Sydney McLaughlin's Freshman NCAA D1 Outdoor Championships Could Also Be Her Last as a Collegian

By Adam Kopet

The Kentucky women enter the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships in contention to win the national team title (Kentucky is predicted to finish third in the DyeStat Formchart). One important member of the team is Sydney McLaughlin.

Only a freshman, McLaughlin is no stranger to the big stage, having finished third at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and racing in the Olympics in Rio in the 400-meter hurdles.

However, according to Guy Ramsey in a University of Kentucky preview, these NCAA Championships will likely be McLaughlin's last. Presumably she is considering turning pro, but the preview does not go into details.

McLaughlin has already made a strong mark on the NCAA. She started by running fast times indoors, finishing runner-up in the 400 meters in a world U20 record of 50.36 and fourth in the 200 meters. She also ran second leg on the fifth-place Kentucky 4x4000 relay team.

McLaughlin's success continued outdoors. Early in the season, she stuck to the flat races, running a 22.39 for 200 meters, 50.07 for 400 meters and a wind-aided 11.07 for 100 meters. When McLaughlin finally did step onto the track for her signature event, the 400-meter hurdles, she lowered her world U20 record in 53.60 at the National Relay Championship.

She then lowered it again at the SEC Championships, running 52.75 to shatter the collegiate record. That mark ranks her first in the world this year and ties her for ninth on the all-time list.

When McLaughlin takes to the track Thursday in Eugene, she is scheduled to compete in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4x400 relay, although Kentucky might not use her in the 4x400 relay prelims.

Should McLaughlin turn pro after this weekend, it seems unlikely she will leave Kentucky entirely, as the head coach Edrick Floréal also coaches some of the top professional hurdlers in the world, including reigning 400-meter hurdles world champion Kori Carter and 100-meter hurdles world record holder Keni Harrison. The reigning world and Olympic champion in the 110-meter hurdles, Omar McLeod of Jamaica, is also coached by Floréal.