With the 2018 season officially in the books, it's time to review the best races on the track. 

"Best" is obviously a subjective term. Some of the races that on the list were the result of a dominant performance, others made the cut because of a dramatic finish. All of them are awesome and should not be forgotten. 

The first of a five-part series this week begins with the men's and women's hurdles.

Women’s 400m Hurdles: SEC Championships

In only her third 400m hurdle race of the season, Sydney McLaughlin fulfilled all of the towering projections of her future. After her record-breaking prep career, it seemed inevitable that she would have one of the best freshman seasons of all-time. The indoor season held to form with McLaughlin taking second in the 400m and fourth in the 200m. Outdoors, she opened up with a wide range of PRs, again demonstrating the depth and breadth of her talent. 

But the big splash was always going to come in her best event, the 400m hurdles. 

After a 53.60 opener at the National Relay Championships, everything seemed on the table. The ease with which she ran a 54.85 in the prelims at the SEC Championships did nothing to dissuade that notion. 

Sydney McLaughlin's 5️⃣2️⃣.7️⃣5️⃣ in the 400H...

COLLEGIATE RECORD ✅
WORLD U20 RECORD ✅
NO. 13 ON THE ALL-TIME ? LIST ✅pic.twitter.com/JR3u9gj7xy

— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) May 14, 2018

But I don’t think anyone was ready for the 52.75 in the final. The time smashed the collegiate record and tied her for the 13th fastest mark ever. It was never challenged seriously as a world-leading time and put her name in the same sentence as “world record” for the first time in career. 

Men’s 400m hurdles: Paris Diamond League

The Abderrahman Samba/Rai Benjamin race never happened in 2018 so choosing the best race basically comes down to selecting each man’s best race. Samba’s 46.98 in Paris was slightly faster so he gets the edge, but how can you argue with Benjamin’s 47.02 in wet conditions at the NCAA Championships?

Benjamin’s run tied him for the third fastest mark all-time, while Samba’s puts him alone in the number two spot all-time. 

Beyond those two, the event was extremely deep. Three other men ran 47.90 or faster including Karsten Warholm who ran under 48 seconds five different times. The story in 2019, however, will be Benjamin v. Samba racing each other for the first time while also taking aim at the world record. 

Women’s 100m Hurdles: Brussels Diamond League

There were faster races in the women’s high hurdles in 2018, but the Diamond League final served as a microcosm for the current state of the event. Brianna McNeal squeaked out a win over Keni Harrison--12.61 to 12.63-- with a furious sprint over the final 10 to get the title. 

Of the 15 times the two have raced each other in the 100m hurdles, it was the smallest margin. While the individual races haven’t always been tight, the overall series has. After taking three of the five matchups this outdoors Harrison now leads 8-7 all-time in the event. 

Though they’ve both been fixtures atop the world hurdling scene, the peaks of their career have never intersected. But that looks to be changing. Their season bests this year were just .02 apart (12.36 for Harrison and 12.38 for McNeal) and then there was the race in Brussels, foreshadowing a competitive 2019. 

Men’s 110m Hurdles: Lausanne Diamond League

In total Sergey Shubenkov broke 13 seconds on four different occasions in 2018. His consistency took him to a Diamond League title and dominant victories throughout the season. The Russian lost just three races he started all year and ran off 11 victories in a row mid-season. The race from Lausanne (a 12.92 three days earlier) holds that honor, but it was his quickest time against a Diamond League field. 

His 12.95 was his second-fastest mark of the year and carried him to a ridiculous victory margin of .37 seconds.