Courtesy USTFCCCA

By Kyle Terwillegar, USTFCCCA

February 15, 2015

What a weekend in college track & field. So much happened that we’re splitting this weekend’s recap intothree articles just to do everything justice.

This weekend was the biggest of the season for the distance events, so we broke out Saturday’s biggest distance action into one recap for you below, but be sure to check out the recap of Friday’s action (including all-time great mile, DMR and 60-meters performances) and the recap of Saturday’s distance action(featuring numberous historic performances from Millrose, Iowa State and Washington – including a very unexpected collegiate leader in the men’s mile).

There’s a lot to get to, so keep reading below and be sure to check out the USTFCCCA’s Meets This Weekendpage and/or TFRRS for everything went down this weekend.

Barber Breaks His Collegiate Pole Vault Record For a Second Straight Weekend

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but a collegiate pole vault record was broken this weekend. That’s right, for the second week in a row, Akron’s Shawn Barber flew higher than any man in collegiate indoor history with a vault of 19-4¼ (5.90m) to surpass his own former record by two centimeters. That gives him a share of the No. 2 spot in indoor/outdoor collegiate history with former indoor record holder Jacob Davis of Texas, and moves him into a share of the No. 18 spot in world indoor history.

Watch Barber’s Vault Here.

Most impressively, he did it on a night where his top NCAA competitors brought their "A"-game. Barber and two-time indoor NCAA champ Andrew Irwin of Arkansas cleared 5.75m (a PR for Irwin to move to No. 7 on the all-time college indoor performers list) on their first attempts, followed shortly thereafter by Tennessee’sJake Blankenship, who passed to the next height after a first-attempt miss.

Barber, confident in his abilities, passed on 5.80m, a height at which both Irwin and Blankenship went out. Barber bypassed the next scheduled height and went straight to 5.90m. He was unsuccessful on his first attempt, but the crowd erupted as he cleared the bar on his second attempt. He was done for the night after that clearance.

Earlier that afternoon in the women’s pole vault, Arkansas’ Sandi Morris took three solid attempts at a new collegiate record 4.76m – one centimeter higher than the current record held by Demi Payne of Stephen F. Austin – but was unsuccessful. She finished the day at 14-8¾ (4.49m), well ahead of runner-up Morgann Leleux of Georgia at 14-¾ (4.29m).

Marquis Dendy Moves to No. 9 on All-Time College Triple Jump List

Remember how we said Friday that Marquis Dendy of Florida had an off day in the long jump with three fouls? He made up for it in a big way on Saturday in the triple jump. The defending outdoor national champion in the event blasted a 56-6½ (17.23m) on his final attempt to move up to No. 8 on the all-time collegiate performers list in the event with the ninth-farthest jump in collegiate indoor history.

He shares those spots with LSU’s Walter Davis from 2002. Coincidentally, Davis was the last man to sweep the NCAA outdoor long jump and triple jump titles in one meet before Dendy did so this past summer.

Donald Scott of Eastern Michigan had the collegiate lead entering the weekend at 54-9½ (16.70m), a mark that Dendy eclipsed five times on Saturday in winning by nearly two feet over runner-up Latario Collie of Texas A&M (defending indoor NCAA champ Felix Obi of Baylor was fifth nearly five feet back). He opened up at 16.98m, followed by leaps of 16.69m, 16.86m, 17.06 and 16.77 before his 17.23m finale.

Chukwuebuka Enekwechi Nearly Breaks NCAA Division I Weight Throw Record

The 2015 season has become an arms race between Michael Lihrman of Wisconsin and Chukwuebuka Enekwechi of Purdue to see who can topple the collegiate men’s weight throw record held by Division II Ashland’s Kibwe Johnson. Lihrman broke his own DI record earlier this season, but it’s been Chuk making the headlines lately.

The Purdue junior became the third man in collegiate history to surpass the 80-feet threshold with a massive second-attempt heave of 80-¼ (24.39m) at his home Fred Wilt Invitational, coming up just eight centimeters shy of Lihrman’s current record. He also launched throws of 23.13m, 23.64m, 23.17m and 23.91m.

The two will meet at the Big Ten Championships in two weekends.

Texas Women’s 4×400 Relay Goes Historically Fast at Tyson

Right around the same time Barber was breaking the collegiate pole vault record and Dendy was hopping, skipping and jumping into the record books, the Texas women’s 4×400 relay posted the 10th-fastest time in collegiate history with 3:29.36 to win their section by nearly four seconds and the meet by more than three.

The Longhorns finished the opening leg in third place by more than two seconds, but consecutive 51.67 and 50.94 legs from Ashley Spencer and Courtney Okolo – who combine for the past three NCAA 400 outdoor titles – put them back in the lead for Kendall Baisden’s 52.55 anchor leg.

Amazingly, the time is just the fifth-fastest in Texas’ history, and not even the fastest in the past 12 months: Okolo, Baisden and Spencer combined for a 3:27.42 at New Mexico to finish runners-up at NCAA indoors last year for the No. 2 all-time effort narrowly behind winner Oregon in one of the greatest races in collegiate history.

Raven Saunders Crushes Her Own U.S. Junior Shot Put Record

With a winning mark of 59-¼ (17.99m) on her first attempt in the women’s shot put at the same Fred Wilt meet as Enekwechi, Southern Illinois frosh not only crushed her own U.S. Junior shot put record by nearly two feet (formerly 17.64m), but she established herself as clearly the top collegian of 2015 and one of the best American collegians of all-time.

She now leads the country by half a meter (more than a foot-and-a-half) over LSU’s Tori Bliss and owns the top five throws of the collegiate season. She’s also just eight centimeters shy of the all-time indoor collegiate top-10 performers list and is No. 11 on the American collegian performers list.

Following that historic measurement, she recorded marks of 17.71m, 16.70m, 17.56m and 17.92m.

Minnesota State Hurdler Myles Hunter Sets NCAA Division II Men’s 60H Record

In what has been an incredible season for the sophomore from Minnesota State, Myles Hunter ran 7.64 in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles at the SDSU Indoor Classic to surpass the former NCAA Division II record of 7.69 held by Decosma Wright of Lincoln (Mo.) from the 2006 NCAA DII Championships, and Saint Augustine’s Deworski Odom from 1999.

He’s second among all collegians this year behind defending NCAA DI champion Omar McLeod of Arkansas, who is also a sophomore. McLeod ran times of 7.60 and 7.65 on Friday.

Kallenou, Garcia Jou battle to draw for Division I High Jump lead at Tyson; Christoff Earns Share of Men’s Lead

Though both still trail Erika Kinsey of Division II Central Missouri on the collegiate leaderboard, two-time NCAA Division I Champion Leontia Kallenou of Georgia emerged victorious in a tiebreak win over Akron’s Claudia Garcia Jou at Tyson. Both women cleared 6-2 (1.88m), but Kallenou did it with fewer misses. She took the height on her second attempt to Garcia Jou’s third-attempt make, and had been perfect through three heights prior to Garcia Jou’s two misses through five. Both missed three times at a new collegiate-leading 6-3¼ (1.91m).

Remember how we mentioned Kansas State’s Akela Jones a bunch of times on Friday? Well, she was back on Saturday with a third-place performance in the high jump at 1.85m.

Meanwhile in the men’s high jump, Jamaican frosh Bryan Christoff of Kansas State tied Wally Ellenson of Marquette and Jacorian Duffield of Texas Tech atop the men’s descending order list with a clearance of 7-5¾ (2.28m). He got the height, which is a career-best, on his second attempt to take down runner-up Bradley Adkins of Texas Tech. Duffield was fourth at 7-3 (2.21m).

Jefferson and Bromell Run Blazing 200s at Tyson

Kyra Jefferson took the collegiate lead at 200 meters for the second time this season, winning the loaded Tyson Invite at Arkansas with a time of 22.81 by .16 over defending outdoor NCAA champion Kamaria Brown of Texas A&M.

Since she ran 23.06 on this track two weeks ago for a then-collegiate leader, the top time has changed hands multiple times. Cierra White of Texas Tech ran 22.98 last weekend before Oregon’s Jenna Prandini went 22.87 on Friday.

After not contesting the 60-meter final on Friday, Baylor’s Trayvon Bromell was back on Saturday with another quick performance, this time a 20.69 win at 200 meters for the fourth-best time of the 2015 collegiate season.

Sprint/Hurdles Action at New Mexico

Just one day after the sprints and hurdles action at Tyson went down, some big names at New Mexico made sure their names were in the conversation for top honors in the women’s 60 meters and 60-meter hurdles.

In the open 60, Jasmine Todd of Oregon ran her second 7.15 of the season (albeit this time at altitude) to win by just .02 over her teammate Jenna Prandini, who posted a 7.17 of her own. Those times put them at No. 2 and 3 in the country, all-conditions, behind defending national champion Remona Burchell of Alabama and her 7.14 from Friday.

In the hurdles, Dior Hall of USC put her name in the ring for a national title by taking down the collegiate leader (entering the weekend) in Michigan’s Cindy Ofili. Hall ran 8.07 to Ofili’s 8.13 and the 8.15 by Sasha Wallace of Oregon. Combined with the action at Tyson on Friday, Hall is now No. 2 on the all-conditions list, followed by Ofili at 4 and Wallace at 6.