Eli Hall-Thompson, 2017 Track Athlete of the Meet

At the 2016 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, LeShon Collins was named the Track Athlete of the Meet after he won the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay. That year the Cougar men won the conference title by a total of 55 points. This year the Cougars won by 44.50 points, 40 of which came from the contribution of junior sprinter Eli Hall-Thompson.

Hall-Thompson, the NJCAA national champion, started championship Sunday on the anchor leg for the men's 4x100m relay. Along with junior Cameron Burrell and sophomore's Mario Burke and Jacarias Martin, the four won the race in a meet record 38.70s, a whole second faster than the runners up Connecticut.

Then in the individual sprinting events, Hall-Thompson came into the final with the fastest 100m and 200m preliminary times. In the 100m he ran 10.11s and in the 200m he ran 20.40s.

In the 100m final, running into a headwind, he nearly matched his preliminary time with a run of 10.19s. His time was easily the fastest on the track and was a whole tenth of a second faster than Burrell's 10.30s.

But in the 200m he shocked everybody by running 19.96s with only the slightest of wind aid. Burke and Martin tied behind him at 20.52s each. But Hall-Thompson's made him the fastest 200m sprinter in the country and Top 5 in the world. Earlier in the weekend Christian Coleman of Tennessee ran 19.98s at the SEC Championships. He and Hall-Thompson seem destined to meet in Eugene for the NCAA Championships.

With his three performances Hall-Thompson easily surpassed Collins' feast statistically, but he did one better. Championship weekended ended for the Cougars with a victory in the 4x400m relay. In that race Hall-Thompson ran the first leg and helped contribute to the team's time of 3:08.47s.

Hall-Thompson ended his weekend with four gold medals, a team trophy, an individual trophy and an American Conference Championship record in the relays. With his bevy of performances he has put himself in prime position to compete for a national title in June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAQ_ffuMvng&t=11s

Comments

Cornelius looking to lead throwers to victory on home track

18.88m, that was senior Cameron Cornelius’ first mark of the outdoor season. Almost two months later it is still the top shot put distance in the American Athletic Conference. Now, after missing all of last season due to injury, Cornelius is on the doorstep of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. But before that, Cornelius will have to get through the competition at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships. This meet has been a spot of frustration for Cornelius in his first two seasons as he has yet to win an outdoor shot put title. Now after winning his third indoor title in as many seasons, Cornelius is looking to finally complete the double. “My freshman year and my sophomore year I thought I had it in the bag,” Cornelius said. “I had pretty big throws out there. I thought no one could catch me, I thought I was fine. But in the last rounds they did catch me. So it’s mainly thinking that I could have a two foot PR but it’s still not safe no matter what.

Relays going for gold at Penn

The Cougars 4x100m relay team is milliseconds away from the fastest time in the country. At the Penn Relays they might take that crown. To win at the Penn Relays means to win at the oldest track and field competition in the United States. Over 100,000 people will be in attendance at Franklin Field when the Cougar track and field team attends the Penn Relays this weekend. Head coach Leroy Burrell looks to lead his athletes to championships on the same stage where he set the 100m record back in 1990. As with all track meets, the relays dominate the weekend. The men's 4x100m relay team currently has the second best time in the country. At the Mt. SAC relays, the team of senior Cameron Burrell, sophomores Mario Burke and Jacarias Martin and junior Eli Hall-Thompson ran 38.59s, second only to Louisiana State University's 38.57s. The Cougars are confident they will be competing for a national title in the relays this June. Winning at Penn is just one more step toward that go

Mechler start championship week for the Cougars

Freshman Nathaniel Mechler started the weekend right for the Cougar track & field team. Hosting the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, Mechler, sophomore Sebastian Russi and seniors Christopher Morales and Emiliano Troitino were the first Cougars to perform as competitors in the men's decathlon. Mechler came into the weekend with the No. 2 best score in the conference, 7255 points, behind only Alex Bloom of Cincinnati. Mechler, Bloom and Connecticut's Patrick Meyer all had points in the 7000 range. The opportunity was there for all three to hit 7500 and automatically qualify for the NCAA national championships. The day started with the 100m dash and Mechler came out with the fastest time, 10.96s. From there he went on to the long jump competition where he finished fifth with a best 6.83m jump. Morales came in sixth with a 6.58m jump. The two once again finished fifth and sixth respectively in the shot put. Mechler had a best 12.26m throw w

The Sub 9 Club

Search This Blog