Holloway sets American record in 60-meter hurdles and adds victory in 60-meter dash, accounting for half of Gators’ points to secure back-to-back team titles; North Dakota State’s Otterdahl and Wisconsin’s McDonald both complete significant sweeps

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Grant Holloway was the one-man highlight reel at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships, but it was the entire Florida roster that rose to the occasion to secure back-to-back men’s titles Saturday at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

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Holloway set the American record in the 60-meter hurdles, elevating to the No. 3 all-time global performer by clocking 7.35 seconds, and added a victory in the 60-meter dash in 6.50 seconds to become the first male athlete to sweep both titles in the same year since South Carolina’s Terrence Trammell in 2000.

Holloway added a third-place finish Friday in the long jump and contributed to a third-place effort Saturday in the 4x400-meter relay to contribute 27.5 of Florida’s 55-point total, with Houston placing second with 44, LSU taking third with 31 and Stanford and Wisconsin tying for fourth at 30.

Holloway became the second-highest scoring male athlete in a single year in NCAA Division 1 Indoor history, trailing only the 28 points Oregon’s Edward Cheserek accumulated in 2017.

Florida didn’t win another individual title aside from Holloway’s double, but did receive 19 points in the 60-meter dash, with Hakim Sani Brown (6.55) placing third and Ryan Clark (6.61) finishing sixth, in addition to scoring in eight events overall to secure a fifth team championship in the past decade. Florida became the first team to repeat since Oregon won three consecutive titles from 2014-16.

North Dakota State fifth-year senior Payton Otterdahl became the first male athlete in Division 1 finals history since Ohio State’s Dan Taylor in 2004 to sweep the shot put and weight throw championships, unleashing a lifetime-best 79-1.25 (24.11m) on his final attempt in the latter event to punctuate the double.

Otterdahl, already the collegiate indoor record holder in the shot put, improved on his own No. 5 all-time collegiate indoor mark in the weight throw, completing the most impressive indoor season ever a by Division 1 male thrower. Otterdahl also had four of the top six all-time collegiate indoor shot put marks this year.

Wisconsin fifth-year senior Morgan McDonald became the first Badgers male athlete to win the 3,000 and 5,000 indoor titles in the same year, after Chris Solinsky captured the 3,000 in 2005-06 and the 5,000 in 2007.

McDonald duplicated his performance from Feb. 9 at the NYRR Millrose Games by holding off Stanford senior Grant Fisher to prevail by a 7:52.85 to 7:53.15 margin to secure the 3,000 crown. He joined Cheserek, who achieved the feat in 2014, 2016 and 2017, along with another former Oregon standout Eric Jenkins in 2015, in sweeping both championships in the same year.

South Carolina State’s Tyrell Richard not only captured the first national indoor title in program history by winning the 400 meters, but ran the No. 4 time in collegiate history and No. 5 all-time in the world at 44.82 seconds.

Kahmari Montgomery, who finished second to Richard in the 400 in 45.03, later anchored Houston to victory in the 4x400 relay, teaming with Jermaine Holt, Obi Igbkowe and Amere Lattin to clock 3:05.04.

Northern Arizona redshirt junior Geordie Beamish became the first Lumberjacks athlete to win the national indoor title in the mile, clocking 4:07.69.

Kansas junior Bryce Hoppel improved from eighth place last year in the 800 meters to capture the championship in 1:46.46.

Texas Tech junior Divine Oduduru rebounded from placing seventh in the 60-meter dash in 6.62 to win the 200 in 20.49.

Alabama junior Shelby McEwen came through with a clutch third-attempt clearance at 7-6 (2.29m) to win the first high jump title for the Crimson Tide.

Virginia junior Jordan Scott benefited from national leader Tahar Triki of Texas A&M scratching from the triple jump competition to capture the championship with a third-round leap of 55-5 (16.89m).