Kiah Williams gets the W

Through two days, which included about three and a half inches of snow, the Rod McCravy Invitational showcased some of the top collegiate performers in the sport of track and field.

On Jan. 11, in Louisville, Kentucky, 25 sprinters participated in the Rod McCravy Invitational 400 meters competition on Jan. 11 and none were faster than UCF's Kiah Williams. Eight heats took place, and Williams kicked the event off in the opening heat with a time of 54.46, which is currently eighth in the NCAA. Williams, a native of Hallandale, Florida, has been a qualifier of the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400 meters for the previous two years. She was also the indoor 400 meters champ in the American Athletic Conference during UCF's final year in the conference in 2023.

The top three of the 400 meters also included Joy Nwokike of Akron, who finished at 54.56 and UCF's Twaniese Johnson at 54.79. Nwokike is the defending Mid-American Conference outdoor champion in the 400 meters. She also won the conference gold in the 200 meters as well. Speaking of the 200 meters, Nwokike was second at the Rod McCravy Invitational in that event as well at 23.94 on Jan. 10.

Johnson, made her debut for UCF after running for Kansas State, the past two years. Her performance over the weekend ranks 15th in the NCAA this season.

University of Kentucky All-American Victoria Perrow ran a career best 60 meters race with a time of 7.25 seconds. She is not only currently second in all of the NCAA for the season, Perrow is also just the eighth woman in school history to finish the 60 meters under 7.26 seconds.

Perrow's efforts edged out Purdue's Nia Wilson (7.316) and Kentucky's Sharmelle Holmes (7.317) in the final round. Holmes, is a freshman who that has gotten off to a strong start. She won each of her first four collegiate heats before falling to Perrow in the 60 meters final. Holmes is seventh in the NCAA with a time of 7.29 that she recorded in the semi-final round earlier in the afternoon. Wilson is 10th with the time that she recorded in the final round.

Ohio State's Leah Bertrand ran in the opening round of the 60 meters, Jan. 10. She recorded a time of 7.30 which was second best in the first round. It is ninth best so far this season in the NCAA. Despite qualifying, Bertrand didn't compete in any of the following rounds of the competition in the event. She did however earn a top five finish in the 200 meters on Jan. 10 and participated in one of Ohio State's three 1,600-meter relay squads on Jan. 11.

One of the most impressive performances of the meet was by Zoe Sullivan of Purdue. She became just the second Purdue woman to run the 60-meter hurdles under 8.10 seconds. Sullivan finished the 60-meter hurdles final at 8.08 seconds. Sullivan saved her best for the final round as she was third in the opening round at 8.28 seconds. Howard's Marcia Sey and UCF's Adaobi Tabugbo both finished the first round at 8.24, Jan 10. Another favorite, Kentucky's Alexis Glasco was fourth behind Sullivan at 8.31.

In the semifinals, on Jan. 11, Glasco was the top hurdler at 8.23 seconds, with Sey and Tabugbo finishing at 8.24 and 8.25 respectively. Sullivan ran a time in the semifinal round at 8.30. As the final approached few spectators had Sullivan selected to outpace her All-American competition by more than 11 tenths of a second but the senior from Indianapolis, Indiana, blew past the talented field of hurdlers for the dominant win. Sullivan's 8.08 finals finish is currently second in the NCAA. Tabugbo was second at 8.20, Sey was third at 8.21 and Glasco finished fourth at 8.25.

Tabugbo's finals finish left her tied for fifth in the NCAA, Sey's previous finish of 8.21 on Dec. 7 at the HBCU & Ivy League Challenge currently has her tied at seventh with Glasco, who ran the same time on Dec. 11, at the Louisville Opener.