Below is an excerpt from the Lap Count newsletter, posted with permission. Kyle Merber’s Lap Count newsletter which both entertains and enlightens fans about athletes and happenings in our sport.
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From the Lap Count Newsletter
There aren’t many better opportunities to make a name for yourself than when all eyes are on you at the NCAA Championships. It’s a high pressure stage that gives fans a glimpse of who might have what it takes to succeed at the next level — or reveal which athletes are already at that level! If you wanted to rewatch the meet, the NCAA does a great job of putting most races up on YouTube. Or you can check out the story as told by the results, to see how Florida pulled off the double victory.
But for those who missed the 12 hours of action and don’t want to watch hours of race footage, or cultivate a results-based narrative via the *theater of the mind*, let me quickly recap what happened by sharing the top six performers of the meet as voted on by me.
(And no — I’m not including track star turned NFL quarterback, Robert Griffin III, who made his debut in the booth for the ESPN broadcast, despite his solid showing there. Overall, the athletics community welcomed him back with open arms and reviews were overwhelmingly positive. The primary reason he was enjoyable to listen to is because he was so obviously excited to be there. He cared about the results and was having fun — a groundbreaking moment for the sport!)
Joseph Fahnbulleh 🐊
The world met Joseph Fahnbulleh last year when he won the NCAA 200m titles indoors and out, but this year he made sure we’d never forget him. The Florida star, who is from Minnesota but competes for Liberia, finished 5th at the Tokyo Olympics, but decided to head back to college in what should be considered an adjunct professor role. (Get it? Because he’s taking his competitors to school!)
After winning the 100m in a personal best of 10.00 (+0.6), it was almost a foregone conclusion that we’d see something special in his primary event. And we did — 19.86 (+0.6) to win again. Throw in a second place finish in the 4 x 100 and this was his weekend.
Although Fahnbulleh has one of the slower starts you’ll ever see from someone of his caliber, his final gear is also something you’ll hardly ever see. There are plenty of made up reasons to root for different athletes, in the case of Fahnbulleh it’s the extremes of strength and weakness that make him so intriguing. Here is the thing: you can teach someone how to improve their start, but you can’t teach someone that top end speed.
Joseph’s performance was the finest of the weekend for the fellas. And while there were other memorable races run by dudes, the bulk of the truly stellar showings came on the women’s side.
Anna Hall 🐊
Do you know what’s harder than the heptathlon? The octathlon — one of the most rarely competed in events in track and field. While the Florida Gators would have narrowly won the meet by a couple points had Anna Hall decided not to pursue a second place finish in the 400mH to her CV, it was still nice of her to add getting a new 54.48 PB to her already busy weekend schedule.
Earlier this season, Hall won the USATF national championship in Arkansas to qualify for Worlds. At the NCAA meet she passed on going after the 27-year-old collegiate record set by Diane Guthrie, and instead focused her efforts on the goals of her team over individual glory. Boy, that backfired, huh? Hall actually got even more attention for being one of the most impressive athletes we have ever seen. Surely every non-track coach back in Gainesville is kicking themselves right now, asking “why isn’t she playing a real sport?”
Jasmine Moore 🐊
What more can you possibly do if Moore is your last name? Well, throw another Gator on the list of stars from this weekend because Jasmine won both the long and triple jump. Those two trophies will pair nicely with the couple from the indoor NCAA championships, which make her the first woman in 32-years to win all four. Is that enough to win the Bowerman?
Katelyn Tuohy 🐺
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Katelyn Tuohy, one of the greatest high school runners of all time, won an NCAA championship. But when even winning a historic third NXN title by not a decisive enough margin is something to criticize, then we have to appreciate a career that has survived that degree of unreasonable scrutiny. Still only in her sophomore year of eligibility, Tuohy is a six-time All-American and her 5000m victory in 15:18.39 — leading most of the way and then with a final 800m of 2:18 — has proven the naysayers wrong.
In a world where more and more standout high school stars choose to take the contract and embark on professional careers as teenagers, Tuohy did the opposite. Instead, she sought out the healthiest and most supportive team environment to help block out the noise. The Wolfpack won a national cross country title, had five women qualify in the 5000m, three women in the 1500m, and then three more in the 10,000m — the entire program deserves this star.
Courtney Wayment 🐯
I am doubling down on this tweet from March — there is something different about Courtney Wayment’s fourth NCAA title compared to her previous ones. The BYU stud is no longer just good for a collegiate athlete. A 9:16.00 steeplechase is good no matter where the heck the race is! Her dominating ten-second personal best is the NCAA collegiate record and current US #1 and World #10. The second place finisher, Kayley Delay of Yale had an incredible run, as well, going 9:25.08 — a 15 second personal best, which will make her the fourth fastest seed at the US Championships. And she’s not even in the finish line picture!
Abby Steiner 😼
Just because Abby Steiner is a sprinter doesn’t mean she lacks endurance — remember, she was originally recruited as a soccer player. It was a busy weekend for the Kentucky star who should be paying rent to the University of Oregon for the amount of time she spent on the track between two rounds of the 100 (2nd), two rounds of the 4×100 (2nd), two rounds of the 200m (1st) and a 4×400 (1st). Where each warm-up ended and cool down began is really anyone’s guess!
Of course, running 21.80 (+1.3) to win the 200m in a new collegiate record is ostensibly the most impressive accomplishment of Steiner’s NCAA championships. After all, no one has ever run faster and it is the fastest time in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!
But if you watch a single video from the NCAA meet, then make it this one. Running the third leg of the 4×400, to close out what would be a six race and 1200m long weekend, Abby splits a ridiculous 48.92 to move Kentucky from a distant fourth to first, overtaking Texas’ Julien Alfred, the NCAA 100m champion who beat her earlier that day.
