WHEN THE FAVORITE, Jelani Watkins of Arkansas, eased up in his heat and missed making the final, that may have opened a door. Then again, LSU’s Jaiden Reid proved he was ready to bust through that door anyway.
The 21-year-old Caymanian, raised in Jamaica, had run a near-PR 20.05 to lead the semis 2 days before, and showed his sharpness in taking 2nd in the 100 at 9.82w just 45 minutes earlier.
Starting in lane 6, Reid shot out like a rocket, making up the stagger on Auburn’s Israel Okon well before they hit the straight. At halfway, he had a long stride on the field, with Tennessee’s T’Mars McCallum and Okon fighting for the second spot.
As Reid powered toward the finish, Okon lost ground and McCallum succumbed to the charge of Mustapha Bokpin of Middle Tennessee. Indiana’s Trelee Banks, in high gear in lane 9, threatened all but Reid, who was long gone.
The LSU junior, only 5th in the SEC meet, crossed in a world-leading 19.63, the fastest collegiate race ever. The wind: a legal 1.5mps. In his first trip under 20 he sliced 0.06 from Walter Dix’s CR of 19.69, set 19 years ago. He also took a tenth off the meet record that Texas Tech’s Divine Oduduru set in ’19.
Okon held on for 2nd in 19.99, with Banks hitting a PR 20.02 in 3rd and Bokpin a PR 20.04 ahead of McCallum’s 20.09.
Smashing the record? Not what he was thinking, confessed Reid. “To be honest with you, the plan, was just to execute, because I know once I executed, it was going to be a good day, and I really just told myself, ‘Just do what I did to get here,’ that’s what Coach [Dennis] Shaver always says, whatever you did to get here is always going to show in the finals. So I was really expecting a 19.9 or like a 20.01 like I did at regionals.”
Reid, who called himself “lucky,” added, “My coach told me, ‘This would be the first time an LSU guy will be winning the 200,’ so I just wanted to go out there and do it for him… It’s a surreal feeling knowing that I’m one of the greats coming from a small country like the Cayman Islands.”
MEN’S 200 RESULTS
FINAL (June 12; wind +1.5)
1. *Jaiden Reid’ (LSU-Cay) 19.63 NR, CR (old CR 19.69 Walter Dix [FlSt] ’07) (WL) (=12, x W);
2. **Israel Okon’ (Aub-Ngr) 19.99;
3. Trelee Banks (In) 20.02 PR;
4. **Mustapha Bokpin’ (MTn-Gha) 20.04 PR;
5. T’Mars Mccallum (Tn) 20.09;
6. *Eddie Nketia’ (USC-Aus) 20.19 PR;
7. *Ian Dossman (CSF) 20.24;
8. **Jordan Urrutia (Ms) 20.33 PR;
9. Mason Lawyer (Az) 20.34.
SEMIS (June 10)
I(0.9)–1. Bokpin’ 20.19 PR; 2. McCallum 20.28; 3. Dossman 20.32; 4. Nazzio John’ (OhSt-Grn) 20.40; 5. *Tory Lanham (KC) 20.45; 6. *Wanyae Belle’ (Mn-BVI) 20.52; 7. Jaleel Croal’ (SFl-BVI) 20.66; 8. Dapriest Hogans (Ar) 20.81.
II(0.1)–1. Okon’ 20.07; 2. Nketia’ 20.24 =PR; 3. Urrutia 20.36; 4. Lawyer 20.40; 5. Aaron Charles (Mn) 20.45; 6. *Miguel Rosario (GCan) 20.45; 7. **Jalen Johnson (Clem) 20.79;… dnc—*Traunard Folson (Tn).
III(-0.1)–1. Reid’ 20.05; 2. Banks 20.38; 3. **Jelani Watkins (Ar) 20.40; 4. Tevijon Williams (Ar) 20.55; 5. Kameron Horton (WnKy) 20.70; 6. Drew Donley (TxSt) 20.76; 7. *Alpha Balde (Al) 20.78; 8. Johnathan Crawford (TxT) 21.19.
