The Showdown in Texas

During the opening round of the 100-meter dash at the Texas Relays, Sha'Carri Richardson rattled off the best time of 11.17, Friday, March 29, in Austin, Texas.

The LSU freshman crossing the finish line before her competitors is a familiar situation for her at the Texas Relays. In 2016 and 2017 as a high school student-athlete she took first in the girls 100-meter dash competition. Richardson has had an outstanding freshman season thus far. She posted the fifth best 60-meter time in the nation during the indoor season at 7.20, at the Razorback Invitational, Jan. 25.

After a disappointing showing at the SEC Indoor Championships where she false started in the 60-meter dash final, Richardson finished seventh at the national meet with a time of 7.27.

Arkansas senior Kiara Parker finished with the second-best overall time winning her heat at 11.21, bettering last year's showing of 11.43, which didn't qualify for the finals. Parker's showing continues her successful 2019 season where she currently ranks 11th among US performers in the 100-meter dash.

Caitland Smith of Arkansas State took her heat at 11.34, which as the third-best qualifying time. The indoor 60- and 200-meter dash champ of the Sun Belt Conference, hasn't lost many races this year. In 18 previous races which include performances in the 60- and 200-meter dashes as well as the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays, Smith has been a winner 13 times.

Texas' top sprinter Teahna Daniels didn't run but the Longhorns didn't go without a strong performer as freshman Kynnedy Flannel placed second in her heat behind Parker at 11.37. Her time was the fourth best of the nine qualifiers.

Ranking 43rd in the nation, Flannel was a third-place finisher in the 60-meter dash at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. She scored wins during the indoor season at the Clemson Invitational and Texas Tech Shootout.

Sophomore Kethlin Campbell of Arkansas (11.50), Freshman Ariyonna Augustine of LSU (11.54), Junior Aaliyah Birmingham of Oklahoma State (11.55) and junior Chelsea Francis of SMU (11.58) finished with the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth best times respectively.

The battle for the final qualifying spot came in the second heat as once again, Jaliyah Elliott continued her Cinderella run. The All-American junior from Youngstown State of the Horizon League edged out Baylor senior Raven Grant who represents the Big 12 conference. Elliott finished at 11.624, while Grant came in at 11.629. Elliott shocked the nation when she qualified for the national indoor semifinal at the Horizon League Championship. Her appearance at the national meet made her the first female competitor in school history to become and indoor All-American. The 100-meter dash final at the Texas Relays takes place today.

Cincinnati freshmen helps lead 1600-meter relay at Texas Relays.

During our preview of the Texas Relays, we featured freshman Caisja Chandler's appearance in the 100-meter dash. Chandler's first-round time of 11.67 didn't qualify for the finals as she placed 18th of 101 competitors.

The good news is that she and her teammates were winners of heat two as they qualified for the finals in the 1,600-meter relay.

The team consisted of one junior Haisha Bisiolu and three freshmen Chandler, Faith Banks, and Kylie Cutlip, who had the seventh-best overall qualifying time of 3:43.94 out of the 43 teams that finished the opening round race. TCU had the best qualifying time at 3:38.90, followed by Liberty and Oklahoma to round out the top three. Other teams that qualified for Saturdays final are Penn, Duke, Harvard, and Stephen F. Austin.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn competes in 200-meter invite at Texas Relays.

Former Kentucky, now professional runner Jasmine-Camacho-Quinn will face an interesting field of runners in the 200-meter dash invitational race, today in Austin. Camacho-Quinn is ranked 81st in the world in this event. The Puerto Rican also ranks 36th worldwide in the 100-meter hurdles. Among runners in Puerto Rico, she ranks number one in both events.

One of the nation's top collegiate sprinters, Teahna Daniels of Texas will also compete. Daniels is coming off of a strong indoor season where she won the 60-meter dash at the Big 12 Championships before finishing second at nationals. She currently ranks 62nd in the US in the 200-meter dash and 192nd worldwide. Daniels ranks 16th in the US in the 100-meter dash.

Also included in this race is the world's fifth best in heptathlon rankings, Erica Bougard. This pro is the current US heptathlon champion, and has won the last two pentathlons in national indoor competition.

Another pro competitor is Pedrya Seymour of the Bahamas. She is currently 70th in the world in the 100-meter hurdles and second in her native country. Seymour competed in the Olympics in 2016 where she placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles.

Rounding out the field are two more runners from Texas. Junior Serenity Douglas, who ranks 25th nationally in the 400-meter dash. Douglas is also this year's Big 12 indoor champ in the 200-meter dash. The final competitor is freshman Kennedy Simon who had runner-up finishes in the 200-meter dash at the Clemson Invitational and Texas Tech Shootout during the indoor season.