NCAA / Day 3: The Shining Moment
Athletes Rise To The Occasion
Austin, Texas
June 9th, 2023
As dusk settled on the Mike A. Myers Stadium here in Austin, Texas, you could see the sense of determination on the faces of the track & field men preparing to compete. This Day Three would be their final seasonal opportunity. It was time for these athletes to strive for their shining moment.
Running events got underway with an invigorated 4x100m relay final. Exuberance by the Texas Tech fans over what was believed to be a Texas Tech win was stifled when later review resulted in their team being disqualified, opening the door for LSU (38.05), Florida (38.26), and Florida State (38.29) to go 1-2-3.
Next up was the 1500m final. The race pace began cautiously but eventually grew to a frenzied finish when Washinton’s Joe Waskom, the defending champion, stepped on the gas as the bell rang. Waskom’s sophomore teammate Nathan Green covered the move and sailed on to victory with a scintillating 51-second final lap that sent him across the line in 3:42.78. Waskom (3:42.93) held on for 2nd as the Huskies went 1-2.
In the 3000m steeplechase, final perfect timing resulted in an NCAA championship for BYU junior Kenneth Rooks. With 500 meters to go, Rooks’ burst over the water jump gave him the quick advantage he needed as he breezed on to an easy win in 8:26.17.
As it turned out, the 110m hurdles final set the tone for the sprint finals to follow, as all of the shorter races resulted in razor-thin margins. In the hurdles final, Arkansas’s Phillip Lemonious (a lifetime best of 13.24) had the lean that gave him the win, as De’Vion Wilson (13.26) and Jaheem Hayles (13.28) followed closely. The victor’s win gave Arkansas, which started Day Three with the team title lead, 10 more valuable points as the Razorbacks increased their lead.
Texas Tech’s Courtney Lindsay was the 100m dash victor getting to the line first in a personal best and collegiate-leading time of 9.89. 7 of the 9 finalists were clocked under 10 seconds.
Florida gained ground in the team title race in the 400-meter dash final. The Gator duo of Emmanuel Damidele (44.24) and Ryan Willie (44.25) earned 18 more points for Florida. The…
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