Track & Field

The best collegiate track and field athletes in the country are heading to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the 2020 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.

The two-day event begins Friday and is set to take place at the University of New Mexico.

On Wednesday, NCAA President Mark Emmert issued a statement to announce that the indoor track and field championships will not have fans in attendance following a recommendation from its COVID-19 Advisory Panel that sporting events not be opened to the public because of concerns relating to the coronavirus.

Coverage of the first day will be available to be streamed live on ESPN3, beginning at 7:15 p.m. ET on Friday, while second-day coverage will begin at 5:55 p.m. ET on Saturday.

                           

Championship Preview

Over the past few years, the SEC has dominated the indoor track and field championships.

Last year, the Florida men's team won for the second consecutive year by totaling 55 points to beat runner-up Houston (44). In 2018, the Gators beat USC by three points. And the run of SEC success goes back further, as Texas A&M won the championship in 2017.

On the women's side, Arkansas totaled 62 points last year to beat USC (51). In 2018, the Razorbacks fell short, losing by 11 points to another SEC school, Georgia.

It could be a different SEC school to win the men's championship this year, as LSU is No. 1 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's National Rating Index. The Tigers, who haven't won an indoor title since 2004, have 10 athletes participating in the championship meet.

LSU's top participants to watch include sprinter Terrance Laird and long jumpers JuVaughn Harrison and Rayvon Grey.

Northern Arizona and Oregon are two other teams to watch this year, as those schools rank Nos. 2 and 3 in the National Rating Index, respectively.

Naturally, Florida will also be a team to watch. The Gators rank No. 6 in the National Rating Index, and they have won five indoor national titles under head coach Mike Holloway, all coming since 2010.

LSU should also be a top contender in the women's meet, as the Tigers rank No. 1 in the National Rating Index. Three other SEC schools are included in the top five: Texas A&M, Georgia and Arkansas.

Just like the men's team, LSU's women's squad hasn't won an indoor national title since 2004.

If the Tigers win it this year, it could be because of hurdler Tonea Marshall, who owns the school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.88 seconds, according to Sheldon Mickles of The Advocate. It was also the third-fastest time in collegiate history in the event.

The full lists of athletes participating in the men's and women's indoor championship meets can be found at NCAA.com.

Blink and you'll probably miss Sha'Carri Richardson. 

The LSU freshman broke the NCAA women's 100-meter dash record Saturday by completing the race in 10.75 seconds: 

LSU Freshman Sha'Carri Richardson hit the gas 🔥

10.75 in the women's 100 meters to break the collegiate record #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/fgUT8BgBn1

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 9, 2019

SHA'CARRI RICHARDSON!!!!! 1️⃣0️⃣:7️⃣5️⃣

WORLD JUNIOR RECORD ✅
WORLD LEADER ✅
COLLEGIATE RECORD ✅
SCHOOL RECORD ✅ pic.twitter.com/n91WHBdCty

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 8, 2019

According to Sports Illustrated's Jenna West, the runner's time at the Division I NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, also solidified her as the ninth-fastest in the world. "The feat makes Richardson the first U20 woman in the world to run a sub-11 seconds in the 100 meters and sub-23.4 seconds in the 200 meters in one day." 

The Dallas native won the AAU Junior Olympics title in 2016 in the 100 meters. She also told FloTrack's Joe Battaglia a decision on whether she'll turn pro will come "soon."

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Infinite Tucker.

Not only can he leap hurdles in a single bound, Tucker found a unique way to win gold when he pipped Texas A&M team-mate Robert Grant to the finish line in the men's 400-metre hurdle event at the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships:

He went full Superman! @aggietrk's Infinite Tucker goes ALL OUT for the gold. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/gEr05kdPd9

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) May 12, 2019

The "Superman" dive carried him across the line to victory, ensuring he went one better than last year in this event when he won silver.

Tucker was delighted to have picked up the win this time around:

Comments from Infinite Tucker on his diving victory in the SEC 400m hurdles. pic.twitter.com/PhCOb2ozzO

— Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country (@aggietfxc) May 12, 2019

Landing face-first on the track looked painful and he may have some bruises to show for it, but it was evidently worth it for the gold.

The 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships have come to an end with teams from Florida and Arkansas leaving Birmingham, Alabama, with national championships. 

The Gators won the men's title for the second consecutive year with 55 total points, beating out Houston and LSU. The Razorbacks prevailed on the women's side for the second time in school history.

Arkansas' win came on the strength of a 21-point showing in the pole vault finals.

Alexis Jacobus took the top spot in the pole vault with a jump of 4.61 meters. Fellow Razorbacks Victoria Hoggard and Desiree Freier came in third and fourth, respectively, to give their team 13 points more than any other school (San Diego State). 

Arkansas Razorbacks win their 2nd Women's NCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championship! pic.twitter.com/negHgFTvF5

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) March 10, 2019

Arkansas didn't score more than 10 points in any other event, but it was more than enough to secure the program's first title since 2015.

USC came out on top in three events—60 meters, 60-meter hurdles, 400 meters—but failing to score in the long jump Friday proved costly. The Trojans finished 11 points behind Arkansas, settling for second place. It was the program's best finish since tying for second in 1986. 

One notable individual performance came from North Carolina A&T star Kayla White. The senior followed up her world-record run in the 200 meters at the Tyson Invitational last month with a national championship in the same event Saturday:

https://twitter.com/NCAATrackField/status/1104546331643699201

White was pushed to the limit by Texas freshman Kynnedy Flannel, who finished just .02 seconds off the lead to take second place. 

Oregon and Stanford started the day tied for second with 14 points. The Ducks did most of their damage by winning the distance medley relay in 10:53.43, just ahead of BYU at 10:54.14. 

🔙2️⃣🔙 goes the Ducks in the Women's DMR. pic.twitter.com/61k5FeRrDI

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) March 9, 2019

Stanford didn't get a big boost by winning an event, but Fiona O'Keeffe stepped up with a third-place finish in the 5,000 meters for six points.

Lena Giger nearly gave the Cardinal 10 points in the shot put with a throw of 17.89 meters. The senior wound up settling for the runner-up position when Arizona State's Samantha Noennig throw went .02 meters longer. 

On the men's side, LSU ended the first day of competition Friday with a seven-point lead thanks to Mondo Duplantis' win in the pole vault and Rayvon Grey's long jump title. 

Mondo gets it done with 1️⃣9️⃣-1️⃣½ pic.twitter.com/L15IxCtenv

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) March 9, 2019

"I thought today went well for us," LSU head coach Dennis Shaver told reporters after Friday's competition. "Really proud of Rayvon and Mondo. They came out and did what they had to do to score points for our team, and in a big way. I like where we are at and we'll come back tomorrow looking to put more points up."

North Dakota State did its best to remain within shouting distance of the lead on day one thanks to two wins of its own. Senior Payton Otterdahl followed up his college record 21.81-meter shot-put throw at the Summit League Championships last month with another historic moment at the NCAA championships:

The first individual D-I national title in North Dakota State history!

Payton Otterdahl -- NCAA Shot Put Champion! pic.twitter.com/ls6tq1tvPE

— NDSU Track & Field / Cross Country (@NDSUTrackField) March 9, 2019

Saturday was a turning point for the Gators, thanks in large part to S. Grant Holloway's history-making performance in the hurdles:

First man in #NCAATF Indoors history to win three high hurdles 🥇🥇🥇

Second man in history to score 2⃣6⃣ points at #NCAATF Indoors.

Third man in #NCAATF history to complete the straightaway sweep.@Flaamingoo_ is officially a LEGEND. And he's still got the 4x4 left 😮 pic.twitter.com/CEfqXtXNoo

— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) March 9, 2019

The 60-meter race was Florida's big showcase, with Holloway taking the top spot, Hakim Sani Brown coming in third and Ryan Clark crossing the finish line in sixth. 

LSU fell off the pace with just 11 combined points in the 200 meters and high jump. 

With the title pretty much in tow, the Gators took their victory lap with a third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. Houston's quartet squeaked out a narrow win in 3:05.04, just ahead of Texas A&M (3:05.15) and Florida (3:05.24). 

#HTownSpeedCity snags the 4x400m 🏆! pic.twitter.com/Q5e7lkG7C7

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) March 10, 2019

Arkansas' women's indoor team is becoming a national powerhouse. The program has finished in the top two at this event four times since 2015. Oregon is the only other school with multiple national titles during that span. 

Florida's men's team has been the most dominant squad in the sport this decade. All five of the school's national titles have come since 2010. 

The NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Championship 2019 takes place on Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama.

Returning this year to the Birmingham CrossPlex after successive editions at Texas' Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium, Texas Tech goes into the championships the top-rated men's team and Arkansas heads the women's ratings.

It is the biggest meet of the season, with the top collegiate track and field athletes from across the United States competing for national titles.

Last year, the the SEC dominated proceedings, as the University of Florida came out on top in the men's competition and the Georgia Bulldogs prevailed in the women's.

Action from both days of 2019's competition will be streamed live on ESPN3, starting at 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday and 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. A full schedule can be found here.

The action kicks off on Friday with the opening events of the men's heptathlon and the women's pentathlon.

The headline events on Saturday are the women's and men's 4x400-meter relays, which close the event.

Unsurprisingly, the two top-ranked teams for the championship have the most entries.

On the women's side, the Razorbacks have 15 athletes set to compete; in the men's competition, the Red Raiders have 14.

Texas Tech's stars include sprinter Andrew Hudson, long-jump duo Odaine Lewis and Charles Brown and Divine Oduduru, who is the fastest athlete in the 200 meters and second-fastest in the 60 meters:

This is what the fastest 200m in the world looks like.

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) February 24, 2019

Oduduru will be looking to beat Florida's Grant Holloway in the blue riband 60-meter event.

Holloway is the top-ranked athlete in the shortest of the sprints, as well as the 60-meter hurdles, and is ranked second in the long jump behind LSU's Rayvon Grey. 

On current ranking, Florida and LSU will finish behind Texas Tech on the podium at the end of proceedings.

Meanwhile, in the women's event, Southern California and LSU respectively hold the No. 2 and No. 3 positions behind Arkansas. Ohio State and New Mexico should also be in the mix.

Arkansas will be hard to beat in the women's pole vault given it boasts the two leading entries, twin sisters Lexi Jacobus and Tori Hoggard:

https://twitter.com/4029Jourdan/status/1102310523083857921

Among LSU's 11 entries is Kortnei Johnson, who is the top-ranked athlete in the women's 60 meters.

However, the 60 meters is far from a foregone conclusion, with Kiara Parker of Arkansas, Destiny Smith-Barnett of UNLV and Twanisha Terry of USC all incredibly close in the rankings. 

The 2019 Disney World Marathon will take place on Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. ET, marking the 26th anniversary of the race, which first happened in 1994.

The race, which spans 26.2 miles, begins and ends near Epcot. The course takes runners around Walt Disney World, going past milestones such as the Magic Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. It is the only race that runs through all four Walt Disney World theme parks.

A full map of the course can be seen here.

Last year, there were about 25,500 participants in the race. That included 76 people who had participated in every running of the race up to that point.

The race caps a full schedule, which began with a 5K on Thursday, followed by a 10K on Friday and a half marathon on Saturday. The "Goofy Challenge" is available for runners who wanted to participate in both the half and full marathons, while the "Dopey Challenge" will see participants take on all four races.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, there were more than 65,000 people registered for the four races, including 22,000 for the half marathon and 15,000 for the marathon. Seventy-three countries are said to be represented.

All participants in Sunday's marathon must be able to keep a 16-minute-per-mile pace. There will be food stops for runners located throughout the course.

Although it's a competitive marathon, participants and their guests are still allowed to have fun by dressing up like their favorite Disney characters. There will also be characters and entertainers throughout the course.

The race will be held rain or shine. However, as of Saturday morning, there was no rain in the forecast for Orlando on Sunday morning.

At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, there will be an awards ceremony for the top three finishers in the men's, women's and push-rim wheelchair divisions in the Epcot parking lot.

     

Information courtesy of RunDisney.com.