1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:04,840 We are back outside Hayward Field, where we just saw day two 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:08,520 of the 2026 NCAA Division One Outdoor Track and Field 3 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,320 Championships take place. And once again, the story of the 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,880 day is some record-breaking performances on the 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,680 straightaway. Yesterday it was Jacoby Tharp 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:22,080 setting the world record in the men's 110 meter hurdles. 7 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,080 Check out yesterday's recap for a breakdown of all of that 8 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:28,360 insanity. Today it was a Deja Hodge, the 9 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:32,960 freshman from the University of Georgia running 1063. 10 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:37,960 She becomes the fifth fastest woman in world history, shatters 11 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,680 Shakari Richardson's 1075 collegiate record from back in 12 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,360 2019. The only women to run faster 13 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,520 than a Deja Hodge now and a Deja, like I said is a red shirt 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,040 freshman at the University of Georgia. 15 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,880 You've got the world record holder, Florence Griffith 16 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,480 Joyner, Elaine Thompson, Hara Shelley, Ann Fraser Price and 17 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,320 Melissa Jefferson Wooden. Those four women all have won at 18 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:06,320 least a world title or at least a global title in the women's 19 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:09,880 100. Shelley is an Olympic champion, 20 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,560 Elaine is an Olympic champion. When you Flojo is obviously an 21 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,040 Olympic champion, when you look at the company that a Deja Hodge 22 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,520 is keeping right now, it is pretty incredible and a pristine 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,720 wind in that race coming in at plus 1.9. 24 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:27,560 So got some help there but not enough help to make it illegal. 25 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,480 Unbelievable performance and then she comes back in the 200 26 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:36,800 shuts it down super early and still goes 2196. 27 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,160 She becomes she ties the fastest single day hundred 200 double 28 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,880 ever, tying a performance by Marlene Audi with a combination 29 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,560 of those two races and 3259. And that is it's an interesting 30 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,040 stat to look at because most of the time you don't really see 31 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,920 pros race hundreds and two hundreds on the same day. 32 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,000 But regardless, to do that just a few hours apart, absolutely 33 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:03,880 incredible stuff out of a Deja Hodge. 34 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,240 And she also helped get the day started with some incredible 4 35 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,840 by 1 heat with the Georgia Bulldogs going 42 seconds. 36 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,080 But they didn't even win their heat because USC takes first in 37 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,400 that heat in 4196. They're now the second and third 38 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,120 fastest schools in collegiate history. 39 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:28,840 LSU and South Carolina and Tennessee at 4311 or 4323 to 40 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:33,440 make it in with five schools under 42, five. 41 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,200 When we get to that four by one final on Saturday, it is going 42 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,120 to be an incredible way to kick off an absolutely unbelievable 43 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,600 day of track, track finals. Tonight we had the women's 44 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:49,120 10,000 and this one, an interesting race where it comes 45 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,440 down to a last lap. Jane Heddingren has the pole 46 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,520 position heading into that final lap with Pamela Cosguy and 47 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,120 Mercilin Kerwha out of Iowa State there with her. 48 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,680 And then on that last lap, out of nowhere, it is Mercilin 49 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,040 Kerwha, the freshman from Iowa State, the Cyclone. 50 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,760 She closes in 6184. Absolutely. 51 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,520 I mean, she ended up winning this one by almost 2 full 52 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,800 seconds over family Cause Guy and Jane Hettinger. 53 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:18,320 And who ends up finishing in 3rd? 54 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,000 She just absolutely blew the field away over this final lap. 55 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,600 An incredible showing out of the Iowa State freshman Cause Guy, 56 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:28,760 like I said, does hold on for a second. 57 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,080 While Jane Hettengren in her outdoor collegiate championship 58 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:34,640 debut takes third. This is one of those moments 59 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:38,720 where we really need to just recognize and kind of reframe 60 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,480 our mindset that Jane Hettengren is still a true freshman running 61 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,200 with some of the best athletes in the world and finishing 62 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:46,960 third. It's an absolutely incredible 63 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:51,200 performance from her and now we see what she has on Saturday in 64 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:53,520 the 5000. How does she bounce back against 65 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,680 Doris Lemingle on fresh legs? That will be a race that we have 66 00:03:57,680 --> 00:03:59,840 been. We've been waiting since the 67 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,960 NCAA Indoor Championships when Doris was a little hurt in the 68 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:04,920 5K and then I ended up scratching the 3K. 69 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,000 This is the matchup that we've been waiting for. 70 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:09,240 So now Jane has a little bit of a chip on her shoulder. 71 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,000 Doris is going to be coming in trying to reclaim that title 72 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,080 that Jane beat her for indoors. That's going to be a really, 73 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,880 really fun one to watch. Iowa State also goes 1/4 in this 74 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,200 one because Betty Kipkor takes 4th place and BYU gets another 75 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,320 scorer with Jenna Hutchins finishing in 8th. 76 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,560 Some field finals. Let's talk about women's hammer. 77 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:34,840 Elizabeth Root, Ruiner's daughter, throws APB 7319. 78 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:39,160 She won this title in 2024, missed all of 2025 with a back 79 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:41,560 injury. Comes back and reclaims that 80 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,560 title against Antonette Nobway, who is the second best thrower 81 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:49,400 in collegiate history with her mark of 77 meters. 64 for a few 82 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:53,480 months ago with the Drake Relays and Elizabeth had the lead. 83 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:56,400 Antonette had a massive throw in round six. 84 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,800 We were waiting for that mark to pop up and it shows up 4 85 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,560 centimeters short. So Elizabeth secures her second 86 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,960 title, like I said, with APB. Alyssa Jones. 87 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,880 The season of Alyssa Jones continues. 88 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,600 She sets a new meet record in the women's long jump. 89 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,840 The Stanford Cardinal goes 7 meters O 6. 90 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:15,560 She wins this one by almost half a meter. 91 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,000 She also jumped seven O 2, which is now the second best mark and 92 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:21,040 NCAA outdoor championship history. 93 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,600 All of this after jumping the second best mark in collegiate 94 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,400 history at West Regionals when she went 709. 95 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:30,200 And she's going again in the high jump on Saturday where 96 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,120 indoors she finished second in the long jump and 3rd in the 97 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:34,840 high jump. So we'll see how many more 98 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:38,680 points she can put on the board for the Cardinal when we get to 99 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,400 Saturday's competition. The women's pole vault. 100 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:43,920 It was the Mall twins. As always. 101 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,720 Amanda Mall wins this title. 4 meters 84, A new collegiate 102 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,480 outdoor record with Hannah right behind her. 4 meters 74. 103 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,920 I can't remember exactly how many NCAA championships now 104 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:58,920 indoors or out that that pair has gone 1-2. 105 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:03,920 But it is truly, I can't think there's a more impressive 106 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,720 sibling duo in the same event at the same time in NCAA history 107 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,680 because they own all the records, They own the 108 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:14,000 championship records. They have all the best marks in 109 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,440 collegiate history. Like, it is incredible what 110 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:20,960 they're able to do on just a meet to meet basis, and so not 111 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,880 surprising at all to see them end up 1-2, but impressive as 112 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,200 always nonetheless. And then our final field event, 113 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,000 final of the day, women's shot put Axley Neo Hansen closes out 114 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,320 her collegiate career going 19 meters, 92, comes up just shy of 115 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,400 Jada Ross's collegiate record. That ends the night with her 4th 116 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:44,480 NCAA title wins by almost 2 full meters. 117 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,000 Incredible athlete closing out a really strong career for the 118 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,720 Nebraska Cornhuskers. You also had the another final 119 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,280 of the day. You had the men's decathlon wrap 120 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:56,360 up, came all the way down to the 1500. 121 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:01,520 That's BYU's Ben Barton winning by a mere 9 points. 122 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:07,840 He scores 8169 to Louisville sophomore Kenneth Birds, 8160 123 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:13,160 decathlon, coming down to a very tight 1500 race. 124 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,080 That is one of the best, most exciting things you can have in 125 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:17,080 a track. It was just the way the 126 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,680 storylines build for event to event to event and so really 127 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,640 exciting way to end that one. Some other prelim highlights? 128 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:29,400 The women's 800 was freaky, freaky fast today. 129 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,800 Annalise Batista out of Arkansas ran 15993 PB her first time 130 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,360 under 2 minutes and she is the last woman into this final 131 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:43,200 15993. The last woman in this final 2 132 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,480 flat 29 did not make the final. That's. 133 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:48,880 It's something that's kind of hard to wrap your mind around. 134 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,880 Sunu Jallo, in her first race since becoming the second 135 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,320 fastest woman in collegiate history, missing a Thing MO's 136 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,640 record by just 100th of a second at the West Regionals. 137 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,280 She goes 15889 as the fastest qualifier of the day. 138 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:05,360 We also saw heat wins for Haley Kitching and Immaculate Gem, 139 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,080 Utah out of Penn State and Kansas, respectively. 140 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:11,600 And Juliet Whitaker, who I I made the joke with her in the 141 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:13,320 mix zone. It's in a way, it's kind of like 142 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,040 she's defending her title because the last time she raced 143 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,600 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, she won the title 144 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:23,800 in 2024, was not here at the 2025 meet after ending her 145 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,840 season early. So in a way, you know, we'll see 146 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,120 what she can do coming back to try and reclaim that title from 147 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,000 2024 the same way that Elizabeth Root, Bruner's daughter, did in 148 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,480 the hammer. Deja Oakley continues to prove 149 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:42,559 she's the class of the field in the women's 400-4993 for her and 150 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,880 that she's was 300th of a second off of the collegiate record at 151 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,080 the SEC Championships, which is held by Nikisha Price set here 152 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,200 in 2024. So things are shaping up for her 153 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:55,320 to be in strong contention for that one again. 154 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,360 And the the sheer amount of collegiate records we've already 155 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,520 had at these championships is pretty ridiculous to try and 156 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,760 process. I think that is only going to 157 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:08,560 increase as the weekend goes on. Dejanai Oakley is absolutely 158 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:12,160 incredible and just cannot, seemingly cannot have a bad race 159 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:13,640 race. Kayla Garrett leads the four 160 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,720 hurdles qualifiers 5449 on her home track. 161 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,600 Aaliyah McCormick, trying to defend her national title, goes 162 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,280 1258 in a race she in the mix zone. 163 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,160 There was a lot of things she pointed out, especially with her 164 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:30,440 start, that were far from ideal and she still is. 165 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:35,440 The fastest qualifier by over 1/10 she ran 1244 a few weeks 166 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,320 ago to go I think 7th in collegiate history. 167 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,760 So she'll be looking to put on a show for the home crowd right 168 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:47,600 inside Hayward on Saturday night in the women's 1500 not a ton of 169 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:51,440 surprises necessarily you got the first heat was significantly 170 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:53,440 faster. Rosemary Ylanghisa wins that one 171 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,000 in four O 6. Sadie Engelhart, Wilma Nielsen 172 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,200 also pick up automatic qualifiers. 173 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,920 And then in the a second heat, a little slower, a little more 174 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:06,080 tactical, but Hayley Burns wins that 1J Truba and Shalon Ayeldez 175 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,720 are also through. So Oregon will have three in the 176 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,520 final. And also Immaculate Gemutai 177 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:15,400 picked up one of those auto one of those time qualifier spots 178 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:17,800 out of that first heat running four O 833. 179 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:22,720 So she will be racing the 800 and the 1500 final on Saturday, 180 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:27,320 which let's see how far apart are those scheduled for Saturday 181 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,360 evening. The 1500 is scheduled to go off 182 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:35,720 at 5:12 PM Pacific Time and the 800 at 6:14 PM Pacific Time. 183 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,320 So she's going to be in one of the fastest 1500 final fields 184 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,680 we've ever seen, followed directly by the fastest 800 185 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:46,880 final field we've ever seen. So I I do not envy the way that 186 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:51,000 her legs will feel on Saturday night, but it is a ridiculously 187 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,800 impressive double even just to make it to this stage with the 188 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,560 quality of the NCAA right now in the women's 200. 189 00:10:57,560 --> 00:11:02,560 Unfortunately, we saw Jamie Sia Ford pull up and she had also 190 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:04,440 qualified in the hundreds of TBD. 191 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,240 If she's going to be fit enough to race on Saturday, she's also 192 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,560 a huge part of South Carolina's relays. 193 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:13,600 But she unfortunately will not be in the 200, which as I said, 194 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,360 Dave Hodge is the fastest qualifier in that one, the only 195 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:21,040 athlete sub 22 going 2196. But you had a lot of 22 lows, 196 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,760 which could be shaping up for a very fast race. 197 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,280 The team standings Washington is in the lead right now with 18 198 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,160 points, all of those coming in the women's pole vault. 199 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,800 Iowa State behind them with 15. Thanks to the 10K and 200 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,960 interesting notes for the team race is Georgia is still 201 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:40,440 according to the results projections. 202 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,920 They're still projected to win, but they did not have a great 203 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:48,000 day qualifying today with Deja Hodge being their only athletes 204 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,400 qualifying the 100 and the 200. So they're still projected to 205 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,880 win because between a Deja Hodge, Deja Nae Oakley, that's 206 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,600 probably 30 individual points right there in the 1-2 and the 207 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,720 four and their relays are incredibly strong. 208 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,640 So that could be enough for them to win right there. 209 00:12:03,680 --> 00:12:06,960 But it is not necessarily as comfortable as it might have 210 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,400 seen coming into the means. That's definitely something to 211 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,920 keep an eye on on Saturday. Tomorrow. 212 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,400 We've got the guys finals. We've got the Heptathlon 213 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,560 starting. You're going to see world record 214 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:20,120 holder Jacoby Tharp once again on the fastest straight away in 215 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:21,880 the world. So we'll see what he can do. 216 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,160 So stay tuned for that. As I said yesterday, we've got 217 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:27,680 interviews on the City SMAG YouTube channel, graphics and 218 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:31,040 updates all throughout the City of SMAG social feeds, and we'll 219 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,440 be right back here tomorrow night for day three of the City 220 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:36,280 of the City of Smag Recap show.