Vols Claim DMR Bronze Thursday At SEC Indoor Championships

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Tennessee men's distance medley relay squad of Alex Kay, Christopher Bailey, Joe Hoots and Alex Crigger earned a bronze medal Thursday night, as the group combined for a time of 9:36.41 for third place at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships inside the Randal Tyson Track Center.

UT's mark of 9:36.41 was the third-fastest in school history and less than three seconds away from breaking the program record. Kay led off on Thursday with a mark of 2:59.91 in the 1,200-meter leg, before handing off to Bailey who took two laps around the track in 46.55. Hoots had the 800-meter portion and posted a 1:48.87 split, then Crigger anchored the Vols with a 4:01.09 over the final 1,600 meters.

Thursday's men's DMR performance ranks No. 12 among NCAA Division I programs this season and marked the first time the Vols won an SEC medal in the event since 2011.

The Big Orange had three scoring performances and seven personal-bests on the opening day of the conference meet. Read below for more highlights from Thursday's action at the SEC Indoor Championships.

RHODES ON THE SCOREBOARD: Competing in her third SEC pentathlon, Lady Vol senior Kiara Rhodes scored for the first time in her career as she placed eighth with 3,770 points. The Memphis native had three top-10 performances on the afternoon, finishing fourth in the 800-meter (2:25.21), fifth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.46) and ninth in the long jump (5.49m / 18-0.25).

Rhodes' scoring performance in the SEC pentathlon was the first for Tennessee since current director of operations Ellen (Wortham) Hurst placed third overall at the 2011 indoor conference meet.

LADY VOL DMR: Katie Thronson, Britton Wilson, Allison Rand and Olivia Janke put together a season-best time of 11:23.01 in the women's distance medley relay on Thursday to place sixth overall. It was the second year in a row the Lady Vols had scored in the event at the SEC Championships following last year's bronze medal performance.

HEPTATHLON UPDATE: The Vols had three underclassmen begin competition in the heptathlon on Thursday. Through the first four events, sophomore Yariel Soto sits 9th with 2,934 points while sophomore Peyton Davis is currently 10th with 2,829. True freshman Ethan Robinson stands 13th overall with 2,725 in his SEC Championship debut, with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run still to go on Friday.

PR TRACKER: Tennessee athletes combined for seven indoor personal records on Thursday at the SEC Indoor Championships.

Skyler Reynolds - Women's 60m Hurdles - 9.19
Skyler Reynolds - Women's Long Jump - 5.81m (19-0.75)
Skyler Reynolds - Women's Shot Put - 10.20m (33-5.75)
Skyler Reynolds - Women's Pentathlon - 3,335 points
Peyton Davis - Men's High Jump - 1.93m (6-4)
Ethan Robinson - Men's Shot Put - 10.84m (35-6.75)
Yariel Soto - Men's Shot Put - 12.26m (40-2.75)

UP NEXT: The SEC Indoor Championships will continue Friday in Fayetteville, with men's competition set to begin at 10 a.m. CT with heptathlon 60-meter hurdles and conclude with 200-meter prelims at 3:35 p.m. The women's session will begin at 6:15 with pole vault and conclude at approximately 8:35 with 200-meter prelims.

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

University of Tennessee Athletics

Vols Claim DMR Bronze Thursday At SEC Indoor Championships

Players Mentioned

Christopher Bailey

Alex Crigger

Peyton Davis

Joe Hoots

Olivia Janke

Alex Kay

Allison Rand

Skyler Reynolds

Kiara Rhodes

Ethan Robinson

Yariel Soto

Katie Thronson

Britton Wilson

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