Liberty sprinter runs this year's fastest all-conditions 100 meters in the world
The only thing that could temper the excitement around the men's 100 meters at the Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was the likelihood that there was no way it could match Thursday's preliminaries, which rates as one of the fastest collegiate races of the year.
The race didn't match those prelims, it shattered it.
Case in point: With a massive aiding wind, Liberty's Omari Lewis' winning time of 9.88 seconds was the fastest all-conditions time in the world this year in a race where five runners ran 10.12 or faster.
The wind was 5.1 meters per second — the maximum allowable for records is 2.0 — so this comes with an asterisk, but the CUSA men's 100 was the fastest collegiate 100 of the year.
"I think it's been coming a long time. I just needed the right conditions, the right day," Lewis said. "I wanted to go low."
The time just misses the all-time collegiate all-conditions lists. It's 0.03 out of 10th on a list headed by UTEP's Obadele Thompson, who ran a 9.69 at Kidd Field in 1996.
Lewis actually qualified third on Thursday with a 10.10, but admitted that was about conserving some energy for Saturday.
"I had to be smart, I couldn't run hard in the first round," said Lewis, who seems likely to represent Trinidad and Tobago in the Paris Olympics. "I know how championships are. I wanted to be fresh for the day it matters, run fast when it matters. That was the goal today."
Up next on his to-do list is pretty obvious.
"Qualifying for the Olympics is one of my biggest goals this year," he said.
Liberty sweeps titles
Liberty came into its first CUSA outdoor meet as heavy favorites and they looked the part. The men grabbed the lead early on Sunday and grew it as the meet went on, finishing with 195 points to runner-up UTEP's 161.
On the women's side, Liberty was a near wire-to-wire winner, coring 177.7 points to UTEP's 139 and New Mexico State's 119.
"I'm proud of the kids," coach Lance Bingham said. "They focused, they executed, they got through some trials. There are always trials in a meet. I felt we try to embrace our core values, honor the Lord in what we say and do. I felt like I saw the kids really embracing the process. I'm excited about seeing what they did."
The Flames women won five events, including double gold from distance runner Calli Doan who claimed the steeplechase and 5,000. They won seven of the 21 events on the men's side, highlighted by Lewis' 100.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Liberty sprinter runs fastest all-conditions 100 meters in the world
