When we wrote about qualifiers for the upcoming U.S. Championships, we mentioned that Winslow graduate Tionna Tobias was on the cusp of qualifying in the heptathlon.
Tobias – who won the Big Ten Championships with a lifetime-best 5,640 points – ranked 16th among those who had entered as of the qualifying deadline of 11:59 p.m. Sunday – according to USATF’s own web site. Considering they accept the top 16 entries to fill out the field if not enough people have the A standard, we thought Tobias had a shot at making the field.
But apparently the “status of entriers” page isn’t updated in real time, and Tobias wound up with the highest score among non-qualifiers.
However … Tobias is still headed to Oregon.
She’s been added to the field in the 100-meter hurdles, thanks to her 13.11 season-best time last month. She ranks 21st among entries in the hurdles, so she’s actually ranked higher in the event she didn’t get in that the one she did get in. But that’s because the field size in the 100 hurdles is 32 and the heptathlon is 16.
The A standard in the 100 hurdles was 12.78, but only 14 U.S. women who entered ran that fast during the qualifying window [June 23, 2022 – June 25, 2023].
A lane at nationals is a tremendous opportunity for the 22-year-old Tobias, who just finished her junior year at Iowa and posted these marks along the way – 11.13 in the hurdles, 23.97 in the 200, 5-7 ¼ in the high jump, 35-7 ¾ in the shot, 2:19.61 for 800 meters, 20-2 ½ in the long jump and 92-1 in the javelin.
Tobias joins former Pleasantville star Nia Ali as the second South Jersey woman entered in the 100-meter hurdles at USATF Nationals.
Her 13.11 is 4th-fastest by a New Jersey native, and that 5,640 is actually 2nd-highest point total ever by a New Jersey woman, behind Ali’s 5,870 in Asuza, Calif., in 2016.
Here’s my best attempt at a New Jersey high school alum 100-meter hurdles all-time top-10:
12.34 … Nia Ali [Pleasantville], Oct. 6, 2019, Doha, Qatar
12.65 … Sydney McLaughlin [Union Catholic], May 9, 2021, Walnut, Calif.
12.74 … Dawn Bowles [Neptune], June 15, 1997, Indianapolis
13.11 … Tionna Tobias [Winslow], May 25, 2023, Bloomington, Ind.
13.13 … Charmaine Walker [Plainfield], June 2, 2000, Durham, N.C.
13.15 … Amaya Chadwick [Union Catholic], May 27, 2021, Jacksonville, Fla.
13.18 … Amber Williams [Roxbury], June 6, 2007, Sacramento, Calif.
13.28 … Ste’yce McNeil [Winslow], May 15, 2015, Starkville, Miss.
13.30 … Shameka Marshall [Oakcrest], May 28, 2005, New York
13.41 … Sara Gardner [Delaware Valley], May 6, 2018, Lawrence, N.J.
Tobias came into the 2023 season with a 100-meter hurdles PR of 13.59 from her freshman year at Iowa in a meet in Champaign, Ill. She lowered her PR to 13.55 in her opener in Gainesville in April and then 13.51 in a meet in Waco later in April. Her big breakthrough was a wind-legal 13.20 to open up her Big Ten heptathlon and then she lowered her PR to 13.11 in the NCAA Championships West Prelims in Sacramento last month.
U.S. Nationals are scheduled for July 6-9 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. The 100-meter hurdles trials are scheduled for 8:42 p.m. EST Friday, July 7 with the semifinals at 9:02 p.m. Saturday, July 8. The final is scheduled for 10:55 p.m. Saturday.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 