By Lev Rourke
While the Oregon track team takes an easy week, they watched from afar on Friday as rival teams competed at the Texas and Florida Relays. Both meets wrap up on Saturday.
Texas A&M, which will be in Eugene next weekend for the annual Pepsi Team meet, ran the fastest times of the day in the prelims of the men’s and women’s 4x1 and the women’s 4x4 at Texas Relays. The Aggies, who won both NCAA outdoor team championships a year ago and are expected to contend for those titles again this June at Hayward Field, ran 43.76 and 39.80 in the 4x1s and 3:34.47 in the W4x4.
At the Florida Relays in Gainesville, the host Gators, winners last month of the NCAA indoor men’s team championship, were especially impressive in the 400, where Christian Taylor – primarily a horizontal jumper – merely ran 45.55, just ahead of teammate Calvin Smith, 45.62. Not far back were freshman Tony McQuay (46.43) and R. J. Anderson (46.86). McQuay ran 45 indoors this winter. Clearly, this is a team capable of breaking 3:00, something rarely accomplished by a college team.
In the men’s 4x1500 late Friday at Texas, Arkansas won by less than a second over Albany of New York, 15:26.43-15:27.39, with Texas a close 3rd. The Razorbacks cut it close, running without their ace, Dorian Ulrey, who won the NCAA indoor 3k a few weeks ago, raising a question of Ulrey’s current health. He is a senior and has been by far the steadiest member of a somewhat shaky squad under 2nd-year head coach Chris Bucknam.
In the sprint heats at Texas, unknown Luther Ambrose, a sophomore from Louisiana-Monroe, had the day’s fastest time, 10.22. At Florida in timed sections, Jeffrey Demps, the Florida football star, won in an impressive 10.11. Javon Young of Charleston Southern ran 10.17w in another section.
The Arkansas women also had a hot race at Texas, losing a close battle with LSU in the sprint medley relay. Latavia Thomas held off freshman Stephanie Brown, 3:43.98-3:44.40. Brown, a budding star from Illinois who split 2:04.7 on the anchor 800, had outkicked the senior veteran Thomas a night earlier in the 4x8.
3:17 needed to make HS 4x4 final at Texas
They love their high school sprint relays in Texas, and the Texas Relays demonstrates why. In the boys’ 4x4, 3:17.43 was necessary to make the nine-school final. Kingwood Park led the way with 3:14.55. In the girls’ 4x4 heats, six teams were under 3:50, led by Westbury-Houston 3:46.19.
Ellison of Killeen, led by its star sprinter Prezel Hardy, cruised a 1:26.31 in the boys’ 4x2 heats. Hardy ran 10.58 in the 100 prelims.
At Florida, Ryan Lankford of the Paxon School won the boys 100 in 10.41w, Octavious Freeman of Lake Wales 11.51 in the girls. Freeman ran 11.30 a week ago.
In the college sprints at Florida, unknown Marecia Pemberton, a 20-year-old freshman at Florida State from St. Kitts, won the women’s 100 in 11.20w; Francena McCorory of Hampton won the women’s 200 in a fast 22.92, and Evander Wells of Tennessee won the men’s 200 in 20.47, one of 11 collegians to dip under 21.00.
Prep highlights at Florida also included, in the 800s, sophomore Ebony Rose (Dr. Krop-Miami) 2:12.14 in the girls, junior Isaiah Smith (Lake Weir) 1:52.61 in the boys; in the 1600, Shelby Hayes of Winter Park 4:53.38 in the girls and Brookwood teammates Tyler Anyan and Carter Hewitt 1-2 in the boys, both running 4:12.
Other high school winners at Texas included the amazing Chelsey Sveinsson, of the Greenhill School, a meet-record 10:07.15 3,200; Craig Lutz (Marcus-Louisville) 8:58.71 to win the boys; Jeron Robinson (Travis) 7-2 in the high jump, Mark Jackson (Taylor) 24-8 ¼ in the LJ.
Other college winners at Florida included Queen Harrison of Virginia Tech, an outstanding hurdle double of 12.65/56.06; Charlotte Browning of Florida, 2:06.42 800; Sharif Webb of Kentucky, 1:47.75 in the men’s 800, one of 11 runners under 1:50; Johnny Dutch of South Carolina, 49.52 in the IH.