At the Oxy Invitational at Occidental College in Los Angeles, many big stars showed out and put on a show.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone posted wins in both the 100m hurdles (12.71s) and the 200 meters (22.38s). Always a treat to see McLaughlin-Levrone’s name on a start list, especially when she is running varied events from her primary, world-record holding event, the 400m hurdles. Presumably these are tune-up races ahead of the upcoming LA Grand Prix, at which she is currently scheduled to race the 400mH. The races at Oxy were Sydney’s first individual starts since the summer of 2023.
Michael Norman started his season with a strong 400 meter showing. The 2022 World Champion posted 44.21 seconds for his race, over a full second ahead fellow pros Isaiah Jewett (45.50s) and Michael Cherry (46.31s). We have not seen Norman race a 400m since 2022, with just three total races across 100m and 200m in 2023. Ahead of the 2023 World Championships, Norman noted “After an extremely frustrating season I’ve decided to step away from track for the remainder of the 2023 season in order to refocus for the 2024 Paris Olympics.” Great to see him back on the track – so far, so good.
Nikki Hiltz posted a solid 800 meter performance, running 2:00.33, coming through the finish just ahead of Anna Camp Bennett. Nice speedwork for Hiltz who is coming off a hot indoor season in which they earned the 1500m USA Championship and followed it with a silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
Jenna Prandini bested both Briana Williams and Keni Harrison in the 100m. Prandini finished in 11.25 seconds with Williams and Harrison at 11.54 and 11.55, respectively. At last week’s Fresno State Invitational, Prandini posted 11.08 seconds with a +2.2 wind, giving her solid W’s two weeks in a row. This was Harrison’s first individual race of the season, and like McLaughlin-Levrone, a departure from her primary event, the 100m hurdles.
The men’s 1500m saw a solid showing from Matt Centrowitz, who ran his fastest race since 2021. He finished third with a time of 3:35.39, behind NAU’s Nico Young (3:34.56) and Colin Sahlman (3:34.64). Also in the race was Craig Engels (3:36.11) and Luis Grijalva (3:41.59). Notably, Young also ran the 5000m, winning the race by 21 seconds, posting a solid 13:36.58.
Elly Henes raced the 1500m, breaking the tape in 4:12.19. Her personal best time in the event came at this invite in 2022 (4:05.71). In February, Henes shared that over the offseason, she had suffered a “a spontaneous pneumothorax” and that her lung was 20% collapsed. Following that, she raced at both the BU Valentine meet in and USA Championships indoors. This was her second race of the outdoor season after posting a 31:07 for 10,000m at Sound Running’s The TEN in March.
Jasmine Todd jumped her best of the season, leaping to a 6.43m long jump and finishing atop the podium.
