Top 10 Moments: Conference Championships Saturday
Top 10 Moments: Conference Championships Saturday
With conference championships happening all over the country, titles were won and records were broken from all corners of the NCAA. Here are the top 10 performances from the first few days of conference madness:
1. Dedric Dukes had one of the most mind-blowing performances of the weekend after winning the men’s 200m at the SEC Outdoor Championships in a winning time of 19.99, which is by far the fastest time run in the world this year. His performance pushed his Florida Gator squad to an SEC Conference title.
1. Dedric Dukes had one of the most mind-blowing performances of the weekend after winning the men’s 200m at the SEC Outdoor Championships in a winning time of 19.99, which is by far the fastest time run in the world this year. His performance pushed his Florida Gator squad to an SEC Conference title.
“Last one, best one.” - #Gators senior Dedric Dukes, on his final #SECTF meet. #ItsGreatUF #PushTheButton pic.twitter.com/cwzsKc2KcM
— Gator T & F and XC (@GZTrackField) May 17, 2015
2. Tevin Hester of Clemson had a breakout performance today at the ACC Conference Championships with a win in 9.87 (+2.1) in the 100m, which was 0.1 m/s wind from breaking the NCAA 100m record. The win gave Hester his first conference crown and stands as an all-conditions Clemson school record. 3. Dukes returned later in the day to help the Florida Gators clinch the conference win in the 4x400m with a new NCAA leading time of 3:01.60, just milli-seconds ahead of LSU (3:01.63) who is now the second-fastest team in the NCAA.Who had a better day than this guy? No one. ACC Track MVP Tevin Hester. pic.twitter.com/56eGe0bXVe
— Clemson Track/XC (@ClemsonTrackXC) May 17, 2015
4. Texas A&M’s 400m threat Deon Lendore shut down the field today in the men’s 400m at the SEC Championships after running 44.41, which is 0.41 seconds off the collegiate record set by Quincy Watts in 1992, and currently stands as the third-fastest time run in the world this year.
5. In a dominant performance, Leah O’Connor cruised to her fourth Big 10 title in the women’s steeplechase. The Michigan State NCAA Champion did it in style with a 9:51 finishing time, 22 seconds ahead of runner-up Tori Gerlach of Penn State. O’Connor is also entered to run in the 1500m final and 5K tomorrow to help her Spartans rack up the conference team points.
6. At the Pac-12 Championships, USC’s sprint sensation Andre De Grasse put on a clinic in the preliminaries of the men’s 100m and 200m. In the 100m, De Grasse ran the fastest mark of the day with ease in 10.12 (+2.2) and followed the race with a crowd-elevating performance in the 200m. De Grasse blew the field away with a commanding win in the 200m with a time of 20.03, which currently stands as the second-fastest time in the NCAA and the second-fastest time in the world.
7. In a furious come from behind effort, Colorado’s Ammar Moussa took his first Pac-12 Championship title in the final of the men’s 10K. After his teammate Morgan Pearson broke away from the lead pack with 3K to go, Moussa tucked on the inside of Stanford’s Eric Olson, and the two started to close the gap on Pearson. Coming into the bell lap, Olson and Moussa caught Pearson and together, the three runners kicked their way through the final 400m. In the end, it was Moussa to close the hardest for the win, running through the finish line in 29:34. It was Moussa’s first 10K on the track, and he was able to showcase his efforts in front of his friends and family.
8. Arkansas’ Dominique Scott dominated from every corner of the track after capturing the SEC Conference Championship win in both the 1500m and the 5K. Scott’s 1500m victory was won in 4:15 against Miss State’s Rhianwedd Price. She followed the win with another victory in the 5K, cruising through the finish line in 16:06.
9. Fifth-year senior Jessica Tonn also had a strong kick to the finish in the women’s 10K final after closing in the last 400m in 66 seconds to take the conference crown in 34:00. It was the Stanford runner’s annual tradition to run the 10K, and the NCAA 5K leader did not disappoint with her killer closing speed.
10. Julian Parker of LSU kicked his way to an SEC title against NCAA Champion Brandon McBride in a winning time of 1:46.17 at the SEC Outdoor Championships. The senior beat out a stacked field of All Americans, including Andres Arroyo, Alex Amankwah and Ryan Schnulle. The mark was a huge personal best for Parker and his first SEC Championship crown.