by Larry Eder
NCAA Division I T&F Champs
Eugene, Oregon
June 12, 2015: Day Three. Men’s Finals
11,168 attendees, warm, sunny, strong wind gusts down home straight.
100m Final
Few pundits would have bet on Andre De Grasse (USC) as race favorite after Trayvon Bromell’s (Baylor) convincing semi-final win in 9.90.
Thus De Grasse’s upset win left many spectators’ jaws on the ground. He was a clear winner from 40 meters on. Pulling inexorably away from Bromell, De Grasse won in a superb wind (+2.7fps) aided 9.75 over Bromell’s still creditable 9.88. Jarrion Lawson’s (Arkansas) 3rdplace in 9.90 and Senoj-jay Givans (Texas) 4th in 9.97, were all windy (+2.7fps). Kendal William’s (Florida State) windy 9.98 made it five under 10.0. That’s some serious sprinting, wind aided or not! De Grasse’s time was number 2 in collegiate history.
Said Bromell, “It was just an unbelievable feeling. I never thought I could run that fast but I just have to believe in myself and now that I’ve run that fast it’s just changed my whole perspective on running”.
110m Hurdles Final
Oregon’s Johnathan Cabral briefly led up to the 4th hurdles flight, until race favorite Omar McLeod (Arkansas) pulled steadily away to the finish to register 13.01. This was a display of perfect technical hurdling. Although a windy time (+3.9), McLeod’s time was a mere .01 off legendary Renaldo Nehemiah’s College Best of 13.00, set in 1979.
Nevertheless, McLeod’s time was still the fastest in the world this year and number 2 in meet history.
Cabral’s 13.22 runner-up and Isaac William’s (Houston) 3rd in 13.31 were solid place-getters.
Said McLeod, “This win actually meant a lot more than indoors, even though I broke the collegiate record in indoors”.
200m Final
De Grasse, having intimidated the field with his impressive 100m victory in 9.75, made short work of the 200m field, winning in 19.58 over Florida’s Dedric Dukes who ran 19.86. Trayvon Bromell went stride for stride with Dukes, to get a photo finish third place in the same time. The top three times are the three best in meet history under all conditions.
Said De Grasse of his 200m win, “I just believed in myself. Adrenaline was still going and I just kept pushing it”.
400m Final
LSU’s Vernon Norwood demonstrated a spirited challenge and well-deserved ultimate victory in 45.10, as he moved steadily away over the final 60 meters of the longest sprint. DJ Zahn (Illinois) faded to 3rd, as Norwood cruised away, while Oregon’s Marcus Chambers edged past Zahn to move up into a popular second place in 45.59. Norwood’s win by 0.49 seconds is the largest since 2002. Lockwood said, after the race, “It felt great; showed the hard work I put in with these guys”.
Defending champion, Texas A&M’s Deon Lendore pulled up lame at the 140 meter mark.
800m final
Collins Kibbett (Arizona) led a bunched group through the bell lap in a slow 55.66 from Shaquille Walker (BYU) and Clayton Murphy (Akron), with eventual winner Edward Kemboi (Iowa State) tucked in 5th place.
As the pace in the second lap ramped up, the bunched group jockeyed for a clear run. Murphy burst out of the pack, opening up a few surprise yards, but Kemboi and Kidder gathered him in, as Murphy faded down the home straight in a final desperate kick. Kemboi’s 1:49.26 included a 53 second last lap.
Defending champion Brandon McBride (Miss State) was never in contention, finishing 6th.
Men’s 1500m
In the first individual track final of the day; the 1500M came down to an all-out sprint over the final 300M. With a 63 second opening lap, followed by a pedestrian 71 second lap, they might have saved us all some time by lining the runners up and racing them off over 400M. Former Duck, Chad Noelle–now with Oklahoma State–prevailed with a 52.03 final lap over Zach Perkins (Air Force) who kicked a 51.93 last lap. Their schoolboy times of 3:54.96 to 3:55.08, and Oregon’s Blake Haney’s 3rd place in 3:55.12 give absolutely no indication of what time these milers are really capable of.
“I knew I could do it, but then actually doing it is another thing. And it felt really good to come back and do it at Hayward; first time back”, said a pleased Noelle afterwards.
As a former distance runner myself, I get that no one wants to take the pace out in a jog-and-kick race, but it would have been refreshing if someone had the guts to at least keep the pace honest. We did not see who is the best metric miler in this NCAA Final. We merely saw the fastest kicker.
This was a talented field, but if these milers want to break into the big league, they’ll have to learn how to kick off a fast early pace. Personally, I’d rather finish in the middle of the pack after leading with an honest pace, than win a jog-and-kick race like this.
3000m Steeplechase
UTEP’s defending champion, Anthony Rotich, was the clear Steeples favorite, and never looked like he was struggling at any stage. Early leaders were Edwin Kibichiy (Louisville), from Zak Seddon (Florida State), with Rotich tucked in 3rd. Then, the race was shaken up in the 4th lap when Kibichiy wiped out on the home straight hurdle, and he would never be able to make up the lost ground, eventually finishing 9th.
Rotich took over the pace making in lap 5 from Seddon, Brandon Doughty (Oklahoma), Kebenei, and Ole Hesselbjerg (Eastern Kentucky) who had worked his way up.
In the bell lap, Rotich put in a supercharged sprint at the 200M mark, dragging Kebenei along with him. Rotich moved away from Kebenei and Hesselbjerg down the home straight, but Kebenei fought back, staying within 2 yards to the finish. Rotich’s time of 8:33.90 was a couple of yards ahead of Kebenei’s 8:34.28, and Hesselbjerg’s 8:36.09. Kibichy struggled into 9th place.
