Donald Thomas sails over 2.33m - NCAA indoors (© Kirby Lee)
A World best in the rarely contested 20-pound weight throw, the emergence of a new High Jump star, and a collegiate record in the women’s 400 metres were the features of the second day of the NCAA Indoor Championships (10 March).
Two weeks ago Brittany Riley of Southern Illinois University improved the World best in the 20-pound weight from 24.23 to 24.27. Tonight Riley improved it by more than metre – 1.29m, to be exact – with a mammoth toss of 25.56.
Riley’s best in 2006 was 22.99 on February 10, 2006, so she has improved by 3.57m in 13 months. It will be interesting to see if she can translate that kind of improvement to the Hammer when the throwers move outdoors. Experience says that some throwers’ indoor marks are reflected in their outdoor performances. Others are not.
A new star emerged in the men’s High Jump. Donald Thomas cleared six heights without a miss up to and including 2.33. Then he had a couple of decent attempts at 2.37 without success.
In the women’s 400 metres, Natasha Hastings of South Carolina blazed the two laps in 50.80, the second fastest American indoor 400 ever; it also puts her in the top 25 on the all-time world list.
The men’s 60m dash was won, in something of an upset, by Travis Padgett, in 6.56, a whisper ahead of Demi Omole’s 6.57. Favoured Walter Dix, easy winner of yesterday’s 200, stumbled early in the race and coasted in last in 7.09. Ricardo Chambers (JAM) won the men’s 400 in 45.65, beating the slow-start, fast-finish Aaron Buzard’s 45.86.
After Chris Solinsky won the men’s 5000m on Friday (9), he was expected to win his third consecutive 3000m (Sat 10). But Lopez Lomong, a student a Northern Arizona University who was born in Sudan, tracked the front-running Solinsky until the last 150 metres, then unleashed an unbeatable sprint to win by more than 10 metres in a good 7:49.74.
Lomong wasn’t the only East African to shine in the distances. Sally Kipyego (KEN) won the 3000m comfortably in 9:02.05, to go with last night’s 5000-metre win in 15:27.42. She looked as if she could run a lot faster if she had to.
In other field event results of some note, Erica McLain won the women’s Triple Jump in 13.91, and Noah Bryan edged Russell Winger in the men’s Shot Put, 20.55 to 20.52
James Dunaway for the IAAF
