Elijah Mallard breaks 3rd straight SU record at Orange & Purple Invitational
Syracuse track’s Elijah Mallard set a school record for the third straight week in the indoor 400-meter at the Orange and Purple Invitational Friday. Daily Orange File Photo
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It was déjà vu for Syracuse track’s Elijah Mallard Friday. For the second week in a row, he set the school record in the men’s indoor 400-meter with a sixth-place finish in 46.59 seconds at the Orange and Purple Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina. Mallard’s time is nearly four tenths faster than the record time he set Saturday. It’s also the third straight week he’s broken an SU record.
The reigning ACC Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week Jamir Brown also made some noise for the Orange, running 7.60 seconds in the men’s 60-meter hurdle semifinal. That time is tied for the fourth fastest time in college track this season. That was the best qualifying time in the semifinals and a personal best for Brown. However, the sophomore’s day ended with a “did not start” in the finals.
Freshman Nicea Jones also put together a personal best run in the women’s 400-meter in 55.574, which barely edged out Alabama’s Macauley Flanagan for ninth place by 0.005 of a second. Jones also raced in the women’s 200-meter, where she placed 23rd.
Sophomore Tia Outlaw and senior Peyton Rollins represented the Orange in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, where they both qualified for semis in 13th and 17th, respectively. Both runners were knocked out in the semis, with Outlaw coming within 0.2 seconds of a finals berth.
It was a similar story for freshman Indie Wallace-Persaud in the women’s 60-meter. Wallace-Persaud qualified for the semis in 14th, but fell short of the finals by 0.1 of a second. Wallace-Persaud made up for it by placing 11th in the women’s 200-meter, the best placement of the three Syracuse runners in the event.
Other competitors for the Orange were junior Taleea Buxton and freshman Sierra Joseph. Buxton raced in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, where she failed to make it past the preliminary round. Joseph had a similar result in the women’s 60-meter, and she placed 27th in the 200-meter.
It’s the first meet for Syracuse track that ended without a podium this indoor season. The Orange will look to return to the podium Jan. 30 and 31, as part of the team will travel to Boston to compete in the John Thomas Invitational hosted by Boston University, while some will remain in New York to race in the Cornell Invitational.
