By Linden Moore
The top highlight from the first day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Wednesday, the first day of the men’s competition, including Tennessee’s Christian Coleman qualifying for the 100-meter final in 9.82 seconds, the fourth-fastest time on American soil. He also qualified for the 200-meter final in 20.21.
Maggie Vanoni has the story on his quest to become the first man since Justin Gatlin to double in the 100 and 200 at the NCAA championships via the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Other highlights, also covered by the SOJC track bureau:
Troy Faley qualified for the final in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, becoming Gonzaga’s first ever NCAA men’s outdoor finalist. Jack Butler covered the race for 406mtsports.com
Cornell’s Rudy Winkler threw 243 feet, 2 inches to secure the men’s hammer throw championship on the same field where he won the 2016 Olympic trials. Ariel Sax wrote the story on his victorious return to Hayward for Run Blog Run.
Florida teammates KeAndre Bates and Grant Holloway went one-two in the long jump. RJ Chavez has the story for Run Blog Run on the teammates, who became the first to finish 1-2 in the long jump for the first time 1987.
Tulsa’s Marc Scott suffered a seizure two days before the 10,000 meter finals, but came out strong to win the NCAA title. Kim Holm spoke to him for Run Blog Run about his victory in 29 minutes, 1.54 seconds just days after he was put in the hospital.
South Dakota’s Chris Nilsen had a third-place finish in the pole vault with a height of 17-10 1/2 inches, a strong performance for a freshman but one that fell short of his victory at the indoor championships. Gus Morris spoke to Nilsen about his bittersweet performance for the Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan.
