Sanya Richards Ross after her wind-aided 10.89 dash in Austin (© Kirby Lee)
The wind at the Texas Relays is always a major factor in the performances, and this year (28-31 March) was no exception. In the final two days, when most of the action took place, most straightaway races and horizontal jumps were wind-aided, the majority in the 2 to 3 m/s range.
Sanya Richards-Ross wowed the crowd with a wind-aided 10.89 100m victory (+2.9) on the meet’s final day. Just three weeks after winning the IAAF World Indoor 400m championship in 50.79, she showed no signs of fatigue from her indoor campaign, taking command of the 100 here in the first few metres and moving steadily away to win by more than two metres from Porsche Lucas’ 11.11w. For the first time in this observer’s memory, Richards-Ross looked like a world-class 100m sprinter rather than a 400 star running in a 100m race for speed work.
In the University division women’s 100, NCAA indoor and outdoor 200m champion Kimberlyn Duncan of Louisiana State was almost as dominant, winning by a metre-and-a-half in 10.94 (+3.0). Duncan also anchored LSU’s wins in the 4x100 (42.99) and 4x200 (1:30.01), and threw in a 200m leg on the Lady Tigers’ winning sprint medley. With six hard races in two days (heats and finals), Duncan looks to be ready for the Olympic Trials right now.
Perhaps the best single performance, though, was in the men's 4x100m Relay, where four unknown sprinters from Auburn University - Marcus Rowland, Harry Adams, Michael DeHaven and Keenan Brock - carried the baton once around the track in a stunning 38.30.
Retired Auburn coach Mel Rosen said, "You may not have heard of them until new, but you'll hear a lot of them from now on."
In the men’s 100 series, Florida’s Jeff Demps won the University 100m by a similar margin in 10.01 (+2.9); and at the other end of the scale, Marvin Bracy won the high school 100m by more than three metres in 10.06 (+2.4).
The top hurdles race was the men’s University final, which produced a tight three-way finish among Barrett Nugent, 13.39, Shane Braithwaite, 13.43 and Kieron Stewart (JAM), 13.46 – all aided by a 2.9 m/s aiding wind. Perhaps even more impressive, though, was 31-year-old Chris Thomas, who PB’d in 13.45 (+1.7, lucky he) to win the Invitational 110m highs. The best 400m Hurdles race was won by Trinidad’s Janiel Bellille, now a junior college freshman, who cruised to an eight-metre victory in 55.91.
In the men’s relay events, Texas A’s 4x800m team set a meet record of 7:15.99, the fastest leg being a 1:47.1 carry by Joey Roberts The Aggie men also won a quick 4x200m in 1:21.21.The top men’s 4x400m was a 3:01.54 turned in by a pickup team (I mean, four different uniforms, even!), named ‘Central Texas All-Stars’ and anchored by a determined-looking Jeremy Warriner in 44.58.
Field events highlights
Amy Acuff, apparently ready to try for her fifth U.S. Olympic team, won the Invitational women’s High Jump and tied the meet record with a 1.95m clearance, her best jump since 2009. The willowy Acuff, now 36, a professional acupuncturist here in Austin, set a U.S. junior record of 1.93m when she was a Texas high schooler in 1993.
With the wind to help them, six women long jumpers reached 6.50m or better. The winner was Chelsea Hayes of Louisiana Tech, who jumped 6.86m with a +5.0 tailwind.
Whitney Gipson of TCU, third in 6.67m (+2.6) had the best wind-legal jump, a good 6.62m.
NCAA indoor triple jump champion Michelle Jenije won the women’s Triple Jump here. The Florida State senior’s winning jump was a wind-aided 13.47, and she also had a wind-legal 13.34. Second and third with wind-OK jumps were Andrea Geubelle at 13.38 (PB) and Keri Emanuel at 13.36 (PB) – both aided by ‘legal’ 1.7 tailwinds.
Men’s discus throwers found the quartering wind much to their liking; four of them threw 59 metres or better, with Oklahoma senior Luke Bryant edging Jason Morgan (JAM) 60.27m to 60.15m. Third was Texas freshman Ryan Crouser at 59.58m.
The best women’s throw was by UN-Las Vegas’ Amanda Bingson who threw 67.24m in the hammer to beat Hungarian Jenny Ozoria of Southern California (66.44m).
In the Decathlon, the University of Texas’ Isaac Murphy set an impressive personal best, winning with 8067 points, helped mightily by wind-legal marks of 10.47 (+1.5) and 7.53m (+1.3). He was followed by three others over 7900: Romain Martin (FRA), 7977, Wesley Bray, 7932, and Kurt Felix (GRN), 7919. World champion Trey Hardee didn’t compete in the Decathlon, but posted marks in three individual events – Long Jump, 7.29m (+2.7), Discus throw (48.86m) and in the hurdles a PB 13.61 (+1.9).
There were two noteworthy high school performances. Shelbi Vaughan of Mansfield Legacy School set a U.S. national high school record in the girls’ discus with a throw of 58.36m. And Alex Austin of nearby San Marcos won the boys’ high jump at 2.13m; his father, Charles, was the 1996 Olympic high jump gold medalist at 2.39m.
James Dunaway for the IAAF
