Instant Analysis - Day 1, 2009 NCAA Championships
June 11, 2009 by Stephanie Lowe
It was a rainy day in Fayetteville, but already there are some blazing fast performances on the first day of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Look for lots of action to take place in the relays.
The Texas A&M women’s 4×100m team started things off with a bang, running 42.93 seconds. That is the third fastest time they have run this season and it’s only a preliminary race. The Aggie women have already won the Big 12 and Midwest Region championships this year. They hope to continue their winning streak. The Aggie men also dominated the 4×100m, running 38.51. Close on their heels was Florida in 38.57.
The 100 meters typically delivers sparks and this year is looking to live up to those expectations.
Two of the Texas A&M women, Porscha Lucas and Gabby Mayo, also later qualified in the individual 100m prelims. Alexandria Anderson of the University of Texas blew that field away with her 11.02. After the weather delay, Anderson reclaimed the top spot of the semi-finals, running 11.29, followed by Jessica Young of TCU. The first round of the men’s 100m was fast as well, lead by LSU’s Trindon Holliday in 10 seconds flat and Clemson’s Jacoby Ford in 10.01. Holliday and Ford went 1-2 again when they came back to the track for the semifinals.
This may be the most stacked races at this years meet.
The first round of the 800m featured Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright and Michigan’s Geena Gall in the top two spots. They each won their own heat with a controlled effort. Their times were close, Wright with a 2:04.86 and Gall in 2:04.86. On the men’s side, Oregon’s Andrew Wheating is favored to be the NCAA champion and so far is doing well with the fourth best time (1:49.42) in the prelims. Ryan Foster of Penn State had the top time of 1:47.57.
There’s no stopping Colorado’s Jenny Barringer. She looked comfortable running a 9:57.75 3000m steeplechase to win her heat, the mark was good enough for second fastest overrall qualifying time in the semifinal races. The question is not if she will win the final on Friday, but how fast.
The title of top male distance runner in this meet belongs to that of Oregon’s Galen Rupp, but anything can happen on any given day.
Rupp is doubling the 5000m and 10,000m. Tonight was the semifinal round of the 5000m, where he ran 13:59.26. He is in contention to win both the 10,000m tomorrow night and the 5000m final Saturday.
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