2022 NCAA Men’s Day 2 Super Recap: Joseph Fahnbulleh and Florida Reign Supreme as Joe Waskom and Olin Hacker Surprise in 1500 and 5000

By LetsRun.com
June 10, 2022

EUGENE, Ore. – It was a big day for the University of Florida at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field as the Gators won their fifth men’s team title in the last 11 years, led by a star performance from 100- and 200-meter champion Joseph Fahnbulleh. The 20-year-old Fahnbulleh, who was born and raised in Minnesota but represents Liberia internationally, used his incredible top gear to come from behind and win the 100 in 10.00 and the 200 in 19.83 – both personal bests. He almost anchored the Gators to victory in the 4×100 as well but ran out of room, settling for second instead, but his teammates responded by winning the 4×400 to cap the meet and win comfortably with 54 points, 16 clear of runner-up Texas.

In other sprint action, Florida State’s Trey Cunningham ran a world-leading 13.00 to win the 110 hurdles (T-#2 NCAA history) and there were repeat victories for North Carolina A&T’s Randolph Ross in the 400 (44.13) and LSU’s Sean “Squirrel” Burrell in the 400 hurdles (48.70).

The 1500 and 5000 finals were packed with drama as unheralded Joe Waskom of Washington upset favored Mario Garcia Romo of Ole Miss to win a tactical 1500 in 3:45.58. Seventh-year senior Olin Hacker of Wisconsin won the 5,000 over Big 10 rival Morgan Beadlescomb of Michigan State in 13:27.73 to join his father Tim as an NCAA champion. World leader Moad Zahafi of Texas Tech won the 800 in 1:44.49 while Ahmed Jaziri won a historically deep steeplechase in 8:18.70, leading three men under 8:20.

We recap the entire final day of men’s action below, beginning with the distance finals in the order in which they occurred.

Men’s 1500: Steeplechaser-turned-miler Joe Waskom pulls upset

Racing acumen and closing speed are the keys to winning a tactical 1500.

Joe Waskom of the University of Washington showed that on Friday night at the NCAA championships as he seized the lead with 200m to go and held on to win the NCAA 1500m title in 3:45.58 despite a late charge from pre-race favorite Mario Garcia Romo (3:45.69). Garcia Romo had trouble getting out of a box between 1200 and 1400 before finally coming up on the rail late but ran out of room. The fastest man in the last 100 was actually Princeton’s Sam Ellis, who ended up third in 3:45.82.

Embed from Getty Images

The race really slowed down after the first 200m, and after the leaders ran 67 seconds from 300m to 700m, the field hit 800 in roughly 2:09. Almost on cue, the three University of Washington runners in the field, Waskom, Luke Hauser, and Nathan Green went from the back of the pack to near the front to try to battle for the lead. Green would never make it to the front, but Waskom got on the outside of Garcia Romo and eventually on the homestretch Hauser would take the lead. Hauser led at the bell with Jonathan Davis of Illinois on his outside.  Garcia Romo and Waskom were behind them. On the backstretch Waskom made a big move to try and get the lead on the outside while Garcia Romo was content to stay in third on the rail. That ultimately would decide the race as Waskom took the lead with 200 to go and would open up a lead around the turn while Garcia Romo was stuck in a box. Garcia Romo would find some running room the final 50 but it was just too late to catch Waskom.

Waskom picked up the NCAA title in his first appearance at NCAAs as an individual. Waskom ran a quick 8:35 for the steeple last year as a redshirt freshman but didn’t make it to NCAAs. This year after struggling in two steeples (8:47 and 8:55), the 4:03 high school miler switched to the mile. He won the Pac-12 title and now the NCAA title.

Results
1 Joe WASKOM SO WASHINGTON 3:45.58
2 Mario GARCIA ROMO JR OLE MISS 3:45.69
3 Sam ELLIS SR PRINCETON 3:45.82
4 Thomas VANOPPEN JR WAKE FOREST 3:46.03
5 Luke HOUSER SO WASHINGTON 3:46.13
6 Jonathan DAVIS SR ILLINOIS 3:46.15
7 Nathan GREEN FR WASHINGTON 3:46.26
8 Adam SPENCER FR WISCONSIN 3:46.28
9 John PETRUNO JR MICHIGAN STATE 3:46.56
10 Isaac BASTEN JR DRAKE 3:46.67
11 George KUSCHE SR NORTHERN ARIZONA 3:47.20
12 Ryan SCHOPPE SO OKLAHOMA STATE 3:47.68

Quick Take: Waskom was great and he won this with tactics

Normally commentators’ talk about being boxed in is overrated but tonight it was the difference. However, one aspect that may be overlooked is what Waskom did on the third lap. The key to even giving himself a chance was the big move he made between 800 and 900 when he went from the back of the pack to the front. So often, we see guys who are in the back try to move up but they don’t fully commit to a mid-race move and end up back where they started, which is a disaster as they waste a ton of energy. Not Waskom.

Conversely, Garcia Romo was perfectly positioned in the front at 900 when Waskom ran up on his shoulder but then he let himself get boxed in on the rail. Garcia Romo should have run in the middle of lane 1 at that point to make sure no one came up on his outside or used a little inside spurt on the rail between 1k and 1050 to get back the lead and make sure he didn’t get boxed (one overlooked part of Matthew Centrowitz’s 3:50 win from the front in the Rio Olympics was the inside pass he made at the exact same point of the race – between 1000 and 1050 as shown here). Garcia Romo was in perfect position for 75% of this race, the problem was it was the first 75% of the race. 

Watch Waskom’s big move between 800 and 900 below (he’s hip #2) and the final 600 below.

Article continues below player.

Quick Take: The 45th-fastest 1500 runner in the nation (by season’s best) is the NCAA champion

Anyone outside of Seattle who predicted Joe Waskom would be the 2022 NCAA 1500m champion is lying. Heck, he may have even had some doubters in Seattle considering he was his pb heading into Pac-12s was 3:43 (though he did run a 3:56 mile indoors). This is a complete list of Waskom’s 2022 outdoor results prior to winning the Pac-12 title in 3:40 (a pb but only the third-fastest time by a Husky this year).

March 25: 8:47 steeple Raleigh Relays (6th)
April 14: 8:55 steeple Mt. SAC Relays (10th)
April 15: DNF 1500 Bryan Clay Invitational
April 22: DNF 800 UW-WSU dual
April 22: 9:15 steeple UW-WSU dual (4th)
May 6: 3:45 1500 Sound Running Track Meet (11th)
Hardly the resume of a future NCAA champ – and going into today’s final, Waskom admitted he was just shooting for top 5. But after winning Pac-12s with a 54.19 last lap, he knew he had a strong kick and got the opportunity to show it again today.

“It was pretty slow, which is kind of how I like it now,” Waskom said. “I knew I could close in a 53. I knew it would take about that. And I knew if I went at 300 to go, I’d at least get to the lead. I didn’t know if I’d hold it.”

Waskom did hold it and closed in 53.26 to take the win.

Quick Take: Mario Garcia Romo had more in the tank, but admitted he did not run well enough tactically to win

Garcia Romo used a tactical masterclass to win the NCAA indoor title and it looked as if he would run a similar wire-to-wire race tonight. But he surrendered the lead with 500 to go, and once you’re battling for position that late in the race, the 1500 becomes a whole lot harder. Garcia Romo took his chances by staying on the rail but it wound up backfiring. In retrospect, he said it was a mistake to give up the lead, but it was also hard for him to know what was going on behind him at that point.

“This is the 1500,” Garcia Romo said. “It’s hard. They say I’m very good tactically, but sometimes you pay for those mistakes the last 100 meters.”

Men’s steeple: Jaziri wins historically quick race

Prior to tonight, there hadn’t been a sub-8:20 steeple at NCAAs since 1985 and only one man had ever broken 8:19 at NCAAs – the great Henry Rono

Tonight, three men dipped under 8:19 as Eastern Kentucky’s Ahmed Jaziri of Tunisia won in 8:18.70 as Montana State’s Duncan Hamilton and Georgetown’s Parker Stokes both ran 8:18.88 (Hamilton was 2nd by .002). We almost had five sub-8:20s in this one, which is wild as only four men had ever done it at NCAAs before tonight, as Ryan Smeeton of Oklahoma State (8:20.06) and Princeton’s Ed Trippas (8:20.29) just missed.

The Race

In terms of the race, Hamilton took this one out honestly just as everyone expected as he wanted the 8:22 WC standard and he led all the way until the finishing straight when Jaziri went by just before the final barrier. Jaziri got the win by closing his last three laps in 66.02, 64.60, 60.05

Results
1 Ahmed JAZIRI JR EASTERN KENTUCKY 8:18.70 CL
2 Duncan HAMILTON JR MONTANA STATE 8:18.88 [8:18.878] PB
3 Parker STOKES SO GEORGETOWN 8:18.88 [8:18.880] PB
4 Ryan SMEETON SR OKLAHOMA STATE 8:20.06 PB
5 Ed TRIPPAS SR PRINCETON 8:20.29 PB
6 Kenneth ROOKS SO BYU 8:22.56 PB
7 Alec BASTEN SR MINNESOTA 8:23.86 PB
|8 Matthew WILKINSON JR MINNESOTA 8:25.03 PB
9 Levi TAYLOR SO MONTANA STATE 8:33.37
10 Estanis RUIZ FR LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 8:36.02
11 Colton JOHNSEN SR WASHINGTON ST. 8:37.38
12 Bennett PASCOE SR ARKANSAS STATE 9:02.51

The sub-8:20 steeples at NCAAs

1978: 8:12.39 Henry Rono (Washington State), 8:18.63 Henry Rono in semis as well
1979: 8:17.92 Henry Rono (Washington State)
1984: 8:19.27 Farley Gerber (Weber State), 8:19.85 Julius Korir (Washington State)
1985: 8:19.27 Peter Koech (Washington State)
2022: 8:18.70 Ahmed Jaziri (E. Kentucky), 8:18.88 Duncan Hamilton (Montana State), 8:18.88 Parker Stokes (Georgetown)

Quick Take: Duncan Hamilton and Parker Stokes are now the second- and third-fastest Americans of 2022

Hamilton predicted a winning time of sub-8:20 after Wednesday’s prelims and he backed himself to do it, feeling he would be good in a fast race and be able to recover better than most from the prelims. He was mostly correct as he ran his second pb in three days and the fastest time in an NCAA steeple final for 37 years. Problem was, Jaziri ran even faster. But Hamilton was still proud to have run the World Championship standard – a big goal of his entering the meet – and fought hard to hold off Parker Stokes for second.

Two weeks out from USAs, Hamilton and Stokes – both of whom ran 8:18 in this race – are the second- and third-fastest American steeplers this year, behind only reigning US champ Hillary Bor (8:12). There are going to be a lot of guys in the mix for the World Championship team – Brian Barraza and Travis Mahoney have both run 8:19, Benard Keter and Mason Ferlic were 2021 Olympians, and American record holder Evan Jager are lurking – but Hamilton and Stokes are both very much in the mix and should be for years (both men are only 21 years old).

Men’s 800: World leader Moad Zahafi gets NCAA crown

Moad Zahafi did not let the pressure get to him and the Texas Tech senior brought home the NCAA crown in 1:44.49 as Navasky Anderson of Mississippi State overtook Brandon Miller of Texas A&M at the line for 2nd.

This race played out just as it was expected to as Miller had the lead at 400m in 50.90, but was stalked by Zahafi and Anderson. Zahafi would seize the lead at 600 as the top three were clear of everyone else. Miller still had some run left in his legs and tried to challenge Zahafi at the start of the homestretch. However, Zahafi would pull away to the comfortable win down the homestretch and Miller did his best but ran out of steam and could not hold off Anderson for second.

Results
1 Moad ZAHAFI SR TEXAS TECH 1:44.49
2 Navasky ANDERSON JR MISS STATE 1:45.02 PB
3 Brandon MILLER SO TEXAS A&M 1:45.09 SB
4 Jason GOMEZ JR IOWA STATE 1:46.34 PB
5 Sean DOLAN SO VILLANOVA 1:46.38 PB
6 Dayton CARLSON FR ARIZONA STATE 1:46.72 PB
7 Samuel RODMAN FR PRINCETON 1:46.96 PB
8 Jonathan SCHWIND SR LIPSCOMB 1:47.12
9 Yusuf BIZIMANA SO TEXAS 1:47.17

Quick Take: Zahafi made the most of his one year of NCAA competition

Zahafi didn’t need to come to Texas Tech this year. He already owned a master’s degree from back home in Morocco and ran 1:44 last year at age 23. But he felt coming to Lubbock – even though he would only have one year of eligibility – was the best for his development, and the decision has clearly paid off. He’ll head into the summer as the NCAA champion and world leader at 1:43.69. And in a year in which the men’s 800 is very much in flux, that puts him in the medal hunt for next month’s World Championships.

Quick Take: Navasky Anderson broke the 45-year-old Jamaican record in second

On May 13, 1977, Seymour Newman ran 1:45.30 in Kingston to set the Jamaican 800-meter record. For more than 45 years, no Jamaican man had run faster. Until tonight as Anderson, who started the year with a 1:49.30 pb, ran 1:45.02 to take down the national record and book his spot at Worlds in the process (the Worlds standard is 1:45.20).

Men’s 5000: Olin Hacker gets his storybook ending

Seniority was served in the men’s 5000 as seventh-year senior Olin Hacker of the University of Wisconsin ended his NCAA career in style, joining his father Tim (1985 cross country) as an NCAA champ. Hacker kicked past Big 10 rival and sixth-year senior Morgan Beadlescomb of Michigan State to win in 13:27.73 to Beadlescomb’s 13:28.38 thanks to a 54.62 final lap as NAU sophomore Nico Young was third in 13:28.62.

Beadlescomb had taken the lead with 600 to go and tried to control things from the front but coming off the final turn Hacker took the lead and never looked back.

Results
1 Olin HACKER SR WISCONSIN 13:27.73
2 Morgan BEADLESCOMB SR MICHIGAN STATE 13:28.38 z
3 Nico YOUNG SO NORTHERN ARIZONA 13:28.62 SB
4 Ky ROBINSON SO STANFORD 13:30.23
5 Sam GILMAN JR AIR FORCE 13:30.82 PB
6 Michael POWER JR TULSA 13:31.23
7 Brian FAY JR WASHINGTON 13:31.39
8 Alex OSTBERG SR NORTH CAROLINA 13:31.60 PB
9 Cole SPROUT SO STANFORD 13:32.53
10 Casey CLINGER SO BYU 13:33.20
11 Zach FACIONI JR WAKE FOREST 13:33.46 SB
12 Acer IVERSON FR HARVARD 13:34.01
13 Aaron BIENENFELD SR OREGON 13:34.36
14 Ahmed MUHUMED SR FLORIDA STATE 13:36.40
15 Amon KEMBOI SR ARKANSAS 13:37.13
16 Adriaan WILDSCHUTT SR FLORIDA STATE 13:37.60
17 Dylan JACOBS JR NOTRE DAME 13:39.21
18 Vincent MAURI SO ARIZONA STATE 13:45.54
19 Athanas KIOKO SR CAMPBELL 13:47.61
20 Eric VAN DER ELS SR CONNECTICUT 13:48.37
21 Ryan FORD SR IOWA STATE 13:50.03
22 Matthew PEREIRA JR HARVARD 13:53.09
23 Cole BULLOCK SO OLE MISS 13:55.07
24 Dan SCHAFFER SR BINGHAMTON 14:00.95 

Quick Take: It was a long road to the top, but it was worth it for Olin Hacker

Hacker was a top high school recruit, finishing 2nd at Foot Lockers in 2014 (for context on how long the 25-year-old Hacker has been in the NCAA, the winner that year was Grant Fisher). As a result, he entered the University of Wisconsin with big goals.

But reality – and injuries – eventually hit. Through his first five years at Wisconsin, Hacker never finished higher than 6th at a Big 10 Championship and never qualified for NCAAs individually on the track. When the pandemic hit in 2020 – Hacker’s fifth year at Wisconsin – many athletes in his position were forced to leave. Even though the NCAA granted athletes an extra year of eligibility in 2020-21 due to COVID, Badgers AD Barry Alvarez said Wisconsin would not honor scholarships and urged seniors to move on. But Hacker had a sixth year of eligibility due to a medical redshirt (knee and Achilles injuries in 2017) so he returned in 2020-21. And then he realized that he could actually use his “COVID redshirt” and take a seventh year in 2021-22 because the athletic department policy restricting COVID returners was no longer in place.

After years of frustration, Hacker has now been healthy for the last 2.5 years and in 2021-22 the results have finally started to show as he was 30th at NCAA XC and 4th at NCAA indoors in the 3k. The final piece for Hacker was finding the belief that he could actually win an NCAA title. And after wins at Big 10 indoors (3k and 5k) as well as the Oregon Relays 5k (where he set his pb of 13:19) and the Big 10 5k title outdoors, Hacker finally had the confidence he needed come NCAAs.

“I don’t think I believed until the end of this outdoor season,” Hacker said.

Quick Take: Morgan Beadlescomb was happy for Hacker but disappointed to finish second

For every fairytale ending, there is someone on the other side of it, and in this case it was Beadlescomb, who concludes his collegiate career with a pair of runner-up finishes in the mile (indoors) and 5k (outdoors) but no title. After the race, Beadlescomb found Hacker for a hug and congratulated him.

“That was a genuine hug,” Beadlescomb said. “I’m really happy for him. He’s had a really tough career. For him to be able to cap it off like that is great. It just sucks that I’m the guy that has to finish behind him.”

Until 2022, Beadlescomb had owned Hacker during their collegiate careers, but Hacker beat him in the 5k at indoor Big 10s this year which changed the dynamic of their rivalry. You can read more on Beadlescomb and Hacker in this feature from the fall when we profiled a number of 6th- and 7th-year seniors ahead of NCAA XC.

LRC Super Seniors: Meet the 6th- and 7th-Year Seniors (And Even One 9th Year) Running At The NCAA Cross Country Championships This Weekend

Beadlescomb was rightly proud of the progress he’s made since arriving in East Lansing in the fall of 2016, going from a guy who ran the least amount of mileage on the team to the most. The fact that Beadlescomb, known best as a 5k guy, is now a 3:50 miler (#4 in NCAA history) is incredibly impressive.

Beadlescomb will be turning pro now and says he’s deciding between two options he really likes – either the Very Nice Track Club under Ron Warhurst in Ann Arbor, or an unnamed pro group.

“I’m gonna be sad to make the phone call and tell somebody that I’m not coming because I’m very, very sold on both of the programs,” Beadlescomb said.

Quick Take: Nico Young ran well to finish 3rd and is progressing nicely at NAU

Young entered NAU as one of the best distance prospects in US history and so far he has lived up to the hype. He didn’t win NCAAs today, but to finish 3rd as a 19-year-old behind a 7th-year senior and a 6th-year senior is a strong result. Young was known as an aerobic beast in high school, but to be a factor on the track in the NCAA and as a pro, you need to be able to close. Young’s kick isn’t quite there yet, but he’s made definite progress, running 3:37 for 1500 this year and closing his final lap in 55.28 tonight.

“It’s something I’ve been focusing on for a while, mostly during track season,” Young said of his kick. “…I’ve dropped my 1500 time by 7 seconds and closing speed is coming together.”

Sprints 

Men’s 4×100: USC Holds Off Florida and Joseph Fahnbulleh

USC opened a lead on the anchor leg, but its anchor was a 400m runner, Pac-12 champion Johnnie Blockburger. Florida was way back but had the man with the fastest top end speed at NCAAs Joseph Fahnbulleh. Fahnbulleh closed a ton of ground but could not catch USC as Florida had to settle for 2nd.

Pl Team Time
1 USC 38.49 SB
2 FLORIDA 38.52
3 HOUSTON 38.64 SB
4 TENNESSEE 38.83
5 BAYLOR 38.99
6 TEXAS 39.06
7 TCU 39.08
8 NC A&T 39.35
9 CLEMSON 39.44

Men’s 110 Hurdles: Trey Cunningham lowers world lead and gets NCAA Crown

Florida State’s Trey Cunningham had the world leader (13.07) coming in and he lowered that to 13.00 to get the win over Eric Edwards Jr of LSU, who got a great start and pressured Cunningham in lowering his PR from 13.28 to 13.15 in 2nd. Cunningham ran 13.00 despite feeling like he was less than perfect at hurdles #5 and 7.

Pl Name Affiliation Time
1 Trey CUNNINGHAM SR FLORIDA STATE 13.00 CL
2 Eric EDWARDS JR. SR LSU 13.15 PB
3 Joshua ZELLER JR MICHIGAN 13.26
4 Giano ROBERTS JR CLEMSON 13.45 [13.442]
5 Lafranz CAMPBELL SR CLEMSON 13.45 [13.444] PB
6 Kentre PATTERSON SR OHIO STATE 13.46
7 Justin LEASTON SO CHARLOTTE 13.50
8 Omotade OJORA SR USC 13.58
9 Jaheem HAYLES SO SYRACUSE 13.73

Men’s 100: Joseph Fahnbulleh Pulls Upset

There is no doubt the man with the fastest top-end speed at NCAAs is Joseph Fahnbulleh. Fahnbulleh was 5th at the Olympics last year at 200. The problem for Fahnbulleh is he is not a good starter and takes a while to get to top speed. 

Well, he figured it out on Friday as Fahnbulleh came from behind to win the 100 convincingly in 10.00 over Favour Ashe of Tennessee (who had run 9.79 wind aided this year). Pre-race favorite Micah Williams of Oregon, who ran 9.86 at regionals (#2 time in the world this year) got a good start but shockingly faded to 7th and 10.19. What went wrong? We have no idea as he didn’t stop in the mixed zone either on Wednesday or today.

Results
1 Joseph FAHNBULLEH SO FLORIDA 10.00 PB
2 Favour ASHE FR TENNESSEE 10.08 [10.075]
3 Javonte HARDING SO N. CAROLINA A&T 10.08 [10.079] =PB
4 JoVaughn MARTIN JR FLORIDA STATE 10.09
5 Dedrick VANOVER SR FLORIDA 10.16
6 Matthew BOLING SO GEORGIA 10.18
7 Micah WILLIAMS SO OREGON 10.19
8 Da’Marcus FLEMING SO LSU 10.20
9 Shaun MASWANGANYI SO HOUSTON 10.26

Fahnbulleh post-race

Fahnbulleh knows everyone likes to focus on his slow start, but it was fast enough to win two NCAA titles today.

Florida coach Mike Holloway on Fahnbulleh

Holloway said he’s spent a lot of time with Fahnbulleh working on his start and a big key for him this year has been not stressing about needing to be the first out of the blocks and instead just trying to get up to top speed as fast as possible.

“I don’t know of anybody on the planet that has that kind of top-end speed,” Holloway said. “…I’ve never seen anything like that. Nothing like that in my life.”

Men’s 400: Randolph Ross Repeats

In the men’s 400, Randolph Ross of North Carolina A&T became the first man since Kirani James to repeat as 400m champ as he got the win in 44.13 ahead of Champion Allison, who got some good team points for Florida. Ross, who ran 43.85 at NCAAs last year, said his time was “awful” but it was the best in the NCAAs for the 2nd straight year.

Ross still has a year of eligibility left. It will be interesting if he follows his father Duane to Tennessee (where he was just named head coach) and maybe signs an NIL deal.

Pl Name Affiliation Time
1 Randolph ROSS JR N. CAROLINA A&T 44.13 CL
2 Champion ALLISON JR FLORIDA 44.41
3 Elija GODWIN JR GEORGIA 44.50 PB
4 Jonathan JONES JR TEXAS 44.93
5 Ryan WILLIE SO FLORIDA 45.00 PB
6 Richard KUYKENDOLL SO OKLAHOMA 45.73
7 Jevaughn POWELL SO UTEP 45.81
8 Tyler JOHNSON SR OHIO STATE 45.83
DNS Emmanuel BAMIDELE FR TEXAS A&M DNS

400m Hurdles: Sean Burrell Repeats as NCAA champ

LSU’s Sean Burrell repeated as NCAA champ in 48.70. The time was nearly a second slower than his winning time last year of 47.85, which was the U20 world record. However, considering Burrell hadn’t broken 50 seconds this year until the NCAA meet and was only 8th at SECs, winning the NCAA title was amazing.

Pl Name Affiliation Time
1 Sean BURRELL SO LSU 48.70 SB
2 Malik METIVIER SR TEXAS TECH 49.13
3 Isaiah LEVINGSTON SR OKLAHOMA 49.20
4 Nathaniel EZEKIEL FR BAYLOR 49.24
5 Quivell JORDAN-BACOT SR HOUSTON 49.52
6 Drake SCHNEIDER SR MONTANA STATE 49.75
7 Colten YARDLEY SR BYU 50.10
8 James SMITH JR TEXAS A&M 50.19
9 Rivaldo LEACOCK SR NEW MEXICO 50.84

Men’s 200: Joseph Fahnbulleh destroys the competition and makes it look easy

Matthew Boling of Georgia had the lead off the turn but Joseph Fahnbulleh wasn’t too far behind and that meant it was all over as Fahnbulleh hit his top end speed and got the win in 19.83 which ended up .30 ahead of Boling in second.

Fahnbulleh made it sound easy to ESPN’s John Anderson afterwards. “Get out quick, go fast, go forward. Simple.”

Pl Name Affiliation Time
1 Joseph FAHNBULLEH SO FLORIDA 19.83 CL
2 Matthew BOLING SO GEORGIA 20.13
3 Udodi ONWUZURIKE FR STANFORD 20.15
4 Micaiah HARRIS SR TEXAS 20.45
5 Tarsis OROGOT FR ALABAMA 20.48
6 Shaun MASWANGANYI SO HOUSTON 20.51
7 Robert GREGORY SO TCU 20.54
8 Courtney LINDSEY JR TEXAS TECH 20.67
9 Eric HARRISON SR OHIO STATE 20.71

Men’s 4 x 400: Florida caps things off in style 

Florida had the team title wrapped up but they still put on a show, running a facility and meet record time of 2:58.88. That’s the #2 time in NCAA history, only behind the 2:58.53 they ran in April this year.

Pl Team Time
1 FLORIDA 2:58.88 MR
2 USC 2:59.98 SB
3 ALABAMA 3:00.17 SB
4 TEXAS 3:01.69
5 TEXAS A&M 3:01.72
6 KENTUCKY 3:02.98
7 IOWA 3:03.04
8 NC A&T 3:03.15
9 LSU 3:03.40

Field Events:

Men’s Discus: Claudio Romero wins battle of freshman phenoms

UVA freshman Claudio Romero edged NCAA record holder Mykolas Alekna by 2 centimeters to win the discus in 66.17. Alekna is also a freshman (and the son of two-time Olympic champ Virgilijus Alekna), so these two could battle for years to come.  *Results

Men’s Triple: Zimbabwe’s and TCU’s Chengetayi Mapaya Wins

Chengetayi Mapaya set a PR of 17.26 (previous best of 17.13) to get the win over Oregon’s Emmanuel Ihemeje. *Results

Tejaswin Shankar Wins High Jump

Kansas State’s Tejaswin Shankar cleared 2.27 to get the win — his second title after also winning this event at the old Hayward Field in 2018.*Results

Team Battle

Joseph Fahnbulleh — sorry, we mean the University of Florida track and field team won the team title. Florida won going away even though they scored zero points in the mid-d or distance and zero in the field and were just 4th in their conference meet. They put up 54 points by rocking it in the 100 (14), 200 (10), 400 (12), 4 x 100 (8) and 4 x 400 (10) as indoor champ Texas was a well-beaten second with 38.

Top 10 Scores

1 Florida 54
2 Texas 38
3 Tennessee 34
4 Florida State 33
5 Georgia 32
6 LSU 31
7 Princeton 27
8 Stanford 24
9 N. Carolina A&T 22
9 Texas Tech 22

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