BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA, May 11–13 — With outstanding individual performances almost everywhere, the opening and closing relay events on the final day of the SEC provided mind-boggling bookends on the track. The collegiate 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 records were broken by two teams in each race.
LSU and Florida went neck-and-neck in the 4×1 as two collegiate squads broke 38 seconds for the first time. Both dipped under Florida’s CR of 37.97 from ’19 — LSU at 37.90 just holding off Florida’s 37.93.
The two rivals matched crisp passing at every station. LSU in lane 6 opened with Brandon Hicklin and Florida with Ryan Willie in lane 7. The margin was too close to call. Down the backstretch Dorian Camel (LSU) and Jacory Patterson (Florida) both were solid and passed well to Da’Marcus Fleming (LSU) and PJ Austin (Florida).
The Tigers had a slight edge, and Godson Oghenebrume held off the Gators’ Robert Gregory for the final margin of 0.03.
“This is what we work for,” Fleming said. “All year we’ve just been getting the stick around the track and getting faster and faster every week, so it feels good to have that number up there right now. Brandon always catches the guy in front of him, Dorian just gets the stick and opens it up, I put at least 2 more meters ahead, and Godson closes it and brings it home.”
The closing 4×4 was also historical as 3 collegiate programs ran sub-3:00 for just the second time, matching the Texas Relays earlier in the spring with SEC squads Georgia and Alabama carrying batons ahead of UCLA.
Here, Alabama and Georgia were 1–2 after the first two legs, with Chris Robinson and Khaleb McRae carrying for the Crimson Tide (1:29.59) and Elija Godwin and Matthew Boling for the Bulldogs (1:29.98). Florida was 3rd at 1:30.47 with Jevaughn Powell (45.7) and Emmanuel Bamidele (44.8) running the opening legs.
Bama held the lead with a 44.17 carry from Tarsis Orogot, but Florida moved into 2nd after a 43.98 leg from Patterson and Georgia dropped to 3rd. Willie took control for Florida with a blazing 43.32 anchor as Cordele Long closed in 44.26 for Alabama.
The final times of 2:57.76 and 2:58.01 both surpassed the 2:58.53 CR that Florida set in April at the Tom Jones Memorial. Georgia’s 2:59.63 put them 3rd.
Another CR came in between the relays, with precocious Arkansas frosh Jaydon Hibbert bounding an amazing 58-7½ (17.87) in the triple jump to break the 41-year-old CR of 57-7¾ (17.57) by Keith Connor of SMU, who had jumped in thin air at the ’82 NCAA in Provo. Hibbert nailed his mark on his second jump, passing the remaining four efforts.
Said Hibbert, the Jamaican who broke the indoor CR at the NCAA Indoor Champs in March. “I was really perfect on the board and then when I saw the white flag went up I was like, ‘Yes, thank God.’ I knew that one was a big one because it was all the way at the back of the pit.”
As he worked through taking in his achievement, Hibbert said, “With this mark, I’m just going to stop putting limits on myself.… That’s among the greats and I’m just an 18-year-old. I started jumping like 3 years now so I don’t even know what to say. I’m still soaking it in at this point.”
Another Razorback moved to No. 2 all-time collegiately. Rojé Stona hurled the discus 225-2 (68.64) for an easy win over teammate Ralford Mullings (203-5/62.00). Stona also had marks of 221-11 (67.65), 215-5 (65.67) and 210-11 (64.30) that would have won the competition.
Georgia’s Kyle Garland earned his NCAA qualifier with an impressive 8589w score. The mark was wind-aided with an average reading of 2.6mps, but only Garland’s 8720 from last year is higher in collegiate history.
Garland was impressive in some of his best events: 10.57 in the 100 (his second-fastest ever), 47.89 in the 400 (a PR) and a 13.66w in the 110H (fastest ever by a collegian in the decathlon).
Missing from the 10-eventer was Garland’s rival Ayden Owens-Delerme of Arkansas – reigning NCAA champion and a former CR holder at 8528. He instead chose the 400H and was very impressive, winning his third race ever in the event in 48.26, a yearly leader that was also good for No. 12 all-time collegiately. Alabama’s Chris Robinson was 2nd in 48.36, also a PR.
The long jump saw 3 over 8m — Wayne Pinnock (27-5½/8.37) leading an Arkansas 1–2 with NCAA Indoor champ Carey McLeod (26-8½/8.14) 2nd and Mississippi State’s Cameron Crump (26-3/8.00) 3rd.
Team honors went to Arkansas for a third-straight year. The Hogs’ 149 points were the most in the meet since ’14 and the program’s 22nd outdoor loop victory. Host LSU earned runner-up designation with 89 points over Tennessee (87) as the always-strong meet featured 5 of the nation’s top-6 ranked teams.
SEC MEN’S RESULTS
(5/11—10K, HT, JT; 5/12—St, HJ, LJ, SP)
Teams: 1. Arkansas 149; 2. LSU 89; 3. Tennessee 87; 4. Georgia 75; 5. Texas A&M 73; 6. Florida 70; 7. tie, Alabama & Mississippi 58; 9. Auburn 41; 10. Kentucky 35; 11. Mississippi State 34; 12. South Carolina 32; 13. Missouri 18.
100(1.3): 1. **Godson Oghenebrume’ (LSU-Ngr) 10.04; 2. **Favour Ashe’ (Aub-Ngr) 10.08; 3. Dorian Camel (LSU) 10.19; 4. **Robert Gregory (Fl) 10.20; 5. *Javonte Harding (Tn) 10.23; 6. *Da’Marcus Fleming (LSU) 10.24.
200(0.6): 1. Gregory 20.12; 2. Harding 20.14; 3. **Tarsis Orogot’ (Al-Uga) 20.34; 4. Jacory Patterson (Fl) 20.47; 5. *Matthew Boling (Ga) 20.52; 6. Camel 20.61; 7. *Emmanuel Bynum (Tn) 20.90.
400: 1. *Ryan Willie (Fl) 44.27 (CL);
2. Elija Godwin (Ga) 44.55; 3. Bynum 44.58; 4. **Emmanuel Bamidele’ (Fl-Ngr) 44.71; 5. *James Benson (Ar) 44.82; 6. *Khaleb McRae (Al) 45.12; 7. *Jevaughn Powell’ (Fl-Jam) 45.54; 8. Evan Miller (SC) 45.96.
800: 1. ***Will Sumner (Ga) 1:46.20 (out CL);
2. **Sam Whitmarsh (TxAM) 1:46.77; 3. Tiarnan Crorken’ (Ms-GB) 1:47.65; 4. Baylor Franklin (Ms) 1:47.95; 5. Alex Selles’ (LSU-Fra) 1:48.10.
1500: 1. **Anass Essayi’ (SC-Mor) 3:41.52; 2. Shane Bracken’ (Ms-Ire) 3:43.79; 3. **Elias Schreml’ (Ar-Ger) 3:43.80; 4. Anthony Cam Camerieri (Ms) 3:44.68.
St: 1. Francesco Romano (TxAM) 8:54.79; 2. *Teddy Radtke (TxAM) 8:55.61; 3. *Wesley John (Ga) 9:01.69.
5000: 1. Dylan Jacobs (Tn) 13:36.93; 2. *Patrick Kiprop’ (Ar-Ken) 13:48.45; 3. ***Ben Shearer (Ar) 14:07.30.
10,000: 1. **Victor Kiprop’ (Al-Ken) 29:58.43; 2. *Yaseen Abdalla’ (Tn-Sud) 30:00.18; 3. ***Rogerio Amaral’ (SC-Por) 30:15.90.
110H(0.0): 1. Devon Brooks (Tn) 13.53; 2. *Phillip Lemonious’ (Ar-Jam) 13.63; 3. Rasheem Brown’ (Tn-Cay) 13.64; 4. **Leonard Mustari (Tn) 13.74; 5. ***Matthew Sophia’ (LSU-Neth) 13.80.
400H: 1. Ayden Owens-Delerme’ (Ar-PR) 48.26 (CL); 2. *Chris Robinson (Al) 48.36 (AmCL);
3. *Caleb Cavanaugh (Ga) 49.07; 4. *Sean Burrell (LSU) 49.32; 5. *Rasheeme Griffith’ (Tn-Bar) 49.40; 6. *James Smith (TxAM) 49.47.
4 x 100: 1. LSU 37.90 (CR (old CR 37.97 Florida ’19) (Hicklin, Camel, Fleming, Oghenebrume’); 2. Florida 37.93 AmCR (old AmCR 38.29 Florida ‘14) (AL) (2 C; #2 school) (Willie, Patterson, Austin, Gregory);
3. Georgia 38.87 (Black, Boling, Morales William, Godwin);
4. Tennessee 39.14; 5. Texas A&M 39.27; 6. Kentucky 39.67; 7. Mississippi State 39.83.
4 x 400: 1. Florida 2:57.76 CR (old CR 2:58.53 Florida ’22) (WL) (Powell’ 45.7, Bamidele’ 44.8, Patterson 43.98, Willie 43.32); 2. Alabama 2:58.01 (2 C; #2 school) (Robinson, McRae, Orogot’ 44.17, Long 44.26);
3. Georgia 2:59.63 (Godwin, Boling, Morales Williams’ 44.54, Sumner 45.12); 4. Kentucky 3:02.31; 5. LSU 3:03.16; 6. Texas A&M 3:03.48.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Roberto Vilches’ (Mo-Mex) 7-3 (2.21); 2. Dontavious Hill (Aub) 7-1¾ (2.18); 3. Tony Jones (MsSt) 7-1¾; 4. *Carter Bajoit (TxAM) 7-½ (2.15).
PV: 1. *Keaton Daniel (Ky) 18-6½ (5.65); 2. ***Jack Mann (TxAM) 17-8½ (5.40); 3. Zach Davis (TxAM) 17-8½; 4. Noah Mumme (Ms) 17-6½ (5.35).
LJ: 1. **Wayne Pinnock’ (Ar-Jam) 27-5½ (8.37) (out CL) (26-9, 27-5½, 26-3¾, p, p, p) (8.15, 8.37, 8.02, p, p, p);
2. Carey McLeod’ (Ar-Jam) 26-8½ (8.14); 3. Crump 26-3 (8.00); 4. **Malcolm Clemons (Fl) 25-11½ (7.91); 5. Brandon Hicklin (LSU) 25-10¼ (7.88); 6. ***Jordan Turner’ (Ky-Jam) 25-6¾ (7.79); 7. Ryan Brown’ (Ar-Jam) 25-2¾ (7.69).
TJ: 1. ***Jaydon Hibbert’ (Ar-Jam) 58-7½ (17.87) CR, WJR (old CR 57-7¾/17.57A Keith Connor’ [SMU] ’82; WJR (old WJR 57-6½/17.54i Hibbert ’23) (WL) (55-10¼, 58-7½, p, p, p, p) (17.02, 17.87, p, p, p, p);
2. Brown’ 53-11 (16.43); 3. Christian Edwards (Al) 53-2¾ (16.22); 4. *Sean Dixon-Bodie (Fl) 53-2¼ (16.21); 5. *Apalos Edwards’ (LSU-Jam) 52-6½ (16.01); 6. Pinnock’ 52-2¾ (15.92); 7. McLeod’ 50-9¼ (15.47).
SP: 1. Jordan West (Ar) 67-6 (20.57); 2. John Meyer (LSU) 67-3¼ (20.50); 3. Josh Sobota (Ky) 67-0 (20.42); 4. **Dylan Targgart (SC) 64-1 (19.53); 5. Rojé Stona’ (Ar-Jam) 63-11¾ (19.50).
DT: 1. Stona’ 225-2 (68.64) (2, 3 C) (210-11, 215-5, 195-10, 225-2, f, 221-11) (64.30, 65.67, 59.70, 68.64, f, 67.65);
2. **Ralford Mullings’ (Ar-Jam) 203-5 (62.00); 3. *Alan de Falchi’ (Al-Bra) 202-10 (61.82); 4. Claudio Romero’ (LSU-Chi) 199-7 (60.85); 5. *Mitchell Weber (Mo) 188-7 (57.48).
HT: 1. ***Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan (Ms) 233-9 (71.25); 2. Alencar Pereira’ (Ga-Bra) 229-10 (70.07); 3. Bobby Colantonio (Al) 229-6 (69.96); 4. Erik Ebel (Aub) 221-4 (67.46); 5. *Kyle Moison (Aub) 220-9 (67.29).
JT: 1. Marc Minichello (Ga) 260-10 (79.50); 2. *Tzuriel Pedigo (LSU) 257-0 (78.34); 3. *Tyriq Horsford’ (MsSt-Tri) 235-1 (71.66); 4. *Sam Hankins (TxAM) 233-5 (71.14); 5. *Franck DiSanza’ (MsSt-Swi) 231-1 (70.43).
Dec: 1. Kyle Garland (Ga) 8589w (WL, AL, CL) (x, 2 C) (10.57, 25-10/7.87w, 51-4¼/15.65, 6-10¾/2.10, 47.89, 13.66w, 153-5/46.76, 16-4¾/5.00, 175-3/53.43, 4:54.59);
2. **Marcus Weaver (Ar) 7910w; 3. ***Peyton Bair (MsSt) 7903w; 4. *John Murray (Aub) 7760w; 5. Daniel Spejcher (Ar) 7627. ◻︎