SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championship Preview
ITS CONFERENCE TIME!!! Ladies and gentlemen, our very own Aggie Track and Field team is currently in Lexington, Kentucky at the University of Kentucky campus to compete in the SEC Championships that go from Thursday to Saturday! Our men are coming off an indoor conference championship and are looking to do the same outdoors and have a lot of pieces to do so!
Both of our teams are loaded and this weekend should present a great opportunity for us to showcase our strengths and stellar athletes. The SEC hosts one of the best outdoor meets in the world with its level of competition and the fire power on the track or runway or throwing area! Please stay tuned in all weekend and I'm going to do my absolute best to keep you all updated! I too will be watching our women's tennis and softball teams as well as the track meet! So clear your schedule, cancel that Saturday date, send the kids elsewhere, and grab your favorite snack and cold drink and watch some Aggie track this weekend!
Firstly, let's get the sad news over with. Blake Harris and Sam Hankins are not listed therefore won't have the opportunity to qualify for nationals. It must be injury related, I pray and hope they're both okay. Harris qualified for nationals indoors and was expected to have a monster season outdoors. It hurts me that he's not competing
i must be president of the Blake Harris fan club. Sam Hankins has been through many high high's and low low's on the injury front. I hope he gives it one more year
that's two big losses for our men's team… as was Katelyn Fairchild on the women's side! Gavin Champ another great asset to our team isn't listed as well and has missed a lot of meets this outdoor season. He's one of the top triple jumpers in the conference and nation. It hurts not to have him out there, I hope he can heal up soon!
Men's Preview
Our men are really loaded at the events of the 400, 800, and 1500. These events will be pivotal to our success this weekend! Indoors we scored 45 points in these 3 events including wins by Auhmad Robinson in the 400 and Sam Whitmarsh in the 800. They are both in prime position to repeat as event champions but it won't come easy. Our men's 400 group is ranked 1st, 5th, and 8th and our 800 runners are ranked 4th, 6th, 8th, and 11th. While in the 1500 Cooper Cawthra and Luca Santorum are ranked 2nd and 4th. Although that's still a lot of points, these rankings are just a baseline to see where we stand. We have some experienced veteran racers who seem to show out when it's postseason! These races should have you glued to your seats! We also need our 400 group to show out to make sure they have a spot at regionals! So pay attention to these races!!
Our men's 800 should be a fun race. Two Arkansas guys are ranked 1st and 2nd. They put 3 of our guys in one heat along with one of the top Arkansas guys
We also have Luca Santorum listed in the 800 and 1500 which is awesome! Let's see what our mid distance guys can do!
Another strength on the men's side should be the versatility that is Ja'Qualon Scott. He is one of the nation's best in the 110 hurdles and the 400 hurdles. He has potential to score big but the conference is deep at this event. A different type of hurdle, but Victor Kibiego is the reigning SEC champ in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Although a steepler from Kentucky has a huge PR in this event ahead of Victor! It'll be a fun race! Like championship distance races, competition steeples are usually a lot slower paced so that makes the ending full of fireworks!
Our men will also be looking to get points in the pole vault and will need to work to get points in the long and triple jump! Aleksandr Solovev could easily win the pole vault, but didn't record a height indoors, I'm sure that will change! Jack Mann III always shows out well in this meet too! In the long jump Mason Mangum and Khybah Dawson have scoring potential but haven't had a strong outdoor season!
Our men's relays will be important! We know how strong our 4x400 can be! Arkansas has the better PR, but at full strength it should be us winning! Our 4x100 will have much more of a hill to climb! They've struggled to get the baton around this season, and their best time is half a second off from 8th place. We have to hope we can squeak into the final!
Women's Preview
On the women's side our strength lies in our sprinting duo of Camryn Dickson and Jasmine Montgomery! These two are expected to carry a lot of the teams scoring this weekend! They're ranked first and second in the 200 and both top 6 in the 100. While the sec is loaded with sprinting depth, Dickson and Montgomery are still expected to produce! They will also lead our 4x100 which goes in ranked 3rd and 4x400 which goes in ranked 6th! If our 4x100 ladies can get on the podium (I think they can win) it'll be a great weekend!
Our ladies are not projected to score in the 400 or 800 which is hard to see knowing that's been our strength for so long
but another strength that we'll showcase is our women's steeple crew! Led by two women who keep taking turns breaking the school record, Debora Cherono and Kennady Fontenot are ranked 3rd and 4th in this conference. Doris Lemongole and Leah Jeruto are two of the best in the nation, we'll see if those two take it out fast! I'd love to see Cherono and Fontenot in a tight competitive race! But don't sleep on Emma Little, she comes in ranked 9th but I think she can go faster! This will be such a fun race!
Another strength on this women's squad is Sofia Iakushina! She's the conference and national leader in the heptathlon! I'm honestly surprised she's competing in the heptathlon… I assumed she would've been competing in the long jump, high jump, and the 100 hurdles where she could score in all 3! But nonetheless she's competing in the heptathlon! She could also be there to push Madison Murray who's on the bubble of qualifying for nationals! We also should expect points from the indoor 60 hurdle national champion Jaiya Covington. She's ranked 3rd but could easily easily win. I'm also excited to see what Megan Roberts will do in the 5000 and 10000.
Field event wise we can really stretch out our points across multiple disciplines. We have Abigail Martin in the discus, who's ranked 3rd, Winny Bii in the triple jump ranked 2nd, and Heather Abadie and Sofia Iakushina ranked 4th in the pole vault and long jump. Hopefully our field event athletes can give us some points on the board! We'll need them because we're missing out on points in a lot of running events.
Team wise, both teams will be in the mix. It'll be the Aggies vs Arkansas on both sides. Arkansas is the favorite on the women's side, but hopefully we can push them. The Georgia women can make a run as well. Our men could win, but we need to take care of business!
Like I mentioned, I'll be plugged in all weekend providing updates for you all! We'll have to simultaneously track where we're standing in the West Regional standings. Let's hope for some PR's and lots of points! Let's also hope we all stay healthy! We have a lot of seniors on this team, I'd love nothing more than to see them walk away with a conference championship! Gig'em and BTHO EVERYONE!
