Leading Contenders Fall Flat In Pole Vault, Opening Door For South Alabama's Kyle Rademeyer; Arkansas Duo Goes 1-2 In Long Jump; Jordan Geist Edges Out Turner Washington For SP Win; Tzuriel Pedigo Wins 2nd Javelin Title; Kenneth Ikeji Wins Hammer

By David Woods for DyeStat

Bert Richardson photos

AUSTIN, Texas – With three of the top pole vaulters in collegiate history gathered at a venue yielding big bars, there was speculation Mondo Duplantis’ record of 19 feet, 8.25 inches (6.00 meters) might fall at the NCAA Division 1 Championships.

Defending champion Sondre Guttormsen of Princeton jumped that high March 10 in the indoor NCAAs at Albuquerque, N.M., in a duel against Texas Tech’s Zach Bradford. Add 2021 champion Branson Ellis of Stephen F. Austin, after he and Bradford both vaulted 19-2.75 (5.86m) at the 95th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, and the stage was set for history.

Guttormsen, Bradford and Ellis are Nos. 5, 7 and 8 on the all-time collegiate list.

Instead, no one cleared a bar as high as 19 feet Wednesday night. South Alabama’s Kyle Rademeyer, representing South Africa, became NCAA champion at an unremarkable 18-8.25 (5.70m).

The Jaguars’ only other NCAA champion was Vincent Rono in the 1,500 meters in 2006.

“It was good seeing that I won. But also, I wasn’t looking at the win,” Rademeyer said. “I was looking at jumping 19 feet and higher.”

Guttormsen, of Norway, finished sixth. He missed his first attempt at 18-4.50 (5.60m) and was scrambling thereafter. He made it on his second, passed 18-8.25 and missed three times at what would have been a winning bar of 19-0.25 (5.80m).

After the third miss, he placed hands on his head in exasperation. Rademeyer wasn’t cheering for a miss.

“I want him to succeed and everything,” he said. “I don’t really compete against anyone else. I compete against myself, especially at a meet like this.”

Rademeyer, 21, won a bronze medal in the World U20 Championships at Nairobi, Kenya, in 2021. He was third behind Guttormsen and Bradford at indoor NCAAs.

Rademeyer made the winning bars on his first attempt to beat Akron’s Hunter Garretson, who cleared on his second try.

Washington’s Jacob Englar tied Bradford for third at 18-4.50. Walsh temporarily seized the lead with a first-attempt PB. He was without a miss after opening as low as 16-10.75.

Ellis no-heighted.

Guttormsen was bidding to become the first in three decades to win successive indoor/outdoor sweeps. George Mason’s Istvan Bagyula, of Hungary, did so in from 1990-92. With eligibility expired in the Ivy League, Guttormsen is continuing in college at Texas in 2024.

In other men’s field events:  

Shot Put

They were close, and not only in distance of their throws. Jordan Geist and Turner Washington were once college roommates as freshmen at Arizona.

Geist overtook Washington in the final round of the shot put, throwing 69-1.25 (21.06m) to win by two centimeters. Washington, now at Arizona State, was second with a season best of 69-0.50 (21.04m).

Geist completed an indoor/outdoor sweep of the shot on a day requiring 12 throws, shot and hammer combined. He said it was “a little frustrating” to come up short early.

“Getting it done at the end of the day is all that matters,” he said.

Washington, NCAA shot and discus champion in 2021, once decided to end his throwing career but instead persisted. He said this was “possibly” his last shot competition because he intends to concentrate on discus.

“It feels good to know I can still throw at a high level,” Washington said. “At the end of the day, you train to win. “

French thrower Fred Moudani-Likibi of Cincinnati, a transfer from Southern Miss, was third at 67-7.75 (20.54m). Nebraska’s Maxwell Otterdahl was fourth at 67-4 (20.52m).

Hammer

British thrower Kenneth Ikeji of Harvard won the hammer with a last-round throw of 255-8 (77.92m), best by a collegian this year and a stadium record. He was the third leader of the day and climbed to No. 6 on the collegiate all-time list.

Ikeji, a 20-year-old sophomore, met the World Championships standard of 254-3 (77.50m). He became Harvard’s first hammer champion since Edward Bailey in 1962.

Ikeji said he had practiced being at his best when it mattered most.

“When the moment came, I was ready,” he said.

It was the greatest hammer competition in NCAA history, featuring records for place at Nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and =10, according to the Track & Field News database. Five of the top six threw PBs.

“I knew the meet was going to be crazy,” Ikeji said. “I knew everyone was going to step up. Everyone just pushed me.”

Minnesota’s Kostas Zaltos, of Greece, had seized first with a Big Ten record of 250-5 (76.33m) in the fifth round. Third was Geist, who went into first at 249-3 (75.97m) on his first attempt.

Miami (Fla.) thrower Decio Andrade of Portugal – the only one in the top six without a PB -- was fourth at 241-10 (73.73). USC sophomore Nikolaos Polychroniou, another Greek athlete just days past his 20th birthday, was fifth at 238-4 (72.65m).

Javelin

In a contest among national champions – Tzuriel Pedigo and Marc Minichello won NCAAs in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and Ethan Dabbs won the 2022 U.S. title – the order was:

1, Pedigo, LSU, 261-9 (79.79m).

2, Dabbs, Virginia, 260-1 (79.27m).

4, Minichello, Georgia, 253-6 (77.27m).

Interloper was Baylor’s Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi, third at 257-1 (78.36m). Nnamadi, of Nigeria, was attempting to become Baylor’s first NCAA champion in a field event. He was second to Pedigo through the three rounds.

Dabbs, seventh after three rounds, produced 79-meter throws in the fourth and fifth. At last year’s USAs, Dabbs was first, Minichello third and Pedigo sixth. 

Long jump

Carey McLeod and Wayne Pinnock supplied a jolt to Arkansas’ team title hopes with 18 points on a 1-2 finish in the long jump.

McLeod jumped 27-1.25 (8.26m) on his first attempt, and that was enough to add an outdoor title to the one indoors, becoming the first Razorback athlete since Jarrion Lawson in 2016 to win both championships.  Defending champion was Pinnock, who jumped 26-9 (8.15m). Both Jamaican competitors transferred to Arkansas from Tennessee after last season.

Only other 1-2 finish in the long jump at NCAAs was by Florida's KeAndre Bates and Grant Holloway in 2017.

SEC jumpers swept the top five places.

Decathlon Day 1

Georgia’s Kyle Garland, 23, is the United States’ next big thing in the decathlon. But this is Texas, and he has to mess with Leo Neugebauer.

“This feels almost like practice to me because it’s my stadium,” Neugebauer said. “It’s so familiar. That’s why I think I have a little advantage.”

The 22-year-old German has 21-point advantage after Day 1 of the decathlon, 4,591 points to Garland’s 4,570. Nebraska’s Till Steinforth, a 20-year-old German, is third with 4,266.

Neugebauer is ahead of the pace he had in scoring 8,478 points at the Texas Relays. There, he climbed to No. 5 on the all-time collegiate list behind Garland’s collegiate record of 8,720. Neugebauer also broke the Texas school record of 8,465 held since 2006 by Trey Hardee, an Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion.

Garland was “out of this world” at indoor NCAAs, Neugebauer said, nearly breaking the pentathlon world record.

“I wasn’t close to that. I thought, ‘Holy crap, I have some work to do,’” Neugebauer said. “I’m in the best shape of my life.”

That was underscored when he closed Day 1 with a PB of 47.08 in the 400 meters. Garland also closed with a PB, 47.78.

Garland’s high jump of 6-8.25 (2.04m) was far off his PB of 7-1.75 (2.18m).

“It happens,” he said. “It’s a 10-event competition, not just one event. So you’ve gotta move on.”

Holding down fifth after Day 1 was Mississippi State freshman Payton Bair, brother of Idaho high school sprint phenom Gatlin Bair. He has 4,212 points.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.