Mu's Collegiate Record Highlights Weekend Action
Two races. Two all-time marks.
Athing Mu is off to a torrid start to her collegiate career.
From the USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | Records & Lists
The Texas A&M freshman phenom broke a near 40-year-old collegiate record in the Women’s 600 Meters on Saturday, turning three laps in 1:25.80 at the Texas Aggie Invitational. Mu took 0.76 seconds off the previous record set by Delisa Walton of Tennessee in March of 1981.
Just last week, Mu set an American U20 record and nearly broke the World U20 record in the Women’s 800 Meters. Mu finished in 2:01.07. That’s not far off the collegiate record set by Jazmine Fray, a fellow Aggie back in 2017. Fray went 2:00.69 at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson.
Did Lightfoot Improve His Collegiate Record?
One week after breaking a less-than-year-old collegiate record in the Men’s Pole Vault, KC Lightfoot of Baylor returned to the runway on Saturday at the Aggie Invitational with sights on raising that all-time bar even higher.
Lightfoot entered at 5.41m (17-9) and didn’t miss a bar until he needed two attempts to clear 5.90m (19-4ΒΌ) β which tied the fifth-best mark in collegiate indoor history. That came after he topped 5.81m (19-0ΒΎ). Together, those two clearances gave him his sixth and seventh 19-foot bars indoors, moving him into second place among all-time collegians in that category (Shawn Barber of Akron holds that career best at nine).
The Missouri native wouldn’t go higher, as he couldn’t summit 5.95m (19-6ΒΌ) β one centimeter or one-half inch above his current collegiate record.
They’re Jumping For Joy In Lubbock
One week after Ruth Usoro became the second best performer in collegiate indoor history in the Women’s Triple Jump, Texas Tech added another name to the all-time chart: This time in the Women’s Long Jump.
Monae’ Nichols is now the 11th best performer in collegiate indoor history when she soared 6.75m (22-1ΒΎ) on her third attempt. Like Usoro the week before, Nichols passed on all of her next three tries.
That was a remarkable PR for Nichols, who came into the meet sporting a lifetime best of 6.44m (21-1Β½).
Lander Moves Up The NCAA Division II Chart
Reigning NCAA Division II Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Athlete of the Week Haven Lander made a strong case for consecutive honors.
Lander PR’d at the Washburn All-Kansas Invitational on Saturday, topping 4.16m (13-7ΒΎ) to become the eighth best performer in NCAA Division II history. The all-time top-10 isn’t necessarily new territory for the Pittsburg State senior, as she was already No. 10.
Cross Country In (Checks Calendar) January?
There were eight cross country meets across the nation today.
When we say “across the nation,” we mean across the nation.
UCF hosted the Knight Invitational in Orlando, Florida, while Wyoming hosted a dual against Colorado State in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Race-time temperatures in Orlando hovered around 64ΒΊ, while it was a balmy β and, we mean, balmy (for January) β 34ΒΊ in Cheyenne.
Other meets took place in Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas and Utah, among others.
