Several athletes and teams broke records in their respective NCAA sports this weekend.
The GIST: With the NCAA postseasons for winter sports approaching, top athletes are pulling out all the stops to gain an edge, leading to shattered records on the court, track, pool deck, and mat this weekend.
🏀 Women’s basketball: No. 7 USC guard JuJu Watkins just can’t stop scoring. The freshman phenom sank over 30 points for the 11th time this season in Friday’s 87–81 win over No. 11 Colorado, setting a program record (amongst others). She extended that record in yesterday’s 74–68 upset loss to No. 18 Utah and became the Trojans’ top freshman scorer…ever.
- And while No. 4 Iowa senior guard Caitlin Clark chases Lynette Woodard’s all–Division I and Pete Maravich’s all–NCAA scoring records, UHSP senior Grace Beyer surpassed them all, notching 3,874 career points to own the NAIA women’s scoring title on Saturday. Buckets on buckets.
👟 Indoor track & field: Hello, Mr. Worldwide! No. 12 Georgia sophomore Christopher Morales Williams broke the men’s 400m world record (!!!) with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it time of 44.49 seconds at Saturday’s SEC Championships. Meanwhile, Texas A&M senior high-jumper Lamara Distin also made history as the first collegiate woman to clear 2m indoors. Holy hell.
🤸 Women’s gymnastics: No. 1 Oklahoma logged the Sooners’ highest-ever team score in Saturday’s 198.675–195.550 win over West Virginia. Setting a program record is always exciting, but for the two-time defending national champs and the nation’s No. 1 team for the past two seasons, it’s an especially BFD.
- As for individuals, No. 5 Florida junior Leanne Wong’s perfect floor routine sealed her Gators’ massive 198.150–197.950 upset of rival No. 2 LSU and made her the 15th NCAA gymnast to record a gym slam, aka a perfect score in all four events, on Saturday. Breathtaking.
🏊 Women’s swimming & diving: Another dynasty picked up a big win on Saturday: The No. 1 Virginia women, led by junior Gretchen Walsh and her four new NCAA records, secured their fifth straight ACC title. To quote the GOAT herself, “absolutely mind-blowing.”
