Mu runs 1:58.40 to eclipse marks held by Fray, Rogers and Hodgkinson in conference finals debut, with host Arkansas sweeping team titles; Laird, Fahnbulleh run top two 200 times in world, with Steiner first to run sub-22.60 four times, McLeod first Jamaican jumper to surpass 8 meters and 17 meters

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Athing Mu arrived at Texas A&M with the knowledge that in order to be the best indoor 800-meter runner in collegiate history, she would first have to be the fastest ever to compete for the Aggies.

No small feat, considering Jazmine Fray and Sammy Watson have both captured NCAA Division 1 titles in the past four years.

Mu hasn’t yet had the opportunity to secure her first collegiate crown, but following Saturday’s performance at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships, the 18-year-old rising star from New Jersey took care of every other aspect of NCAA and World U-20 history by running 1 minute, 58.40 seconds at Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.

Mu smashed the 2017 collegiate indoor mark of 2:00.69 by Fray, in addition to running faster than the all-time outdoor record of 1:59.10, also achieved in 2017 by Oregon graduate and Bowerman award winner Raevyn Rogers.

Mu also eclipsed the World U-20 record of 1:59.03 achieved Jan. 30 by British athlete Keely Hodgkinson and elevated to the No. 2 competitor in American indoor history, trailing only Ajee’ Wilson at 1:58.29, in addition to ascending to No. 20 all-time in the world, including third-fastest this year.

The only collegiate athletes ever to run faster than Mu both occurred outside the usual NCAA indoor and outdoor seasons, when Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright ran 1:58.22 outdoors against a professional field at the 2010 Prefontaine Classic and Oregon’s Claudette Groenendaal clocking 1:58.33 in a 1985 outdoor race in Switzerland.

Mu didn’t return to the track for an encore performance, as Texas A&M, despite boasting the collegiate 4x400 relay record of 3:26.27, decided not to compete in the final event of the meet.

That allowed the Arkansas women to punctuate a seventh straight team championship and 11th overall – one shy of LSU’s record 12 – edging Kentucky in the 4x400 by a 3:28.50 to 3:28.82 margin.

Arkansas also won its second straight men’s team crown and 24th overall, also one shy of the record 25 achieved by Tennessee.

After JuVaughn Harrison equaled the world lead in the long jump Friday, LSU teammate Terrance Laird produced another top global mark Saturday by defending his 200-meter title in 20.28 seconds.

Florida sophomore Joe Fahnbulleh ran a world-leading 20.32 in the first section, only to have the senior Laird respond by becoming the No. 10 all-time collegiate indoor performer to repeat as champion, both athletes running faster than the 2017 meet record of 20.34 achieved by Alabama’s Jereem Richards.

Although Kentucky junior Abby Steiner wasn’t able to achieve the collegiate record in the women’s 200 after equaling the No. 3 all-time competitor by running 22.41 in Friday’s prelims, she successfully defended her title in 22.50, becoming the first female athlete with back-to-back championships since LSU’s Kimberlyn Duncan in 2011-13.

Steiner, who also finished fifth in the 60-meter dash in 7.30 and ran the second leg on Kentucky’s runner-up 4x400, became the first female performer in collegiate indoor history as well as all-time in the United States to run under 22.60 at least four times, including three this season.

“I’m proud of myself for being consistent in my 200s, and it gives me confidence going into NCAAs and for my outdoor 200s as well,” Steiner said. “(The schedule) was challenging, but our coaches prepared us well to be able to handle the stresses of competition on our body. Everyone has to deal with the short schedule, so we just adapted as best as we could.”

Tennessee junior Carey McLeod became the first Jamaican athlete to surpass the 8-meter mark in the long jump and 17-meter mark in the triple jump, following his collegiate-leading 56-4 (17.17m) triple jump to secure the first conference title in the event for the Volunteers since 1987.

McLeod was second to Harrison in Friday’s long jump final at 27-0.75 (8.25m), equaling the No. 3 mark in  the world this year.

Tennessee added another collegiate-leading performance by running 3:04.08 in the men’s 4x400 to secure its first championship in the relay since 1994.

In other men’s finals, Waleed Suliman of Ole Miss held off Arkansas’ Amon Kemboi by a 3:58.28 to 3:58.56 margin in the mile, both running faster than the 1976 meet record of 3:59.40 established by Alabama’s Stephan Bolt. Suliman secured his second title in three years, along with contributing to the Rebels’ distance medley relay victory Thursday.

Mario Garcia Romo, also a member of the Ole Miss championship DMR, added a 3,000 title in 8:03.99, the first for the Rebels in five years.

Auburn’s Dante Brown (6.67) and Christopher Grant (6.71) took the top two spots in the men’s 60-meter dash final, capturing the first title for the Tigers since 2012.

LSU junior Noah Williams won the 400 crown in 45.26, the first for the program since 2009.

Damion Thomas (7.60) and Eric Edwards, Jr. (7.67) swept the top two spots in the 60-meter hurdles for LSU, capturing the Tigers’ first championship since 2016.

Texas A&M made it four in a row in the men’s 800, with Brandon Miller joining fellow freshman Mu by prevailing in 1:49.69, following the past three titles achieved by Devin Dixon.

Kentucky’s Matthew Peare repeated as men’s pole vault champion, clearing 17-9.75 (5.43m) on his first attempt to triumph on fewer misses against Auburn’s James Courson, who cleared the height on his second try.

Alabama senior Isaac Odugbesan won the men’s shot put with a mark of 67-3.25 (20.50m), capturing the first title for the Crimson Tide since 1977.

In the women’s championship events, Auburn junior Joyce Kimeli became the first athlete in program history to sweep the 3,000 and 5,000 titles, holding off Arkansas’ Katie Izzo for the second time in as many days, clocking 8:56.02 to 8:56.55. Izzo had won both titles last season, with Kimeli finishing second in the 3,000 and fifth in the 5,000.

Krissy Gear became the fourth different Arkansas competitor in as many years to win the mile championship, clocking 4:34.72.

Georgia continued its dominance in the triple jump, with sophomore Jasmine Moore repeating as champion with a personal-best 45-10 (13.97m) to elevate to the No. 13 all-time collegiate indoor performer. Keturah Orji, the collegiate record holder and Bowerman award winner, had won four titles for the Bulldogs from 2015-18.

Tennessee crowned its first 60-meter dash champion,  with sophomore Joella Lloyd running 7.15. Dedra Davis captured the 55-meter title in 1994, but the Volunteers had never achieved a crown in the women’s 60 event before Saturday.

Latavia Maines repeated as shot put champion for Tennessee with a mark of 58-5.25 (17.81m), becoming the first female thrower to repeat since Raven Saunders of Ole Miss in 2016-17.

Florida freshman Talitha Diggs elevated to the No. 2 collegiate performer this year in the 400, clocking 51.14 to secure the Gators’ first championship since 2005.

LSU senior Milan Young followed teammate Tonea Marshall by winning the 60-meter hurdles title in 8.03.