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Stan Becton | NCAA.com | April 19, 2022

10 can't-miss performances from the men's track and field season's first half

LSU narrowly tops Georgia to take 4x100-meter relay championship

We're about halfway through the 2022 outdoor track and field season and a few meets remain before conference championships and NCAA prelims. It's a good time to look at the top 10 performances from the first half.

Here they are, listed alphabetically by last name:

Mykolas Alekna | California

Although Mykolas Alekna is the son of two-time Olympic discus gold medalist Virgilijus Alekna, he has still built a name for himself in track and field. Only a freshman at Cal, Mykolas leads the nation in the discus after hitting 66.70 meters at the Aztec Invitational. That distance is the furthest since 2016, and Mykolas sits third in NCAA history in the discus.

Trey Cunningham | Florida State

In Trey Cunningham's first outdoor hurdles race of the year, he ran a nation-leading 13.22 in the 110-meter hurdles. That time is more than .2 seconds faster than the next fastest wind-legal time.

Eliud Kipsang | Alabama

Alabama's Eliud Kipsang broke the 1500 meters record at the Bryan Clay Invitational, finishing in 3:33.74. Kipsang beat the previous record — which was set last year — by almost a second. His splits for full laps around the track were 56.7, 58.5 and 56.4, respectively. Kipsang finished the final 200 meters in 27.9 seconds.

Jenoah Mckiver | Iowa

The nation's 400-meter leader hails from Iowa after Jenoah Mckiver ran a personal-best 44.74 at the Jim Click Shootout. At the time of the finish, Mckiver's time was the second-fastest in the world this season.

Ayden Owens | Decathlon

Ayden Owens now owns the best wind-legal decathlon in NCAA history after scoring 8528 points at the Mt. SAC relays. It was an impressive all-around performance. Here are his times and marks.

  • 100 meters - 10.27 seconds (fastest-ever in NCAA decathlon history)
  • Long jump - 7.51 meters
  • Shot put - 14.89 meters (PR)
  • High jump - 1.92 meters
  • 400 meters - 46.12 seconds (fastest-ever in NCAA decathlon history)
  • 110 meter hurdles - 13.80 seconds
  • Discus - 43.00 meters
  • Javelin - 53.50 meters
  • 1500 meters - 4:13.17 (PR)

Devon Achane | Texas A&M & Jacory Patterson | Florida

In the 200 meters, two athletes sit tied for the fastest time run all season — Texas A&M's Devon Achane and Florida's Jacory Patterson. Both Achane and Patterson ran 20.20 in the 200. Achane ran his blazing time at the Texas A&M v Texas dual meet with a +1.3 wind. Patterson ran his time at the Florida Relays with no wind at all.

Adrian "Tripp" Piperi | Texas

Tripp Piperi has been dominant all season long. His performance at Texas Relays backs that up. In the shot put, Piperi launched his way to a distance of 21.54 meters, breaking a Longhorn record. With the toss, he moved to 13th all-time in NCAA history.

Micah Williams | Oregon

Oregon's Micah Williams is the nation's fastest all-conditions 100-meter man. His 9.83-second finish (+2.5) at the Mt. SAC Relays is the only sub-9.9 second time this season in the world. The performance came after running a 9.96 (+3.1) in the qualifiers. Fast wind or not, Williams' performance was elite.

Moad Zahafi | Texas Tech

At the Tom Jones Memorial, Texas Tech's Moad Zahafi ran a 1:43.69 in the 800 meters, winning by more than two seconds. Zahafi blazed around the track, finishing the first lap in 50.94 seconds. In the 800 meters, Zahafi now has the third-fastest time in NCAA history, a Texas Tech record, and the world lead.

Florida's 4x400 meter relay

Florida's men's 4x400 meter relay became the first team in collegiate history to run sub-2:59, setting a new collegiate record. The Gators relay team of Jacory Patterson, Ryan Willie, Jacob Miley and Champion Allison ran a 2:58.53.

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