EUGENE, Ore. – Baylor track and field sophomore Trayvon Bromell earned All-American honors in both the 100 and 200-meter events Friday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field.
With Bromell's second place finish in the 100-meter dash and third-place finish in the 200 meters, Baylor netted 14 total points to finish the meet tied for 13th. It is the Baylor men's 38th-straight year to score at the meet and the 19th-time the Bears have been in the top 15.
Bromell became the first Baylor male athlete to earn All-American honors in two individual events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since Bill Martineson did so in the 100 and 220-yard dashes in 1946 and 1947.
To open his day, Bromell got out well in the 100 meters, but in the middle of the race eventual champion Andre De Grasse of USC pulled to the lead and Bromell was unable to make up the difference. Despite running a personal-best time of 9.88 (2.7m/s) to finish second, he came up short of being Baylor's first-ever back-to-back individual outdoor champion. De Grasse's winning time of 9.75 was the second-fastest time ever run in collegiate history.
Only 45 minutes, Bromell was back on the track in the final of the 200-meters. Despite not even making it to nationals in the event last season, he had won the 2015 indoor 200-meter title in March. On Friday, he finished third in a personal-best time of 19.86 (2.4m/s). Bromell once again started well and came off the curve in second place. He ran stride-for-stride with defending outdoor champion Dedric Dukes of Florida, but was out-leaned at the tape with both men running a 19.86. However, Bromell slipped to third when the times were expanded to thousandths of a second (19.856 to 19.858). Both athletes finished behind De Grasse's collegiate all-time best time of 19.58.
In the triple jump, Felix Obi missed out on earning three more jumps by just two inches. Appearing in his first NCAA Outdoor Championships, the 2014 NCAA Indoor triple jump champion placed 10th with a jump of 52-8.75 [16.07m]. After fouling on his first attempt of the competition, Obi moved up to eighth with a leap of 51-11 [15.82m] on his second attempt. He saved his best jump for last and momentarily moved up from 14th to ninth.
OTHER NOTABLES
· Bromell's 100-meter time was .02 second faster than his previous school record (9.90), which he set earlier this year at the Texas Relays and tied on Wednesday in semifinal action.
· It was also the second-fastest all-conditions time ever run at the meet.
· Bromell's 200-meter time was only .01 seconds off the school record of Michael Johnson (19.85), which was set in 1990.
· Bromell lost a 100-meter final for the first time in 2015, while having won the previous four.
· Bromell now has four individual All-American honors, which is tied for 10th-most in school history.
·Bromell becomes the fourth Baylor athlete to earn All-American honors in both the indoor and outdoor 200 meters in the same year, joining Michael Johnson (1990), Reggie Witherspoon (2007) and Trey Harts (2008 & '09).
TOP QUOTE #1"Trayvon just had a great day. Time-wise, he was amazing. His competition was just a little better today. Trayvon knew it was going to be a battle in both races. He's had a great season, a great year, and it's still going on. He'll run in the USA Championships. I know he wanted to be an NCAA champion, coming back to defend his title. But he ran unbelievable. And you can't take anything away from any of those guys' performances today across the board." - head coach Todd Harbour
on Trayvon Bromell
TOP QUOTE #2“
Felix just missed it. It looked like at one point he had moved up into that top nine, and then the guy got him on his last jump. I felt for Felix. Traditionally, if he can get all those jumps, he can usually keep coming and keep getting better. I was hoping he could get three more jumps. But it just didn't happen for him today. So I know he's definitely disappointed.” – Harbour on Felix Obi
TOP QUOTE #3
“We all ran fast times today. There are a lot of people in this world that would have had the same amount of wind and probably wouldn't have run as fast. We are just blessed to be able to come out here and compete and run well. I am happy. He is happy. We are all great competitors.” – Trayvon Bromell on falling to Andre De Grasse
WHAT'S NEXT
On Saturday, Rachel Johnson will run in the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase (2:27 p.m./4:27 p.m.) at the NCAA Championships. Brianna Richardson will open the day for the Bears by competing in the triple jump at 2 p.m. (4 p.m. CT).
To stay current on all things Baylor Track, follow the team on Twitter: @BaylorTrack.
COMPLETE BAYLOR RESULTS100 Meters
Men
2. Trayvon Bromell (SO) – 9.88 [2.7m/s] (personal-best, school record, 2nd-fastest in meet history, 2nd-straight All-American honor)
200 Meters
Men
3. Trayvon Bromell (SO) – 19.86 [2.4m/s] (personal-best, 2nd-fastest in school history)
Triple Jump
Men
10. Felix Obi (JR) – 52-8.75 [16.07m]
