Oregon Men Celebrate after Wining National Title |
With the collegiate track &
field season officially over, we would like to send a huge congratulations to
the University of Oregon’s men’s and women’s track teams for winning the NCAA
Outdoor Championship! After catching all of the talent at the preliminaries a
few weeks back, it is absolutely no surprise at the records and stats broken at
the historic Hayward Field this past weekend. While we had our eyes set on the
Gators taking home the big win, they still had some stellar performances. That
really goes for a lot of the schools that came out to compete. Just a few weeks
ago, professional sprinter Justin Gatlin set the Hayward record for the 200
meter with his 19.68 finish at the Prefontaine Classic. That record has since
been broken with the University of Southern California’s Andre De Grasse took
the first place win with a 19.58 finish! And he wasn’t the only sprinter to hit
a sub-20 run this weekend! Baylor University’s Trayvon Bromell and Florida’s
very own Dedric Dukes closed the race in 19.86, with fraction of a second
between their third and second place wins respectively. De Grasse also took
home the title for the 100-meter sprint, finishing in just 9.75 seconds and
breaking the collegiate, NCAA meet, and Hayward Field records all at once.
Jumper Marquis Dendy successfully defended both of his titles in the long and
triple jump! Go Gators! And of course, we can’t forget about the most exciting
events, the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see our
Gators take the title, but Arkansas took home a win for the first time which
helped them finish the meet in third place, just behind our Gators in second.
Andre De Grasse winner of the 100 & 200m |
Although
they didn’t win the meet, University of Kentucky’s women’s squad pulled a close
runner up to Oregon. Their most notable performances came from sprinter Dezerea
Bryant and hurdler Kendra Harrison. Dez is one of my personal favorites on the
track and definitely left all her troubles on the track as she went 22.18 in
the last 200-meter sprint of her collegiate career. In the short-hurdles,
Kendra Harrison finished both the indoor and outdoor seasons undefeated! An elite
hurdler, Harrison’s winning time of 12.55 was just another contribution to her
title as the third-fastest hurdler in NCAA history. Of course, we can’t forget
about Jenna Prandini, one of Oregon’s top performers, taking the 100-meter
title, securing her teams lead in the meet. Also contributing the Lady Duck,
distance runner Raevyn Rogers took the win with a 1:59.71 finish in the
800-meter race. Although our Lady Gators did not come out on top in the
individual events, they managed to pull of two championship wins in both the
4x1 and 4x4 relays.
Women National Champ: Oregon Ducks |
With
the season now over, the NCAA’s elite athletes will prepare for their final bid
at the USA Outdoor Championships back in Eugene, Oregon at end of the month.
Big congratulations to all of the athletes finishing their collegiate careers
and graduating from college! To the seniors, best of luck in your endeavors as
we look forward to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games!
--solementality
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