Hodge and Oakley smash collegiate records at NCAA Championships

Two days after taking down the collegiate 100m record in the heats, Adaejah Hodge added the 200m mark to her collection on the final day of the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene on Friday (13).

Hodge won the 200m title in 21.68 (-0.4m/s), improving the collegiate record by 0.12 – the same margin by which she had broken the 100m record two days earlier. She won by almost half a second from Shawnti Jackson, and her time moves her to equal eighth on the world all-time list, level with Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and one place ahead of Allyson Felix.

Just 45 minutes earlier, though, Hodge was surprisingly beaten in the 100m. Shenese Walker won that race in 10.88 (0.0m/s), with Hodge taking second in 10.93, two days after her record-breaking 10.63 in the semifinals.

Hodge, Walker and Jackson had all taken part in the 4x100m earlier in the programme, but it was USC that came out on top in a world-leading 41.58. LSU, with Jackson on anchor, finished second in 41.74, while Georgia, with Hodge on the second leg, placed third in 41.89.

Dejanea Oakley produced another collegiate record in the women’s 400m, winning in 48.79 to take 0.10 off the mark set by Jamaican compatriot Nickisha Pryce in 2024.

Oakley’s performance moves her to 13th on the world all-time list. Madison Whyte, part of USC’s victorious 4x100m quartet earlier in the day, was second in 48.97, moving to fourth on the US all-time list behind three Olympic gold medallists: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Sanya Richards-Ross and Valerie Brisco-Hooks.

Hodge’s and Oakley’s sprint heroics proved pivotal in Georgia’s overall victory in the team standings as they tallied 50 points to finish ahead of Florida (43) and Arkansas (38).

Jallow takes down Mu’s 800m record

Sanu Jallow smashed Athing Mu-Nikolayev’s collegiate 800m record by almost a second. The Gambian, representing Arkansas, won in a dominant 1:56.85, improving her own national record in a high-quality race. Hayley Kitching finished second in 1:57.65, with the top six all dipping under 1:59.

Jallow later anchored Arkansas to victory in the 4x400m in a world-leading 3:18.88. Jallow split 49.02 on the final leg, while individual 400m winner Oakley produced a 48.79 split for Georgia, helping them to second place in 3:20.96.

Akala Garrett, the 2022 world U20 champion, won the women’s 400m hurdles in a PB of 53.32, improving on her runner-up finish from last year.

In the field events, Alida van Daalen broke the meeting record in the women’s discus with 65.98m, while Temitope Adeshina won the women’s high jump on countback from Rose Yeboah, both athletes clearing 1.96m.