Sprint Madness as Men’s 4×100, 4×400, 400, and 400 Hurdle NCAA Records Fall, Field Events Lead Georgia to First Team Title
By LetsRun.com
June 8, 2018
EUGENE, Ore. — On a night when field events brought the 2018 Georgia Bulldogs their first NCAA outdoor team title (the Bulldogs won by 10 points over Florida and scored all but 10 of their points in field events and multis), and there were dramatic upsets in the distance events (LRC Recap of NCAA Distance Drama: Saruni and Kerr Upset, Barraza Falls in Steeple, McGorty Gets Title) the sprinters stole the show at the 2018 NCAA Track and Field Championships as all-time NCAA records were set in the 4×100, 4×400, 400, and 400m hurdles.
Who knew cool, damp weather is ideal sprinting weather, but in 58-degree temps with a light rain/mist the NCAA record books were torn apart.
We have videos and results of all the record-breaking runs below in the order they occurred.
Full results can be found here.
4×100: Houston gets it done
Houston on paper was the team to beat as they had three men in the 100m final this year. Plus last year they showed they could deliver the goods as they won the 4×100 and ran the 6th-fastest time ever in the NCAAs. That year’s team was back with the addition of Elijah Hall, the NCAA 60m and 200m champion.
Houston delivered the goods in this one, as the team of John Lewis III, Elijah Hall, Mario Burke, and Cameron Burrell destroyed the rest of the field in the rain at Hayward Field and ran 38.17 to break the NCAA record of 38.23 from TCU way back in 1989.
Less than an hour later, Cameron Burrell and Elijah Hall would go 1-2 in the 100 with Burke 8th.
Video of race:
?RECORD ALERT ?
COLLEGIATE RECORD ✅
MEET RECORD ✅
HAYWARD FIELD RECORD ✅
NO. 5 IN THE ?
3️⃣8️⃣.1️⃣7️⃣ pic.twitter.com/SOwvOXqe4Y— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 9, 2018
Results
1 Houston 38.17M
1) John Lewis III JR 2) Elijah Hall SR
3) Mario Burke JR 4) Cameron Burrell SR
2 Ohio State 38.75
1) Eric Harrison FR 2) Duan Asemota SR
3) Drelan Bramwell SR 4) Zack Bazile SR
3 Florida 38.89
1) Michael Timpson, Jr JR 2) Chantz Sawyers FR
3) Grant Holloway SO 4) Ryan Clark JR
4 Arkansas 39.01
1) Kristoffer Hari FR 2) Kemar Mowatt SR
3) Kevin Harris JR 4) Kenzo Cotton SR
5 Florida State 39.37
1) Keniel Grant SR 2) Darryl Haraway JR
3) Darryl Gay FR 4) Andre Ewers JR
6 Southern Miss. 39.49
1) Chedlin Sagesse JR 2) McKinely West JR
3) Cra'Vorkian Carson SR 4) Alexander Richemond SR
7 Northwestern St. 39.63
1) Kie'Ave Harry SO 2) Micah Larkins JR
3) Amir James SR 4) Tre'Darius Carr FR
-- N. Carolina A&T DNF
1) Michael Bell FR 2) Joel Thomas SR
3) Michael Dickson JR 4) Rodney Rowe JR
400: Michael Norman wins greatest NCAA 400m ever
Without a doubt, this was the greatest NCAA 400m race ever run.
4️⃣3️⃣.6️⃣1️⃣ INSANE!!! ??? #ncaaTF pic.twitter.com/CmUxc1t8wv
— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 9, 2018
Indoor world record holder Michael Norman of USC remained undefeated at 400 in 2018 by winning the title in an NCAA record of 43.61 to defeat Akeem Bloomfield of Auburn, who ran 43.94 to become only the third collegian ever to go sub-44 in the NCAA season. To top it off Bloomfield’s teammate, Nathon Allen, ran 44.13 for third, a time only three collegians had bettered before today.
Norman was best down the final straight but he needed the huge PB (previous best 44.40) to get the win as Bloomfield and Allen, both of Jamaica, bettered Norman’s previous lifetime best.
A tip of the cap goes to all three guys, but especially Norman. Norman beat Olympic champ Quincy Watts’ (Watts is Norman’s coach at USC) 44.00 meet record and Olympic champ Michael Johnson’s 43.74 Hayward Field record. To top it off Norman and Bloomfield are both only 20 years old.
Norman said after the race that Watts still has bragging rights, however. Even though Norman broke the NCAA record and became the sixth-fastest man in history, he still doesn’t hold his own school record. That’s because USC counts times run in the summer after an athlete’s senior year, and Watts ran 43.50 in the Olympic final after winning NCAAs in 1992.
1 Michael Norman SO USC 43.61C 2 Akeem Bloomfield SO Auburn 43.94M 3 Nathon Allen SO Auburn 44.13 4 Mar'yea Harris JR Iowa 45.00 5 Tyrell Richard JR SC State 45.10 6 Obi Igbokwe JR Arkansas 45.16 7 Kahmari Montgomery JR Houston 45.75 8 Wil London JR Baylor 46.20
Men’s 400m hurdles: Rai Benjamin equals Edwin Moses
Rai Benjamin might want to take the 400m hurdles a bit more conservatively in the future as Benjamin said he held back a bit early on to make sure the nerves didn’t get the best of him.
The result? A 47.02 that tied him with the legendary Edwin Moses as the 2nd fastest man in history. Only Kevin Young has run faster (46.78). Benjamin destroyed Kerron Clement’s 47.56 NCAA record.
Video of race:
LADIES & GENTLEMEN RAI BENJAMIN IS THE ?
COLLEGIATE RECORD ✅
MEET RECORD ✅
FACILITY RECORD ✅
FASTED TIME IN THE ? ✅
2ND FASTEST TIME EVER ✅ pic.twitter.com/B7EsAXzSyK— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 9, 2018
Benjamin had never run under 48 seconds until regionals (47.98) and now the only thing in front of him is the world record. Benjamin is a man without a country right now as even though he was born in the US and wants to run for the US he competed for Antigua and Barbuda as a teen and cannot switch allegiances until the IAAF allows transfers again.
1 Rai Benjamin JR USC 47.02M 2 Kenny Selmon SR North Carolina 48.12 3 David Kendziera SR Illinois 48.42 4 Kemar Mowatt SR Arkansas 48.83 5 Taylor McLaughlin JR Michigan 49.59 6 Jacob Smith SO No Iowa 50.60 7 Maksims Sincukovs FR Arizona 50.63 8 Infinite Tucker SO Texas A&M 50.76
4×400: USC gets NCAA record
At indoor NCAAs, USC, with Benjamin and Norman, ran faster than any team ever in the world to win the 4 x 400 title. While the outdoor world record of 2:54.29 was never going to be challenged, the USC quartert of Ricky Morgan Jr, Benjamin, Zach Shinnick, and Norman took down the previous NCAA record of 2:59.59 by running 2:59.00 thanks to Norman’s 43.62 anchor. Texas A&M, with 800m man Devin Dixon running 43.93, went sub-3:00 for second, even with Mylik Kerley (45.16 indoors) out injured.
Video of the 4×400:
USC DOES IT AGAIN! 2️⃣:5️⃣9️⃣:0️⃣0️⃣??????
NO. 1 in the WORLD ✅
COLLEGIATE RECORD ✅
MEET RECORD ✅
FACILITY RECORD ✅ pic.twitter.com/2ElaPuL3jk— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 9, 2018
1 USC 2:59.00M
1) Ricky Morgan Jr SR 2) Rai Benjamin JR
3) Zach Shinnick FR 4) Michael Norman SO
1:29.527 (1:29.527) 2:15.378 (45.852) 2:58.995 (43.617)
2 Texas A&M 2:59.91
1) Bryce Deadmon SO 2) Kyree Johnson FR
3) Ilolo Izu JR 4) Devin Dixon SO
1:30.561 (1:30.561) 2:15.982 (45.422) 2:59.906 (43.924)
3 LSU 3:00.56
1) Jahnoy Thompson JR 2) Correion Mosby JR
3) Renard Howell SR 4) Jaron Flournoy JR
1:31.306 (1:31.306) 2:16.509 (45.204) 3:00.552 (44.043)
4 Florida 3:01.83
1) Kunle Fasasi JR 2) Chantz Sawyers FR
3) Benjamin Lobo Vedel FR 4) Grant Holloway SO
1:31.562 (1:31.562) 2:16.459 (44.898) 3:01.829 (45.370)
5 Houston 3:04.03
1) Amere Lattin JR 2) Trumaine Jefferson JR
3) Mario Burke JR 4) Kahmari Montgomery JR
1:32.140 (1:32.140) 2:18.499 (46.359) 3:04.027 (45.529)
6 Arkansas 3:04.53
1) Roy Ejiakuekwu JR 2) Obi Igbokwe JR
3) Hunter Woodhall FR 4) Kenzo Cotton SR
1:32.909 (1:32.909) 2:18.602 (45.694) 3:04.526 (45.924)
7 Baylor 3:04.54
1) Caleb Dickson JR 2) Howard Fields III FR
3) Antwuan Musgrove JR 4) Wil London JR
1:33.228 (1:33.228) 2:19.604 (46.376) 3:04.532 (44.928)
8 Stanford 3:05.50
1) Frank Kurtz JR 2) Julian Body SO
3) Gabe Navarro FR 4) Isaiah Brandt-Sims SR
1:33.413 (1:33.413) 2:19.554 (46.142) 3:05.492 (45.939)
Georgia coach Petros Kyprianou talks about NCAA title
Distance recap: LRC Recap of NCAA Distance Drama: Saruni and Kerr Upset, Barraza Falls in Steeple, McGorty Gets Title What a day at NCAAs.