The outdoor track and field postseason is here! With the East/West preliminary meets approaching, we're taking a look back at some of the top performances from this season.
We already looked at some of the top performances of the season's first half, so these will be focused on what's happened since then, with six performances from the east and west regions. Let's get started.
West
Julien Alfred | Texas
Julien Alfred finished the 100-meter final in 10.80 seconds (+2.4 & altitude) at the Big 12 Championships, continuing her season-long dominance in the sprints. That performance came after a wind-legal 10.81-second finish in the prelims a day prior. Alfred's wind-legal time in the prelims is the third-fastest in NCAA history and her 10.80-second time in the final is the fifth-fastest all-conditions time in NCAA history.
We know you didnโt, but in case you missed itโฆ
โ Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC)
Watch Julien Alfred take down the Texas 31-year program record & run the No. 3 time in collegiate history at 10.81๐ฅ
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Everything you need to know for the DI outdoor track and field championships
Lamara Distin | Texas A&M
Lamara Distin's impressive season in the high jump continued at the Alumni Muster meet where she soared 1.97 meters in the air to set a Texas A&M and Jamaican national record in the event. Distin became the world leader with her leap and sits as the fourth-highest collegian of all time.
We got a visual on that world-leading flight
โ Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country (@aggietfxc)
๐ซ 6-5.5/1.97m |
Abby Nichols | Colorado
The Colorado women finished second at the 2022 Pac-12 Championships and distance runner Abby Nichols' performance was a big reason why. Nichols became the first double conference champion at Colorado since 2017 after winning the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. She's the first Buffalo to double in the events since 2005 after setting a new Pac-12 record in the 10,000 meters.
ICYMI, Abby Nichols took the Pac-12 Championship in the 10k last night, setting a meet record and school record in the process!
โ Colorado Buffaloes Track & XC (@CUBuffsTrack)
RANKINGS: Check out the latest rankings before the prelims
Monae' Nichols | Texas Tech
Monae' Nichols proved she was one of the nation's best long jumpers from the start of the Big 12 Championships, where she jumped 6.97 meters on her first leap of the meet. With the mark, Nichols set the tone early en route to the individual conference title in the event. On a larger scale, Nichols' jump gives her the furthest long jump of any collegian this year as the only athlete to surpass the 6.9-meter threshold.
Donโt play with herโฆ your LJ champ and current NCAA & ๐ leader
โ Texas Tech Track & Field (@TexasTechTF)
Britton Wilson | Arkansas
Winning one individual conference title is great, but Arkansas' Britton Wilson pulled off the rare 400-meter double at the 2022 SEC Championships, winning the 400 meters and 400 meters hurdles. While Wilson has led the nation in the 400 meter hurdles for much of the year, entering the SEC championships as a favorite in the event, her victory in the 400 meters was surely an upset. Wilson knocked off Texas A&M's Charokee Young in the 400 meters, one of the few women to run sub-50 seconds in the 400 meters in the world this year.
Then Britton Wilson produced a world-leading 53.75 to win the SEC 400m hurdles, breaking her own school record set in prelims
โ Arkansas Track & Field (@RazorbackTF)
Wilson's encore was a 48.6 split to anchor the Razorbacks to a school record 3:22.55 for third, making Arkansas the third fastest school all-time
Texas' 4x100 meter relay
Texas' 4x100 meter relay ran a program record and national leading time of 42.37 seconds at the LSU Invitational. The Longhorn quartet of Julien Alfred, Rhasidat Adeleke, Kevona Davis and Kennedy Flannel finished nearly a tenth of a second faster than the nation's second-fastest time and nearly half a second faster than second place in their race.
42.37 ๐ฅ๐ฅ
โ Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC)
Texas program record & NCAA-leading time ๐ค๐ค
๐ฎ: 5 predictions for the remainder of the season
East
Adelaide Aquilla | Ohio State
A look at the top marks in the shot put will show that there's defending outdoor national champion Adelaide Aquilla and everyone else. Aquilla's nation-leading throw of 18.94 meters at the Jesse Owens Track Classic is .48 meters more than anyone else in the country. She reached that distance on her second throw at the meet, later hitting 18.84 meters โ a distance that would still be a national lead โ on her fourth attempt.
You heard them - QUEEN of the shot put!! ๐
โ Ohio State T&F/XC (@OhioStateTFXC)
Melissa Jefferson | Coastal Carolina
A wind-legal 10.88. That's how many seconds Coastal Carolina's Melissa Jefferson finished in to win the 2022 Sun Belt Championship in the 100 meters. Jefferson's finish is the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history, setting a Sun Belt Championship record. Jefferson also claimed the conference's 200-meter title, setting another championship record.
๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ช๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ก!'s Melissa Jefferson CRUSHES the 100 meter Championships record, and moves up to on the performance list in the process!
โ Sun Belt (@SunBelt)
RELATED: The top 10 women's track and field performances from the first half
Jasmine Moore | Florida
Jasmine Moore swept the horizontal jumps at the 2022 SEC Championships, winning the long jump and triple jump with 6.73 and 14.46-meter marks, respectively. Moore's performance in the long jump, while not wind-legal, is the furthest of any collegian this season. Moore also became the third woman in SEC history โ all hailing from Florida โ to sweep the horizontal jumps across the indoor and outdoor seasons in one calendar year.
Florida going strong into the Women's Triple Jump final!
โ Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF)
1. Jasmine Moore: 14.46m/47-5.25 (+2.5)
2. Natricia Hooper: 13.74m/45-1
Favour Ofili | LSU
Favour Ofili already held the 200-meter collegiate record entering the 2022 SEC Championship, but that didn't stop her from turning out another elite performance. Ofili scored 22.5 points by herself, winning a sprint triple crown of sorts, taking home the conference title in the 100 and 200 meters, while running the second leg of LSU's winning 4x100 meter relay. In the individual sprints, Ofili raced in arguably the best sprint races of the season, defeating fellow Bowerman candidate Kentucky's Abby Steiner twice.
๐ฅ IS ON FIRE ๐ฅ
โ LSU Track & Field (@LSUTrackField)
That's her third event title of the day with a 22.04 for the win!! That breaks her own facility and SEC meet record!
MORE: Here's how the outdoor track and field championships work
Katelyn Touhy | NC State
NC State's Katelyn Touhy won the 1500 meters at the 2022 ACC Championships in 4:06.84, winning the conference title by almost three seconds. Touhy has been impressive all season, and her championship time is good for the national lead, nearly two seconds faster than the next fastest finisher.
Hugs all around after that 1500m ๐คฉ |
โ Pack Track & Field and Cross Country (@Wolfpack_TFXC)
Kentucky's 4x400 meter relay
Any list of the top track and field performances would be remiss without including Kentucky's 4x400 meter relay performance at the 2022 SEC Championships. The Wildcat quartet of Karimah Davis, Dajour Miles, Abby Steiner and Alexis Holmes raced to a new collegiate record of 3:21.93, outpacing Texas A&M and Arkansas, who finished with the second and third-fastest all-time collegiate times, respectively. In the win, Steiner ran a leg of 48.78 seconds, and Holmes ran a 49.60-second leg as the anchor.
ICYMI: Our women's 4x400m relay of Karimah Davis, Dajour Miles, and broke the collegiate record with a time of 3:21.93. ๐ผ
โ UK Track & Field (@KentuckyTrack)
Still not over it. x
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๐ง WHAT TO KNOW: Wind and scoring explained | Greatest venues | Best uniforms | The difference between indoor and outdoor seasons
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