top,” said Trojan coach Caryl Smith Gilbert. “Of course, you don’t know, but you hope. They were training in that direction, let’s say that.”
Gator head Mike Holloway said, “We knew it was going to be a great race. Hats off to them. They did a phenomenal job. Now we know what we’ve got to get ready for in a month.”
The USC time, better than the accepted World Record, might be submitted for IAAF consideration. The hitch is that Benjamin, a U.S. citizen who has represented sented Antigua, has been in the process since last year of switching his competitive nationality to the U.S.
The 4×4 wasn’t the only record to fall in what has become an exciting venue this winter as Grant Holloway clobbered the collegiate best in the hurdles with his 7.42, bettering Omar McLeod’s 7.45 from ’15.
“I didn’t like my start,” recounted Holloway, who in the process beat Olympic champ McLeod by a full 10th, “but it was enough to do what I had to do. By hurdle five I didn’t feel nothing on me. I ran through the line, hit the cushion.
“All I heard was ‘Collegiate Record.’ All the emotion came on.”
In the women’s hurdles, Kendra Harrison clipped off a 7.72 run to tie the 8-year-old American Record of Lolo Jones and move to =No. 3 on the all-time world list, just 0.04 off the WR.
The outdoor WR holder knew it was good early, explaining, “My touchdowns between hurdles one and two were my fastest touchdowns ever. Usually, it takes me until hurdle 3 to get my speed up.”
She is hoping the momentum carries her through the USATF meet and to Birmingham for the Worlds. “My goal is to win,” she said.
The 200m banked oval produced other amazing times. Norman ran his first indoor 400 ever and made it count, hitting 45.00 to move to No. 7 on the all-time list (plus No. 5 ever on the U.S. and collegiate compilations).
In the next section, Auburn’s Akeem Bloomfield blitzed a 45.02 to move to =8.
Said Norman, “There’s a little bit of a wish that I had raced Bloomfield, but there will be a time and place for that.”
USC came out on top of the women’s relay battle as well, clocking a 3:27.56 for the No. 5 collegiate clocking ever.
| — Tiger Paw Invitational — |
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Clemson, South Carolina, February 9-10 (200m banked)— 60: 1. *Kendal Williams (Ga) 6.61. 200: 1. Omar McLeod’ (Jam) 20.76. 400: I–1. **Michael Norman (USC) 45.00 (AL, CL) (7, 9 W; 5, 7 A; 5, 5 C; 4, 4 AmC). II–1. **Akeem Bloomfield’ (Aub) 45.02 (=8, =10 W; 6, =6 C). 800: 1. **Devin Dixon (TxAM) 1:47.37 (AmCL). Mile: 1. Alex Riba (TxAM) 3:59.12 (U.S. sub-4:00 #506); 2. **Benjamin Young (Ky) 3:59.59 (U.S. sub-4:00 #507). 60H: 1. **Grant Holloway (Fl) 7.42 CR, (old CR 7.45 Omar McLeod’ [Ar] ’15) (WL, AL) (11, x A); 2. McLeod’ 7.52. 4 x 400: I–1. USC 3:01.98 CR (old CR 3:02.52 Texas A&M ’17) (perhaps acceptble as a WR?) (WL) (2 W) (Shinnick 46.28, Benjamin’ 44.63, Morgan 45.72, Norman 45.35); 2. Florida 3:02.23 (4 W; 2 C; #2 school) (Fasasi’ 46.08, Holloway 45.12, Sawyers 45.67, Vedel’ 45.36); 3. Texas A&M 3:02.95 (AL) (7 A; 6 C) (Grant 46.40, Izu 45.54, Dixon 46.14, Kerley 44.87). HJ: 1. Randall Cunningham (USC) 7-5 (2.26). PV: 1. *Jacob Wooten (TxAM) 18-4½ (5.60). LJ: 1. KeAndre Bates (Fl) 24-10½ (7.58). TJ: 1. Eric Sloan (USC) 53-3 (16.23). SP: 1. *Denzel Comenentia’ (Ga) 67-¾ (20.44). Wt: 1. Josh Davis (NCSt) 74-8½ (22.77). Women: 800: 1. ***Sammy Watson (TxAM) 2:03.42. 60H: 1. Kendra Harrison (adi) 7.72 =AR (=AR Lolo Jones [Asics] ’10) (WL) (=3, =4 W). 4 x 400: I–1. USC 3:27.56 (WL, CL) (5 C) (Constantine’ 52.96, Cockrell 52.26, Hill 52.23, Ellis 50.11). HJ: 1. Jeannelle Scheper’ (StL) 6-2 (1.88). PV: 1. Lakan Taylor (unat) 14-3¼ (4.35). LJ: 1. *Kate Hall (Ga) 21-8¾ (6.62). TJ: 1. Thea LaFond’ (Dom) 45-6¼ (13.87). SP: 1. Lloydricia Cameron (Fl) 57-3½ (17.46). Wt: 1. *Stamatia Scarvelis’ (Tn) 69-11¾ (21.33). |
