Nugent, 19, set a new meet record of 8.11 for the 60m hurdles in the preliminary round and smashed it in the final, running a personal best of 7.90. The winning time was also a new track record, facility record and meet record.
The time moves Nugent to the 11th spot all-time in collegiate indoor track competition and the best-ever U20 time. Her teammate, Kennedy Bailey finished in second place with a time of 8.3 seconds.
For her efforts, Nugent was one of four MVPs at the meet alongside teammates Johnny Brackins who won the triple jump and Tuesdi Tidwell, who triumphed in the pole vault.
Meanwhile, Nugent’s compatriot Kavia Francis and teammates Mariah Ayers, Aaliyah Miller and Gontse Morake finished with a silver medal and a time of 3:40.87 in the 4x400m relay.
Schaaffe, 20, a graduate of St Mary’s High School in Jamaica, is coming off a three-gold medal performance on the NCAA Indoor circuit that already has her in the university’s record books.
Last Friday at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational at the University of Iowa, she won the 600m in 1:30.99, a top-six all-time performance for UM. Then, on Saturday, she clocked 55.53 to win the 400m. She was also a member of her school’s mile relay team that also won gold at the meet in 3:40.93.
Her wins helped UM women win the team title with 129.5 points ahead of Nebraska’s 91.
With those medals in the bag, she is now aiming for something greater at the Big 10 championships coming up on February 25.
“I want to run sub 1:30 by the Big Ten Championship,” she told Sportsmax.TV earlier this week, “I aimed at it in my race last Friday but I’ll definitely be working towards it.”
The Kinesiology major believes breaking 1:30 is on the cards because of the speed at which she has been adjusting to running indoors and to living in Minnesota.
“Yes, it was challenging at first but as time progresses and I am constantly doing it I realize that I have adjusted so much better,” she said.
“My coach always compliments me on adjusting to the weather and my transition into their program so I think I am doing well in that aspect.”
In 2019, Schaaffe was third at the ISSA Boys and Girls Championships in Jamaica, in a personal best 2:08.83 behind standouts Charokee Young of Hydel High and Petersfield’s Shaquena Foote.
