Day Four of the NCAA outdoor track and field national championships proved to be an exciting day right to the end. Just as it did Friday with the men’s team race, Saturday’s race for the women’s team title came down to the final event: the 4×400-meter relay.
In the men’s relay, Florida needed to finish fourth to beat Texas A&M in the overall points. But in the women’s relay, Oregon needed to win for the Ducks to earn the title and the first ever triple crown (cross country, indoor and outdoor national champions) in women’s NCAA history. Emma Childs covered the Ducks’ triumph for Run Blog Run.
Sisters Danielle and Christina Aragon of Billings, Montana, finished 12th and seventh in the 1,500 meters, and the two managed to spend time together off the track while in Eugene. Sierra Webster has the story for 406 Montana Sports.
Also competing in the 1,500 was Nikki Hiltz, who finished second by .02. Linden Moore has the story for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Texas A&M sprinter Aaliyah Brown set the goal of running in the 100 and 200 at the NCAAs, and she did just that, finishing seventh in the 100 and fourth in the 200. Isaac Gibson has the story for the Houston Chronicle.
In a dramatic 200 in which the favorite to win, Oregon’s Deajah Stevens, fell with 15 meters to go, Harvard’s Gabby Thomas finished third for the second year in a row. Shawn Medow has the story for Thomas’ hometown newspaper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
The women of Oregon were not the only athletes to get a triple crown on Saturday as Missouri runner Karissa Schweizer earned the distance triple crown with a win in the 5,000 meters. Maverick Pallack has the story for Run Blog Run.
An American junior record was set by Colorado’s Madie Boreman, who finished second in Saturday’s steeplechase. Abigail Winn has the story for RunBlogRun.
