Stars shine at Texas Tech Open & Multis meet
Three-time global medalist Elija Godwin had grown accustomed to seeing a lot of the same places during his first four years on the Georgia track and field team.
But when Caryl Smith Gilbert was head coach at Southern California, she used to bring the Trojans to compete in Lubbock. And now that Smith Gilbert is head coach at Georgia, she brought the Bulldogs to the Hub City for the first time.
That meant 10-time first-team all-American Matthew Boling and Godwin, the Olympics and World Championships medalist, got to show their stuff this weekend at the Sports Performance Center in the Texas Tech Open & Multis. They didn't disappoint.
Godwin ran the 400 meters Friday night in 46.12 seconds, the fastest time among 51 starters. Boling knocked out a 20.42 in the 200 on Saturday afternoon.
In the meet's final event, Boling ran the first leg and Godwin the anchor on a 1,600-meter relay that tore around the track in 3 minutes, 3.74 seconds.
"This is my first time competing here, and I thought to myself, 'I love the energy,' " Godwin said. "I wasn't familiar with this place, so it's exciting to run in new places. You hear a lot about the track, it being fast, so I'm happy I got the chance to run on it."
Godwin's global medals all came on 1,600-meter relays. He won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics with the U.S. mixed team. At last summer's World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, he won another bronze on the mixed relay and a gold on the U.S. men's team.
The one that means the most?
"Definitely my bronze medal at the Olympics," he said. "Just being a first-time Olympian during the Covid year, facing everything we were facing, being in Japan where Covid was a high priority. Not only were you there to compete, but you were there to stay safe. One of my biggest memories is making my first Olympic team, so that bronze medal there meant a lot."
This weekend was the first-ever trip to Lubbock for Boling, the former Texas schoolboy sensation from Houston Strake Jesuit. And although his 20.42 was strong for the first 200 of the season, the much-anticipated race disappointed in that NCAA champion Micah Williams from Oregon and three-time Big 12 champion Jacolby Shelton from Texas Tech both pulled up with apparent leg-muscle injuries.
Tech coach Wes Kittley said the preliminary diagnosis on Shelton is a grade-one hamstring strain.
Boling and Williams were among the last 10 men on the watch list last year for the Bowerman award, the Heisman Trophy of track and field.
"It's disappointing, but we're all praying for him," Boling said. "I actually got to meet his family while I was watching the meet last night, and they're really cool people. I know he'll be back, and just praying for his health."
Texas Tech's Courtney Lindsey ran 20.41 two weeks ago. With the conversions to account for Lubbock's 3,200 feet of altitude, Lindsey's time goes to 20.48 and Boling's to 20.49, which are 1-2 in NCAA Division I this season.
Other than the injuries, the three-day Tech meet gave a galaxy of college stars the chance to perform, and they did. On Thursday and Friday, Georgia's Kyle Garland piled up 6,415 points in the indoor heptathlon, tied for eighth all-time in the world and third all-time among U.S. men. Williams, the NCAA champion in the 60 meters two years ago, ran a 6.49 Friday night, four one-hundredths of a second off the facility record held by Texas Tech's Terrence Jones.
Facility records did go down in the shot put, courtesy of throwers Jordan Geist from Arizona and Jorinde Van Klinken from Oregon. Geist won the men's competition in 69 feet, 9 1/2 inches and Van Klinken took the women's in 60-10 1/2. Van Klinken, a three-time NCAA champion, broke a record set in 2013 by Olympic gold medalist Michelle Carter.
"Two weeks in a row, you get this type quality to come to Lubbock, Texas, it's just incredible," Kittley said. "I'm so thankful that we get to stay at home and bring the best people in the country to us."
Two Texas Tech school records fell. On Friday night, Rosemary Chukwuma ran the 60 in 7.09 seconds, breaking a record she already held. On Saturday, Zach Bradford broke his Tech record for the second week in a row, an 18-10 3/4 being an inch and a half higher than his performance the week before.
Bradford briefly had the Division I lead for the season, but Princeton vaulter Sondre Guttormsen cleared 19-2 at a Harvard meet Saturday.
Bradford vaulted at 19-1, which would have topped his personal record (19-0 3/4, achieved outdoors in April 2021) and the facility record (19-0 1/4 by Baylor's K.C. Lightfoot in February 2020). He came closest on his last of three attempts, close enough for the crowd to cheer and then groan.
"My mind was kind of set on just taking that one last jump and being done," Bradford said, "and I had the hip height over it. I watched some videos back. I definitely have the height to make those heights over 19 feet."
In events late Friday and Saturday, Tech also got first-place showings from Ryleigh Redding in the women's pole vault and from four men: Marco Vilca in the 800 meters, Chris Welch in the triple jump, Omamuyovwi Erhire in the high jump and E.J. Rush in the mile.
"The whole group, I felt like, we're just starting to come together a little bit," Kittley said. "A little disappointment with the hamstring with Jacolby, but hopefully it's not too bad."
TEXAS TECH OPEN & MULTIS
at Sports Performance Center
Event finals only
Results late Friday and Saturday
WOMEN
Field Events
Long jump: 1. Ruth Usoro, unattached (formerly Texas Tech), 22-6 1/2 (facility record; old record, Usoro, Texas Tech, 22-4 1/2 in February 2021); 2. Lishanna Ilves, Nebraska, 21-3 1/4; 3. Paola Fernandez-Sola, Indiana, 20-11 3/4.
Pole vault B section: 1. (tie) Lexie Leinneweber, Auburn, Simonna Cabella, UT-Arlington, 12-8 3/4; 3. Hannah Preissler, Nebraska, 12-8 3/4.
Shot put B section: 1. Mackenna Orie, Arizona, 52 feet, 0 3/4 inches; 2. Tapenisa Havea, Arizona, 51-9; 3. Jaleisa Shaffer, North Texas, 51-1; 4. Field Gatlin, Texas Tech, 50-9 1/2.
Pole vault: 1. Ryleigh Redding, Texas Tech, 13-8 1/2; 2. Katie Daily, Arizona, 13-8 1/2; 3. Abigail Kuhn, Ohio State, 13-2 1/2; 5. (tie) Olivia Cade, Texas Tech, Sarah Tackitt, Texas Tech, 12-8 3/4.
High jump B section: 1. Natasha Chetty, Nevada, 5-8 3/4; 2. Kamiya Dendy, Auburn, 5-7; 3. Diana Ramos, Arizona, 5-7.
Triple jump B section: 1. Ashley McElmurry, Nebraska, 42-5 1/2; 2. Janaya Jones, Auburn, 41-9 1/4; 3. Mahogany Jenkins, Indiana, 41-7 3/4.
Shot put: 1. Jorinde Van Klinken, Oregon, 60-10 1/2 (facility record; old record, Michelle Carter, Nike, 60-2 1/2 in February 2013); 2. Axelina Johansson, Nebraska, 58-0 1/2; 3. Jaida Ross, Oregon, 56-7 1/2.
Triple jump: 1. Lexi Ellis, Oregon, 44-3 1/2; 2. Onaara Obamuwagun, Texas Tech, 43-10 3/4; 3. Mikeisha Welcome, Georgia, 43-6 1/2.
High jump: 1. Elena Kulichenko, Georgia, 6-1 1/2; 2. Amaya Ugarte, Ohio State, 6-0 1/2; 3. Alexa Porpaczy, Arizona, 5-11 1/4.
Running Events
400: 1. Aaliyah Butler, Georgia, 52.95; 2. Arianna Sharpe, Auburn, 53.01; 3. Bryannia Murphy, Ohio State, 53.64.
60 hurdles: 1. Aaliyah McCormick, Oregon, 8.07; 2. Talie Bonds, Arizona, 8.08; 3. Bella Witt, Georgia, 8.29.
60: 1. Rosemary Chukwuma, Texas Tech, 7.09; 2. Kaila Jackson, Georgia, 7.16; 3. Jadyn Mays, Oregon, 7.19.
200: 1. Bella Witt, Georgia, 24.34; 2. Adeyemi Talabi, UT-Arlington, 24.55; 3. Aaliyah McCormick, Oregon, 24.57; 5. Simone Watkins, Texas Tech, 24.64.
800: 1. Edita Sklenska, Oklahoma, 2:10.11; 2. Macey Hilton, SMU, 2:12.36; 3. Charlotte Augenstein, Georgia, 2:12.72.
Mile: 1. Yazmine Wright, Oklahoma, 4:48.59; 2. Sydney Burton, Kansas State, 4:55.67; 3. Halena Rahmaan, Texas Tech, 4:55.89.
200: 1. Madoundou Kone, Ivory Coast, 22.92; 2. Jadyn Mays, Oregon, 23.04; 3. Autumn Wilson, Georgia, 23.23.
3,000: 1. Eleonora Curtabbi, West Texas A&M, 9:36.12; 2. Emily Clarke, Nevada, 9:49.18; 3. Florance Uwajeneza, West Texas A&M, 9:53.90; 6. Hannah Spears, Texas Tech, 10:24.96.
1,600 relay: 1. Georgia (Aaliyah Butler, Dominique Mustin, Haley Tate, Zoe Pollock), 3:33.28; 2. Ohio State, 3:33.83; 3. Oregon, 3:34.69; 4. Texas Tech, 3:35.40.
MEN
Field Events
Long jump: 1. Jacob Fincham-Dukes, unattached, 25-8 1/4; 2. Micaylon Moore, Nebraska, 24-8 1/4; 3. Trpimir Siroki Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 24-5 1/2.
Weight throw B section: 1. Aimar Palma Simo, Arkansas State, 65-2 3/4; 2. Josh Marcy, Nebraska, 64-3 1/4; 3. Konner Wood, Texas Tech, 63-3 1/4; 5. Chris Samaniego, Texas Tech, 61-9.
Pole vault: 1. Zach Bradford, Texas Tech, 18-10 3/4 (school record; old record, Zach Bradford, 18-9 1/4 in January 2023); 2. Logan Fraley, Texas Tech, 17-6 1/4; 3. (tie) Nikolai van Huyssteen, Georgia, Warren Miller, Texas Tech, 17-2 1/4;
High jump B section: 1. T.J. Funches, Auburn, 7-0 1/4; 2. Tyus Wilson, Nebraska, 7-0 1/4; 3. Calen Jones, UT-Arlington, 6-10 3/4; 6. Cayden Butler, Lubbock Christian University, 6-8 3/4.
Shot put B section: 1. Willem Coertzen, Arkansas State, 57-7 3/4; 2. Jacob Tracy, Arkansas State, 55-2 1/4; 3. Matthew Rueff, Auburn, 54-2 1/2; 6. Donroy Brown, South Plains College, 53-5 3/4.
Triple jump: 1. Chris Welch, Texas Tech, 52-5 1/4; 2. Clarence Foote-Talley, Ohio State, 51-7 1/4; 3. Micaylon Moore, Nebraska, 51-1 3/4; 5. Keyshawn King, Texas Tech, 50-8 3/4.
Shot put: 1. Jordan Geist, Arizona, 69-9 1/2 (facility record; old record, Adrian Piperi, Texas, 68-10 1/2 in January 2022); 2. Jonah Wilson, Nebraska, 67-0; 3. Maxwell Otterdahl, Nebraska, 65-10 1/4.
High jump: 1. Omamuyovwi Erhire, Texas Tech, 7-3 3/4; 2. Mayson Conner, Nebraska, Kudakwashe Chadenga, South Plains, 7-3 3/4; 6. Kaithon McDonald, Texas Tech, 7-1.
Running Events
400: 1. Elija Godwin, Georgia, 46.12; 2. Jeremy Bembridge, South Plains, 46.84; 3. Elijah Mosley, Barton County (Kan.) Community College, 46.98.
60 hurdles: 1. Darius Luff, Nebraska, 7.66; 2. Joel Bengtsson, UT-Arlington, 7.70; 3. Brithton Senior, Nebraska, 7.82.
60: 1. Micah Williams, Oregon, 6.49; 2. Azeem Fahmi, Auburn, 6.65; 3. Rodney Heath, Louisiana Tech, 6.67.
200: 1. Matthew Boling, Georgia, 20.42; 2. Mouhamadou Fall, France, 20.75; 3. David Dunlap, Northern Arizona, 20.87; 6. Karayme Bartley, Puma (formerly Texas Tech), 21.09.
800: 1. Marco Vilca, Texas Tech, 1:47.88; 2. Will Sumner, Georgia, 1:48.84; 3. Kimar Farquharson, South Plains, 1:48.90.
Mile: 1. E.J. Rush, Texas Tech, 4:05.05; 2. Mehmet Celik, South Plains, 4:06.94; 3. Stephen Kielhofner, Kansas State, 4:14.04; 4. Aron Tanui, South Plains, 4:15.25; 6. Paul Sherrill, unattached (Texas Tech), 4:18.76.
3,000: 1. Dennis Kipngeno, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 8:31.56; 2. Hadley Splechter, Kansas State, 8:32.51; 3. Harry Louradour, West Texas A&M, 8:35.13.
1,600 relay: 1. Georgia (Matthew Boling, Caleb Cavanaugh, Will Sumner, Elija Godwin), 3:03.74; 2. South Plains (Jeremy Bembridge, Caio Almeida, Evaldo Whitehorne, Kimar Farquharson), 3:05.91; 3. Ohio State, 3:07.28.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Stars shine at Texas Tech Open & Multis meet
