Knoxville, Tennessee, May 11-13—This time, Florida coach Mike Holloway did not have to wait for the 4×4 to win the SEC title. The Gators sealed the title with Clayton Brown’s clutch 2nd-place high jump of 7-4½ (2.25), the same height as winner Shelby McEwen of Alabama.
“I think what you saw today,” said Holloway, “was they were very focused. That’s what you saw all weekend long. We didn’t have any big meetings, any rah-rah things… All we said was, ‘We as a coaching staff challenge each and every one of you to come out here and do the job you’ve been charged to do, and we’ll see what the score is at the end of the night.’ ”
On Saturday, soph Grant Holloway showed what he could do in the long jump, blown by a 2.9 wind to a 27-3¾w (8.32) in round 5, after jumping a PR 26-9¾ (8.17) on his opening jump. In between, Kentucky decathlete Tim Duckworth led for three rounds with his round 2 leap of 26-10½w (8.19), after which he checked out of the competition. In the final round, Texas A&M senior Will Williams gave Holloway a scare with his 27-¾w (8.25).
Said the Gator super-soph, “27-3 is far, but world class is 27-8, 28-feet. I’m working toward bigger goals.”
The next day, he was all hurdles, blitzing the No. 2 flight in collegiate history, a 13.15 that left him behind only Renaldo Nehemiah’s legendary 13.00 on the collegiate ATL. It also kept him ahead of the surprising 13.27 of Kentucky’s Daniel Roberts, who moved to =10 ever among U.S. collegians. The Wildcat soph came into the meet with a PR of 13.53 and cut that to 13.47 before whacking off a big 0.20 in the final.
“There’s more in the tank,” quipped Holloway. “I think we all know the ultimate goal is 12.99.” He became the first since Alabama’s Keith Talley (’86 & ’87) to win the SEC 110H/LJ double.
The all-time collegiate list in the 400 also took a couple of hits as Auburn’s Nathon Allen blitzed a list-leading 44.28 to move to No. 5 ever. He was pressed all the way to the finish by Tennessee senior Nathan Strother, whose 44.34 tied him for No. 8. Said Allen, “I came out with the intention of doing the best that I could.”
Georgia’s Kendal Williams claimed both short sprints, producing a 9.99 collegiate leader and coming back an hour later with a 20.15. The other running event double went to Alabama’s Vincent Kiprop, who kicked to long-run victories in 13:48.49 and 29:16.64.
On the field, Denzel Comenentia scored big points for Georgia by winning the hammer on Friday with his 249-1 (75.92) and the shot on Saturday (68-6/20.88).
By the time the 4×4 rolled around, the Gators could breathe easy, knowing they had the title clinched. However, defending team champion Texas A&M had to win the relay in order to get past Arkansas in the team standings. Anchor Devon Dixon—who had won the 800 in 1:46.76—ran a dazzling 44.54 split to stay ahead of LSU’s Correion Mosby (45.13) and Florida’s Holloway (45.03), taking the win in 3:01.17 to LSU’s 3:01.98 and Florida’s 3:02.17. Arkansas, 4th in 3:04.45, ended up with a tally of 99 points, just shy of A&M’s runner-up 100, while the victorious Gators scored 111.
SEC MEN’S RESULTS
Knoxville, Tennessee, May 11-13—
(5/11—10K, HT, JT; 5/12—St, LJ, SP)
Teams: 1. Florida 111; 2. Texas A&M 100; 3. Arkansas 99; 4. Alabama 97.66; 5. Georgia 71; 6. Tennessee 65½; 7. Kentucky 54.33; 8. LSU 48; 9. Mississippi 43; 10. Auburn 41; 11. Mississippi State 39; 12. South Carolina 31½; 13. Missouri 13.
100(1.1): 1. *Kendal Williams (Ga) 9.99 (CL) (10.08h CL);
2. **Raheem Chambers’ (Aub) 10.10; 3. *Mustaqeem Williams (Tn) 10.12; 4. Cejhae Greene’ (Ga) 10.14; 5. Ncincilili Titi’ (SC) 10.17; 6. *Keitavious Walter (Al) 10.18; 7. Kenzo Cotton (Ar) 10.24; 8. *Ryan Clark (Fl) 10.30.
200(0.8): 1. K. Williams 20.15; 2. M. Williams 20.25; 3. Walter 20.33; 4. Titi’ 20.42; 5. *Jaron Flournoy (LSU) 20.43; 6. *Obi Igbokwe (Ar) 20.52; 7. *Kwantreyl McConico (Tn) 25.29; 8. Cotton 25.46.
400: 1. **Nathon Allen’ (Aub) 44.28 (CL) (5, 8 C); 2. Nathan Strother (Tn) 44.34 (AL, AmCL) (=8, x C; =6, =10 AmC);
3. ***Dwight St. Hillaire’ (Ky) 45.05; 4. ***Chantz Sawyers’ (Fl) 45.62; 5. **Bryce Deadmon (TxAM) 45.71; 6. ***Champ Allison (Al) 45.71; 7. Igbokwe 45.86;… dnc—Akeem Bloomfield’ (Aub).
800: 1. **Devin Dixon (TxAM) 1:46.76; 2. ***Marco Arop’ (MsSt) 1:47.45; 3. *Otis Jones (SC) 1:47.83; 4. *Kyren Hollis (Fl) 1:48.20; 5. ***Christopher Conrad (Mo) 1:48.68; 6. ***Waleed Suliman (Ms) 1:49.29; 7. Ian Jones (Ky) 1:50.34; 8. ***Cade Bethmann (Ms) 1:50.91.
1500: 1. Robert Domanic (Ms) 3:45.84; 2. *Cameron Griffith’ (Ar) 3:47.02; 3. *Zach Long (Tn) 3:47.53; 4. *Jack Guyton (Fl) 3:47.69; 5. Jack Bruce’ (Ar) 3:48.009.
St: 1. Kyle Hosting (Ar) 8:55.56; 2. ***Raymond Gonzales (TxAM) 8:57.51; 3. ***Alex Crigger (Tn) 8:59.04; 4. **Parker Scott (Ms) 9:00.08; 5. **Silas Kipngetich’ (Aub) 9:01.65.
5000: 1. *Vincent Kiprop’ (Al) 13:48.49; 2. Jacob Thomson (Ky) 13:48.96; 3. *Alfred Chelanga’ (Al) 13:53.70; 4. *Gilbert Kigen’ (Al) 13:58.01; 5. **Gilbert Boit’ (Ar) 14:01.28; 6. *Cameron Griffith’ (Ar) 14:09.21; 7. ***Matt Young (Ar) 14:13.32.
10,000: 1. Kiprop’ 29:16.64; 2. Chelanga’ 29:17.30; 3. Kigen’ 29:19.20; 4. Thomson 29:22.31; 5. Boit’ 29:48.24; 6. *Austen Dalquist (Ar) 29:53.31.
110H(0.9): 1. **Grant Holloway (Fl) 13.15 (WL, AL, CL) (2, 2 C); 2. **Daniel Roberts (Ky) 13.27 (=10, x AmC);
3. ***Damion Thomas’ (LSU) 13.64;
4. ***Cory Poole (Fl) 13.68 (AJL) (13.71h AJL);
5. Larry Donald (Ar) 13.87; 6. *Xavier Coakley’ (Aub) 13.90;… dq—Reubin Walters’ (Al);… dnc—Ro’Derick Spears (MsSt).
400H: 1. Kemar Mowatt’ (Ar) 49.32; 2. **Infinite Tucker (TxAM) 49.46; 3. Poole 50.09; 4. *Rasheed Tatham (MsSt) 51.05; 5. ***Charles Brockman (MsSt) 51.07; 6. Jerrad Mason’ (Mo) 51.28; 7. **Malcum Tatum (MsSt) 51.44; 8. Larry Donald (Ar) 52.91.
4 x 100: I–1. Auburn 39.76; 2. Mississippi State 39.80.
II–1. LSU 38.76 (Kary Vincent, Renard Howell’, Correion Mosby, Flournoy); 2. Arkansas 38.76 (Roy Ejiakuekwu,’ Kemar Mowatt’, Kevin Harris, Cotton); 3. Florida 38.95 (Michael Timpson, Chantz Sawyers’, Holloway, Clark); 4. Georgia 39.33; 5. Texas A&M 39.57; 6. Tennessee 39.73; 7. Alabama 39.97.
4 x 400: 1. Texas A&M 3:01.17 (AL) (Richard Rose, Deadmon, Ilolo Izu 45.39, Dixon 44.54);
2. LSU 3:01.98 (Jahnoy Thompson’, Jaron Flournoy, Renard Howell’ 45.93, Correion Mosby 45.13); 3. Florida 3:02.17 (Kunle Fasasi’, Chantz Sawyers’, Benjamin Lobo Vedel’ 45.51, Holloway 45.03); 4. Arkansas 3:04.45 (Igbokwe 45.55); 5. Tennessee 3:04.75 (Strother 44.62); 6. Mississippi State 3:05.95.
Jumping Events
HJ: 1. **Shelby McEwen (Al) 7-4½ (2.25); 2. **Clayton Brown’ (Fl) 7-4½; 3. *Keenon Laine (Ga) 7-3¼ (2.22);
4. ***JuVaughn Blake (LSU) 7-3¼ (out AJL; =AJL);
5. *Jhonny Victor (Fl) 7-2¼ (2.19); 6. **Darryl Sullivan (Tn) 7-2¼; 7. ***Antonios Merlos (Ga) 7-1 (2.16); 8. Rubin Owens (Ar) 7-1.
PV: 1. Audie Wyatt (TxAM) 18-2½ (5.55); 2. *Jacob Wooten (TxAM) 17-8½ (5.40); 3. tie, *Armand Woodley (SC) & **Tristan Slater (Tn) 17-4½ (5.30); 5. ***Peyton Weissmann (Ms) 17-¾ (5.20).
LJ: 1. Holloway 27-3¾w (8.32) (26-9¾, 25-8w, 25-5½, f, 27-3¾w, p) (8.17, 7.82w, 7.76, f, 8.32w, p); 2. Will Williams (TxAM) 27-¾w (8.25) (f, 26-5, 26-9¼w, 26-¼, 26-3¾, 27-¾w) (f, 8.05, 8.16w, 7.93, 8.02, 8.25w); 3. Tim Duckworth’ (Ky) 26-10½w (8.19); 4. KeAndre Bates (Fl) 26-3w (8.00) (25-8/7.82); 5. **Tahar Triki’ (TxAM) 26-1½ (7.96); 6. *Yann Randrianasolo’ (SC) 25-10¼w (7.88); 7. ***Allen Gordon (Ms) 25-7¼w (7.80); 8. **Rayvon Grey (LSU) 25-5½w (7.76); 9. Blake 25-3½ (7.71) (out AJL); 10. ***Enzo Hodebar’ (Fl) 25-3¼ (7.70).
TJ: 1. Triki’ 55-5¾ (16.91) (52-11½, 53-8¼, f, 55-5¾, 53-4¼, f) (16.14, 16.36, f, 16.91, 16.26, f); 2. Brown’ 53-10½ (16.42); 3. Bates 53-3 (16.23); 4. *Da’Quan Bellard (LSU) 52-11 (16.13); 5. **Christian Miller (LSU) 52-½ (15.86); 6. ***Christian Edwards (Al) 51-6½ (15.71); 7. Rubin Owens (Ar) 51-5 (15.67); 8. Hodebar’ 51-1¾ (15.59).
Throwing Events
SP: 1. *Denzel Comenentia’ (Ga) 68-6 (20.88); 2. Josh Awotunde (SC) 68-1¾ (20.77);
3. ***Jordan West (Tn) 64-11¼ (19.79) (8, x AJ);
4. *Noah Castle (Ky) 63-1½ (19.24); 5. ***Connor Bandel (Fl) 62-11¼ (19.18); 6. *Kord Ferguson (Al) 62-10¾ (19.17); 7. Brian Williams (Ms) 61-10¼ (18.85); 8. ***Joseph Maxwell (Tn) 61-10¼ (18.85); 9. Nikolas Huffman (Ky) 61-2¼ (18.65).
DT: 1. Williams 196-5 (59.87); 2. Ferguson 193-8 (59.05); 3. Castle 186-5 (56.82); 4. *Daniel Haugh (Al) 186-2 (56.74); 5. Matthew Zajac (Tn) 185-7 (56.58); 6. Comenentia’ 185-1 (56.41); 7. **Charles Lenford (Ky) 178-7 (54.44); 8. Maxwell 177-8 (54.16).
HT: 1. Comenentia’ 249-1 (75.92); 2. *Anders Eriksson’ (Fl) 243-5 (74.19); 3. Haugh 237-11 (72.52); 4. ***Jake Norris’ (LSU) 229-2 (69.87); 5. ***Thomas Mardal’ (Fl) 228-3 (69.57); 6. *AJ McFarland (Fl) 223-7 (68.14); 7. ***Georgios Korakidis’ (Tn) 219-11 (67.05); 8. David Cline (Ky) 218-3 (66.53); 9. *Seth Whitener (Tn) 212-5 (64.76); 10. Cullen Prena (Ms) 210-9 (64.25); 11. Logan Bryer (Ky) 208-6 (63.57).
JT: 1. ***Anderson Peters’ (MsSt) 269-2 (82.04) (247-10, 238-9, 269-2, 243-8, 257-8, 258-9) (75.54, 72.78, 82.04, 74.26, 78.55, 78.88); 2. Ioannis Kyriazis’ (TxAM) 263-6 (80.33); 3. Nicolas Quijera’ (MsSt) 246-4 (75.09); 4. Justin Carter (Aub) 218-9 (66.69); 5. *John Putnam (Aub) 217-7 (66.32); 6. *Alex Springer (Ar) 213-10 (65.18); 7. ***Cade Antonucci (Aub) 213-3 (65.00); 8. Ethan Shalaway (Ky) 212-1 (64.65).
Dec(5/11-12): 1. Karl Saluri’ (Ga) 7934 (10.52, 24-9w/7.54w, 46-¾/14.04, 6-¾/1.85, 48.52 [4200-1], 14.82, 134-8/41.05, 14-1¼/4.30, 195-9/59.67, 4:30.35); 2. *Gabe Moore (Ar) 7901; 3. *Nathan Hite (TxAM) 7723; 4. Derek Jacobus (Ar) 7555; 5. Rauno Liitmäe’ (Mo) 7524 (219-9/67.00); 6. **Chris Stone (Aub) 7062.
