Building on a 2022 that saw her make Team USATF and place fifth at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Britton Wilson of Arkansas notched a remarkable double at the Tom Jones Memorial Meet in Gainesville, Florida, rocketing to a world-leading 53.23 in the women's 400m hurdles on Friday, and then taking down the collegiate outdoor record in the 400m the next day with a world-leading 49.51. Wilson, who clocked 53.08 over the hurdles last summer to take second at the USATF Championships, set an American indoor record in the 400m at the NCAA Championships last month in Albuquerque, going 49.48, and her 49.51 at Florida made her the No. 7 all-time outdoor U.S. performer. World champions Grant Holloway and Noah Lyles were also impressive winners, with Holloway taking the world lead in the men's 110m hurdles with a 13.03 in the prelims and following up with a 13.05 in the final. He added a stellar third leg on the Gainesville Elite 4x100m relay squad that won in 38.28. Lyles, who set an American record in winning the 200m at the 2022 World Championships, zipped to a 9.95 in the 100m to move atop the U.S. list for 2023, and won the 200m in 20.16. A welcome matchup between the two best American men's triple jumpers ever ended up with Will Claye coming out on top of Christian Taylor by 1cm. Claye, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, spanned 16.90m/55-5.5 on his final attempt, while American record holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Taylor went out to 16.89m/55-5 on his final effort. It was the best mark since 2020 for the four-time world champion, who has overcome multiple injury issues. In other action on the track, Nia Ali turned back world record holder and world champion Tobi Amusan of Nigeria in the women's 100m hurdles with a 12.53, and Caleb Dean of Texas Tech won the men's 400m hurdles with a lifetime best and then-world leading 48.47.
After finishing an agonizing fourth in the decathlon at the 2021 Olympic Trials, Harrison Williams had hip surgery and missed out on the USATF Championships last summer. In sometimes miserable conditions at Mt. SAC in his first multi since the Trials, Williams put together a nifty lifetime best of 8,492 points to take over the world lead. Starting with a 10.54 PB in the 100m, the 2019 World Championships 14th-placer then recorded lifetime bests in the shot put (15.09m/49-6.25) and 400m (46.47) to finish day one just 36 points adrift of Georgia's Kyle Garland, the favorite coming into the meet. On day two, Garland no-heighted in the pole vault while still holding a four-point lead, opening the door for Williams. Solid efforts in the pole vault and 1,500m carried him to victory and a 53-point improvement of his lifetime best at the World Athletics Combined Event Tour – Silver event. Michigan State's Heath Baldwin added more than 400 points to his PB with a score of 8,084 in second. USC's Allie Jones, the NCAA runner-up in the indoor pentathlon last month, moved to No. 7 on the all-time U.S. collegiate performer list in the heptathlon after adding almost 400 points to her lifetime best with a 6,217 score that included a 13.10 in the 100H. American record holder and Olympic silver medalist Rai Benjamin romped to a world-leading 47.74 in the men's 400m hurdles, a week after lowering his 400m flat best to 44.21. Benjamin won by almost two seconds despite slowing over the final two barriers. Fans watching the men's 4x100m relay saw Cravont Charleston motor down the homestretch to carry the USA team to an easy win in 38.53, but that was only a preview of what was to come in the open dash. Lining up against 400m world champion Michael Norman, who has said he is dropping down to the 100m this season, Charleston blazed down the straight to clock a wind-aided (+3.0) 9.87, the fastest time in the world this year under any conditions and .15 ahead of Norman. Winning her second straight Mt. SAC women's high jump title, Vashti Cunningham cleared a U.S. outdoor leading 1.98m/6-6. USATF indoor long jump champion Will Williams had to pull out a lifetime best 8.23m/27-0 on his final attempt to beat Kemonie Briggs, who popped a huge PB of 8.22m/26-11.75 in round two, tacking more than 20cm onto his lifetime best. Miranda Melville took the top spot in the women's 20km race walk with a 1:37:45.71, while Nick Christie was the top American in the men's race, placing second in 1:26:14.54. The walks were part of the World Athletics Race Walking Tour as a silver-label event. Wisconsin's Josie Schaefer moved to No. 10 on the all-time collegiate performer list in the shot put with her winning 18.98m/62-3.25.
Unseasonably damp and coolish conditions at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California, elicited a slew of speedy performances on the oval, including a spirited finish in the women's 800m. Nikki Hiltz, the 2019 Pan American Games gold medalist in the 1,500m and a finalist at that distance at the 2019 World Championships, edged past LSU's Michaela Rose in the final meters to eke out a 1:59.03-1:59.08 win. Hiltz's time is the fastest by an American thus far in 2023, and Rose moved to No. 2 on the all-time collegiate performer list. BYU's Claire Seymour ascended to eighth on that list with her 2:00.04 in third. Reigning USATF men's 1,500m champion Cooper Teare ran the fastest outdoor time in the world this year to win in 3:34.96. In another heat, California high schooler Leo Young moved to No. 8 on the U.S. all-time U20 list with a 3:39.39, which also puts him in the No. 5 spot on the all-time prep list. Young was 16th in the U20 race at the World Cross Country Championships in Australia in February. His brother, Lex, ran the fifth-fastest high school 5,000m ever with a 13:44.83. Photo Credit: Errol Anderson