Irby first college freshman to eclipse 23 seconds in 200, 52 seconds in 400 since 2003

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Not only did Lynna Irby run world-leading times in the women's indoor 200 and 400 meters by clocking 22.96 and 51.48 seconds Friday and Saturday at the Razorback Invitational, but the Georgia freshman joined Sanya Richards-Ross in some impressive company while achieving the feat in Fayetteville, Ark.

Irby, who set Georgia's indoor 200 record and improved to No. 2 in program history in the 400, became the first college freshman since Richards-Ross at Texas in 2003 to dip under 23 seconds in the 200 and eclipse 52 seconds in the 400 in the same indoor season.

"I've always looked up to Sanya Richards-Ross, so for my name to be in the same conversation as hers is a huge honor and extremely humbling," said Irby, who had never run under 23 seconds indoors or outdoors in the 200.

"As of right now, it still feels surreal. I just can't even process what happened this past weekend. It all happened so quickly, pun intended."

Richards-Ross ran 22.80 in the 200 and 51.87 in the 400 during her first season at Texas, taking second in both events at the NCAA Division 1 indoor finals. She ran 22.49 and 50.82 as a sophomore, winning the 400 and finishing runner-up in the 200 in 2004.

Since Richards-Ross achieved the feat, five collegiate female athletes accomplished the impressive double during the same indoor season before Irby, but all of them were juniors or seniors.

Texas A&M's Jessica Beard ran 22.95 and 50.79 in 2011 and fellow Aggie Kamaria Brown clocked 22.50 and 50.94 in 2014. Oregon's Phyllis Francis posted times of 22.92 and 50.46 in 2014, with Arkansas' Taylor Washington clocking 22.99 and 51.51 in 2016 and USC's Kendall Ellis running 22.97 and 51.07 last year.

Washington, formerly Taylor Ellis-Watson, was the last college athlete to achieve the feat in the same meet before Irby, running 22.99 and 51.84 at the 2016 SEC Indoor Championships.

Ellis and Swiss pro Lea Sprunger were the only two female athletes in the world last year to achieve the feat indoors.

Irby is the only individual among the sub-23 and sub-52 group to produce both times in January. She held off Arkansas junior Payton Stumbaugh Chadwick (22.99) in the 200 and edged Ellis (51.53) in the 400 to secure the world leads in both events entering February.

"Now that I know what I am capable of, I feel even more excited for the rest of indoor season and outdoor season," said Irby, whose outdoor personal best in the 400 remains 51.39 when she won gold at the 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

"I know that I haven't peaked just yet and there are a lot of things my coach and I will be working on to continue our good streak."

The last freshman to win the NCAA Division 1 indoor title in the 200 was Texas' Bianca Knight in 2008 and the most recent freshman to win the 400 championship was Georgia record holder and Bahamian star Shaunae Miller-Uibo in 2013.