Alfred lowers mark again after 7.02 effort Jan. 21 in Albuquerque, becomes 18th female athlete globally to run 7.00 or faster, with teammate Adeleke setting Irish national 400 record 50.45 for No. 3 in NCAA indoor history; Razorbacks run 3:01.09, trail only 2018 global standard of 3:00.77 by USC 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The good news for Julien Alfred is the Texas sprinter gets another opportunity to race in March at the Albuquerque Convention Center for the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships.

The bad news for the rest of the collegiate competitors is that they will be racing against the fastest female athlete in NCAA history.

Alfred, a graduate student-athlete for the Longhorns representing Saint Lucia, lowered her own collegiate indoor record Saturday in the 60-meter dash to 7.00 seconds at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic.

Alfred, who ran 7.02 on the same track Jan. 21 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Invitational, clocked 7.05 in Saturday’s prelims.

Alfred became the 18th female athlete in global history to run 7.00 or faster in the indoor 60, with American Aleia Hobbs achieving a 6.98 effort Jan. 28 at the Razorback Invitational at Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., to also join the list.

Alfred placed second overall Friday in the 200 meters in 22.56, trailing LSU’s Favour Ofili, who won her section in 22.55.

Arkansas clocked the second-fastest indoor men’s 4x400-meter relay in global history with its 3:01.09 performance, trailing only the 3:00.77 standard achieved by USC in 2018 at the NCAA Division 1 final at Texas A&M that established both collegiate and world all-time bests.

Connor Washington, James Benson II, Ayden Owens-Delerme and Christopher Bailey improved on last year’s program record by more than three seconds for the Razorbacks.

Bailey anchored in 44.32, the fourth-fastest indoor split in collegiate and global history. Benson II ran his leg in 44.82, the sixth-fastest split for the second 400 by any athlete in the world.

Rhasidat Adeleke, an Irish athlete competing for Texas, produced the third-fastest all-time collegiate indoor 400 and a national record by clocking 50.45.

Adeleke equaled the No. 20 all-time global indoor competitor, taking over the world lead this year.

Sondre Guttormsen of Princeton, representing Norway, prevailed in a pole vault showdown against Zach Bradford of Texas in a preview of the Division 1 indoor final.

Guttormsen improved on his own collegiate-leading mark with a 19-4.25 (5.90m) clearance on his first attempt, with Bradford making 19-1.50 (5.83m) on his second opportunity.

Guttormsen, who achieved an absolute Norwegian national record, became only the fifth male pole vaulter in collegiate history to clear at least 19-4.25, joining KC Lightfoot, Chris Nilsen, Armand "Mondo" Duplantis and Shawn Barber.

Bradford became the 10th all-time male collegiate competitor to produce an indoor clearance of at least 19-1.50. It also marked the first time in NCAA indoor history that multiple vaulters cleared 5.83m or better in the same competition.

Jordan West of Arkansas, a Tennessee transfer, handed two-time Division 1 indoor men’s shot put champion Turner Washington of Arizona State his first setback in an indoor competition since 2020, snapping a streak of 11 consecutive victories.

West produced a personal-best 66-5.75 (20.26m) in the sixth round to rally past Washington, who took the lead in the fifth round at 65-10.50 (20.08m).

Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas, a Jamaican standout and World U20 gold medalist making his collegiate debut with the Razorbacks, took over the NCAA lead and ascended to No. 4 in the world in the men’s triple jump with identical 54-10.75 (16.73m) performances from a short approach in the first two rounds. Hibbert passed on all his remaining jumps.