Its ‘Gator Hour’ at the NCAA’s, Florida sweeps team titles
The Florida Gators capture their first ever women’s outdoor title at Hayward Field on Saturday. Photo by Logan Hannigan-Downs
By Joe Zochert
The 2022 NCAA Track and Field Championships have come to an end on Saturday after four action-filled days at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
With two collegiate records set and six athletes capturing Outdoor titles after winning Indoor titles earlier this year, this final day had plenty of highlights.
Florida Sweeps NCAA Titles
Florida scored 74 points to win their first outdoor women’s title in program history after winning the men’s championship just the day before.
Florida has become just the seventh school to sweep both titles at the Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Track and Field Championships since 2015.
The day started with Texas as the favorite to win, but within an hour the Gators won three team titles and placed second in two more events to rack up a quick 46 points. Florida head coach Mike Holloway pointed out how this phenomenon has happened with the five titles his men’s teams have won.
“We've done it on the men's side so many times, we call it the ‘Gator Hour’,” said Holloway. “We're not on the scoreboard, then all sudden, boom, we're up at the top.”
The Gators were led by Anna Hall and Jasmine Moore as the two scored 18 and 20 of their team’s 74 points, respectively to help Florida to their championship.
Hall highlights that her teammates seized the moment and that the coaching staff helped get the team ready for this title sweep.
“I think we were ready coming into this meet,” said Hall about her team’s culture. “Our coaches do an amazing job of peaking everybody at the right time. You notice the Gators always seem to PR when the lights are big.”
Anna Hall’s Versatility
The Florida sophomore was nothing short of dominant on Saturday as she scored 6385 points over seven events to win the heptathlon and ran a 54.76 to place second in the 400m hurdles.
The plan to compete in both events was Hall’s idea as a way to score more points for the team.
“I thought I could score more points than that,” she said as she was scheduled to only compete in the heptathlon at the Championships.
Coach Holloway was nothing short of impressed with Hall's determination and ability to compete in nine events over three days.
“That just speaks to who Anna is and I think she understands now how hard of a task it is and I'm glad that she didn't try to really go for the second lap [of the 800m],” said Coach Holloway about Hall’s workload. “She just stayed on her feet and got the victory.”
“But at the end of the day that just speaks to who she is, the competitors she is and how much she will do to help her team.”
Moore’s Season gets More Perfect
Hall’s teammate Jasmine Moore was also a key cog of the championship team as she won the triple jump with 14.32m (46-11.75).
Moore not only won the outdoor titles in both the long and triple jump, the sophomore also won the Indoor titles in the two events as well.
“Being able to execute and finish it off, it's just so rewarding,” she said about this feat.
The Florida men winning the title on Friday helped provide motivation for Moore to win the triple jump.
“It was really exciting to watch the boys do it and watch them all do really well yesterday,” she said. “So just having that in mind and then to just come out here and just stay focused and just finish it off.”
Steiner’s Big Day
Junior Abby Steiner had a Herculean-like effort with 16 individual points and 18 points in relays to help Kentucky place third with 50 points. Steiner placed third in the 100m with a mark of 11.08 and helped the 4x100m team place second with a time of 42.55.
Even with a dominant third leg in the Wildcat’s 4x400m victory, Steiner set a college best in the 200m with a time of 21.80. The 22-year-old beat out LSU’s Favour Ofili, who finished second in 22.05. Ofili also lowered the college best earlier this year with a time of 21.96.
Steiner’s road to this meet is incredible as last year she wasn’t even competing at the championships.
“It's just incredible looking back on the journey and even just looking back on the meet from last year,” she said.
To get under 22 seconds for the first time, Steiner is grateful that everything seems to be coming together at the right time. She plans to compete for a spot at the World Championships in July.
“That was really satisfying to see it all come together at the right time,” she said.“The race execution, I was really proud of. I’m just looking forward to keeping the momentum going and hoping to make my first Worlds team in a couple of weeks.”
Kentucky’s Abby Steiner wins the 200m national title running a collegiate record 21.80 on Saturday. Photo by Logan Hannigan-Downs
Wayment Clocks Top-Five Time
BYU’s Courtney Wayment crushed the college best in the 3,000m steeplechase with a blistering 9:16.00. The senior beat Courtney Frerichs’ college record from 2016 by a whole eight seconds.
With three Indoor titles, Wayment has patiently waited to get her first Outdoor title.
“I've been patient a really long time and I've had a lot of highs and lows so I'm really grateful for this moment,” she said her win.
Even with the rain and running alone on the final couple of laps, Wayment’s time landed her among the top-five times for women’s American steeplechase. The other four are Frerich, Jenny Simpson, Emma Coburn and Colleen Quigley.
“It's pretty special,” she said about the accomplishment. “Hopefully that means good things in the horizon.”
Nail Biter in the 1500m
Ole Miss’ Sintayehu Vissa was victorious in an epic 1500m, clocking 4:09.42 in a race that featured a wild last 300 meters. The sophomore barely outkicked Colorado’s Micaela Degenero, who finished second with a 4:09.62.
For Vissa, this was redemption as Degenero beat her in the mile Indoors earlier this year.
“When I saw her I was like, ‘I don't want to repeat again,’” said Vissa about Degenero’s kick.
With a chance to win her first Outdoor title, Degenero regrets not finishing her strong move on the final curve.
“My one mistake would have been when I came up on Sinta with 150 to go, I should have just flown by her,” she said after the race.
“But I thought maybe I could save something for the last 100 and that was my mistake and you know, you learn something from every race. ”
Photo Finish in 100m
In a shocking 100m finish, Texas’ Julien Alfred out-leaned Oregon’s Kemba Nelson for the title. Both Alfred and Nelson finished at 11.02 and the race went to the monitor as Alfred was eventually declared the winner at 11.015 and Nelson placed second with a time of 11.020.
Despite this close contest, Alfred was confident she was going to be victorious even before the race.
“I will say I won before the race to be honest, I think going in there,” she said about the 100m. “Because I was already so confident I was going to win and my coaches saying to me, ‘It's already yours.’”
The sophomore added invaluable points to her team’s second place finish of 64 points along with leading the 4x100m relay team to victory with a time of 42.42 over Kentucky.
For Nelson, despite the loss, she is content with the way the race went after getting fourth place at last year’s NCAAs.
“I think my goal was to like, just try to get better that and second, I'll take it,” said Nelson about the result.
Schoffield Wins
Boise State’s Kristie Schoffield ran a personal best 2:01.09 to best a stacked field in the women’s 800m. The first time NCAA champion was ecstatic with the win as she knows that track and field is ‘winner takes all.’
“You can run every single race leading up to this perfect and you still have to be perfect on the day,” she said about winning the 800m.
For Schoffield, having people around you is how she has managed to deal with the nature of this sport.
“It sounds so cheesy, but it is literally everyone who's around you and who's supporting you, and who tells you every single day that you know like we believe in you,” said Shoffield.
Kristie Schoffield wins the NCAA women’s 800m title on Saturday, running a new lifetime best 2:01.09. Photo by Logan Hannigan-Downs
Champions Galore
100m Hurdles
LSU’s Alia Armstrong ran a 12.57 in the 100m hurdles to win her first NCAA title. Armstrong beat out USC’s Jasmine Jones and Kentucky’s Masai Russell as they placed second and third, respectively.
The sophomore has vastly improved since last year as she did not qualify for last year’s finals after running a 13.17 in prelims.
5,000m
N.C. State’s Katelyn Tuohy won the 5,000m with a mark of 15:18.39 as she escaped Florida’s Parker Valby in the homestretch. It is the sophomore’s first ever NCAA title as she placed second in both the 3,000m and 5,000m at the Indoor Championships earlier this year.
400m Hurdles
Arkansas’ Britton Wilson convincingly won the 400m hurdles with a time of 53.86 for her first ever NCAA title. Wilson went on to help the Razorbacks get third in the 4x400m relay to end the night as the sophomore contributed 10 points individually and helped score six points in the relay.
Discus
Arizona State’s Jorinde Van Klinken won the discus title with a throw of 62.16m (203-11) on her fifth attempt. It is the senior’s second NCAA title as she won last year’s discus throw as well.
Oregon’s Jaida Ross made it to the finals after throwing 53.84m (176-8) on her second attempt. Ross made it to the final flights in both the shot put and discus.
400m
Florida’s Talitha Diggs set a new personal best in her victory in the 400m with a time of 49.99. The sophomore also won the Indoor title earlier this year with a time of 50.98.
Diggs’10 points in the 400m was part of ‘Gator Hour’ when Florida scored 46 points en route to the team championship.
High Jump
Texas A&M’s Lamara Distin took home the title in the high jump with the 1.95m (6-4.75) after getting second place in the event last year to Rachel Glenn, who placed third this year with a height of 1.86m (6-1.25).
The junior has completed a successful 2022 track and field season as Distin also won the NCAA Indoor Title in the high jump earlier this year with a 1.92m (6-3.5).