Six Events To Watch At The Big 12 Outdoor Championships
Six Events To Watch At The Big 12 Outdoor Championships
The Texas men aim for fourth straight team title over indoor champs Texas Tech, while the Longhorn women hope to avenge their loss to K-State last year.
The Big 12 Conference Championships go down this weekend from Friday through Sunday in Waco, Texas, at Baylor University. The team battles will certainly be exciting as the University of Texas men aim for their fourth straight outdoor conference team title after falling to Texas Tech indoors.
The Longhorn women hope to continue their momentum from their Big 12 indoor title after their outdoor streak was snapped last year by a resolute Kansas State team, which distanced Texas by just 4.5 points for their first Big 12 title since 2002.
Watch the Big 12 Outdoor Championships LIVE on FloTrack
Women's 100m Hurdles: Texas Goes For The Sweep
Who: Rushelle Burton, Pedrya Seymour, Mariam Abdul-Rashid, Nina Schultz, Kaylor Harris, Ariel Jones
When: Prelims on Saturday @ 4:40 PM CT; Finals on Sunday @ 5:45 PM CT
Why: This winter's Big 12 indoor 60m hurdles final saw the University of Texas go 1-2-3 with Pedrya Seymour, Rushelle Burton, and Ariel Jones, and it's entirely possible they pull off the feat again in the 100m hurdles this weekend.
Burton and Seymour are near-locks for the top two spots. Both women went sub-13 at the Texas Relays, which rank within the top 10 all-conditions marks in the NCAA this season: Burton's 12.64 winning time ranks No. 2, and Seymour's 12.85 is No. 8, with a +3.3 tailwind. Burton and Seymour—who transferred to Texas from Illinois this year—also come in with big-time experience, having each placed within the top three at NCAAs the last two years and represented their native Jamaica and Bahamas at the Olympics and worlds.
Third place—and the last podium spot—is harder to predict. Fellow Longhorn Ariel Jones is a consistent race, and took third at Big 12 indoors and was runner-up in this event at last year's outdoor conference meet. Mariam Abdul-Rashid's 13.18 season-best from the Texas Relays ranks No. 3 all-conditions in the Big 12.
If the Texas women want to take back their outdoor conference title, they will have to deliver big points in this event.
Men's 100m & 200m: Tech's Divine Oduduru Is A Cut Above
Who: Divine Oduduru, Andrew Hudson, Terrell Smith, Jalen Miller
When: 100m Prelims on Saturday @ 5:55 PM CT; 100m Finals on Sunday @ 6:35 PM CT; 200m Prelims on Saturday @ 7:30 PM CT; 200m Finals on Sunday @ 7:40 PM CT
Why: NCAA leader Divine Oduduru enters this weekend as the prohibitive favorite for the 100m title after turning heads at the Michael Johnson Classic with a wind-legal, 10.10 performance. The time ranks No. 6 in the NCAA for all conditions.
Watch Divine Oduduru run 10.10 at the Michael Johnson Classic:
With perfect conditions, Oduduru could stand to challenge the Big 12 Championship record of 10.03, set by Prezel Hardy, Jr. of Texas A&M in 2012.
His biggest competition might come from his own teammate Andrew Hudson, who snipped him at the line to win the Big 12 Indoor title in the 60m.
Oduduru also headlines the 200m. His 20.22 (+1.0) season's best from the Texas Tech Corky Crofoot Shootout ranks No. 5 in NCAA under all conditions and No. 4 for wind-legal times this year. That was run at altitude and thus adjusted from a clocked time of 20.15. The 200m is arguably Oduduru's stronger event at the national level, as he was second behind Rai Benjamin at NCAA indoors this year.
Men's 400m: Wil London Chases The Three-Peat
Who: Wil London, Derrick Mokaleng
When: Prelims on Saturday @ 5:25 PM CT; Finals on Sunday @ 6:15 PM CT
Why: Wil London of Baylor surprised many last year when he took third at the USATF Championships and qualified for the world team, where he aided Team USA to a silver medal in the 4x400m relay after placing just eighth in the NCAA final.
After going through some hamstring issues during the indoor season, the junior recently showed he is truly back to form with a blazing 44.73 winning time at the Michael Johnson Invitational—the second-fastest in the NCAA this year behind only USC's Michael Norman, the reigning NCAA indoor 400m champion and world record holder.
Watch Wil London run 44.73 at the Michael Johnson Classic:
The only athlete who seems truly capable of challenging London for his third straight Big 12 outdoor 400m title is TCU's Derrick Mokaleng, who has run 45.17 this season and was seventh in the NCAA indoor 400m final.
Women's 5K & 10K: Sharon Lokedi To Defend Historic Double
Who: Sharon Lokedi
When: 10K Final on Friday @ 8:15 PM CT; 5K Final on Sunday @ 8:15 PM CT
Why: Last year, Sharon Lokedi of Kansas became the seventh woman in the history of the Big 12 Championships to win both the 5K and 10K. This spring, she looks poised to repeat the feat after setting personal best and school record marks of 15:42.76 in the 5K at the Kansas Relays and 32:21.19 in the 10K at the Stanford Invitational. She even recorded a PR in the 1500m with a time of 4:25.94 at the National Relay Championships.
No other woman in the Big 12 has broken 16 minutes in the 5K. Battling for podium spots in that race will be Anna West of Baylor, Cailie Logue and Amanda Vestri of Iowa State, Meghan Lloyd of Texas, and Evelyn Mandel of TCU, all of whom have run under 16:30 this season.
Lokedi is also more than a minute ahead of anyone else in the 10K. Anne Frisbie of Iowa State and Maggie Drazba of West Virginia have broken 34 minutes and are podium favorites, though plenty of women will likely enter who have not raced a 10K yet this season.