Alfred, Nugent, Moore, Van Klinken Leave With ‘Best Ever’ Credentials
By David Woods for DyeStat
AUSTIN, Texas – DyeStat’s top 10 performances from the women’s windup of the NCAA Championships on Saturday night:
1, Julien Alfred: Greatest college sprinter ever?
In the aftermath of Texas’ team championship, coach Edrick Floreal declared Julien Alfred is the greatest college women’s sprinter ever. There is evidence.
“I knew that this was my last year,” the Saint Lucia native said. “I wanted to go out with a bang.”
It was no theory. There was a big bang.
On her 22nd birthday, Alfred was effectively a quadruple champion in her home stadium: 100 and 200 meters, 4×100 relay, team. Her times of 10.72 and 21.73 seconds in the sprints, albeit wind-aided, are best in college history. She led off a relay team that set a collegiate record of 41.55 Thursday and won in 41.60 Saturday.
Indoors, she lowered the collegiate record five times in the 60 meters, broke the record in the 200, and ended the winter as No. 2 ever in both. She missed tying the 60-meter world record by .02.
Others to match Alfred’s quadruple were Florida State’s Randy Givens, 1984; LSU’s Dawn Sowell, 1989; LSU’s Esther Jones, 1990. Texas’ Carlette Guidry won a 100/200/4×100 triple in 1991, but the Longhorns finished second to LSU.
2, Ackera Nugent: Fastest college hurdler ever
Ackera Nugent loses a hurdles race now and then. Lost at Texas Relays. Lost in SEC. Lost in an NCAA prelim. Lost in SEC indoors.
But in the season’s climactic 100-meter hurdles race, she was first in 12.25. Not only is it the fastest all-conditions time in college history, only five women have ever run faster.
Nugent, a 21-year-old Jamaican, transferred to Arkansas from Baylor after last season. She did not qualify for 2022 NCAAs. Nugent was the World U20 champion in 2021.
“The main thing that really matters is a championship,” she said. “You’ve got to make sure you stay healthy between every meet and work on the important things you need to work on to get to that championship.”
Nugent had set a collegiate record in winning the indoor 60-meter hurdles.
3, Masai Russell a 4-time All-American.
If the Kentucky Wildcats had a couple of more Masai Russells, they would be NCAA team champions.
The 5-foot-3 sprinter/hurdler contributed to 27 of 28 points by Kentucky, which was sixth in team standings. Russell was the only athlete with four top-six finishes, and all of them were…
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