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≡ NCAA FIRST ROUND ≡
Warm conditions produced some sizzling times at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships East region first round in Jacksonville, Florida, with LSU’s Tima Godbless (NGR) winning heat one in a world-leading 10.91, a lifetime best by a startling 0.12 (wind +1.2 m/s)!
She had run 11.06 this year as the SEC runner-up. One heat later, it was the turn of Ohio State senior Leah Bertrand (TTO) – fourth in the Big 10 – to get a lifetime best of 10.92 (+1.8), to move to equal-second in the world for 2025. Her best had been 11.08 from 2023.
Another weather delay of more than 2 1/2 hours came in during the afternoon, with half of the program completed, but the full slate of races was held.
In the men’s qualifying held over from Wednesday, Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan of Ole Miss moved to no. 2 in the nation in the shot put, leading the qualifiers at 20.85 m (68-5).
At the West region meet in College Station, Texas, conditions were also warm, with world leader and Big 12 champ Alexis Brown of Baylor reaching 6.94 m (22-9 1/4) to lead the women’s long jump, in the best mark of the day.
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The single-day, all-women ATHLOS meet in 2024, and set for 10 October 2025 will expand into an “ATHLOS League” in 2026, announcing a “team-based” format today:
“We’re not just building a league – we’re crafting a movement, with @itsshacarri, @itsgabbyt and @tar___ruh at the center as athlete-owners.”
(That’s Olympic gold medalists Sha’Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas and Tara Davis-Woodhall.)
ATHLOS founder Alexis Ohanian added on X that “It’ll launch next year with meets in major cities and ending with one epic championship race.”
No dates were announced, but the ATHLOS site noted:
“When the global stage wraps, ATHLOS keeps the momentum going. Kicking off after the World Athletics season in 2026, our league will feature multiple events with the fastest athletes in the world competing for record-breaking prizes.”
So, 2026 calendar now has the World Athletics indoor tour, the Diamond League, the no-field-events Grand Slam Track and the World Athletics Ultimate Championship from 11-13 September 2026. And then the women-only (so far) ATHLOS League will add to what is becoming a pretty crowded mix.
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