1:55pm – Men’s Decathlon: Shot Put

Marcus Weaver might have the coolest fan section at the championships (so far). 

The senior decathlete from Arkansas won the shot put at 15.46m on his final throw—and was immediately greeted by people carrying flags with his picture printed on them. Listening to the rest of the decathlon events meant listening to people cheer for the exuberant mustachioed athlete. That was perfectly fine with me.

And they had a lot to cheer for. Weaver came into the meet with the sixth best point score in the nation at 7940, but currently sits in fifth with a projected total points of 2nd (based off of previous PBs and remaining events).

3:10pm – Men’s Decathlon: High Jump

By this point, I’m a member of the Marcus Weaver fan club.

I don’t have a flag (yet), but I’m about as close as you can get.

It’s undeniable the energy that he brings to the track, and you can’t help but want to see the man succeed.

Weaver tied for the win on the decathlon high jump with Purdue’s Andreas Hantson, jumping 2.07 meters. Not to be outdone, Peyton Bair equals his PB at 2.01m. Four down, six to go, and the decathlon is still a tight race—a stark contrast to last year and Leo Neugebauer’s utter dominance (almost 300 points ahead, four events in).

Bair, through four, had a 141 point lead over Till Steinforth, with the next three all within 100 points of each other.

4:05pm – Men’s 4x100 Meter Semifinal

It was sometime right before the hammer throw’s first flight when I sat on the top level of Hayward Field next to Richard.

Richard was decked out in Oregon gear. Oregon hat, Oregon jacket, Oregon, Oregon, Oregon.

Suffice to say, the man’s an Oregon fan.

And he’s been a fan for a while, attending the 1962 National Championship as a university sophomore and witnessing Oregon crush Villanova to the tune of 85 to 40.42 points. That was the first time Hayward Field hosted a national championship, and while Richard hasn’t attended every meet, he certainly remembers quite a few.

I had to ask him what event he was looking forward to the most today. Surely it would be the 800 meter, with the two Oregon men competing, or the steeplechase, or the shotput. Anything with an Oregon competitor.

Shows what I know. It was the 4x100m, because when they round the turn, “they look like they’re riding a motorcycle at 25 miles per hour.” Richard told me to sit near the hand-off after the turn

I took his word, dutifully watched the men’s 4x100m qualifying, and understood exactly what he meant. The Auburn Tigers tied the Championship record of 37.97, setting a new Collegiate Lead ahead of the winner of the third head, South Florida.

The 4x100m qualifying also might have been the most predictable event of the day, where the top nine teams in the nation this year by time made it into the top nine spots of final—albeit with the order shuffled.

4:21pm – Men’s 1500m Semifinals

So glad I got to experience what predictability looks like in championship form right before all hell broke loose.

Also glad I sat next to Villanova fans while watching it happen.

Bradley’s Jack Crull, 85th on the NCAA Men’s 1500 rankings this year, won the first heat.

Villanova’s Liam Murphy, NCAA 1500m record holder, got sixth in that same heat.

Right in front of Murphy was Virginia’s Gary Martin of 3:48 mile fame, finishing the 1500 in 3:52.37.

There are so many numbers that could illustrate the weirdness that was this first heat, but the top three that stand out to me are:

1. 85-39-10-43-4: The qualifier’s finishing order represented by runner’s respective time rankings coming into this meet—36.2 average.

2. 1-55-11-71-40-5-96 : The finishing order of those that missed the final—39.85 average.

- Basically – throw all 12 names into a hat, take the first five out and they go to the final. That would’ve made just as much sense.

- So much for CITIUS’s underdog to watch….

3. 50.62s: The final lap of Crull, clocking the fastest final lap of anyone in the field. Ahead of NAU’s Colin Sahlman who lays claim to a 48 open 400m, and Georgetown’s Abel Teffra who’s run a 1:45.67 800m, 13th fastest half-mile in the nation this year.

The second heat?

Wisconsin’s Adam Spencer finished in first in a time of 3:41.67, 10 seconds ahead of Crull’s winning time of 3:51.96. Tactics > Time at this point in the year, and yet, something about seeing every single runner from the second heat finish seven seconds faster than the first heat doesn’t settle in. 

Such is the magic of qualifying races, and the middle distance events in particular. The final qualifiers include UNC’s Ethan Strand, Martin, and Spencer but also runners like Crull, Harvard’s Ferenc Kovacs (73rd-ranked) and Indiana’s Martin Segurola (57th on time). 

I can’t wait to watch this final race. I can’t predict anything but chaos. Lord.

4:35pm – Men’s Pole Vault Final

“I controlled it. I won. That is good.” - Aleksandr Solovev, Men’s Pole Vault Winner

Texas A&M’s Aleksandr Solovev wins the award for most noncommittal national champion today, after his 5.78m clearance helps him tie this year’s collegiate lead and win the competition.

And while the Aggie has cleared higher distances before, that was far and away a season’s best. Second-place finisher, Ashton Barkdull of Kansas, placed second at 5.73m and grabbed a PB by 0.12m in the process.

I didn’t know this at the moment, but Barkdull’s second place finish came after a seasons-long battle with a torn labrum in his hip. It also came three places ahead of his younger brother, freshman Bryce Barkdull, also vaulting for the Kansas team.

What a day for the Barkdulls. Somebody’s going to celebrate—even if it’s not the winner.

4:38pm – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Semifinal

In the same vein of the Men’s 1500m, the steeplechase semis ran two extremely different races.

The first heat featured current collegiate leader, Louisville’s Geoffrey Kirwa. And if the finals play out the same way the semis do, I don’t see anyone (not named Corrigan) beating him. He ran a smooth tactical race, sitting right near the front until around the 2000m mark. Kirwa and Matthew Kosgei of New Mexico had plenty of time to relax down the final stretch, letting Kristian Imroth of Eastern Kentucky take first place in a PB time of 8:30.65.

The biggest star of the second heat, and potentially the whole steeplechase field, was BYU junior James Corrigan. Corrigan, whose successful last-second attempt to qualify for the Paris Olympics led to a PB of 8:13.87 last summer, sat comfortably near the back of the pack. Joash Ruto of Iowa State and Carson Williams of Furman were at the 1-2 spot for what felt like the entire race, finishing with a blazing fast semis time of 8:22.94 and 8:24.33, respectively. Oddly enough, they both equaled their PBs in the process. 

All the major players still remained in the field after the semifinals, and just like the 1500m, it’ll be interesting to see who wants to run which race in the finals. My hot take is, if they go out fast like they did in the second semifinal, we could see sub-8:10 performances from Kirwa and Corrigan.

5:08pm – Men’s 110 Hurdles

I’m never going to be a fan of the false start rules, especially not in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships. Demaris Waters of Florida (seventh fastest time in the nation) and Ja’Qualon Scott of Texas A&M (fourth fastest time in the nation) both false started in the first heat, the second of which appeared debatable—it sounded like someone yelled right before the gun at the other end of the field. 

Just one attempt? Just one go? No chance to redeem oneself? I know those are the rules. I get it. I’m sure it makes sense. But you can’t help but feel for the athletes who went through round after round, only to make one small twitch and their season’s done.

The other heats went according to predictions, with the top three hurdlers this year of Ja’Kobe Tharp (Auburn), Kendrick Smallwood (Texas), and Jamar Marshall Jr. (Houston) all making it through to the final.

5:15pm – Men’s Javelin Final

The actual event didn’t finish until later in the meet, but the win was all but wrapped up when Miami’s Devoux Deysel threw a 81.75m bomb in the first round. The real fun in the standings came from the second and third place throwers, Leikel Cabrera Gay of Florida and Callan Saldutto of Missouri.

Saldutto threw in the first field series as the 16th best thrower in the nation coming into the meet, but the senior from Missouri’s first round throw of 76.88m was good enough to slot him in third. Cabrera Gay of Florida had an extremely consistent six rounds, not fouling a single attempt en route to a PB of 79.05.

5:25pm – Men’s 100 Meter Semifinal

I was on edge the entire time for the men’s 100 meter semis. No false starts, please. No false starts. My distance runner heart can’t handle this sort of thing.

No false starts, but unexpected finishes. Abdul-Rasheed Saminu of South Florida, wind-legal 9.86 runner, failed to make it to the final after finishing fourth in his heat. Jordan Anthony of Arkansas, with an all-conditions best of 9.75 made it through on time as the fourth finisher in the third heat.

Of course, that doesn’t deter Anthony from being confident. The 1:25 mark - “In my mind…hopefully, God…I break the American record. 9.69.”

I want him to run an American Record. I really do. But he still has stiff competition in sprinters like Auburn’s Kayinsola Ajayi, who ran a PB of 9.92s to win his section of the heat.

It’s time for some Hayward Magic on Friday.

5:40pm – Men’s Long Jump Final

In an event where the athletes have six attempts to hit their best mark, it’s crazy to see Malcolm Clemons of Florida win the championship on his first round jump of 8.04 meters. He maintained the lead the entire competition, through both flights and the second final round of three jumps, beating Blair Anderson of Oklahoma State by 0.02 meters. 

The Olympian had battled back from a gnarly heel injury that kept him off his top form for what seemed like the whole season—read fellow CITIUSMag contributor Paul “Paulie Throws” Hof-Mahoney’s extremely well written feature for a closer look at Clemons’s to recovery. 

The championship’s commitment to chaos continued, when the top three spots were held by the 13th, 10th, and 32nd best jumpers in the nation entering the meet. Nation leading Lokesh Sathyanathan of Tarleton State “only” managed a 7.83m jump (well off his collegiate lead of 8.14m), garnering him a fifth place finish overall. 

5:41pm – Men’s 400m Semifinal

The collegiate leader, Micahi Danzy of Florida State, was a DNS, but the rest of the first heat was business as usual, with Albama’s Samuel Ogazi running a blazing fast time of 44.77 to take the win. 

The other heats saw true freshman Joseph Taylor of Duke and Gabriel Moronta of South Florida take the wins in 45.34 and 45.10, respectively. Auhmad Robinson of Texas A&M made it through on time, and Jordan Pierre of Arkansas-Pine Bluff snuck into the final spot as the fourth runner in the first heat, running 45.44. 

The favorite going into the final has to be Ogazi, especially with Danzy out of the mix, but I’ve learned never to count out Auhmad Robinson at a championship meet. The Aggie is lethal on the biggest stages, and I’m thoroughly convinced that if he ran the final race of the open 400m with a baton in his hand, he might run faster.

5:58pm – Men’s 800m Semifinal

The second, third, fourth, sixth, and seventh fastest runners in the nation this year all didn’t make it into the 800m final. Tinoda Matsatsa, many people’s pick to potentially win the overall event, DNS’d in the first heat—the same heat that also led to all three time qualifiers.

The Oregon Duo of Matthew Erickson and Koitatoi Kidali progressed to the final in front of the Hayward faithful, the latter of the two diving for the line to snag the second auto qualifying mark in front of Mississippi State’s Samuel Navarro. Kidali was on the ground for a few minutes holding his shoulder, but eventually was helped to his feet and walked off the track.

Christian Jackson ran a calm third heat, passing on the inside on the final stretch to take the win in 1:47.09 after being boxed in almost the entire race. Aidan McCarthy of Cal Poly and Sam Whitmarsh of Texas A&M took first and second of the second heat after what appeared to be a tactical slowing of paces around the 500-700m marks. 

6:10pm – Men’s Shot Put Final

I could write an entire multi-page recap on the final round of throws from the men’s shot put. What a round, what a series, what an event.

Going into the fourth throw, the standings read:

1. Jason Swarens (Wisconsin): 20.17m
2. Christopher Licata (South Carolina): 20.11m
3. Thomas Kitchell (UNC): 20.11m
4. Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan (Ole Miss): 20.10m

Before The sixth and final throw:

1. Robinson-O’Hagan: 20.41m
2. Kobe Lawrence (Oregon): 20.32m (a massive PB)
3. Swarens: 20.17m
4. Licata: 20.15m

What happened in the final round is best illustrated by the notes I wrote down:

Thomas Kitchell, UNC, unleashed a HUGE PB of 20.74 on his final throw to fly past the entire field, placing him first in the competition after fouling his previous three throws. It was the perfect, storybook ending for the Chapel Hill senior, putting it all together at the last second.

Until Swarens came through with a 21.23 missile, taking the win and all of the Hayward Magic. It felt like every other throw escalated the intensity, and it’s a testament to the strength of the collegiate shot-put, but also the excitement in the event itself.

6:14pm – Men’s 400 Meter Hurdles Semifinal

47.86 was the time for Nathaniel Ezekiel of Baylor, who set a new Collegiate Lead after running 47.89 earlier this season.

Ezekiel is 100%, unequivocally the favorite going into the finals on Friday. It’s hard to put anyone close, and I don’t want to jinx it, but he qualified over a second ahead of the next fastest time (Saad Hinti of Tennessee in 49.07). Rai Benjamin’s 47.02s might live to tell the tale after this meet, but it’s no secret Ezekiel is a rising star in not just the NCAAs, but on the world’s stage. 

I also want to highlight Ja’Qualon Scott for qualifying for the 400mh finals after getting DQed in the 110 hurdles. He won the third and final heat in a 49.18 – you have to celebrate that kind of determination from the fifth fastest hurdler in the nation.

6:29pm – Men’s 200 Meter Semifinal

Maka Charamba of Auburn looked dominant in his 19.94s third heat win. He still shrugged his shoulders after—what are you going to do? He’s just that quick. 

T’Mars McCallum, the current world leader over the distance, will have a response, flying ahead of the field and winning his heat comfortably in 20.03s. The 200m distance was relatively calm when it came to upsets, with Rasheed-Saminu of USF running quick enough to avenge his 100m misstep from earlier.

6:43pm – Men’s 400 Meter Decathlon

Peyton Bair is a bad man.

46.00 for a PB in the 400m race puts him almost 300 points clear over the rest of the field, and 4479 points through the first five events.

That was also the fifth fastest time EVER IN WORLD HISTORY for a men’s decathlete.

Sadly, the number one seed in the nation, the Nebraskan Till Steinforth, pulled up midway through the middle of the 400m and was wheeled off the track.

Four of the 24 entrants into the meet are now out, including the third place finisher from last year, Miam’s Edgar Campre. Peyton Bair is projected to take the win going into the final day today, with Marcus Weaver in second and Brad Thomas in third.

6:56pm – Men’s 10000m Final

Only in championship racing will you see a 26:50.21 10k runner run a 4:53.81 first 1600m. It felt like a competition to see who could run the slowest first few laps, and in a 25 lap race, that’s completely on par.

Habtom Samuel of New Mexico was completely relaxed in the back of the pack for the majority of the first half of the race. 

Dylan Schubert of Furman started to ratchet the pace down to 68 second laps once the race hit 5k.

The pace oscillated between 68s, 70s, 67s, 65s, 65s, 63s.

At the bell lap, Texas Tech’s Ernest Cheruiyot took the lead, but it was always going to be Ishmael Kipkirui and Samuel of New Mexico. Kipkirui took the win on a 53.38s final lap, ahead of his teammate Samuel, Cheruiyot, and Rodgers Kiplimo of Iowa State.

Before the start of the 10k, Kiplimo held up a handmade sign that said “Forever in our hearts, REST Well Champion, Kipsang,” honoring Eliud Kipsang, the former NCAA record holder for Alabama who tragically passed away earlier this week after suffering cardiac arrest.

While the fourth place finish was something to celebrate, Kiplimo’s show of support for the Alabama track team and those connected with Kipsang deserves all the recognition.