BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Ole Miss track & field All-American senior Shey Taiwo cemented herself not just as one of the best collegiate throwers of all time, but as one of the best in the history of the planet after a phenomenal performance on Day One of the Indiana Relays at Gladstein Fieldhouse in Bloomington, Ind., on Friday (28) night.
Action from the meet continues on Saturday and you can follow all the live results and update by clicking here: LIVE RESULTS | MEET INFO | SCHEDULE (PDF) | HEAT SHEETS (PDF)
Taiwo – a senior native of South Holland, Illinois – outdid herself on Friday night. Just one week after becoming the No. 7 thrower in NCAA history and falling just one centimeter short of the Ole Miss record, Taiwo blew past that mark by an extraordinary three feet, with her second attempt landing a mind-boggling 25.02m/82-01.00 away.
The tale of the tape on that historic heave of 82 feet, one inch is extensive. It moves Taiwo from No. 7 all the way to No. 2 on the all-time NCAA list, ranking only behind Southern Illinois’ Brittany Riley, whose 2007 collegiate record and NCAA meet record of 25.56m/83-10.25 stood as the world record for 10 years.
Taiwo’s throw stands as the best in the NCAA since 2008 and the fourth-best ever by a collegian, ranking only behind three tosses from Riley: the aforementioned collegiate record, her NCAA title-winning throw from 2008 of 25.34m/83-01.75, and another from the same field series as her NCAA title in 2007 at 25.05m/82-02.25. Taiwo’s throw also stands as the best-ever by a collegian this early into the season, as all three of Riley’s better throws come from the national meet held in March.
On the world stage, Taiwo joins the ranks of the best to ever throw the 20-pound implement – a top-10 list dominated by throwers coached by Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith and throws coach John Smith.
Taiwo is now the fourth-best performer in world and U.S. history on the 11th-best throw ever, trailing only former Ole Miss volunteer coach Gwen Berry’s 2017 world record of 25.60m/84-00.00, Riley’s collegiate record and Ole Miss NCAA Champion Janeah Stewart’s 25.08m/82-03.50 from 2019.
