Kiprop captures back-to-back 10,000 crowns, giving Crimson Tide six straight championships; Malone is first female athlete for Tigers to secure consecutive hammer throw titles, with Davidson, Minichello, Robinson-O'Hagan and Thorvaldson all achieving first SEC victories at LSU

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Jamison Michael

BATON ROUGE, La. – One of the most impressive title streaks in Southeastern Conference history continued Thursday, with several other droughts and long-awaited breakthroughs also being showcased at LSU’s Bernie Moore Track and Field Stadium.

Victor Kiprop was one of two repeat winners on the opening night of the three-day championship meet, extending Alabama’s run of men’s 10,000-meter crowns to six in a row.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | DAY 1 PHOTOS

Kiprop surged in the final 300 meters to pull away from Tennessee’s Yaseen Abdalla, securing back-to-back titles in 29 minutes, 58.43 seconds.

Abdalla placed second in 30:00.18 in his pursuit to become the first conference 10,000 winner for the Volunteers since 1991.

Kiprop, who covered the last lap in 55.96 seconds, became the first repeat 10,000 champion since Auburn’s Ben Cheruiyot in 2010-11. He also achieved the first back-to-back titles for the Crimson Tide in the 25-lap event since Tyson David in 2008-09.

Alabama has produced the longest men’s 10,000 championship streak since Arkansas won nine in a row from 1992-2000.

Auburn’s Madi Malone was the other repeat winner in the women’s hammer throw, becoming the first female athlete in program history to capture back-to-back titles in the event with a sixth-round effort of 225 feet, 4 inches (68.69m).

Malone became the first hammer throw champion to defend her title since Tennessee’s Stamatia Scarvelis repeated in 2018-19.

Ole Miss teammates Jalani Davis and Shey Taiwo were second and third with marks of 220-8 (67.27m) and 220-3 (67.13m), respectively.

Ole Miss did achieve the first men’s hammer throw championship in program history, with freshman Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan prevailing with a lifetime-best effort of 233-9 (71.25m) in the fifth round.

Robinson-O’Hagan became the first freshman to win the conference hammer throw crown since Florida’s Anders Eriksson in 2016. He also became the first SEC freshman to surpass the 71-meter mark since 2018.

Georgia’s Alencar Pereira, representing Brazil, placed second at 229-10 (70.07m), with last year’s conference champion Bobby Colantonio of Alabama taking third at 229-8 (69.96m).

Georgia’s Marc Minichello, last year’s NCAA Division 1 champion representing Penn, rallied to secure the men’s javelin title with a fifth-round performance of 260-10 (79.50m), the first crown for the Bulldogs since 2011.

LSU’s Tzuriel Pedigo, the 2021 Division 1 winner for the Tigers, achieved a season-best 257 feet (78.34m) in the sixth round, the second time in his career surpassing the 78-meter barrier.

Mississippi State, which had won the past four SEC javelin championships, had Tyriq Horsford – representing Trinidad and Tobago – take third at 235-1 (71.66m).

The women’s javelin and 10,000 finals showcased the strength of teammates from Texas A&M and Arkansas, only after an hour lightning delay in the Baton Rouge area postponed the start of the evening finals.

Sydney Thorvaldson (35:07.50) and Julia Paternain (35:07.76), representing England, became the first duo in conference history to take the top two spots in the 10,000 since 2009, contributing to Arkansas scoring 21 points in the event.

Thorvaldson, the first 10,000 champion for Arkansas since 2015, and Paternain were the first pair for the Razorbacks to achieve the feat since Catherine White (35:07.50) and Denise Bargiachi (35:13.64) finished first and second 14 years ago at Florida.

Lianna Davidson, representing Australia, won the first women’s javelin title for Texas A&M since Maggie Malone in 2016 and Katelyn Fairchild took third for the Aggies.

Davidson improved to the No. 2 athlete in program history behind Malone with her sixth-round effort of 189-1 (57.65m) and Fairchild had a second-round performance of 183-1 (55.81m), with Missouri’s Sophia Rivera – representing Puerto Rico – securing runner-up with a fifth-round mark of 183-8 (55.98m).

Vanderbilt’s Beatrice Juskeviciute, representing Lithuania, was the opening-day leader in the women’s heptathlon with 3,683 points, a 135-point improvement from her first-day score April 12 at the 63rd Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., when she finished with a lifetime-best 6,073 points.

Florida’s Sterling Lester remained in contention with 3,603 points.

Georgia’s Kyle Garland grabbed the decathlon lead at the midway point with 4,626 points, winning all five events, capped by a lifetime-best 47.89 in the 400 meters.