FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS, February 23–24 — Fans at the SEC Championships got a lot more than they bargained for, as Georgia’s Christopher Morales Williams blew through everybody’s expectations by bettering the World Record in the 400 with a stunning 44.49 performance.
Seeded No. 2 in the final after his 45.58 near-PR heat (he had run an absolute PR of 45.39 in winning Clemson’s Tiger Paw Invitational earlier in the month), the Canadian teen ended up in lane 6, with favored JeVaughn Powell of Florida in 5. Powell, a 44.87 performer outdoors who helped Jamaica win WC 4×4 silver in ’22, got out well and made up the stagger on Morales Williams, but at the break the Bulldog soph surged impressively to take the pole position going into the next turn. On the backstretch, he continued to lengthen his lead as Powell could not make a dent. Off the last turn, he seemingly surged again to cross the line with an 8-meter lead.
The performance apparently took down the World and Collegiate Record 44.52 that Michael Norman of USC had run in ’18. It was later revealed that though the timing crew made available the record-required false-start blocks, conference coaches had voted not to use them. Without the blocks, WA ratification won’t likely happen (also the fate of Norman’s record), but the Collegiate Record will stand.
“The World Record – I guess that’s something you wouldn’t really expect to happen, but it did,” Morales Williams said. “I put it up there as a goal but wasn’t really expecting to break it right now.”
He added that he had been throwing up that morning. “I think that pushed me to try a bit harder.”
The unlooked-for record highlighted an SEC that was dominated by the host Razorbacks, who piled up 163 points to defeat runner-up Florida by 57. The momentum started in the first track final, when frosh Peter Maru cruised to a meet record 13:31.11 in the 5000, with teammates Kirami Yego (13:33.12) and Patrick Kiprop (13:34.11). Maru led the Razorback trio from the beginning, with Mississippi’s Toby Gillen kicking past Yego and Kiprop to take 2nd in 13:32.66.
That 21-point binge set the stage. Friday night’s long jump was also very good to the home team, as Jamaican junior Wayne Pinnock hit 27-1¼ (8.26) in round 2 and 27-2 (8.28) in 3 to score the win. Florida’s Malcolm Clemons came close, following 4 straight fouls with a last-round 26-11¾ (8.22). By the end of the first night, Arkansas had 44 points, while Florida and Mississippi were tied at 23.
Saturday only saw four wins by the Razorbacks, but they were crucial. Romaine Beckford, the NCAA champion indoors and out last year for South Florida, took the high jump at 7-4½ (2.25). A 6-way tie for 3rd gave Arkansas another 7 points from Andrew Hughes and Kason O’Riley.
Then the Razorback heptathletes delivered an impressive 28 points, senior Yariel Soto winning at 6017, followed by Marcus Weaver (5970) and Daniel Spejcher (5965 for the sweep, with frosh Gabriel Emmanuel in 5th.
Maru came back to win the 3000 in a meet record 7:47.26 from the slow section. The faster heat, based on seed times, went in 7:52.32 to Yaseen Abdalla of Tennessee. Razorbacks Yego and Kiprop ended up 4th and 5th overall.
The Razorbacks didn’t need a 4×4 win, but they took it anyway, speeding 3:03.07 to top Texas A&M (3:03.62) and Florida (3:03.87). It was actually Alabama that crossed the line first in 3:02.62 with anchor Chris Robinson hitting 44.75, but they were DQed for a lane violation.
In other highlights, Auburn frosh Kanyinsola Ajayi’ took the 60 in 6.60. In the 200, Florida’s Robert Gregory won the first section in 20.31, then was edged by teammate Wanya McCoy’s 20.29 in the next section. Mississippi soph Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan captured a throws double, reaching 66-10½ (20.38) in the shot and 77-3¼ (23.55) in the weight.
Said Bucknam of his team’s victory, the school’s No. 27 overall, “It’s just fun, because there was a Razorback in every race and every event. This league is so tough, and it’s great for our home crowd. When you’re at home and hosting a major championship like this, you want to make it entertaining and our guys did a good job.”
SEC MEN’S RESULTS
Teams: 1. Arkansas 163; 2. Florida 106; 3. Texas A&M 71; 4. South Carolina 42½; 5. Mississippi 42; 6. Kentucky 41½; 7. Georgia 38; 8. tie, LSU & Tennessee 32½; 10. Alabama 31; 11. Auburn 29; 12. Mississippi State 23; 13. Missouri 10.
60: 1. ***Kanyinsola Ajayi’ (Aub-Ngr) 6.60; 2. **Wanya McCoy’ (Fl-Bah) 6.63; 3. **Myles Thomas (LSU) 6.64.
200: I–1. Robert Gregory (Fl) 20.31; 2. Kennedy Lightner (Ky) 20.51. II–1. McCoy’ 20.29.
400: I–1. Chris Robinson (Al) 45.62.
II–1. **Christopher Morales Williams’ (Ga-Can) 44.49 WR, CR (old WR 44.57 Kerron Clement [US] ’05; old CR 44.52 Michael Norman [USC] ’18);
2. JeVaughn Powell’ (Fl-Jam) 45.61.
800: 1. **Sam Whitmarsh (TxAM) 1:47.39; 2. Tyrese Reid’ (MsSt-Jam) 1:47.55; 3. *Sam Austin (Fl) 1:48.00.
Mile: 1. ***Parvej Khan’ (Fl-Ind) 4:00.18; 2. *Anass Essayi’ (SC-Mor) 4:00.76; 3. *Ben Shearer (Ar) 4:01.27.
3000: I–1. ***Peter Maru’ (Ar-Uga) 7:47.26.
II–1. Yaseen Abdalla’ (Tn-Sud) 7:52.32; 2. *Victor Kiprop’ (Al-Ken) 7:52.87.
5000: 1. Maru’ 13:31.11; 2. *Toby Gillen’ (Ms-Aus) 13:32.66; 3. Kirami Yego’ (Ar-Ken) 13:33.12.
60H: 1. Connor Schulman (TxAM) 7.59; 2. **Jaqualon Scott (TxAM) 7.60; 3. Tai Brown (Ar) 7.73.
4 x 400: 1. Arkansas 3:03.07 (Tomlyanovich 46.55, Lang 45.53, Spencer 45.91, McElroy 45.08); 2. Texas A&M 3:03.62 (Robinson 46.01, O’Bryant 46.11, Scott 46.16, Farquharson’ 45.34); 3. Florida 3:03.87 (McCoy’ 45.65, Hayles’ 45.75, Schwartzman 46.90, Powell’ 45.57);… dq[lane]—[1]Alabama [3:02.62] (Ogazi’ 45.81, Long 46.52, Orogot’ 45.65, Robinson 44.74).
DisMed: 1. South Carolina 9:34.50 (Khchina’ 3:00.18, Miller 47.25, Kosgei’ 1:48.03, Essayi’ 3:59.04); 2. Auburn 9:35.06; 3. Arkansas 9:38.43.
Field Events
HJ: 1. Romaine Beckford’ (Ar-Jam) 7-4½ (2.25); 2. **Sherman Hawkins (MsSt) 7-1 (2.16); 3. 6 tied at 6-11 (2.11).
PV: 1. Keaton Daniel (Ky) 18-5¼ (5.62); 2. *Nikolai van Huyssteen’ (Ga-SA) 17-6½ (5.35); 3. **Jack Mann (TxAM) 17-6½.
LJ: 1. *Wayne Pinnock’ (Ar-Jam) 27-2 (8.28) (f, 27-1¼, 27-2, 26-11¾, p, p) (f, 8.26, 8.28, 8.22, p, p); 2. *Malcolm Clemons (Fl) 26-11¾ (8.22); 3. *Caleb Foster (Fl) 26-3 (8.00).
TJ: 1. *Luke Brown’ (Ky-Jam) 54-5¼ (16.59); 2. Sean Dixon-Bodie (Fl) 53-2¾ (16.22); 3. ***Sterling Scott (Mo) 52-11½ (16.14).
SP: 1. **Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan (Ms) 66-10½ (20.38); 2. *Dylan Targgart (SC) 65-7 (19.99); 3. Roje Stona’ (Ar-Jam) 65-5 (19.94).
Wt: 1. Robinson-O’Hagan 77-3¼ (23.55); 2. *Ruben Banks’ (Al-GB) 73-11½ (22.54); 3. Dennis Ohene-Adu’ (Ky-Can) 73-6 (22.40).
Hept: 1. Yariel Soto Torrado’ (Ar-PR) 6017 (7.00, 7.43, 13.23, 1.98, 8.36, 5.20, 2:38.83); 2. Marcus Weaver (Ar) 5970; 3. Daniel Spejcher (Ar) 5965.