Dominique Scott-Efurd of Arkansas won the women's 10,000m and teammate Alexis Weeks won the pole vault to put the Razorbacks in the lead after one day of the women's NCAA track and field championships Thursday in Eugene, Ore.
Arkansas finished Thursday with 26 points, 10 points ahead of Texas A&M, which was in second with 18.
After 6 women's champs awarded, here's the team standings:@RazorbackTF: 26@aggietrk: 16@UGATrack: 13 pic.twitter.com/Z99oLQul3L
— NCAA Track & Field (@NCAATrackField) June 10, 2016
Scott-Efurd, a senior from South Africa, finished the race in 32:35.69, the fifth best time ever in an NCAA final, beating out New Mexico's Alice Wright, who finished second in 32:36.99.
It's all smiles at the finish line for @domscottrunSA. She is your 2016 #NCAATF 10K Champion! pic.twitter.com/KMvpXnWoNB
— TrackTown USA (@GoTrackTownUSA) June 10, 2016
The Aggies' Maggie Malone helped A&M into second place with her win in the javelin throw of 204 feet that broke the collegiate record. Malone was joined on the podium by younger sister Audrey, who finished third in the javelin with a career best throw of 187-2.
"To have my sister here with me and motivate me the whole time I feel blessed," Maggie Malone said on the A&M Track website. "You can't ask for a better day. I just wanted to score points for my team."
Collegiate javelin record for Maggie Malone, NCAA decathlon title for Lindon Victor. https://t.co/9i53leJhHm pic.twitter.com/KVnbBLH2bL
— aggietrk (@aggietrk) June 10, 2016
Georgia was in third place overall with 13 points, followed by Oklahoma with 12 and Florida with 11.
In the pole vault, Arkansas freshman Weeks had only one miss while clearing five heights. She became the first freshman to win both indoor and outdoor national titles with her winning height of 14-9.
ICYMI | In rainy conditions last night in Eugene, @LexiWeeks completed #NCAATF indoor-outdoor title sweep! #WPS pic.twitter.com/SJY9sCyWbp
— Razorback XC/TF (@RazorbackTF) June 10, 2016
Meanwhile, Mississippi's Raven Saunders set the collegiate shot put record with a throw of 63 feet, 5 inches.
Other women's track and field champions from the first day:
– DeAnna Price of Southern Illinois won the hammer throw with a throw of 71.53, beating out Sara Savatovic of Kansas State and Marthaline Cooper of Winthrop.
– Chanice Porter of Georgia won the women's long jump with a jump of 6.67 meters, or 21 feet, 10.75 inches. Quanesha Burks of Alabama was second and Taliyah Brooks of Arkansas was third.
In addition to Malone's javelin win, Texas A&M got a winning performance from junior sprinter Shamier Little, who led the field in qualifying for the women 's 400m hurdles. And it was a good day for the Aggie men, too.
A&M's Lindon Victor won the only final on the men's side on Thursday, taking first place in the decathlon after an impressive discus throw of over 175 feet – beating his closest rival by more than 20 feet. Victor will compete for his home country of Grenada in the Rio Olympics this summer. Victor's overall score of 8,379 in the decathlon was fifth best on the all-time college list – just behind his own score from when he won this year's SEC title.
"It took every bit of 8,379 to win this title," Victor said after on the A&M website. "It was a very competitive field. I'm happy it's over with and now I'm looking forward to Rio and some rest."
