LSU Freshman Phenom Sha’Carri Richardson Sets New NCAA 100M Record

Sha’Carri blazed up the NCAA Track & Field Championships all day.

Track and Field has been one of the most underappreciated sports for too long, gaining real national attraction only when the Summer Olympics rolls around every four years.

But it has too many great athletes and performances to be ignored, and yesterday LSU freshman, Sha’Carri Richardson, gave us another reason why the sport deserves way more attention.

At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Richardson blazed by the field to run a 10.75 for the NCAA Women’s 100m title.

Richardson broke the collegiate record of 10.78 set by another Lady Tiger, Dawn Sowell, 30 years ago. The scary thing is that not only is Richardson a freshman, but she pulled a Usain Bolt and raised her arms up and slowed down slightly with about 5 meters still remaining in the race, her opponents not even being in a seriously threatening position.

Sha’Carri has been doing this all season though, bringing more well deserved attention to the LSU track team as well as the sport as a whole.  She almost anchored the LSU women’s 4×100 to a come from behind victory, losing to USC by .08 seconds (42.21 to 42.29). Then, after winning the 100m title, she returned to the track and almost won the 200m final, coming in a closer than close second to USC’s Anglerne Annelus by .01 seconds (22.16 to 22.17). It was a race that could not have been any closer or any more exciting than it was.

If the marketing team behind the various track organizations are watching, they’d be smart to capitalize on her success to help promote the sport. And while she, unfortunately, won’t be able to reap the monetary benefits of her performances while still in college, she’s now a collegiate champion with a very bright future in the sport.

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