The second day of the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships delivered a string of stunning upsets, personal bests, and historic records at Eugene Oregon’s iconic Hayward Field on Thursday, headlined by a once-in-a-generation 100-meter run from University of Georgia’s Adejah Hodge.
The British Virgin Islands Olympian left spectators and competitors stunned as she crossed the 100m semi-final finish line in a blistering 10.63 seconds with a legal +0.9 m/s wind reading. The time not only smashed her previous personal best of 10.77 seconds set in April, it also elevated her position as the world’s top-ranked 100m sprinter this season, and broke both the collegiate and championship meet records. The prior mark of 10.75 seconds, set by American star ShaCarrie Richards in 2019, stood for five years before Hodge’s historic run. The result also ranks Hodge’s performance as the fifth-fastest women’s 100m in history globally.
In the women’s long jump, Clemson University’s Shantae Foreman pulled off one of the day’s biggest personal breakthroughs to claim a surprise second-place finish. The Jamaican athlete jumped 6.69 meters, with a +0.2 m/s wind reading, an massive improvement of 22 centimeters over her previous outdoor personal best of 6.47 meters. That mark, which Foreman had matched twice before — first at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, and again at the NCAA East Regional just two weeks prior — was left far behind, and Foreman’s new jump catapults her into the top 10 all-time for Jamaican women in the event. Now, she enters Saturday’s triple jump competition as the overwhelming pre-event favorite to claim the national title.
Multiple other athletes from Caribbean nations competing for U.S. collegiate programs earned spots in upcoming finals through strong semi-final showings. University of Florida’s Gabrielle Matthews turned in a rare double qualification, advancing to both the women’s 100m and 200m finals after impressive performances. In the 100m, Matthews clocked 11.02 seconds (+0.6 m/s) to secure her spot, behind Florida State University’s Shenese Walker who ran 10.94 seconds (+0.3 m/s). Texas’s Carleta Bernard just missed out on a finals spot, finishing with a 11.17 second run that left her outside qualification.
In the 200m semi-finals, Matthews continued her strong form by lowering her own personal best to 22.22 seconds (+1.7 m/s) to take second place behind Hodge, chopping 0.19 seconds off her prior top mark of 22.41 seconds.
University of Georgia’s Dejanae Oakley, the current world leader in the women’s 400m, put on a dominant display in the 400m heats, cruising to a win in her semi-final heat with a 49.93 second clocking. The result secured her place as the top qualifier heading into Saturday’s final, where she will look to improve on her second-place finish at the 2023 championships.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Ohio State’s Janela Spencer clocked a season’s best 12.77 seconds (+1.2 m/s) and Texas Tech’s Tonie-Ann Forbes ran 12.86 seconds in the same wind conditions to secure their spots in the final. Clemson’s Oneka Wilson just missed out on qualification, crossing the line in 12.93 seconds (+1.0 m/s). In the day’s only field event for other competing athletes, Purdue University’s Britannie Johnson placed 20th overall in the women’s shot put with a throw of 16.02 meters.