Track Central: SEC Indoor Championships

Thursday, February 25

Fayetteville, AR

University of Tennessee

SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships

KNOXVILLE, TN - 2021.01.07 - Track and Field Photo Day

Photo by: Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics

February 24, 2021 | Track & Field

Meet Schedule Live Results Thursday Stream Friday Stream (Men)Friday Stream (Women)Saturday Stream (Men)Saturday Stream (Women)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Tennessee track & field program begins indoor postseason action this week, as 46 athletes have traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the 2021 SEC Indoor Championships. The conference meet is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, February 25-27 at the Randal Tyson Track Center.

UT will open the meet with six athletes competing in the combined events Thursday morning, starting at 10:00 a.m. CT with the men's heptathlon 60-meter dash. The Big Orange will also run the men's and women's DMR Thursday afternoon, in addition to the men's and women's weight throw.

Friday's action will begin with the men's heptathlon 60m hurdles at 10 a.m. local time. Men's track event semifinal rounds will start at 2 p.m., followed by women's preliminaries at 7 p.m. Friday event finals for Tennessee include the 5,000-meter run, long jump and women's pole vault.

The Big Orange gets started Saturday with the men's shot put at 12:30 p.m. CT. Track event finals will start at 2 p.m. for the men, while the women's evening session is slated for a 6 p.m. start.

BROADCAST INFO: Live coverage of the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships will stream online via SEC Network+ at 11 a.m. ET on Thursday, 12:55 p.m. on Friday and 1:25 p.m. on Saturday. The broadcast talent includes Dwight Stones, Dan O'Brien and John Anderson. A tape-delayed broadcast of the Championship will air on the SEC Network Sunday at 7 p.m. CT.

TOP MARKS: Seven Tennessee athletes have combined for eight top-8 marks in the SEC this season heading into the conference meet.

Women:

Joella Lloyd - 60m - 7.20 (No. 1 SEC, No. 4 NCAA)
Hannah Jefcoat - Pole Vault - 4.34m / 14-2.75 (No. 3 SEC, No. 6 SEC)
Latavia Maines - Shot Put - 17.29m / 56-8.75 (No. 1 SEC, No. 5 NCAA)
Kiara Rhodes - Pentathlon - 3,765 points (No. 7 SEC, No. 30 NCAA)

Men:

Carey McLeod - Long Jump - 7.90m / 25-11 (No. 2 SEC, No. 4 NCAA)
Jalen Tate - Triple Jump - 16.38m / 53-9 (No. 1 SEC, No. 3 NCAA)
Carey McLeod - Long Jump - 16.18m / 53-1 (No. 4 SEC, No. 8 NCAA)
Jordan West - Shot Put - 19.73m / 64-8.75 (No. 1 SEC, No. 8 NCAA)

bold - top seed

In the men's 4x400-meter relay, UT ranks second in the SEC and third in the NCAA as Sebastian Cooper, Christopher Bailey, Emmanuel Bynum and Jonathan Sacoor combined for a time of 3:05.97 two weeks ago at the Tiger Paw Invite. On the women's side, Britton Wilson, Vanessa Watson, Joella Lloyd and Martina Weil own a season-best time of 3:38.29 that stands seventh in the conference and 25th nationally.

RANKINGS UPDATE: In the latest installment of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Track & Field Rating Index released earlier this week, the Big Orange had a pair of top-20 squads recognized. The Volunteer men were rated No. 12 overall, while the Lady Vols checked in at No. 17 in the country.

FLASHBACK TO 2020: Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Tennessee's 2020 track & field campaign came to an abrupt halt following the 2020 SEC Indoor Championships.

The Big Orange took home eight medals from last year's conference meet, highlighted by conference titles for Carey McLeod (men's long jump), Joseph Maxwell (men's shot put) and Latavia Maines (women's shot put). McLeod also tabbed silver in the triple jump, while UT picked up four bronze medal finishes in the women's DMR, women's 60-meter hurdles, women's triple jump and men's weight throw.

The Tennessee men recorded their best finish and point total at the indoor conference meet since 2009, placing fifth in the team standings with 67 points. McLeod scored a team-high 18 points at his first SEC Championship competition, followed by Maxwell (10) and Georgios Korakidis (6) to round out the Vols' top-three individual scorers.

On the women's side, the Lady Vols scored 43 points — their most since 2016 — to finish in a tie for eighth place. Maines tabbed 10 points for UT with her championship performance in the shot put, while Alonie Sutton added 7 points with her third-place finish in the triple jump and eight-place outing in the long jump. The women's distance medley relay and Domonique Turner posted six points each with bronze-medal performances at the conference meet, tying for third-most on the team.

UP NEXT: Tennessee athletes that post top-16 NCAA qualifying marks will return to Fayetteville for the 2021 NCAA Indoor National Championships. The nation's top athletes will converge on the Randal Tyson Track Center Thursday through Sunday, March 11-13.

For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee track & field, follow @Vol_Track on Twitter and Instagram.