Jasmine Todd leaves it all on the track, takes third in the 100 meters

This is Zac Neal’s first piece for RunBlogRun. Zac is a student under the watchful eye of Lori Shontz, who is a Journalism instructor at the University of Oregon. Lori developed a program for journalists in track & field.

Zac Neal’s piece on Jasmine Todd and her third place in the women’s 100 meter final on Friday evening is a story of redemption.

Jasmine Todd, photo by Adam Eder/Shoe Addicts

Redemption is a big thing for athletes, as there are both good days and bad days. Two weeks ago, Jasmine had a rough one.

But, on Friday, June 26, Jasmine Todd ran a glorious 100 meters.

Enjoy the story by Zac Neal.

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By Zac Neel

EUGENE, Oregon – A long two weeks passed by, and Oregon sophomore Jasmine Todd waited patiently for her chance at redemption. Earlier in June, she had failed to qualify for the 100-meter final at the NCAA championships despite being the Pac-12 champion.

Finally, on a hot Friday afternoon at Hayward Field, Todd was able to put her performance at the NCAA championships in the past.

She placed third in the 100 meters at the USATF Outdoor championships, guaranteeing her a spot on the U.S. national team that will compete in China this August. Her time of 10.92 seconds tied teammate Jenna Prandini’s University of Oregon record.

“At NCAAs it was just, everybody has a bad race, and my bad race came at that time,” said Todd. “It was unfortunate, but knowing that my collegiate season was over, I came in here with nothing to lose and just left it all out there on the track.”

There were several familiar faces around Todd as she lined up for the final, with both Prandini and former Oregon runner English Gardner both to her left.

Tori Bowie won the race in 10.81. Gardner finished in second place at 10.86 after qualifying for the final with 10.79, the fastest time in the world this year, and the seventh fastest time ever by an American. Todd was less than a 10^thof a second behind.

“I had no idea I came in third when I crossed the line,” said Todd. “I was looking up at the board just hoping to make it in the top six, and I saw I was in third and was just, I was speechless.”

Prandini, the reigning NCAA champion, came in sixth at 10.96.

“I’m not disappointed — sixth place in the U.S. nationals isn’t that bad,” said Prandini. “It was a good race. Everybody out there was so deserving of being there. I was just honored to be on the line with everybody, and I’m so proud of Jasmine and English.”

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself."

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