FloAwards: Track & Field Release #16

May 18, 2015 by Taylor Dutch

Flo Performance

Leah O’Connor (Michigan State)

The NCAA Champion scored a whopping 30 points for her Michigan State Spartan squad, leading her team to a title at the Big Ten Championships. The meet started when O’Connor won her fourth steeplechase title with ease in 9:51. She returned to take her second 1500m title (4:14) and her second 5K title (16:03) alongside teammate Rachele Schulist to round out an all-star conference performance.

Dedric Dukes (Florida)

The Florida Gator wowed the crowd at the SEC Championships in the 200m with a victory in a world leading time of 19.99. Dukes followed the performance with a contribution to the Gator 4x400m squad of Nick Uruburu, Gino Hall and Najee Glass who took another SEC title in 3:01.60, which is currently the fastest mark run in the NCAA this season.

Andre De Grasse (USC)

The community college transfer continues to shock track audiences around the country after posting three wins in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the Pac-12 Championships. De Grasse completed the trifecta with a USC, Pac-12 meet, and Drake Stadium record in the 100m at 9.97, then with a 200m-winning time of 20.05, which would have been even more impressive had he not run 20.03 in the preliminaries the day before. His 20.03 broke the Canadian record and put him No. 2 on USC’s all-time list.

Flo Elite

Almaz Ayana

The Ethiopian ran the third-fastest 5000m of all time at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting with a win in 14:14.32. On her way to winning the race, the World bronze medalist split 8:25 at 3K, which is just one second off of her personal best in the distance. Only Tirunesh Dibaba (14:11) and Meseret Defar (14:12) hold faster times than Ayana.

Allyson Felix

The Olympic champion continued to show her dominance in the 200m distance after clocking a world-leading time of 21.98. She never broke 22 seconds in 2014, and in her 2015 opener, she dipped just under the mark against a formidable field in Doha.

After winning on her twelfth successive trip to Doha, @allysonfelix says there's "something special" about @dldoha https://t.co/cRgZnQiTa0
— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) May 15, 2015

Silas Kiplagat and Ben Blankenship

Kenya’s Silas Kiplagat took down a stacked field in Shanghai with a world-leading time of 3:35.29, followed by fellow countrymen Hillary Ngetich and Collins Cheboi. Oregon Track Club’s Ben Blankenship followed in fourth-place in 3:35.48, splitting the fastest last lap of anyone in the field. The mark is currently the fastest by an American in 2015 by nearly three seconds.

Flo Frosh

Raevyn Rogers (Oregon)

The Oregon Duck completed one of the most impressive performances of the Pac-12 Championships with a dominating win in the 800m in a new personal best of 2:01. The freshman took the race out from the gun, splitting a 60-second first 400m and crossing the finish line two seconds ahead of teammate Annie LeBlanc. The time was a two-second personal best for Rogers and puts her No. 3 in the NCAA this season.

Justyn Knight (Syracuse)
In his debut at the ACC Championships, Knight won the 1500m with just one shoe in a winning time of 3:47.85. The freshman lost his shoe late in the race, but continued to persevere towards the finish for his first conference title of his career.

Shoe fly? Don't bother him. @Cuse runner wins race with one shoe: https://t.co/QYGFbeGL5U (via @justyn_knight) pic.twitter.com/b69HutQQGt
— NCAA (@NCAA) May 18, 2015

Kenturah Orji (Georgia)

At the SEC Championships, Orji shattered her own school record in the triple jump with a mark of 13.84 (+1.7) on her final jump. Her performance swept this year’s SEC meets and moved her to No. 3 on the 2015 world list.

Flo High School

Donovan Brazier (Kenowa Hills High School)

The Kenowa Hills High School senior ran a blazing 1:48.07 in the 800m at his regional meet on Friday to earn the Michigan state record and a new U.S. #1. The mark would currently put the defending New Balance Nationals champion in the top 35 in the NCAA this season.

WATCH @DonavanBrazier's US #1 1:48.07 Michigan 800m State Record! http://t.co/YFS4LLRwP9 pic.twitter.com/p3JIew6E52
— MileSplit US (@milesplit) May 18, 2015

Jordyn Colter (Cherry Creek High School)

The senior from Cherry Creek ran her way to a 2:04.56 at the Colorado State track meet this weekend. Her mark currently puts her #1 in the U.S. What is even more impressive is that the Cal commit ran 62, 62 400m splits in the rain at altitude!

Banneker High School Boys 4x400m (Georgia)

The boys 4x400m squad from Georgia blew away the competition at the Georgia Olympics with a U.S. #1-leading time of 3:12.03, beating out some of the top programs in the country from Texas and Florida. The time is a new Georgia all-time high school record.