SEC Women — Butler Ignites Georgia, 4 Wins For Ford

A key contributor to Georgia’s event-diverse winning total, Aaliyah Butler won a tough 400 by almost a second. (ERROL ANDERSON/THE SPORTING IMAGE)

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, May 15–17 – A year ago, Aaliyah Butler ran a stellar PR 49.72 in the SEC Championship 400. However, in what was at the time the greatest collegiate 1-lap race ever, the Georgia soph was just 4th behind Arkansas’ incredible trio of Nickisha Price (49.32), Kaylyn Brown (49.47) and Amber Anning (49.51).

Flash forward to this year’s SEC, Butler lined up again in Saturday’s 400 at Kentucky, with Brown and 49.72 performer Rosey Effiong still in the Hogs’ stable. This was a different story, with the Bulldog coming in with a 49.44 NCAA-leading PR. Dealing with a fierce backstretch wind, she ran 50.36, but this time it was good enough to win by nearly a second.

“It felt like running into a hurricane,” Butler said. “So I had to run it smart and get the win for my team.”

It also turned out to be a key performance in giving said team — the leader on our NCAA women’s formchart this spring – some separation from the pack in the team battle. Butler’s 10 points, plus 5 more from teammate Dejanea Oakley in 4th, gave the Bulldogs a lead they would not relinquish. At the end of the night, the junior put an exclamation point on her weekend with a 48.86 4 x 400 anchor on Georgia’s runner-up 3:24.85.

Individually, however, no one could top JaMeesia Ford from start to finish. The versatile South Carolina soph showed her blossoming dash chops at the short end of the sprint spectrum with an excruciatingly narrow 100 win over LSU’s Tima Godbless – both were officially clocked at 11.055 — and the anchor on the Gamecocks’ triumphant 42.75 4 x 100. At the other, she rolled a 49.86 3rd leg in the 4×4 that gave her team the lead for good (despite Butler’s fourth-leg heroics) and the relay sweep. USC became the = #8 school in NCAA history with its 3:24.26.

In her sweet spot, however, Ford was even better. With a friendly 1.9 wind assisting, she rocketed to a 22.01 for 200, an SEC meet record and moving her to No. 5 on the all-time collegiate list. No one in SEC meet history had ever won two individual events and run on two winning relays.

“I just came out here and executed my races,” said Ford, but admitted that the 100 “got me out of my comfort zone” — indicating with a laugh that it’s not her favorite event. “I did that to get my speed up for the 200.”

The weekend’s other double champion, Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, already has the collegiate record in the steeple from her 9:10.13 earlier this spring. So the Kenyan settled for a 9:20.83 in a 33-second victory, giving her 4 of the top 8 all-time collegiate performances. She was similarly dominant in the 5000 the next day — where she has a 14:52.57 indoor PR — as her 15:11.62 beat Arkansas’ Paityn Noe (the 10,000 champ) by 17 seconds.

UGA had put itself in a great position to claim the team title Saturday by racking up field event points earlier in the weekend. They came into the javelin with the NCAA’s list-leading 1-2 punch of Manuela Rotundo and Lianna Davidson. Rotundo had to settle for 3rd, but Davidson — last year’s NCAA runner-up — dealt with unfriendly wind conditions best with her 192-8 (58.74). Meanwhile, Stephanie Ratcliffe — starting to return to her ’23 form when she won the national title while at Harvard — dominated the hammer with 232-0 (70.72). The Dawgs scored 30 points in all, between those two events.

“We made a decision, early this season, that we were gonna be a team,” said Georgia director Caryl Smith Gilbert after her team won the conference for the first time in 19 years. “And we were all gonna take part in being champions… We had a well-rounded team, field events, distance, sprints, throws, hurdles. Everything that we could do, we did it.”

Texas A&M (81½ points), Florida (79), Arkansas (72) and South Carolina (69) battled for the next four spots. The Aggies had just one champion, but excelled with depth. They started off with a dominant heptathlon victory from Russian frosh Sofia Yakushina, as the NCAA pentathlon runner-up tallied 6075 and won by more than 400. She was later 3rd in the long jump, while Jasmine Montgomery (22.39 in the 200) and Kenyan Winny Bii (45-11¾ triple jump) had 2nd-place finishes.

The Gators were fueled most by victories from Habiba Harris in the 100H (12.75), Anthaya Charlton in the long jump (21-2¾/6.47 into a 2.9 wind) and Alida Van Daalen in the discus (214-0/65.24). Harris had blasted a 12.62 NCAA leader in her prelim, while Charlton also sprinted to 3rd in the 100 (11.14).

Along with the 40 points Ford was directly or partially responsible for, South Carolina claimed a 4:20.21 victory from Salma Elbadra in the 1500, thanks to her 61.89 last lap.

SEC newcomers Texas and Oklahoma each had two individual champs. Longhorn Akala Garrett rebounded from a false start DQ in the 100H to rule the 400H in 54.84, while teammate Nina Ndubuisi prevailed in the shot with 62½ (18.91). Also topping the podium were Sooners Agur Dwol with 46-0 (14.02) in the TJ, and Olivia Lueking with 14-3½ (4.36) in the pole vault.

In the 800, NCAA leader and SEC defending champ Michaela Rose of LSU prevailed in 1:59.75 for her sixth loop title in the event indoors and out. Missouri’s Kristi Perek-Snyman took the high jump at 6-2¾ (1.90) with CR-holder Rachel Glenn in 3rd.


SEC WOMEN’S RESULTS

Teams: 1. Georgia 103; 2. Texas A&M 81½; 3. Florida 79; 4. Arkansas 72; 5. South Carolina 69; 6. Oklahoma 56½; 7. LSU 55; 8. Kentucky 52½; 9. tie, Alabama & Texas 52; 11. Auburn 42; 12. Missouri 28; 13. Mississippi State 25; 14. Ole Miss 24; 15. Tennessee 15½; 16. Vanderbilt 12.

100(0.7): 1. **JaMeesia Ford (SC) 11.06; 2. **Tima Godbless’ (LSU-Ngr) 11.06; 3. *Anthaya Charlton’ (Fl-Bah) 11.14; 4. *Kaila Jackson (Ga) 11.19.

200(1.9): 1. **JaMeesia Ford (SC) 22.01 (5, =6 C);

2. Montgomery 22.39; 3. Jackson 22.66; 4. Davis 22.68; 5. Godbless’ 22.68.

400: 1. *Aaliyah Butler 50.36; 2. *Ella Onojuvwevwo’ (LSU-Ngr) 51.26; 3. Brown 51.32; 4. *Dejanea Oakley’ (Ga-Jam) 51.34.

800: 1. Michaela Rose (LSU) 1:59.75; 2. ***Sanu Jallow-Lockhart’ (Ar-Gam) 2:01.56; 3. *Ramat Jimoh’ (MsSt-Ngr) 2:03.64.

1500: 1. **Salma Elbadra’ (SC-Mor) 4:20.21; 2. ***Janet Jepkemboi Amimo’ (Ky-Ken) 4:20.59; 3. Elizabeth Stockman (Tx) 4:20.88; 4. *Hilda Olemomoi’ (Fl-Ken) 4:22.34.

St: 1. **Doris Lemngole’ (Al-Ken) 9:20.83 (x, 7 C);

2. ***Leah Jeruto’ (Ok-Ken) 9:53.93; 3. ***Debora Cherono’ (TxAM-Ken) 9:58.16; 4. **Kennady Fontenot (TxAM) 10:05.31.

5000: 1. *Lemngole’ 15:11.62; 2. **Paityn Noe (Ar) 15:28.85; 3. ***Brenda Jepchirchir’ (Aub-Ken) 15:40.37; 4. Sydney Thorvaldson (Ar) 15:41.59.

10,000: 1. Noe 32:49.70; 2. *Hilda Olemomoi’ (Fl-Ken) 33:15.52; 3. Thorvaldson 33:30.93; 4. ***Edna Chepkemoi’ (LSU-Ken) 33:54.99.

100H(1.8): 1. ***Habiba Harris’ (Fl-Jam) 12.75; 2. **Ana-Liese Torian (Aub) 12.92; 3. *Jaiya Covington (TxAM) 12.93; 4. **Emmi Scales (Ky) 13.00; 5. Alexis Glasco (Ky) 13.00.

Heats: I(1.6)–1. Harris’ 12.62 (CL).

400H: 1. **Akala Garrett (Tx) 54.84; 2. ***Michelle Smith’ (Ga-BVI) 55.34; 3. **Saira Prince (Ar) 56.04; 4. *Jessicka Woods (MsSt) 57.04.

4 x 100: I–1. Florida 43.46. II–1. South Carolina 42.75 (Jamison, James, Akins, Ford); 2. LSU 43.02; 3. Texas A&M 43.06; 4. Georgia 43.19; 5. Arkansas 43.40.

4 x 400: I–1. LSU 3:30.74; 2. Texas 3:31.90.

II–1. South Carolina 3:24.26 (=#8 school) (Akins, James, Ford 49.56, Jamison 50.76);

2. Georgia 3:24.85 (Tate 52.57, Butler 48.86); 3. Kentucky 3:28.78; 4. Arkansas 3:31.06.

Field Events

HJ: 1. Kristi Perez-Snyman’ (Mo-SA) 6-2¾ (1.90); 2. Elena Kulichenko’ (Ga-Rus) 6-1½ (1.87); 3. Rachel Glenn (Ar) 6-1½; 4. *Cheyla Scott (SC) 6-1½.

PV: 1. Olivia Lueking (Ok) 14-3½ (4.36); 2. ***Lily Beattie (Ms) 13-11¾ (4.26); 3. tie, Heather Abadie’ (TxAM-Can) & Payton Phillips (Ky) 13-11¾.

LJ: 1. *Anthaya Charlton’ (Fl-Bah) 21-2¾ (6.47); 2. **Mariia Horielova’ (Al-Ukr) 20-10¾ (6.37); 3. ***Sofia Iakushina’ (TxAM-Rus) 20-3½ (6.18); 4. **Aaliyah Foster’ (Tx-Jam) 20-3 (6.17).

TJ: 1. *Agur Dwol (Ok) 46-0w (14.02) (45-3½/13.80); 2. *Winny Bii’ (TxAM-Ken) 45-11¾ (14.01); 3. ***Skylynn Townsend (Ga) 44-3½ (13.50); 4. Eunice Ilunga Mbuyi’ (Ok-Fra) 44-1½ (13.45); 5. Victoria Kadiri (TxAM) 44-0w (13.41).

SP: 1. **Nina Ndubuisi’ (Tx-Ger) 62-½ (18.91); 2. **Akaoma Odeluga (Ms) 61-1½ (18.63); 3. Kelsie Murrell-Ross’ (Ga-Grn) 59-¾ (18.00); 4. MyeJoi Williams (Al) 58-3¾ (17.77); 5. **Gracelyn Leiseth (Fl) 58-2½ (17.74); 6. *Alida Van Daalen’ (Fl-Neth) 57-5½ (17.51).

DT: 1. Van Daalen’ 214-0 (65.24); 2. Adrienne Adams’ (Aub-Jam) 188-0 (57.30); 3. ***Donna Douglas (Tn) 185-2 (56.45); 4. Paige Low (Ok) 183-10 (56.04); 5. Maura Huwalt (Aub) 182-9 (55.70).

HT: 1. Stephanie Ratcliffe’ (Ga-Aus) 232-0 (70.72); 2. ***Marie Rougetet’ (MsSt-Fra) 218-2 (66.50); 3. **Kate Powers (Ky) 213-5 (65.05); 4. **Skylar Soli (Ms) 211-3 (64.39).

JT: 1. Lianna Davidson’ (Ga-Aus) 192-8 (58.74); 2. *Valentina Barrios Bornacelli’ (Mo-Col) 190-11 (58.20); 3. ***Manuela Rotundo’ (Ga-Uru) 187-2 (57.06); 4. **McKenzie Fairchild (TxAM) 177-7 (54.14); 5. Erin McMeniman (Ga) 171-5 (52.25).

Hept: 1. ***Sofia Iakushina’ (TxAM-Rus) 6075 (13.71, 5-7¼/1.71, 38-10¼/11.84, 23.70, 20-10/6.35, 131-2/39.98, 2:14.41); 2. ***Katelyn Adel’ (Al-Swi) 5619; 3. *Ella Rush’ (Ga-GB) 5532; 4. **Marta Sivina’ (Vand-Lat) 5452; 5. ***Meagan Humphries (Tx) 5452; 6. **Julia Gunnell (Ky) 5415.