Track and field is not a sport for the faint of heart, especially when it comes to competing in multiple events over a limited period of time. There’s a physical, mental and emotional strain that comes with competing at high level meets, let alone multiple events at those meets.
Then there’s the element of weather. Sometimes it’s hot, sometimes it’s humid. This was the case at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas. Many athletes competed in multiple events during the championship meet, and delivered sensational performances in the four-day event.
Athletes such as Jasmine Moore of Florida, who finished third in the long jump, came back on the final day of competition and broke Keturah Orji’s collegiate record in the triple jump with her mark of 14.78m. Her teammate, Emmanuel Bamidele won the men’s 400m final with a new personal best of 44.24, and then followed his performance up with a remarkable leg on Florida’s collegiate-record breaking 4×400 relay performance, which gave them the championship win.
Julian Alfred of Texas secured the trifecta when it comes to the events that she won on the day, as she took home national titles in the women’s 4×100 relay, the 100m (10.72, 2.3m/s) as well as the 200m (21.73 2.5m/s.)
While the amazing results of the likes of the aforementioned athletes should be celebrated, the performances of the athletes who might have had a disappointing championship outing should not be discounted.
While Katelyn Tuohy didn’t have the race that she wanted to in the women’s 1500m, she set the track ablaze this season, breaking the collegiate outdoor 5000m record that was held by Jenny Simpson. She also broke the indoor mile and the indoor 3000m collegiate records this season. Britton Wilson took the track and field world by storm with her remarkable performances on the track. She ran the No. 4 time in collegiate history in the women’s 400m hurdles, while also setting the collegiate record in the 400m. Wilson was able to accomplish these remarkable feats oftentimes with only an hour so so between events.
So that begs the question, how difficult is it to compete in multiple events at championship meets? Hear the answer from a coaches perspective in the latest episode of Track Talk.
