University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Cayce Smith/Tennessee Athletics
Historic Times For Harding, Griffith Highlight Opening Night Of NCAA Championships
June 08, 2023 | Track & Field, Cross Country
AUSTIN, Texas — In a lightning fast 200-meter semifinal on Wednesday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Tennessee junior Javonte Harding posted a lifetime-best mark of 19.98 seconds to qualify for Friday's final at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
His race marked the first sub-20 clocking for the Prince George, Virginia, native. Harding joins Vol legends Justin Gatlin (19.86) and Christian Coleman (19.85) as the only Big Orange sprinters to crack 20 seconds in the outdoor 200-meter dash.
Harding place fifth overall in the national semifinal in an event that featured six sub-20 times, setting up an electric final that will take place Friday night at 10:37 p.m. ET.
Three other Vols posted qualifying marks in Wednesday's running events, including junior Rasheeme Griffith turning in a personal-best time of 49.00 in the 400-meter hurdles semifinal. His mark set a new Barbadian national record, topping his nation's previous standard of 49.21 seconds set by Victor Houston in September of 1998. Griffith placed third overall at the meet and represented the second-fastest time in school history, trailing only David Patrick's school record of 48.44 set in 1982.
The Bridgetown, Barbados, native will run the 400-meter hurdles final on Friday at 10:27 p.m. ET.
Graduate student Rasheem Brown extended his collegiate career for one more race in the 110-meter hurdles, grabbing ninth place and the final timed qualifying mark in the semifinal with a clocking of 13.53 to tie his personal-best and move up to No. 6 on Tennessee's all-time list. The Cayman Islands international will make his NCAA final debut on Friday night, with the starting pistol set to fire at 9:42 p.m. ET.
Memphis native and Tennessee junior Emmanuel Bynum rounds out Tennessee's finals qualifiers after posting a mark of 45.33 and finishing second in Heat 1 on Wednesday. Competing at his first outdoor nationals as an individual, Bynum will run the 400-meter final on Friday at approximately 10:02 p.m. ET.
A pair of Vols secured top-16 finishes on Wednesday to claim Second Team All-America acclaim. Rookie Clement Ducos finished 14th in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.57 seconds, while graduate student Dylan Jacobs picked up his 11th career All-America certificate with a 14th-place outing in the 10k (29:12.47).
Ducos became Tennessee's first All-American in the 400-meter hurdles since Jerome Wilson in 1983, while Jacobs secured UT's first All-America honor in the 10,000-meter since Tony Cosey and Stewart Ellington in 1995.
Harding also ran the 100-meter dash Wednesday night, finishing 17th overall with in a season-best time of 10.12 seconds that was .01 seconds shy of breaking into UT's stellar all-time top 10 list.
Wednesday's action concluded with the men's 4x400-meter relay, where Emmanuel Bynum, Jakwan Hale, Nigel Green and Rasheeme Griffith finished 18th overall after combining for a time of 3:04.61.
UP NEXT: The women's portion of the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships begins Thursday in Austin. Competition for the Lady Vols opens at 4:30 p.m. ET with Chandler Hayden competing in the hammer throw.
His race marked the first sub-20 clocking for the Prince George, Virginia, native. Harding joins Vol legends Justin Gatlin (19.86) and Christian Coleman (19.85) as the only Big Orange sprinters to crack 20 seconds in the outdoor 200-meter dash.
Harding place fifth overall in the national semifinal in an event that featured six sub-20 times, setting up an electric final that will take place Friday night at 10:37 p.m. ET.
Three other Vols posted qualifying marks in Wednesday's running events, including junior Rasheeme Griffith turning in a personal-best time of 49.00 in the 400-meter hurdles semifinal. His mark set a new Barbadian national record, topping his nation's previous standard of 49.21 seconds set by Victor Houston in September of 1998. Griffith placed third overall at the meet and represented the second-fastest time in school history, trailing only David Patrick's school record of 48.44 set in 1982.
The Bridgetown, Barbados, native will run the 400-meter hurdles final on Friday at 10:27 p.m. ET.
Graduate student Rasheem Brown extended his collegiate career for one more race in the 110-meter hurdles, grabbing ninth place and the final timed qualifying mark in the semifinal with a clocking of 13.53 to tie his personal-best and move up to No. 6 on Tennessee's all-time list. The Cayman Islands international will make his NCAA final debut on Friday night, with the starting pistol set to fire at 9:42 p.m. ET.
Memphis native and Tennessee junior Emmanuel Bynum rounds out Tennessee's finals qualifiers after posting a mark of 45.33 and finishing second in Heat 1 on Wednesday. Competing at his first outdoor nationals as an individual, Bynum will run the 400-meter final on Friday at approximately 10:02 p.m. ET.
A pair of Vols secured top-16 finishes on Wednesday to claim Second Team All-America acclaim. Rookie Clement Ducos finished 14th in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.57 seconds, while graduate student Dylan Jacobs picked up his 11th career All-America certificate with a 14th-place outing in the 10k (29:12.47).
Ducos became Tennessee's first All-American in the 400-meter hurdles since Jerome Wilson in 1983, while Jacobs secured UT's first All-America honor in the 10,000-meter since Tony Cosey and Stewart Ellington in 1995.
Harding also ran the 100-meter dash Wednesday night, finishing 17th overall with in a season-best time of 10.12 seconds that was .01 seconds shy of breaking into UT's stellar all-time top 10 list.
Wednesday's action concluded with the men's 4x400-meter relay, where Emmanuel Bynum, Jakwan Hale, Nigel Green and Rasheeme Griffith finished 18th overall after combining for a time of 3:04.61.
UP NEXT: The women's portion of the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships begins Thursday in Austin. Competition for the Lady Vols opens at 4:30 p.m. ET with Chandler Hayden competing in the hammer throw.
Players Mentioned
Hurdles
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Sprints
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Sprints/Hurdles
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Sprints
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Hurdles
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Sprints/Hurdles
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Sprints
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Throws
/ Track & Field
XC/Distance
/ Track & FieldEverything Orange S2 | Sarah Schmitt (Track & Field)
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