COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS, May 13-15 — Alabama’s Tamara Clark blistered a hot sprint double to highlight SEC women’s action, with the winds pushing her to final-day marks of 10.87w and 21.89w, the latter the fastest all-conditions collegiate time ever.
Earlier on the final day Clark, a 22-year-old junior had run the second leg on the Crimson Tide 4×1, a 42.94 effort which took 2nd to the world-leading 42.52 that LSU’s Tigers put down.
In the straightaway dash final, Symone Mason of LSU got out best, but Clark had tagged her by 40m and built a 4-meter margin at the line. An illegal 2.7 breeze boosted her to the 10.87w, while Mason (11.06w), Maia McCoy of Tennessee (11.08w) and Jada Baylark of Arkansas (11.10w) followed.
“I felt like I didn’t really get out,” said Clark, “but I stayed patient, like my coach told me.”
An hour later Clark added the 200, this time with a friendly 4.1 wind. Running from lane 6 with LSU’s Mason (5) and Favour Ofili (7) on either side, she got out well and pulled even with Ofili at the end of the turn, as Mason ran a stride behind. With 50 to go, she smoothly pulled away; her 21.89w giving her victory over Ofili (22.16w) and Mason (22.37w).
Clark’s heroics in the furlong also had the effect of holding down the LSU score a bit; the Tigers led by 12½ points then, but the Arkansas squad still had the 5000 and 4×4 coming up.
The 5000 saw Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat complete a distance double with a 15:45.32 (after 32:13.13 in the 10,000 on Thursday, a race in which she lapped all but one). However, the Razorbacks scored 18 points in the 5K to take the team lead (with a total of 58 from the 1500-up). Notably, Arkansas’s Krissy Gear took the steeple in a PR 9:38.62, becoming the No. 10 U.S. collegian ever.
Left out of the team battle was host Texas A&M, which ended up 4th. However, Aggie fans got to see star frosh Athing Mu put on another amazing show. On Friday she crushed the meet record in the 400 heats with her PR 50.04, moving to No. 4 on the all-time collegiate list, and No. 2 among U.S. Juniors.
The next day she went one better, a 49.84 lap finishing into the wind, breaking the AJR of 49.89 set by Sanya Richards Ross in ’04. She finished more than a second ahead of Alabama’s Natassha McDonald (50.91 PR).
“I’m just doing the 400 to get some speedwork in, to get my legs moving,” said Mu, generally projected as more of an 800 runner. “I may as well see where I’m at.”
She returned in the 4×4, a race the favored hosts handily won by more than 2 seconds in a world-leading 3:26.17 to the 3:28.33 of runner-up Florida. Mu’s anchor: 49.95. Arkansas finished 4th in 3:29.38 to clinch the team win with 127 points, beating LSU (120½) and Alabama (116).
LSU’s hurdlers came up big. Tonea Marshall moved to =6 among collegians all-time with her 12.52 heat. In the windy (3.6) final, she asked for a reset at the start, then got out well, a step ahead of Florida’s resurging Grace Stark. She maintained that edge to the finish in 12.62w, with Stark runner-up in 12.74w.
In the long hurdles LSU’s Jurnee Woodward got out fast and led through hurdle 9, when teammates Brittley Humphrey and Milan Young swept by to finish 1-2 in 56.14 and 56.54. Kentucky’s Masai Russell (56.75) took 3rd ahead of the fading Woodward (57.69).
Most notable on the field was Georgia frosh Jasmine Moore. After finishing 3rd in the long jump (21-9½/6.64w) behind A&M’s Deborah Acquah (22-3¾/6.80w) and Florida frosh Claire Bryant (22-¼/6.71w), she showed her best in the next day’s triple jump. On her opening effort, she bounced to No. 5 among Americans all-time at 47-2½ (14.39). She followed that with a windy 44-11 (13.69), and then went for broke, taking risks and fouling 4 straight.
Tyra Gittens of A&M produced a world-leading heptathlon in moving to No. 3 all-time among collegians with her 6418, an effort that included auspicious jump PRs of 6-4¾ (1.95) and 22-10 (6.96). Her total missed the Oly-Q by just 2 points.
In the high jump, South Carolina’s Rachel Glenn made the second-highest bar of her life, 6-2¼ (1.89). Gittens and teammate Lamara Distin jumped just as high, but lost to the frosh on misses.
Tennessee junior Latavia Maines won the shot by nearly 4ft with her 61-4¾ (18.71), a meet record that made her the No. 10 U.S. collegian ever. In the vault, Razorback assistant Bryan Compton’s crew scored a massive 24 points, with Nastassja Campbell (14-10¾/4.54 PR) winning and Lauren Martinez PRing to tie with LSU’s Lisa Gunnarsson for 2nd at 14-8¾ (4.49).
SEC WOMEN’S RESULTS
(5/13—10K, JT; 5/14—400h, St, 100Hh, PV, LJ, SP, HT)
Teams: 1. Arkansas 127; 2. LSU 120½; 3. Alabama 116; 4. Texas A&M 82; 5. Georgia 64; 6. Florida 62; 7. Auburn 59; 8. Mississippi 55; 9. Tennessee 38; 10. South Carolina 29; 11. Kentucky 28; 12. Missouri 26; 13. Mississippi State 11½.
100(2.7): 1. *Tamara Clark (Al) 10.87w (a-c CL) (a-c: 5, 6 C);
2. *Symone Mason (LSU) 11.06w; 3. Maia McCoy (Tn) 11.08w; 4. *Jada Baylark (Ar) 11.10w; 5. ***Joella Lloyd’ (Tn-Ant) 11.25w; 6. **Brandee Presley (Ms) 11.34w; 7. ***Semira Killebrew (Fl) 11.43w; 8. *Zhane Smith (TxAM) 11.45w.
200(4.1): 1. Clark 21.89w a-c CR (old a-c CR 21.97w Shania Collins [Tn] ’18) (a-c WL, AL) (a-c: 10, x A); 2. ***Favour Ofili’ (LSU-Ngr) 22.16w (a-c: =10, x C);
3. Mason 22.37w; 4. Baylark 22.69w; 5. **Tiana Wilson (Ar) 22.72w; 6. Natassha McDonald’ (Al-Can) 22.93w; 7. ***Thelma Davies (LSU) 22.93w; 8. McCoy 22.98w; 9. ***Dajour Miles (Ky) 23.39w.
400: 1. ***Athing Mu (TxAM) 49.84 AJR (old AJR 49.89 Sanya Richards-Ross [Tx] ’04) (AL, CL) (3, 3 C; 5, 7 WJ);
2. McDonald’ 50.91 PR; 3. ***Talitha Diggs (Fl) 51.27; 4. Aliyah Abrams’ (SC-Guy) 51.46; 5. *Taylor Manson (Fl) 51.51 PR; 6. ***Charokee Young’ (TxAM-Jam) 51.57; 7. Wilson 51.87; 8. **Tierra Robinson-Jones (TxAM) 52.17; 9. *Morgan Burks-Magee (Ar) 52.37.
Heats: IV–1. Mu 50.04 PR (CL) (4, 5 C; 7, x WJ; 2, 2 AJ);
800: 1. Amber Tanner (Ga) 2:02.94; 2. **Katy-Ann McDonald’ (LSU-GB) 2:05.23; 3. Shafiqua Maloney’ (Ar-StV) 2:05.56; 4. **Sintayehu Vissa’ (Ms-Ita) 2:06.66; 5. **Imogen Barrett’ (Fl-Aus) 2:06.84; 6. ***Lorena Rangel Batres’ (LSU-Mex) 2:07.55; 7. Karina Liz (Mo) 2:08.49.
1500: 1. Wilkinson 4:15.28; 2. *Presley Weems (Aub) 4:15.72; 3. ***Amaris Tyynismaa (Al) 4:16.12; 4. Carina Viljoen’ (Ar-SA) 4:18.34; 5. *Kennedy Thomson’ (Ar-Can) 4:18.99; 6. ***Isabel Van Camp (Ar) 4:19.13; 7. Esther Gitahi’ (Al-Ken) 4:19.62.
St: 1. *Krissy Gear (Ar) 9:38.62 PR (10, x AmC);
2. *Joyce Kimeli’ (Aub-Ken) 9:47.32; 3. Leah Hanle’ (Al-Ger) 9:55.26 PR; 4. *Melissa Menghini (Mo) 9:56.87 PR; 5. *Perri Bockrath (Ky) 10:00.93 PR; 6. *Gracie Hyde (Ar) 10:04.20; 7. *Logan Morris (Ar) 10:04.55 PR; 8. **Sydney Steely (MsSt) 10:04.95 PR; 9. **Katie Thronson (Tn) 10:06.87 PR; 10. Sylvia Russell’ (MsSt-Can) 10:18.01.
5000: 1. **Mercy Chelangat’ (Al-Ken) 15:45.32; 2. *Katie Izzo (Ar) 15:46.06; 3. Kimeli’ 15:48.78 PR; 4. **Lauren Gregory (Ar) 15:56.55; 5. Tyynismaa 15:59.67; 6. Devin Clark (Ar) 16:03.00; 7. Gear 16:05.71 PR; 8. *Sarah Chapman’ (Mo-GB) 16:07.89.
10,000: 1. Chelangat’ 32:13.13 PR (CL);
2. Izzo 33:17.52; 3. *Clio Ozanne-Jaques’ (Ms-Aus) 33:44.78; 4. Clark 34:00.74; 5. Leah Hanle’ (Al-Ger) 34:15.16; 6. *Victoria Simmons (Ms) 34:32.60.
100H(3.6): 1. Tonea Marshall (LSU) 12.62w; 2. *Grace Stark (Fl) 12.74w; 3. ***Daszay Freeman’ (Ar-Jam) 12.81w; 4. **Yoveinny Mota’ (Ar-Ven) 12.91w; 5. Faith Ross (Ky) 12.92w; 6. **Masai Russell (Ky) 12.93w; 7. ***Jayla Hollis (Ar) 12.97w; 8. *Milan Young (LSU) 13.18w;… dnf—***Alia Armstrong (LSU).
Heats: III(1.6)–1. Marshall 12.52 PR (CL) (=6, =7 C; =4, =5 AmC).
400H: 1. Brittley Humphrey (LSU) 56.14; 2. Young 56.54; 3. Russell 56.75; 4. *Jurnee Woodward (LSU) 57.69; 5. ***Ashton Lindley (SC) 57.76; 6. ***Leah Phillips (LSU) 57.87; 7. ***Dominique Mustin (TxAM) 58.19; 8. Ross 58.22; 9. ***Vanessa Watson (Tn) 58.37.
4 x 100: 1. LSU 42.52 (WL, CL) (Marshall, Ofili’, Mason, Davies);
2. Alabama 42.94 (Lampkin, Clark, Baker, McDonald’); 3. Arkansas 43.81 (Mota’, Baylark, Hollis, Wilson); 4. Texas A&M 44.01; 5. Mississippi 44.69; 6. Auburn 44.84; 7. South Carolina 45.13.
4 x 400: 1. Texas A&M 3:26.17 (WL, CL) (Robinson-Jones, Young’, Reed 52.86, Mu 49.95);
2. Florida 3:28.33 (Manson, Lester, Anderson’ 51.50, Diggs 51.20); 3. South Carolina 3:28.73 (Davis, Abrams’, Johnson 52.33, Lindley 52.25); 4. Arkansas 3:29.38 (Peoples, Burks-Magee, Maloney’ 52.04, Wilson 51.34); 5. LSU 3:31.73 (Ofili’ 52.41); 6. Kentucky 3:33.26; 7. Alabama 3:36.75; 8. Georgia 3:37.39.
Jumping Events
HJ: 1. ***Rachel Glenn (SC) 6-2¼ (1.89); 2. *Tyra Gittens’ (TxAM-Tri) 6-2¼; 3. **Lamara Distin’ (TxAM-Jam) 6-2¼ PR; 4. *Abigail O’Donoghue (LSU) 6-0 (1.83); 5. ***Nyagoa Bayak (LSU) 5-10¾ (1.80); 6. *Asia Poe (MsSt) 5-10¾ PR.
PV: 1. **Nastassja Campbell (Ar) 14-10¾ (4.54) PR (out CL) (13-3, 13-9, 14-¾ [2], 14-4¾, 14-8¾ [3], 14-10¾, 15-1 [xxx]) (4.04, 4.19, 4.29 [2], 4.39, 4.49 [3], 4.54, 4.60 [xxx]);
2. tie, Lauren Martinez (Ar) & *Lisa Gunnarsson’ (LSU-Swe) 14-8¾ (4.49) (Martinez PR); 4. Kayla Smith (Ga) 14-8¾ PR; 5. ***Mackenzie Hayward (Ar) 14-¾ PR; 6. ***Samara McConnell (Ms) 13-9 (4.19) =PR.
LJ: 1. *Deborah Acquah’ (TxAM-Gha) 22-3¾w (6.80) (21-8/6.60; 2. ***Claire Bryant (Fl) 22-¼w (6.71) (20-11¾/6.39); 3. ***Jasmine Moore (Ga) 21-9½w (6.64) (21-8/6.60); 4. Gittens’ 21-6¼w (6.56) (21-2½/6.46); 5. *Aliyah Whisby (LSU) 21-3¼w (6.48) (21-1½/6.44); 6. ***Prommyse Hoosier (Tn) 20-4½w (6.21); 7. ***Serena Bolden (LSU) 20-3¾ (6.19); 8. ***Ayele Gerken’ (Mo-Ger) 20-2½w (6.16).
TJ: 1. Moore 47-2½ (14.39) PR (AmCL) (5, x A; 3, 5 C; 2, 4 AmC) (47-2½, 44-11w, f, f, f, f) (14.39, 13.69w, f, f, f, f);
2. Acquah’ 46-4¼ (14.13) out PR; 3. *Natricia Hooper’ (Fl-Guy) 45-8½w (13.93) (45-8/13.92 PR); 4. **Titiana Marsh (Ga) 45-4½w (13.83) (43-5/13.23); 5. **Arianna Fisher (Mo) 44-5¼w (13.54); 6. ***Mara Hausler’ (Mo-Ger) 43-5¾w (13.25) (42-11½/13.09); 7. LaJarvia Brown (TxAM) 43-4½ (13.22); 8. Ciynamon Stevenson (TxAM) 42-11½w (13.09); 9. Bolden 42-1½ (12.84) PR; 10. *Kyndal McKnight (LSU) 42-1½ (12.84).
Throwing Events
SP: 1. *Latavia Maines (Tn) 61-4¾ (18.71) PR (10, x AmC) (56-10, 59-5½, 55-3¾, 57-7, 57-4¾, 61-4¾) (17.32, 18.12, 16.86, 17.55, 17.49, 18.71);
2. ***Jalani Davis (Ms) 57-5¾ (17.52) PR; 3. Nickolette Dunbar (Al) 56-6 (17.22) PR; 4. *Cherisse Murray’ (Al-Tri) 54-5¼ (16.59); 5. ***Thea Jensen’ (Fl-Den) 53-10½ (16.42) PR; 6. *Taylor Gorum (Al) 53-6½ (16.32); 7. ***Jasmine Mitchell (Ms) 53-6¼ (16.31) PR; 8. *Tori McKinley (Aub) 52-½ (15.86); 9. **Tedreauna Britt (Ms) 51-11¾ (15.84).
DT: 1. Britt 178-8 (54.46); 2. Nayoka Clunis’ (Tn-Jam) 172-0 (52.42); 3. *Taylor Gorum (Al) 170-11 (52.11); 4. ***Maura Huwalt (Aub) 170-7 (52.01); 5. ***Emily Offenheiser (Mo) 168-4 (51.31) PR; 6. Mitchell 168-2 (51.26) PR; 7. ***Jhordyn Stallworth (MsSt) 167-4 (51.01); 8. *Molly Leppelmeier (Ky) 166-8 (50.81).
HT: 1. ***Emma Robbins (LSU) 220-4 (67.17) PR; 2. *Taylor Gorum (Al) 212-9 (64.86) PR; 3. **Madi Malone (Aub) 212-3 (64.70); 4. Davis 212-1 (64.64) PR; 5. Nayoka Clunis’ (Tn-Jam) 211-10 (64.56); 6. Jordan McClendon (Mo) 211-2 (64.37); 7. *Shey Taiwo (Ms) 210-11 (64.28); 8. Leppelmeier 207-9 (63.33); 9. Mitchell 207-6 (63.25); 10. ***Monique Hardy (LSU) 201-2 (61.33).
JT: 1. Marie-Therese Obst’ (Ga-Nor) 187-11 (57.29); 2. Kylee Carter (Aub) 184-6 (56.24); 3. *Ashley Carter (Aub) 171-10 (52.37); 4. Samantha Zelden (Al) 165-7 (50.49); 5. *Keira McCarrell’ (Aub-Can) 163-9 (49.92); 6. *Noel Baker (LSU) 160-0 (48.78) PR; 7. ***Erin Zimmerman (Mo) 158-9 (48.38); 8. ***Skylar Ciccolini (Mo) 156-0 (47.56); 9. Sarah Blake (MsSt) 155-11 (47.52).
Hept(5/13-14): 1. Gittens’ 6418 NR (WL, CL) (3, 3 C) (13.47w, 6-4¾/1.95 PR [CL—=12, x C], 39-3/11.96, 23.43 PR [3920], 22-10/6.96 PR [4, 6 C], 131-10/40.18, 2:31.97 [2498]);
2. ***Anna Hall (Ga) 6117 (13.53, 5-9¾/1.77, 42-10¼/13.06, 23.74w [3724], 18-10½/5.75w, 134-6/41.01, 2:12.27 [2393]); 3. Asya Reynolds (Ga) 5922 PR; 4. Shayla Broughton (MsSt) 5758 PR; 5. ***Annika Williams (Ky) 5530 PR (6-0/1.83 PR); 6. Natosha Jordan (Aub) 5530 PR; 7. **Sterling Lester (Fl) 5499; 8. *Kiara Rhodes (Tn) 5405 PR; 9. Kieshonna Brooks’ (Ms-StK) 5266; 10. Poe 5257 PR.