Arkansas & USC Face Off: NCAA Women's Sprints/Hurdles Preview
Arkansas & USC Face Off: NCAA Women's Sprints/Hurdles Preview
Arkansas vs. USC will be the women's sprint battles to watch in Austin.
Unlock this article, live events, and more with a subscription!
Already a subscriber? Log In
A lot is riding on the women’s sprints in Austin. With No. 1 Arkansas and No. 2 USC entrusting much of their team chances to these events, whoever comes out on top in the bounty of head-to-head matchups in the sprints is likely to win it all on Saturday. USC is loaded in the 100m and 200m with NCAA champs Twanisha Terry and Angie Annelus leading the way, respectively, while Arkansas will counter with the best high hurdler in the country, Janeek Brown. Brown can also fly in the 200m, as her 22.47 puts her within striking distance of defending champion Annelus.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg as the team race will factor prominently in every event from the 100m to the 400m and the hurdles. Here’s what to watch in the women’s sprints at NCAAs:
Women’s 100m | 4 Sub-11.00 Women Battle
2019 world leader Kayla White of North Carolina A&T (10.96) will face three other women with sub-11.00 PBs—LSU freshman Sha’Carri Richardson, Texas’ Teahna Daniels and USC’s Twanisha Terry—in a race that will feature the 2019 NCAA indoor champions in the 60m (Terry) and 200m (White).
White seemed to put herself in a bracket all by herself with her 10.96 on May 4, but has since seen her advantage evaporate as both Richardson and Daniels ran 10.99 at prelims. White was also soundly beaten by Richardson when they matched up at East, and another poor start in the NCAA final will doom her chances in Austin. Richardson may have the slight edge heading to NCAAs by virtue of her defeat of White, but Daniels, on her home track fresh off a 10.99, should be there as well.
Women’s 200m | Defending Champ Angie Annelus vs. White, Brown, Daniels
After a disappointing indoor season that concluded with her missing the NCAA 200m final, defending outdoor champion Angie Annelus of USC rebounded in a big way with a 22.36 PB and NCAA No. 1 in Sacramento. The 200m was another event that seemed to belong to North Carolina A&T’s Kayla White entering the postseason—she won the 200m title indoors and held the 22.52 NCAA lead before prelims—but the junior from USC snatched it back with authority with a time .11 seconds faster than the next best athlete.
Arkansas’ Janeek Brown is that second seed at 22.47 behind Annelus, but she’s likely to cede some power coming off the 100m hurdles final. The same is true for a trio of names in the low-22.5s—White, Daniels, and A&T frosh Cambrea Sturgis—as those three will run the 100m. If Annelus duplicates her Sacramento form, no one will touch her in Austin.
Women’s 400m | SEC Quartet To Battle For Quarter Title
The women’s quarter is as wide open as any event at NCAAs. Florida senior Sharrika Barnett holds the best time in the country with her 50.96 and is the top returner from the 2018 NCAA Championships, but her mark is from March and she has been up-and-down since. Behind Barnett, five women with marks between 51.03 and 51.41 have collectively blurred the picture even further, and it's hardly any clearer after indoor champ Kaelin Roberts failed to qualify.
A quartet of Barnett’s SEC rivals seem most likely to challenge her for the win in Austin. Arkansas sophomore Kethlin Campbell, the SEC champ, hit her stride this outdoor season. Her 51.03 is second-best in the country, and Campbell has the advantage of already beating many of the women she’ll face this weekend, including Syaira Richardson of Texas A&M, Wadeline Jonathas of South Carolina and Kentucky’s Chloe Abbott—the next three women on the descending order list behind Barnett.
This event will be critical for the team title, as Barnett’s Gators, Campbell’s Razorbacks and Kyra Constantine’s USC Trojans are all in the mix. Constantine owns a 51.41 best and was the top qualifier out of the West region.
Women’s 100m Hurdles | Huge Team Implications For Arkansas & USC
Arkansas’ Janeek Brown has been the class of this event in 2019 with two performances under 12.60, including an NCAA-leading 12.55 that won her the SEC title. With no other woman faster than 12.62, Brown is the clear favorite in Austin.
If the Razorback star runs up to her ability, she should win comfortably, but the West prelim highlighted who is most likely to take advantage should Brown falter. USC’s Chanel Brissett, the 2019 60m hurdles NCAA champ, beat Brown in the quarterfinal round in Sacramento and seems destined for a huge breakthrough in her second outdoor championships. Brissett's 12.70 best is sure to fall this weekend, and an upset of Brown could go a long way toward her Trojans upsetting Brown’s Razorbacks in the team battle as well.
One of those two women seems highly likely to win, but the presence of Brown’s Arkansas teammate Payton Chadwick and Brisset’s USC runningmate Anna Cockrell make this event gigantic for title purposes. Chadwick has run 12.70 and owns an NCAA 60m hurdles title.
One final name to watch is Georgia Tech sophomore Jeanine Williams, who ran a slightly wind-aided 12.62 at the East prelims. Williams has never run in an NCAA final, and she’ll have to figure out how to carry her talent onto the big stage—last year, she dropped a wind-aided 12.74 at prelims before flaming out in the semifinal in Eugene.
Women’s 400m Hurdles | Anna Cockrell Chases First NCAA Title
The 2019 women’s 400m hurdles at NCAAs directly contrasts last year’s event, where world junior record holder Sydney McLaughlin (52.75) made it arguably the most predictable race at the meet. A year later, not one woman has run under 56 seconds in 2019, setting up an event liable to surprise on Saturday.
But if there is one woman who stands above the field, it’s USC’s Anna Cockrell, twice a runner-up in this distance at NCAAs. The junior owns a 55.14 PB that’s well clear of the field, and she seems on the verge of dropping loads of time with three 56-second performances on her 2019 resume. But the junior needs to find better rhythm than she had at prelims in order to win Saturday. She wasn't thrilled with her performance in Sacramento—her time was just third-best at the meet—and any lingering doubt could affect her in Austin.
Cockrell will be coming back from the 100m hurdles final just 45 minutes before this event on Saturday, but she weathered that double just fine two years ago with All-American finishes in both.
Behind the USC star, a couple of women are knocking on the door. Kansas State senior Ranae McKenzie ran her NCAA-leading 56.11 way back in April, and she had the fastest qualifier in Sacramento. With a 56.06 lifetime best and a fifth-place finish a year ago, the Jamaican will give Cockrell all she can handle in Austin.
Then there’s Rutgers freshman Reanda Richards, the second-fastest in the NCAA this season with her 56.31 at East prelims. The 19-year-old cut nearly a second off her PB in Jacksonville, and more could be coming for an athlete who has yet to race the stars on the West side of the bracket.