Hibbert, representing Jamaica, also achieves World Under-20 all-time triple jump mark following 58-7.50 (17.87m) effort, with Wilson running 49.13 in the 400 meters to become the No. 4 competitor in American history in addition to repeating in the 400 hurdles; Florida lowers NCAA men’s 4x400 record to 2:57.76, with LSU clocking 37.90 to achieve best men’s 4x100

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Jamison Michael

BATON ROUGE, La. – The track schedule opened Saturday with a collegiate record by the host LSU men’s 4x100-meter relay.

Florida capped another memorable Southeastern Conference Championships by lowering its all-time NCAA mark in the men’s 4x400-meter relay.

And, in between, it was all Arkansas, just like Thursday and Friday at the Bernie Moore Track and Field Stadium, as a brief lightning delay just before the 400-meter hurdles finals did little to derail the Razorbacks’ momentum.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | DAY 3 PHOTOS

Arkansas also showcased a pair of collegiate records, with 18-year-old freshman Jaydon Hibbert of Jamaica also producing the World Under-20 all-time mark of 58 feet, 7.50 inches (17.87m) in the triple jump, in addition to junior Britton Wilson improving on her prelim performance in the women’s 400-meter final by clocking 49.13 seconds to defend her title and become the No. 4 competitor in American history.

Hibbert and Wilson – also a repeat winner in the 400 hurdles at 53.28 seconds – were supported with plenty of depth, as Arkansas swept the team titles, just like the Razorbacks did at the SEC indoor championship meet.

Arkansas won its third consecutive men’s team title and 22nd overall with 149 points, with the host Tigers placing second with 89 points and Tennessee taking third with 87 points.

The Razorbacks also prevailed in the final career conference meet for retiring women’s head coach Lance Harter with 134 points, capturing their 10th team championship after also winning the program’s first crown in 2000 in Baton Rouge.

Florida, which won last year’s women’s championship, placed second with 112 points and Texas A&M took third with 86 points.

Florida’s JeVaughn Powell, Emmanuel Bamidele, Jacory Patterson and Ryan Willie clocked 2:57.76 in the 4x400 relay, eclipsing last year’s performance of 2:58.53 at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic in Gainesville.

Alabama also ran faster than the previous record by producing a 2:58.01 effort, with Georgia taking third at 2:59.63. Freshman Will Sumner, the men’s 800 champion in a lifetime-best 1:46.20, anchored the Bulldogs’ effort.

Willie also captured the 400 title in a personal-best 44.27 seconds, following Champion Allison’s victory for the Gators last season.

LSU’s Brandon Hicklin, Dorian Camel, Da’Marcus Fleming and Godson Oghenebrume electrified their home crowd with a 37.90 performance in the 4x100-meter relay, edging Florida in 37.93. Both teams ran faster than the Gators’ 2019 collegiate record of 37.97.

Oghenebrume also won the 100-meter dash crown in a wind-legal 10.04, edging last year’s winner Favour Ashe of Auburn in 10.08, with Camel taking third in 10.19.

LSU swept the 4x100 championships, with Alia Armstrong, Favour Ofili, Brianna Lyston and Thelma Davies clocking 42.92 to edge Kentucky in 42.93, securing the Tigers’ seventh consecutive women’s title.

Armstrong also repeated as 100-meter hurdles champion, clocking a wind-legal 12.40 after producing an all-conditions collegiate all-time best in her prelim heat with a wind-aided 12.31 performance Friday.

Armstrong held off Arkansas’ Ackera Nugent (12.43), the reigning NCAA Division 1 indoor 60-meter hurdles champion and collegiate record holder, and Kentucky’s Masai Russell (12.47), the NCAA record holder in the 100 hurdles with a wind-legal 12.36 effort. Russell also placed second in the 400 hurdles final in 55.21.

LSU sophomore Michaela Rose became the first female athlete in conference history to produce a sub-2 effort in the 800-meter final, clocking 1:59.73. Rose is also the first collegiate female competitor to run under 2 minutes twice in the same season, running a lifetime-best 1:59.08 on April 13 at the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University.

Texas A&M captured its second women’s 4x400 crown in the past three years, with Kennedy Wade, Tierra Robinson-Jones, Sanu Jallow and Jermaisha Arnold running 3:26.64 to prevail against an Arkansas lineup that ran 3:27.91 without Wilson.

The Aggies also received another high jump championship from Lamara Distin, who cleared 6-3.25 (1.91m) on her first attempt to become the first female athlete in the conference since 2000-01 to win consecutive indoor and outdoor titles, with Georgia’s Elena Kulichenko clearing 6-2 (1.88m) to place second.

Distin was one of many Jamaican stars to secure titles Saturday, along with Hibbert and fellow Arkansas standout Roje Stona.

Hibbert eclipsed the 1982 collegiate record of 57-7.75 (17.57m) established by SMU’s Keith Connor, in addition to surpassing the World Under-20 mark of 57-5 (17.50m) achieved in 1985 by East Germany’s Volker Mai.

Hibbert equaled the No. 13 all-time global competitor, improving to No. 2 in Jamaican history, with teammate Ryan Brown placing second at 53-11 (16.43m) for Arkansas.

Stona also elevated to No. 2 all-time in Jamaica in the men’s discus, as well as the second-best competitor in collegiate history with a fourth-round throw of 225-2 (68.64m).

Ralford Mullings, also representing Jamaica for the Razorbacks, overcame an ankle injury in warmups to place second with a 203-5 (62.00m) effort.

Ayden Owens-Delerme, representing Puerto Rico, helped the Razorbacks sweep the 400 hurdles championships by producing both program and meet records with a 48.26 effort in only his third career race in the event.

Owens-Delerme eclipsed Kemar Mowatt’s 2017 program all-time mark of 48.49, as well as taking down the 2005 championship meet record of 48.29 achieved by Florida’s Kerron Clement.

Florida’s Jasmine Moore swept the long jump and triple jump titles indoors and outdoors for the second year in a row, becoming the first female athlete in the conference to achieve the feat since former Gators’ standout Shara Proctor in 2009-10.

Moore followed her wind-legal 22-7 (6.88m) long jump performance Friday with a sixth-round effort of 46-4.75 (14.14m) in the triple jump Saturday to secure her third straight title in the event and 11th career conference championship.

Tennessee’s Charisma Taylor, representing the Bahamas, secured second in the triple jump with a 45-10.75 (13.99m) effort, as well as finishing fourth in the long jump at 21-4.25 (6.51m) and 100 hurdles in 12.84.

Florida’s Parker Valby captured the first women’s 5,000-meter crown for the Gators since 2012, edging Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat by a 15:25.03 to 15:25.07 margin to deny the Kenyan standout a potential third straight title.

Kentucky’s Keaton Daniel triumphed for the third year in a row in the men’s pole vault with a first-attempt clearance at 18-6.50 (5.65m), becoming the first athlete in the conference to win at least three in a row since LSU’s Russ Buller prevailed from 1997-2000.

Daniel also became only the third male athlete in program history to win three consecutive championships in any event, joining Vic Nelson in the 3-mile race from 1968-71 and Tim Harden in the 100-meter dash from 1994-96.

Vanderbilt’s Veronica Fraley captured the first women’s discus throw championship in program history, elevating to the No. 13 all-time collegiate competitor with a sixth-round performance of 206-2 (62.84m) in the sixth round.

Florida’s Alida Van Daalen, representing The Netherlands, was attempting to become the first female athlete in the conference to sweep the discus and shot put in the same year since 2012, but placed second at 193-7 (59.02m).

Robert Gregory won the men’s 200 for Florida in a wind-legal 20.12 seconds, prevailing against Tennessee’s Javonte Harding in 20.14 to secure the Gators’ first crown since 2015.

Tennessee’s Jacious Sears won the first women’s 100 crown for the Volunteers since 2005 with a wind-legal 10.96 performance, edging Georgia freshman Kaila Jackson and Ole Miss standout McKenzie Long, both running 11.04.

Long returned to become the first Rebels’ female athlete to win the 200 crown in 22.39, holding off Sears (22.45) and Jackson (22.65).

Tennessee also had Devon Brooks win the program’s first 110 hurdles championship since Aries Merritt in 2005-06 by clocking a wind-legal 13.53, with teammate Rasheem Brown taking third in 13.64, just behind Arkansas’ Phillip Lemonious (13.63).

Dylan Jacobs won the first men’s 5,000 crown for Tennessee since 1981, eclipsing the championship meet record by clocking 13:36.93. Jacobs broke the 2003 meet all-time mark of 13:41.04 achieved by Arkansas standout Alistair Cragg.

South Carolina swept the men’s and women’s 1,500 titles, both victories the first in program history in each event for the Gamecocks.

Anass Essayi, representing Morocco, clocked 3:41.52 to earn his third career conference crown, along with back-to-back indoor mile titles.

Silan Ayyildiz, representing Turkey, triumphed against LSU’s Lorena Rangel Batres by a 4:17.67 to 4:17.91 margin in the women’s 1,500 final.