COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, February 27–March 01 — Quartermilers Aaliyah Butler (Georgia) and Isabella Whittaker (Arkansas) are developing a rivalry to remember. The duo came into the SEC Indoor Championships first and second for the year on the collegiate list and left it first and second in the world.
They entered the competition with times of 50.85 and 50.87, respectively, ranking them clearly ahead of the rest of the field and presaging a good matchup. That form held true in the prelims, with Butler leading at 50.59 and Whittaker 50.86.
Things then completely exploded in the final. Whittaker blasted a 49.90… and lost to Butler’s 49.78. Their first indoor sub-50 clockings now place them at numbers 2 and 3 on the all-time collegiate list. (Butler has gone under 50 twice before, both outdoors.)
“I’ve been working towards it,” Butler said of her big indoor PR. “I knew that was my goal to do it. I didn’t know I was going to do it today. I just kept thanking God and trusting my coaches, and that’s what happened today, I just ran my races and executed the way I wanted to.”
Butler acknowledged that the pressure from Whittaker — a transfer from Penn (5th in the ’24 NCAA Outdoor 400) and Butler’s USA teammate (relay pool) in Paris — pushes her ever higher.
“It’s a very good [rivalry],” Butler says. “We always push each other to the limit, and I think we do great things together as we run together in the same heat. We’ve both been working hard. It came down to whoever wanted it more and I guess I did today. It’s about hitting the right times at the right time.”
Their battle was not renewed in the 4 x 400. Arkansas, with its team title firmly secured, decided to rest Whittaker while Butler blasted 49.87 to anchor Georgia’s 3:26.42 victory.
Two Olympians fought another thrilling Arkansas-Georgia duel in the high jump. Arkansas’ Rachel Glenn, the Collegiate Record holder (6-6¾/2.00 in 2024), faced off against Georgia’s Russian-born Elena Kulichenko, who placed =7th in Paris representing Cyprus.
Early on, Kulichenko seemed headed for victory — she was perfect on five jumps through 6-4¾ (1.95), while Glenn trailed because of two misses at previous heights.
The tide turned at 6-6 (1.98). Kulichenko missed at the setting, a centimeter above her PR set when tying for the outdoor NCAA win last June. Glenn nailed it on first try. Kulichenko then passed up to 6-7 (2.01), where both failed to become the first collegians to exceed 2 meters.
Glenn had the hurdles coming up just a few hours later, but kept going for the record even after she had the win cinched. She said her coach told her, “Just do it for you, do it for your family. It’s your senior year, go out with a bang.”
Another list rewrite came in the pentathlon. Oklahoma’s Pippi Lotta Enok scored 4593, making her the No. 5 all-time collegian, and Texas A&M’s Sofia Iakushina reached No. 9 at 4556. (Iakushina dropped to No. 10 on the collegiate ATL two days later when Notre Dame’s Jadin O’Brien scored 4580 at the ACC championships.)
In other highlights, South Carolina’s JaMeesia Ford solidified her NCAA favorite status in the 200 with a 22.44 win; Alabama’s Doris Lemngole and Florida’s Hilda Olemomoi renewed their NCAA XC duel with a meeting in the 3000, as Lemngole’s 8:55.27 won by 2.23. Arkansas’ Paityn Noe emerged as a star by winning the 5K in 15:11.27 and placing 3rd in the 3K (8:58.47).
There was nothing in the way of drama in the team title battle, just a continuation of tradition. Arkansas’ 117½ points almost doubled Oklahoma’s 62, giving the Razorback women their eleventh consecutive SEC crown and 16th overall. The first 14 came under the legendary Lance Harter; Chris Johnson has kept the juggernaut going.
“We just take it one at a time,” Johnson told the SEC Network. “It was a collective effort. I think we do it a little differently every time and it seems to work out. We want to be a complete team.”
SEC WOMEN’S RESULTS
Teams: 1. Arkansas 117½; 2. Oklahoma 62; 3. LSU 60⅓; 4. Georgia 57; 5. Texas A&M 47⅓; 6. Tennessee 47; 7. South Carolina 42; 8. Auburn 40⅓; 9. Alabama 37½; 10. Kentucky 36; 11. Florida 34; 12. Texas 32; 13. Mississippi 22; 14. tie, Missouri & Vanderbilt 13; 16. Mississippi State 1.
60: 1. *Kaila Jackson (Ga) 7.12; 2. *Brianna Lyston’ (LSU-Jam) 7.13; 3. Layla Anderson (Tn) 7.18; 4. **Tima Godbless’ (LSU-Ngr) 7.22.
200: I–1. ***Anya Jackson (Ar) 22.87; 2. Jasmine Montgomery (TxAM) 23.00. II–1. **JaMeesia Ford (SC) 22.44; 2. *Camryn Dickson (TxAM) 22.84; 3. Jackson 22.91; 4. Jayla Jamison (SC) 22.96.
Heats: IX–1. Ford 22.36 (x, =5 A; x, =9 C).
400: I–1. *Dejanea Oakley’ (Ga-Jam) 50.90; 2. **Zaya Akins (SC) 51.39.
II–1. *Aaliyah Butler (Ga) 49.78 (6, x W; 2, 2 A; 2, 2 C); 2. *Isabella Whittaker (Ar) 49.90 (x, 7 W; 3, 3 A; 3, 3 C);
3. **Kaylyn Brown (Ar) 50.70.
800: 1. Michaela Rose (LSU) 2:00.25; 2. *Sanu Jallow’ (Ar-Gam) 2:00.61; 3. *Analisse Batista (Ar) 2:01.60; 4. Anna Podojil (Ar) 2:02.12.
Mile: 1. *Tia Wilson’ (Fl-GB) 4:30.10; 2. Lorena Rangel Batres’ (LSU-Mex) 4:30.25; 3. Tiana LoStracco’ (Ar-Can) 4:37.45; 4. Elizabeth Stockman (Tx) 4:40.26.
3000: 1. **Doris Lemngole’ (Al-Ken) 8:55.27; 2. *Hilda Olemomoi’ (Fl-Ken) 8:57.50; 3. ***Paityn Noe (Ar) 8:58.47;
4. Greta Karinauskaite’ (Ms-Lit) 9:11.90.
5000: 1. Noe 15:11.27 (7, 9 C);
2. Jepchirchir’ 15:33.67; 3. ***Edna Chepkemoi’ (LSU-Ken) 15:39.43; 4. *Eva Jess (Tx) 15:39.51; 5. ***Leah Jeruto’ (Ok-Ken) 15:46.33; 6. Karinauskaite’ 15:55.51.
60H: 1. Myreanna Bebe’ (Tn-Hai) 7.95; 2. Layla Anderson (Tn) 7.98; 3. *Jaiya Covington (TxAM) 8.05; 4. **Ana-Liese Torian (Aub) 8.07; 5. Alexis Glasco (Ky) 8.09; 6. *Rachel Glenn (Ar) 8.12.
4 x 400: II–1. Texas A&M 3:28.43 (Montgomery 51.25 [2]); 2. Kentucky 3:28.91.
III–1. Georgia 3:26.42 (Oakley’ 52.19, Smith’ 52.10, Tate 52.26, Butler 49.87); 2. South Carolina 3:27.24 (Akins 52.53, Chelangat’ 53.18, Ford 49.85, Jamison 51.68); 3. Tennessee 3:27.85 (White 52.27, Joseph 52.47, Wright 52.26, Valcourt 50.85); 4. Arkansas 3:27.95 (Davis 53.00, Butler 51.68, Pyatt 52.03, Reid’ 51.24).
DisMed: 1. LSU 10:50.15 (Hardy 3:24.48, Onojuvwevwo’ 50.93, Rose 2:01.36, Rangel Batres’ 4:33.38); 2. South Carolina 10:55.41 (Elbadra’ 4:30.77); 3. Florida 10:55.92; 4. Arkansas 11:03.47.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Glenn 6-6 (1.98) (x, =10 A; x, =3 C) (absolute: x, =4 C) (missed CR 6-7/2.01);
2. Elena Kulichenko’ (Ga-Rus) 6-4¾ (1.95); 3. *Cheyla Scott (SC) 6-2¼ (1.89); 4. Kristi Perez-Snyman’ (Mo-SA) 6-1¼ (1.86); 5. Claudina Diaz’ (Mo-Mex) 6-0 (1.83); 6. ***Heidi Hudson (Ar) 6-0.
PV: 1. Olivia Lueking (Ok) 14-9½ (4.51); 2. Sarah Schmitt (Tn) 14-7½ (4.46); 3. Payton Phillips (Ky) 14-3½ (4.36); 4. *Alyssa Quinones-Mixon’ (Aub-PR) 14-3½.
LJ: 1. Jasmine Akins (Ok) 21-8¾ (6.62); 2. Funminiyi Olajide’ (Ar-GB) 21-6 (6.55); 3. Nia Robinson’ (Ar-Jam) 21-5½ (6.54); 4. *Anthaya Charlton’ (Fl-Bah) 21-2¾ (6.47).
TJ: 1. *Winny Bii’ (TxAM-Ken) 45-3 (13.79); 2. *Agur Dwol (Ok) 44-6¾ (13.58); 3. Linton’ 44-4¼ (13.52); 4. Akins 44-2½ (13.47); 5. Robinson’ 44-0 (13.41).
SP: 1. *Treneese Hamilton’ (Al-Dom) 59-6¼ (18.14); 2. MyeJoi Williams (Al) 58-6¾ (17.85); 3. Kelsie Murrell-Ross’ (Ga-Grn) 57-9¾ (17.62); 4. **Nina Ndubuisi’ (Tx-Ger) 57-7 (17.55); 5. *Megan Hague (Aub) 57-0 (17.37).
Wt: 1. **Kate Powers (Ky) 72-7¼ (22.13); 2. **Skylar Soli (Ms) 71-4 (21.74); 3. Adrienne Adams’ (Aub-Jam) 70-3 (21.41); 4. Maura Huwalt (Aub) 68-10½ (20.99); 5. **Akaoma Odeluga (Ms) 68-8½ (20.94).
Pent: 1. Pippi Lotta Enok’ (Ok-Est) 4593 (5, x C) (8.46, 5-11¼/1.81, 41-5¾/12.64, 21-0/6.40, 2:14.72); 2. ***Sofia Iakushina’ (TxAM-Rus) 4556 (9, x C) (8.39, 5-10/1.78, 39-8¾/12.11, 21-¾/6.42, 2:13.59);
3. Angel Richmore’ (Ok-Swe) 4271; 4. *Marta Sivina’ (Vand-Lat) 4174; 5. Miracle Ailes (Al) 4033.
