EUGENE, Ore — Kentucky senior and Dublin Coffman grad Abby Steiner set a collegiate record in the 200 meters at the NCAA track and field championships on a soggy Saturday at Hayward Field.
Steiner was focused until the finish, when she raised her arms and smiled broadly. Her time of 21.80 seconds bested LSU sophomore Favour Ofili's record of 21.96 set this year. Ofili was second behind Steiner.
“We just took what’s happened this whole season as learning experiences. Every race is an opportunity to learn from it, and fix certain parts of my 200. So I think it all came together at the right moment,” said Steiner, who also had the best time in the world this season.
Julien Alfred of Texas won the 100, finishing in 11.014 seconds and just narrowly holding off Oregon's Kemba Nelson in 11.020. Alfred set the collegiate record in the 60 earlier this year.
Florida won the women's team title with 54 points, a day after the Gators claimed the men's championship. Florida's women also won the NCAA indoor team title.
Gators sophomore Talitha Diggs, daughter of four-time Olympian Joetta Clark Diggs, won the 400 in a personal best 49.99.
BYU's Kristie Schoffield also ran a personal-best 2:01.09 in the 800, raising her hands to her mouth in surprise when she saw her time. She postponed a television interview to go hug her mother in the stands.
Ole Miss sophomore Sintayehu Vissa won the 1,500 in 4:09.42. BYU senior Courtney Wayment built a big lead and won the steeplechase in 9:16 flat, a new college and meet record.
“The plan was to rely on my fitness and then all the things that I have done to get to this moment.” said Wayment, who shaved eight seconds off the college record. “If anyone is going to come with me, then I'll just put my foot on the gas a little bit more.”
LSU’s Alia Armstrong was the first to hit the first hurdle and went on to win the 100 hurdles in 12.57, holding off a late surge from USC's Jasmine Jones. Britton Wilson of Arkansas won the 400 hurdles in 53.86.
North Carolina State’s Katelyn Tuohy defended her title in the 5,000, winning in 15:18.39.
“My last 100 meters was so hard, I was practically crawling it in,” Tuohy said. “But I was fortunate enough to have a big enough gap before then so I was able to hold on.”
Texas won the 400 relay in 42.42 and Kentucky won the 1,600 relay in 3:22.55.
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