NCAA Women’s Recap: Keturah Orji Breaks the AR in the TJ, Frosh Ariana Washington Wins the 100-200 & Dom Scott’s Double Leads Arkansas to First Team Title

By LetsRun.com
June 11, 2016

EUGENE, Ore. — The 2016 NCAA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships came to a close Saturday afternoon and the Arkansas Razorback women, led by Dominique Scott who completed the 5,000/10,000 double with ease, were able to make history and win their first NCAA women’s outdoor title.

This is the Arkansas’ women’s second title in two years – their indoor track title in 2015 was the only other women’s national title in school history in any sport. Only 28 to go until the women match the 30 that have been won by the men’s team (20 indoors, 10 outdoor, but only one since 2000).

Arkansas won with 72 points, 10 more than defending champion Oregon. The Ducks were counted out by most after a rough first day but put up a hell of fight to try to defend their title as freshman Ariana Washington became the first woman since 1998 to win the 100 (10.95, +2.6) and 200 (22.21, +1.9) at the same NCAA championships.

There were a number of fine performances put up in a variety of events. In the steeplechase, New Mexico’s Courtney Frerichs beat Jenny Simpson’s collegiate record by running 9:24.41, which we recap separately here. Texas A&M’s Shamier Little won the 400h in a world-leading 43.51.

https://twitter.com/AthleticsSweden/status/741784295040159744

And last but certainly not least, Georgia sophomore Keturah Orji won the triple jump in a new American record of 47’8 (14.53m)

https://twitter.com/AthleticsSweden/status/741788757234487296

We recap all of the events below, save for the steeple: Courtney Frerichs Wins Women’s NCAA Steeplechase Title In Style, Breaks Jenny Simpson’s Collegiate Record By Running 9:24.41, 800: Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers Wins Her Third Straight NCAA 800m Title In Dominant Fashion and 1500: Wow: Mississippi State’s Marta Freitas Wins Women’s 1500 But A Premature Celebration Nearly Costs Her The Title as Stanford’s Elise Cranny Almost Steals It which featured a great battle between Mississippi State senior Marta Freitas and Stanford’s Elise Cranny, both of whom PR’d.

Full NCAA results * All LRC NCAA videos * LRC 2016 NCAAs event page

Women’s 5,000: DOMination, Part II

Dominique Scott sure knows how to make an exit. In her final indoor meet for Arkansas, the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships on her home track in Fayetteville, Scott anchored the Hogs to victory on Friday night before winning the 3k on Saturday night to lead Arkansas to its first-ever women’s track title. To top it all off, boyfriend Cameron Efurd proposed to Scott after she won the 3k (she said yes).

On Saturday, in her final race for Arkansas, Scott won the 5k in dominant fashion in 15:57.07 to go with her 10k win on Thursday night, clinching the Hogs’ first-ever outdoor NCAA title. Though it can’t quite compare to her last indoor meet — there was no proposal this time, as Scott and Efurd wed in December — she’ll definitely remember this weekend for a long time.

On paper, Scott was the clear favorite and her position only strengthened after she crushed the field in Thursday’s 10k. After a slow first mile (around 5:25), Stanford’s Aisling Cuffe took the lead and pushed the pace, running 74’s and 75’s until two laps to go.

Though she succeeded in dropping the pace, she hadn’t dropped many athletes as there were still 12 women in the lead pack with 600 meters to go. At that point, Scott was sitting on Cuffe’s shoulder, and it was a matter of when, not if, she would make her winning move. Scott decided to go with 500 remaining, and just as on Thursday, no one could mount any form of response. Within 100 meters, she already had 1.77 seconds on the field and after her 65.46 final lap, she had an easy 3.74-second victory. Scott wasn’t quite as emotive as during her 10k win, which she punctuated by blowing a kiss to Efurd with 100 to go, but the victory was no less dominant.

The real battle for second and that honor went to Aurora Dybedokken of Oklahoma State and Norway. Dybedokken was running just the third 5,000 of her life tonight, but it didn’t show as she closed best of anyone save Scott (67.43) to finish as the runner-up in a PR of 16:00.81. Another surprise finisher, Missouri soph Karissa Schweizer, took third (16:02.82), running down Oregon’s Alli Cash and Liberty’s Edna Kurgat in the final 100.

Lap-by-lap splits

Quick Take #1: Dominque Scott’s Double Is Deja Vu as Arkansas Women Win 2nd NCAA Title in Any Sport

Scott got emotional talking about her Arkansas career and coach Lance Harter on ESPN. She was grateful to Harter in the mixed zone saying, “My freshman year was not too impressive but he kept me around thankfully.” She said, “I was not out there running for myself, I was out there running for Lance Harter, my coach, and all the girls on the team.”

Scott’s win looked pretty easy once she made her move and she made it sound like she felt great. “If you’ve ever run track races you’re always playing with doubts (in the back of your head), but my legs did feel great I and I knew it was a pace I should be easily able to run,” she said.

Up next is getting a pro contract and running in the Olympics for South Africa.  She said, “hopefully someone wants to sponsor me so I can help my husband put some food on the table.” She has the Olympic standard at 10,000m but is missing it by 1 second in the 5000m. She flew back for the S. African champs in April to make sure they would select her for the team.

At the Olympics in the 10k she hopes she can for sure keep up with the Americans but wasn’t so sure about the Kenyans and Ethiopians.

Harter spoke glowingly about Scott and the rest of his team after the Razorbacks clinched the team title. Harter said that he never envisioned scoring 72 points, pointing to the steeple as an event where he thought they could score 5 and they wound up scoring 12. Harter also praised the Oregon women for battling hard and said he thought that Oregon could have scored in the 90s this weekend without injuries.

Quick Take #2: Dybedokken was happy with second but admitted she may have made a couple of tactical mistakes

Aurora Dybedokken was pleased with her runner-up finish. She had visualized going with Dominique Scott when Scott made her move, but it was “too stressful” early on so she wasn’t right there when Scott made her move. She said she can be “a little bit lazy” during races.

She could run the European champs for Norway but hasn’t hit the standard yet.

Quick Take #3: From 3rd at SECs to 3rd at NCAAs: Meet Surprise 3rd Placer Karissa Schweizer of Missouri

Schweizer, a true sophomore, did not make NCAAs in XC (25th in the Midwest Region) or indoors, and only had a PR of 16:32 entering the season but she busted out a 15:58 at Mt. SAC in April before taking third at SECs. With second place wide open behind the incomparable Scott, Schweizer took advantage, running down Cash and Kurgat to get third.

Schweizer said that her mindset on the homestretch went from “It’s crazy, I’m going to be an All-American” to “I can be third!” as she realized how fast she was moving relative to the rest of the field. Schweizer, who was good but not incredible as a high schooler (47th at NXN as a senior) said there was no secret to her rapid rise this spring: she simply trusted in her coach’s training and kept gaining race experience.

Quick Take #4: Healthy Again, Aisling Cuffe Thinks She Can Get Back to Her 15:11 Shape of Two Years Ago
Cuffe, who was second two years ago, said she was just happy to be healthy again and on the start line at NCAAs in her final collegiate season as she’s battled injuries the past two years. Cuffe said that after the cross country season (a mixed bag as she won Pac-12s but was only 117th at NCAAs), she and coach Chris Miltenberg decided to be extremely cautious with an eye on June. In the past, Cuffe hadn’t been able to put together any real training blocks as she kept getting hurt but that has changed this year and Cuffe is slowly working her way back to her old level of fitness. She only raced once indoors and just once outdoors before Pac-12s and made sure to be very careful in everything she did this spring.

Cuffe said that she and Miltenberg had decided that Cuffe should take the lead if she felt was too slow early, and at the mile (about 5:25), Cuffe took off. She said in retrospect she may have been so excited to be back running at NCAAs that she went too fast, but overall feels great about where she’s at training-wise and feels that she can return to the form that saw her run 15:11 as a sophomore two years ago.

Quick Take #5: Alli Cash’s Four Points Weren’t Enough to Help Oregon Overcome Arkansas in the Team Race

Women’s 100/200: Freshman Ariana Washington Arrives with Stunning Double

Washington barely had the #2 time on the year by a Duck in the 100 (her SB heading into NCAAs was 11.18; teammates Deajah Stevens and Jasmine Todd had run 11.19 and 11.20 behind Hannah Cunliffe‘s 10.99). But she blasted a wind-aided (+2.6) 10.95 to win the 100 by .01 over San Diego St. sophomore Ashley Henderson and returned 45 minutes later to win the 200 in a PR of 22.21. Oregon looked to be rolling at that point as Stevens ran 22.25 behind her to take second and deliver 18 big points in the team standings. Though Arkansas would later catch them, the Oregon sprinters still produced an impressive total of 34 points between the 100, 200 and 4×100. That’s crazy considering they lost Hannah Cunliffe to injury early in the meet and Jasmine Todd at regionals after Todd left the team under mysterious circumstances.

100 results

200 results

Women’s Triple Jump: Georgia’s Keturah Orji Breaks the American Record

Orji already owned the collegiate record from regionals (14.29m/46’10.75″) but went even further today, taking down Tiombe Hurd‘s 12-year-old American record of 14.45/47’5″ by going 14.53/47’8″ on her fifth attempt. That mark puts her #7 in the world for 2016.

Orji wasn’t overwhelmed by breaking the record and now turns her attention to the Olympic Trials.

Women’s 400/4×400: Courtney Okolo Regains Her Title In the 400, Comes Back to Anchor Texas to 4×400 Victory

Okolo, the collegiate record holder at 49.71, won her second outdoor 400 title, winning by a massive .50 as she clocked 50.36. Okolo was pleased to win but said she was disappointed with the time as she wanted the meet record of 50.10. Perhaps more impressively, Okolo came back to anchor Texas’ 4×400 to victory in the meet’s final event. Okolo got the baton in third, 1.58 seconds back of Taylor Sharpe of Florida. Okolo was still about about 8 meters back entering the home stretch, but she had more left than everyone else and powered to the victory in 3:27.64, splitting 50.45 on the anchor leg, the fastest of the race.

Arkansas and anchor Taylor Ellis-Watson came up just short, running 3:27.94 for second as Ellis-Watson split almost as fast as Okolo on the anchor (50.48) after inheriting the baton slightly behind Okolo. Ellis-Watson must be sick of Okolo by now as she was also second to her in the individual 400.

Okolo admitted afterwards she wanted to break the meet record at 400, but came up short.

400 results

4×400 results

Women’s 400m Hurdles: Shamier Little Three-Peats In Style with a PB and Says She’s Given Up Eating Cookies
Shamier Little of Texas A&M, the world championship silver medallist last year, won her third straight NCAA title in grand form by setting a pr and world leader of 53.51, bettering her 53.74 to win NCAAs last year and way better than her 54.72 season’s best.

Little afterwards made it sound like winning here was pretty easy. She was very “excited” by the time and now it is time to get ready for the Trials where she can “take care of business.”

Taking care of business at the Trials and at the Olympics is on Little’s mind. With that in mind, she said she is being more disciplined with small things like her diet. When asked how her diet has changed, she said she used to bake herself and eat 6 cookies a day. Now she’s down to 6 cookies every two weeks.

100m Hurdles: Kendra Who?

Kendra Harrison won NCAAs last year for Kentucky in 12.55 and this year has the top 4 times in the world. Freshnan Jasmine Camacho-Quinn continued the Kentucky tradition with a big win in 12.54 today (with a nice tailwind).

4×100 LSU Wins in Hayward Field Record

Women’s High Jump: 3 Time Jamaican Champ Kimberly Williamson Wins

Women High Jump
 1, Kimberly Williamson, Kansas State, 1.88m, (6-02). 2, Madeline Fagan, 
 Georgia, 1.85m, (6-00.75). 3, Claudia Garcia Jou, Akron, 1.82m, (5-11.50). 3, 
 Kaitlin Whitehorn, Dartmouth, 1.82m, (5-11.50). 5, Erica Bougard, Miss State, 
 1.82m, (5-11.50). 6, Loretta Blaut, Cincinnati, 1.82m, (5-11.50). 7, Chelsie 
 Decoud, Texas State, 1.82m, (5-11.50). 8, Reka Czuth, Nebraska, 1.82m, 
 (5-11.50). 9, Erika Hurd, Cincinnati, 1.82m, (5-11.50). 10, Dakota 
 Dailey-Harris, Miami, 1.78m, (5-10). 11, Jailah Mason, Morgan State, 1.78m, 
 (5-10). 11, Janae Moffitt, Purdue, 1.78m, (5-10). 11, Kaysee Pilgrim, UNLV, 
 1.78m, (5-10). 11, Courtney Avery, Lehigh, 1.78m, (5-10). 15, Ashley Petersen, 
 Wichita State, 1.78m, (5-10). 15, Kandie Bloch-Jones, Illinois, 1.78m, (5-10). 
 17, Heta Tuuri, Minnesota, 1.73m, (5-08). 17, Logan Boss, Miss State, 1.73m, 
 (5-08). 17, Mimi Land, Clemson, 1.73m, (5-08). 17, Alexus Henry, UT-Arlington, 
 1.73m, (5-08). 21, Jessica Emde, UC Santa Barbara, 1.73m, (5-08). 21, Zarriea 
 Willis, Texas Tech, 1.73m, (5-08). 23, Lisanne Hagens, Arizona, 1.73m, (5-08). 
 --, Liz Harper, Washington St., NH.

Women’s Discus: Last Year’s Runner Up Kelsey Card Comes Out on Top

Women Discus Throw
 1, Kelsey Card, Wisconsin, 63.52m, (208-05). 2, Kellion Knibb, Florida State, 
 61.44m, (201-07). 3, Valarie Allman, Stanford, 61.42m, (201-06). 4, Shadae 
 Lawrence, Kansas State, 61.18m, (200-09). 5, Katelyn Daniels, Michigan State, 
 60.54m, (198-07). 6, Shelbi Vaughan, Texas A&M, 59.32m, (194-07). 7, Tera 
 Novy, USC, 57.70m, (189-04). 8, Maggie Ewen, Arizona State, 54.66m, (179-04). 
 9, Alexa Evans, San Diego State, 54.36m, (178-04). 10, Nikki Okwelogu, 
 Harvard, 53.90m, (176-10). 11, Rachel Dincoff, Auburn, 53.81m, (176-06). 12, 
 Rachel Alesi, San Diego State, 53.62m, (175-11). 13, Micaela Hazlewood, 
 Purdue, 53.17m, (174-05). 14, Hannah Carson, Texas Tech, 52.71m, (172-11). 15, 
 Agnes Esser, Minnesota, 52.61m, (172-07). 16, Daina Levy, Kansas, 52.21m, 
 (171-03). 17, Kyesha Neal, Toledo, 52.11m, (170-11). 18, Sasha Lebert, Florida 
 State, 52.09m, (170-11). 19, Dasha Tsema, Kansas, 51.47m, (168-10). 20, 
 Raqurra Ishmar, East Carolina, 51.45m, (168-09). 21, Jontavia Dykes, Florida, 
 49.86m, (163-07). 22, Emmonnie Henderson, Louisville, 49.66m, (162-11). 23, 
 Chelsie Meeks, Purdue, 49.00m, (160-09). 24, Jaevyn Wortham, Troy, 47.90m, 
 (157-02).

Women’s Heptathlon: Kendell Williams Sweeps Pentathlon/Heptathlon Titles After Akela Jones Blows Up in 800

Jones, the reigning heptathlon champion, finished a disastrous 14th in the pentathlon indoors after falling in the 60 hurdles but looked set to make amends today as she had a healthy 106-point lead entering the 800. But Jones tied up badly with 200 to go in the race, slowing to a complete stop before jogging it in in 2:39. Her first six events were so strong that she still finished third but it was a painful end to an otherwise great heptathlon for Jones. Jones certainly needs to work on her 800 as indoor Jones didn’t even finish the 800. Williams was the happy beneficiary as she reclaimed the title she first won in 2014.

Oregon coach Robert Johnson after his Duck women took second at NCAAs:

The Ducks had a near perfect day to get second.