EUGENE — Florida’s Joseph Fahnbulleh dominated the short sprints to lead the Gators to the men’s team title Friday in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
Fahnbulleh, the defending champion in the 200, doubled his fun on a damp evening, winning the 100 in 10.00 seconds, the 200 in 19.83, and very nearly bringing the Gators from behind to victory with a blazing anchor leg of the 4×100 relay.
USC won the 4×1 in 38.49. Florida was second in 38.52. If the race had been two strides longer, Fahnbulleh would have won that too.
His performance sparked the Gators to 54 points and the men’s championship before a crowd of 9,258. An anticipated showdown with Texas failed to materialize. The Longhorns were a distant second with 38.
Oregon? Don’t ask.
The Ducks finished way back in the final standings, in 25th place alongside Montana State, Texas A&M, Texas-Arlington and Wisconsin. They scored 11 points.
It’s a long way from Oregon’s usual neighborhood. The Ducks were second last year. They have won the men’s meet seven times.
UO triple jumper Emmanuel Ihemeje contributed eight of the 11 points by placing second with a best mark of 55 feet, 10½ inches.
Sprinter Micah Williams is Oregon’s other big gun. He was projected to win the 100 by Track & Field News, but faltered in the last 10 meters and finished seventh.
This was Fahnbulleh’s day. Afterward, he insisted he wasn’t tired, despite all of his heavy lifting.
“I feel good,” said Fahnbulleh, a 2021 Olympic finalist in the 200. “I’m not tired. I’m not sore. I’m full of energy. We train for rounds, so when it comes to the 4×1, the 100, the 200, we aren’t tired.”
The 100 was an interesting race. Williams started well and appeared to be in good position for about 60 meters. Then the wheels fell off.
Fahnbulleh was last out of the blocks. But once moving, he hit warp speed. As Fahnbulleh accelerated, Williams appeared to tighten up.
Most of the field passed him in the final few steps. Williams’ face was a picture of dejection as he crossed the finish line.
Fahnbulleh was followed by Favour Ashe of Tennessee and North Carolina A&T’s Javonte Harding, both timed in 10.08.
Truth be told, Fahnbulleh is a little tired of hearing about his start.
“It’s my race plan,” he said. “It’s my race model. If I’m an arm’s length away, I’m good.”
That’s the way it worked out Friday. Williams finished in 10.19.
He refused to talk to reporters afterward, breezing through the interview area without making eye contact, saying only, “Not today. Not today.”
Track & Field News picked Ihemeje to win the triple jump too, and he wasn’t far off the pace.
TCU’s Chengetayi Mapaya, who claimed the NCAA triple jump outdoors in 2019, finished first with a best mark of 56-7½.
It’s a spirited rivalry. Ihemeje and Mapaya went 1-3 earlier this year at the NCAA Indoor Championships, with Ihemeje winning.
Ihemeje said he was happy with a series in which he leaped past 55 feet twice. He said the thought his fifth jump — the one that traveled 55-10 1/2 — might have been good enough.
“I just needed that little thing to make a difference,” Ihemeje said.
Before his sixth and final attempt, Ihemeje said he thought of a slogan the UO jumpers use: “LOBO. Last One, Best One. I was telling my self, ‘LOBO, LOBO, LOBO. Go, get it out there, try to execute as good as you can.’”
It wasn’t quite enough this time, but the Italian Olympian has plenty of international competition still in front of him.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “My season is just getting started.”
Here are results from the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
— Ken Goe for The Oregonian/OregonLive
KenGoe1020@gmail.com | Twitter: @KenGoe
