McKenzie Travis Gets DQ'ed, Then Recovers For New U.S. 1 55m

Jan 12, 2024

WATCH LIVE: THE VA SHOWCASE

Airs from Jan. 12-14 on MileSplit/FloTrack

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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- McKenzie Travis began her day on Friday at The VA Showcase with a disqualification.

The Fort Myers Evangelical Christian School (FL) senior stood up in her blocks, stuttered, and then was ousted from the 200m -- handed the fated red card.

It was a devastating blow, but she put the race behind her. After all, her next event awaited.

Then something else took place. Westerville Central's (OH) Olivia Pace ran a new U.S. No. 1 performance, clocking a time of 6.91 seconds; she came within three-hundredths of a second from Abby Steiner's Ohio state record of 6.88.

Still, Travis was unbothered. The University of South Carolina signee showed up two heats later.

Once the gun went off, she executed a textbook drive phase, easily separating from the field and re-setting the U.S. No. 1 time to 6.85.

Along with Travis and Pace and Joslyn Hamilton of Rolesville (NC) -- another future Gamecock who went 6.96 to round out the top three times -- the final on Saturday will consist of three future Division I stars.

The top eight girls from today's prelims will face each other for a 60m finals on Saturday at 12:10 pm EST, which will be LIVE on MileSplit and FloTrack.

place	name	grade	time	Q	heat
1	McKenzie Travis, Evangelical Christian School	12	6.85	q	6
2	Olivia Pace, Westerville Central	12	6.91	q	4
3	Joslyn Hamilton, Rolesville High School	12	6.96	q	5
4	Janiya Johnson, Statesville	12	7.02	q	2
5	Jasmine Sharps, Archbishop Carroll High School	11	7.02	q	5
6	Alex Hopkins, Colonial Forge	12	7.04	q	2
7	Mianna Mason, South County High School	11	7.04	q	3
8	Laura Fiegel, Heritage Christian School	10	7.05	q	4

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