By Kennedy Joseph | February 20, 2023
Great Dane sprinter Travis Williams.
Photo credit: Jaime Dickinson, UAlbany Sports
Travis Williams, one of the standout track and field athletes here at the university has continued to make headlines with his impressive track records. Williams was given the opportunity to compete in the renowned UCS Men’s 60m Dash at the Millrose Games in New York City following his recent victory in the Men’s 60m Dash at the Harvard’s University Crimson Elite Invitational.
The Millrose Games, which attracts some of the top track athletes across the Americas and beyond, is one of the most significant indoor track and field competitions in the nation. The men’s 60m race included some top track performers like Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles.
Coleman competed collegiately for the Tennessee Volunteers and won the men’s 60m dash for the SEC Indoor Championships in 2016 and is now the current world record holder in the men’s 60m dash (6.34). Noah Lyles, who earlier committed to compete for the University of Florida in July 2016, but instead turned professional and signed with Adidas, is currently the defending 200m champion, who also just had run a personal best of 6.51 a week before. Noah’s brother Josephus Lyles was also in the race. who won the Bronze for the 200m dash in the 2022 NACAC Championships.
Both Coleman and Lyles were in the middle lanes to Williams’ left in the final, while he would be in the racing lane eight. After the runners were called into the predetermined position, the runners were called for a reset. After the second attempt, Lyles was penalized for a false start after flinching in the blocks adding to the delay. Finally, on the third try, all the runners got off to a clean start.
Williams put on an excellent performance, finishing in third place with a personal best of 6.59, breaking the school record for the second week in a row. He edged Josephus Lyles by three thousandths of a second, coming in slightly below Coleman’s winning time of 6.47. Williams came in second place as a result of Lyles’ False start.
Another Great Danes athlete Rori Lowe was invited to compete in the Sherri & Brett Miller women’s 300m at the Millrose Games. Lowe’s competition included Abby Steiner and Jenna Prandini, two professional runners for Puma who both have won gold in the women’s 4x100m relay before.
Kentucky’s Abby Steiner is known for winning the 200m National title at the 2022 NCAA track and field championships with a time of 21.80, and Jenna Prandini had previously won the 2018 USA Championships 200m with a time of 22.62.
With the rest of her heat directed outside, Lowe drew lane two and placed fifth with a time of 39.69, just behind her 39.12 Great Dane-best she had just set earlier in the season at Boston University’s Battle of Beantown.
Next, the Great Danes compete in the America East Indoor Championships that run from Saturday the 18th to Sunday the 19th at The TRACK at New Balance in Boston.