Upload a Photo Upload a Video Add a News article Write a Blog Add a Comment
Blog Feed News Feed Video Feed All Feeds

Folders

Top 10 DI NCAA PerformersMar 10th 2013, 7:47pm
All 9
 

 

Top 10 DI NCAA Performers

Published by
Scott Bush   Mar 10th 2013, 7:47pm
Comments

What a weekend at the NCAA DI Indoor Track and Field Championships. Multiple championship records were taken down, big-time performances were put up across the board and a collegiate record was smashed. Here are ten of the top performers from the weekend.

NCAA DI Indoor T&F Championships: Event Page / Results

1. Tia Brooks (Sr., Oklahoma) - It's hard to imagine having a better year than Tia Brooks had in 2012. Not only did the Oklahoma standout win both the indoor and outdoor NCAA titles in the shot put, but she also qualified for the Olympics. Well, it looks as though Brooks is on a mission to have an even more impressive 2013 campaign, as she crushed the collegiate shot put record Saturday with a toss of 63-0.75 (19.22m). Brooks' mark bested the collegiate record of 62-10, set by North Carolina's Laura Gerraughty in 2004. 

Brooks' mark is the US#5 mark all-time indoors and currently ranks her #4 in the world. As impressive as her record-setting throw was, she showed her dominance through her entire collection of throws, as all five of her scored marks were better than any other throw on the weekend. Brooks' series of throws were 18.96-FOUL-19.22-18.29-18.11-18.31.

2. Lawi Lalang (Jr., Arizona) - It's incredibly difficult for a distance runner to pull off a distance double at the NCAA Championships. It's even more difficult pulling off double victory on the same day. After a disappointing loss at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall, Lalang was on a mission this indoor season to prove once again that he's the best distance runner at the collegiate level. 

Lalang proved himself in amazing fashion Saturday, winning the mile in a championship record time of 3:54.74, besting Michigan's Kevin Sullivan's mark of 3:55.33 from 1995. Lalang then came back a short time later to run a meet record of 7:45.94 to win the 3,000m, besting Colorado's Adam Goucher's mark of 7:46.03 from 1998. Lalang beat deep fields in both races, edging Ryan Hill's (Sr., North Carolina State) 3:55.25 runner-up performance in the mile and Kemoy Campbell's (Jr., Arkansas) 7:46.95 runner-up time in the 3,000m. 

3. Andrea Geubelle (Sr., Kansas) - There were only three multi-event individual winners at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this year, and Geubelle was one of them. The Washington-state native finished up her indoor collegiate career with victories in both the long jump and the triple jump, while helping her Kansas squad to a runner-up team performance. 

Geubelle nearly eclipsed Suzette Lee's (LSU) indoor collegiate record of 14.25m in the triple jump with her 46-6.25 (14.18m) winning mark. A day earlier, Geubelle took home the long jump title with a 21-6 (6.55m) performance. Her tandem wins make her the favorite in both events heading into the outdoor season.

4. Abbey D'Agostino (Jr., Dartmouth) - The final double-win performance (Lalang and Geubelle being the other two) came from Dartmouth's D'Agostino. The junior beat strong fields in both the 5,000m and 3,000m, showing she's taken her talent to a whole new level in 2013. After a disappointing runner-up finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in the fall, now healthy and running strong, D'Agostino beat NCAA cross country champion Betsy Saina (Sr., Iowa State) on Friday in the 5,000m, running away from the field and finishing five seconds up on runner-up Saina in 15:28.11.

D'Agostino then came back on Saturday afternoon, sprinting away from rival Jordan Hasay (Sr., Oregon) to win 9:01.08-9:06.61. While D'Agostino winning both races wasn't necessarily a surprise, her margin of victory (5.55 and 5.53 seconds) was, proving she's the top woman to watch over the upcoming outdoor track season.

5. Brianna Rollins (Jr., Clemson) - After setting the collegiate record in the 60m hurdles earlier in the season, with a 7.78 performance in January, Rollins was the clear favorite heading to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Clemson junior did not disappoint, running away from runner-up Tiffani Reynolds (Jr., Baylor) to nearly break her mark, as she won in 7.79 seconds. Rollins' performance was made even more impressive, as the top four finishers all finished in final times of 8.11 or faster. The 2012 outdoor 100m hurdle runner-up now sets her sights on taking home the top prize this outdoor season.

6. Derek Drouin (Sr., Indiana) - For much of the indoor season, Olympian Erik Kynard (Sr., Kansas State) has received most of the attention in the men's high jump. However, it wasn't Kynard raising the first place trophy over his head on Saturday, rather it was Indiana standout Drouin. Drouin has shown time and again to be one of the very best high jumpers in collegiate history and the senior came away with the title with his 7-8.5 (2.35m) jump. Drouin was performance in his series over his winning mark of 2.35m, then took a stab at Hollis Conway's collegiate record of 2.37m set in 1989. While Drouin wasn't able to clear the mark, he set himself up as the man to beat this coming outdoor season.

7. Shaunae Miller (Fr., Georgia) - It's rare for a woman to win the 400m event at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, but Miller showed that she's a rising star in the sport with her dominant 50.88 victory Saturday. Miller ran away from runner-up Regina George (Sr., Arkansas), winning by .17 and showing that in the right race next in 2014, Hampton standout Francena McCorory's collegiate record of 50.54 could be broken. Miller, who is from the Bahamas, competed in the 2012 Olympic Games and was the 400m World Youth Champion in 2011 and World Junior Champion in 2010. 

8. Eddit Lovett (Jr., Florida) - While only a junior, Lovett nearly bested the collegiate record in the men's 60m dash Saturday, winning his first NCAA individual title in a championship record time of 7.50. Lovett's great start allowed him to cruise to a decisive 7.50-7.59 win over Wayne Davis II (Jr., Texas A&M). Lovett's winning 10 points also helped push his Florida team to a runner-up team finish. With both Lovett and Davis II returning in 2014, Reggie Torian's (Wisconsin) 7.47 collegiate record from 1997 is in serious jeopardy.

9. Aurieyall Scott (Jr., Central Florida) - Nearly pulling off the double-victory in the women's short sprints, Scott placed second to Kimberly Duncan (Sr., LSU) in the 200m dash, 22.56-22.71, while coming back on Saturday to best Oregon standout English Gardner (So., Oregon) 7.13-7.15. Central Florida showed their sprint strength, with Scott taking home 18 points for her squad, while teammate Octavious Freeman placed third in both the 60m dash and 200m dash, as the UCF squad placed fifth in the team scoring.

10. Brigetta Barrett (Sr., Arizona) - After a slow start to her indoor season, 2012 Olympian Barrett showed why she's the cream of the crop in the women's high jump, winning in a near collegiate record performance of 6-4.75 (1.95m). Barrett glided through her progression of jumps, only missing once up to her 1.95m winning jump. After clearing 1.95m, she made three attempts to take down Destinee Hooker's (Texas) collegiate record of 1.98m. While she missed on all three attempts, Barrett seems ready to take her performances to new heights this outdoor season.



History for NCAA D1 Indoor Championships
YearResultsVideosNewsPhotosBlogs
2024 1 90 33 180  
2023 1 111 13 469  
2022 1 72 11 439  
Show 25 more
 
+PLUS highlights
+PLUS coverage
Live Events
Get +PLUS!