AS BEFITS A TRULY GREAT championship meet, there were two races in the men’s 4 x 400: the fight to win the event and the battle for the overall team title.
In the former, Georgia and LSU gave fans a duel that will go down in legend. LSU came in as the favorite, the only team in the regular season to notch a sub-3:00 performance (2:58.47 at the SEC). However, in the East Regional, Georgia gave them something to think about with a sub-3:00 of its own, 2:59.75.
On leg 1, Amal Glasgow put the Tigers in a comfortable but not insurmountable lead, running 45.36 against 45.50 by the Bulldogs’ Xai Ricks, with Florida in the mix thanks to the 45.50 of Nicholas Spikes.
LSU second leg Shakeem McKay beat Georgia’s Sidi Njie to the pole after the break, while Florida’s hopes vanished — Justin Braun pulled up lame just after the 200 mark. McKay then put LSU in a dominating position, outrunning Njie 43.77–44.17.
The race seemed over when LSU third leg Grant Buckmiller widened the gap with a 44.15, while Georgia’s London Costen could only manage 45.27. The margin at the final handoff was at least 10m — a time difference of 1.66.
But Georgia unleashed the fastest dawg of all. Frosh Jonathan Simms — silver medalist in the open 400 — ran the masterful anchor leg every coach dreams of, the kind you expect only from a seasoned veteran. He patiently reeled in LSU’s Malachi Austin. As they passed the steeple pit on the far turn, the comeback seemed possible.
It was. Simms leaned at the line to win by the barest of margins, needing the fastest split in NCAA history, 42.99. The previous fastest was the legendary hand-timed 43.1 (actually 43.4y) by Maurice Peoples of Arizona State in ’73). Georgia took the gold in 2:57.93. LSU was 0.03 back (Austin anchored in 44.69).
On the all-time collegiate performances list, Georgia landed at No. 4 and LSU at 5; on the all-time schools list, they are third and fourth.
Behind them, Arkansas held off Tennessee for the team title. The deck was stacked against the Vols. They were the only team that could possibly catch the Razorbacks, but they needed a swing of 6 points for the draw and 7 for the outright trophy.
They gave it a go — after leg one, they were in 6th, two places up on the Hogs; they still had that advantage at halfway. But Arkansas edged ahead at the final exchange by 0.16, and the anchor was all Hogs — Jordan Pierre’s 43.85 pulled Arkansas (2:59.87) up to a bronze while Tennessee (3:00.74) sank to 7th.
Arkansas head coach Doug Case told ESPN his only thoughts were, “Win it. Let’s win that thing, let’s end it right now. Let’s win it.”
MEN’S 4 x 400 RESULTS
FINAL (June 12)
1. Georgia 2:57.93 (4 C)
(Ricks 45.50, Njie 44.17, Costen 45.27, Simms 42.99 [fastest split in NCAA history]);
2. LSU 2:57.96 (5 C)
(Glasgow 45.36, McKay 43.77, Buckmiller 44.15, Austin’ 44.68);
3. Arkansas 2:59.87
(Tomlyanovich 46.29, Wright 44.95, Cruzan 44.79, Pierre 43.84);
4. Purdue 3:00.56
(Achakpoekri 45.76, Vessat’ 44.02, Coleman 46.05, Greene 44.73);
5. Iowa 3:00.65
(Akhalu 45.94, Brown 44.79, Miller 44.63, Fontenot 45.29);
6. North Carolina A&T 3:00.68
(Thomas 46.69, X. Taylor 44.50, Walker 45.38, I. Taylor 44.11);
7. Tennessee 3:00.74
(Jackson 45.96, Wynn 44.89, Ibrahim’ 45.34, Barton 44.55);
8. Texas A&M 3:00.85
(Hemphill 46.10, Isah 45.43, Escobar 45.05, Farquharson’ 44.27);
… dnf—Florida.
SEMIS (June 10)
I–1. LSU 3:00.54 (McKay 44.49, Buckmiller 44.37); 2. Arkansas 3:00.85 (Pierre 44.49); 3. Florida 3:01.25; 4. Tennessee 3:01.73; 5. Northwestern Louisiana 3:04.68; 6. USC 3:05.10; 7. Oklahoma State 3:05.33; 8. Houston 3:05.89.
II–1. Texas A&M 3:01.64 (Farquharson’ 44.39); 2. Purdue 3:01.73 (Vessat’ 44.35); 3. Iowa 3:01.95; 4. South Florida 3:02.14; 5. Princeton 3:04.02; 6. Kansas State 3:04.83; 7. Baylor 3:07.91;… dq—Ohio State (Udo’ 44.31 [3]).
III–1. Georgia 3:00.88 (Simms 43.44); 2. North Carolina A&T 3:02.19 (I. Taylor 44.22); 3. Alabama 3:02.76; 4. Texas Tech 3:03.15; 5. Mississippi State 3:03.40; 6. Minnesota 3:04.12; 7. BYU 3:04.93;… dq—Texas (Popelka 44.31 [3]).
