NCAA Update, and Toronto

No weather delays during Thursdays NCAA action as a handful of finals were mixed in with more qualifying in preparation for the barrage of finals coming our way today and tomorrow. Though the weather was more cooperative than Wednesday, the results were pretty tame in comparison. The one standout being Texas A&M speedster Porscha Lucas.

Porscha lived up to her name Thursday as she hit her gears around the track in the 200 meter rounds. First with a collegiate leading 22.58 in the first round - taking over the top time from Baylor's Tiffany Townsend. In her semifinal heat she really opened up with a blazing 22.38 - just missing the 22.34 world leader run by Lauryn Williams last week. Lucas set herself up to be the strong favorite to win this event in tomorrow's final.

The rest of qualifying went pretty much to form, with the key teams advancing athletes into scoring position. The one huge exception being Oregon's Matt Centrowitz' non qualifying run in the 1500 meters. This will keep Oregon from scoring key points in the event, for a team that is depending heavily on distance points in its bid to win a national championship. We will see how this plays out for the other teams in contention - Texas A&M, Florida, and Florida State - as they all are more sprint oriented and will spend time canceling each other out in several events. The men's team title could come down to the closing 4x4 relay.

Oregon did begin its quest by winning one of the days first finals as Galen Rupp won the 10000 meters in 28:21.45. The other track final on the day was the women's 10000 won by Danette Doetzel of Providence in 33:25.71. The other finals were all on the field in the men and women's long jump and shot put. All Thursday results can be found here.

The other big event on Thursday was the Tornoto Festival of Excellence featuring the 100 meters. The race was won by Usain Bolt (JAM) in 10.00 over Shawn Crawford (US) 10.25 and Ivory Williams (US) 10.28. The meet, and race, was conducted in the rain, making conditions less than ideal. Other winners in Tornoto included Lashawn Merritt (US) in the 400 in 44.83, and Priscilla Lopes Schliep (CAN) in the 100H in 12.86. Full results of the meet can be found here.