Washington Twins Both Achieve New Personal Bests And Become Nos. 1 and 2 All-Time In Collegiate History; Illinois Women, Wisconsin Men Lead After First Day

By David Woods for DyeStat

Bobby Goddin Photos

INDIANAPOLIS – On a day when Mondo Duplantis raised the world record an 11th time, the most compelling pole vault competition of 2025 was at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

We did not see anything like this in the USATF Championships a week ago at Staten Island. Nor will we in the indoor worlds at Nanjing, either.

This was twin vs. twin. Sister vs. sister. Husky vs. Husky. Big Ten record-holder vs. Big Ten record-holder.

Bar after bar.

Washington sophomore Amanda Moll raised her collegiate indoor record Friday to 16 feet, 1.25 inches (4.91m) . . . but only after Hana Moll led at each of the four previous heights.

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Hana raised the Big Ten meet record four times and her PB twice. At 15-9.25 (4.81m), she became No. 2 collegian of all time.

The 20-year-olds rank Nos. 1 and 3 in the world this year, sandwiched around Katie Moon (15-10/4.83m).

“I can attribute a lot of my success today to having her with me,” Amanda said of her twin. “I mean, if she’s going to clear that bar, I’m going to clear that bar. It was just on another level.”

Illinois’ Tori Thomas was third at 14-7.50 (4.46m) and Rutgers’ Chloe Timberg fourth at 14-3.50 (14.36m).

Before Friday, the meet record was 14-11 (4.55m) by Timberg. Because Amanda missed once at 14-11.50 (4.56m), Hana led at that bar and the next three: 4.66m, 4.76m, 4.81m.

“I want to jump higher, but it’s all good,” said Hana, the national high school athlete of the year in 2023 and under-20 world champion in 2022. “I’m really happy for her successes.”

At 4.91m, Amanda made it on her first attempt. She missed three times in a bid to become the fifth woman, indoors or out, to vault 5 meters.

“I didn’t have much gas left in the tank,” she said.

Amanda broke the collegiate indoor record of 16 feet (4.88m) she set Feb. 15 at Albuquerque, N.M. She is No. 6 on the all-time world indoor list, No. 4 among Americans.

As recently as 1974, that bar would have been a men’s Big Ten meet record. In no other event is there anything comparable.

Although the bloated Big Ten needed nearly 12 hours to finish day 1, there was no shortage of marks dotting world lists.

This is the 114th edition of the meet but first to include USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.

In women’s scoring through six of 18 events, defending champion Illinois leads with 50 points -- and might have had 60 if pentathlon favorite Lucie Kienast had not fouled all her long jump attempts. Premeet favorite Oregon has 42 points, Minnesota 26 and Washington 22.

In men’s scoring through five events, defending champion Wisconsin has 33 points, Oregon 29 and Washington 26. Premeet favorite USC is poised for a big Saturday after advancing four in the 60 meters, two in the 200 and three in the 400.

A second collegiate record came within a hair . . . or, that is, the flowing hair of Illinois long jumper Tacoria Humphrey.

She jumped 22-5 (6.83m) in the second round, then 22-9.25 (6.94m) in the sixth. So Humphrey climbed to No. 3 on the all-time collegiate indoor list and No. 3 in the world this year.

Illini coach Petros Kyprianou said her hair brushed the sand behind where her feet landed, costing six inches.

“It definitely was my hair that they marked. The collegiate record would have been broken,” said Humphrey, a former high jumper who won before family and friends in her hometown.

The weirdest moment of day 1 came when an athlete’s backpack caught fire on the infield, caused by an overheated battery. The fire was soon extinguished but left a black smudge on lanes 5 and 6. So those two straightaway lanes were not used, and heats of the 60 meters and 60 hurdles were reseeded. There will be two-section finals.

At a meet last month, some sprinters said the Fall Creek Pavilion surface was too springy for fast times. That was belied by meet records in trials of the women’s 60 meters, plus men’s 200 and 60 hurdles.

USC’s Dajaz Dafrand ran to a meet record of 7.15 in the women’s 60, ranking No. 4 in the NCAA. Previous record was 7.18 by Minnesota’s Amira Young in 2023.

Purdue’s Cameron Miller clocked 20.28 in the 200, breaking the mark of 20.44 set last year by Penn State’s Cheickna Traore, the NCAA outdoor champion from Ivory Coast. Miller’s time is No. 1 by an American and No. 4 in the world – behind three foreign NCAA sprinters.

Miller said he embraces the new conference entries.

“I like the expanded Big Ten because it’s more competitive in all sports, not just track and field,” he said.

Also in the women’s 60, Oregon’s Jadyn Mays was under the previous record at 7.17. She was fastest in trials of the 200 at 22.61.

USC’s Johnny Brackins leaped 26-2.75 (7.99m), giving him a long jump title in a third conference. He had previously won in the Big 12 (while at Baylor) and Pac-12.

Brackins conceded he felt “under the weather” from travel. He was third in the 60 hurdles a week ago at the USATF Indoor Championships in 7.43. He caught a flight back to Los Angeles, then traveled east again to Indianapolis.

That did not prevent him from running to a record 7.53 in the hurdles. He was under the mark of 7.61 shared by Nebraska’s Oladapo Akinmoladum, 2014, and Iowa’s Jaylan McConico, 2020.

In the men’s 60, USC’s JC Stevenson was fastest at 6.62, compared with his world lead of 6.50.

“It’s a track. It felt good to me,” said Stevenson, who was third in the long jump behind his teammate.

Pole vaulter Scott Toney gave Washington’s team hopes a boost by winning the pole vault at 18-2.50 (5.55m). He needed three attempts to clear 17-6.50 (5.35m).

Washington also won the distance medley relay, breaking the meet record with 9:31.75. The Huskies gave a large lead to anchor Nathan Green, who ran the 1,600 in 3:59.78. Wisconsin was second in 9:35.99.

Elsewhere, Oregon swept the 5,000s with wins by Connor Burns (13:39.25) and Silan Ayyildiz (15:56.81).

Juliet Cherubet and Anika Thompson gave the Ducks a 1-2-3 behind Ayyildiz. Oregon’s women won the DMR in 10:56.97.

A highlight of the heats came in the men’s 800 and mile.

In the 800, Oregon’s Koitatoi Kidali and Matthew Erickson went 1-2 in the second of three heats, clocking 1:46.55 and 1:46.58. Both were close to the meet record of 1:46.24 set by Penn State’s Isaiah Harris in 2016.

Washington features half the field in the 10-man mile final.

Ronan McMahon-Staggs, Rhys Hammond and Martin Barco went 1-2-3 in the second heat in 3:59.65, 3:59.82 and 3:59.91, respectively. They will be joined by Cole Lindhorst and Leo Daschbach, who came back in the DMR. Barco is a freshman from Martinsville, Ind., or just 41 miles from the fairgrounds.

The mile meet record of 3:58.09 was set by Indiana’s Ben Veatch at the 2022 meet in the prelim.

Missing from the final will be two Oregon milers, Simeon Birnbaum (3:52.81) and Rheinhardt Harrison (3:54.74). Birnbaum was withheld to protect him for the indoor NCAAs, according to Oregon coach Jerry Schumacher. Harrison, recovering from the flu, faded to last in the final heat (4:11.02) after leading through 800 meters.

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