Tennessee Claims Five Medals On Final Day Of SEC Indoor Championships

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Five historic performances helped the Tennessee track & field program collect four gold medals and one silver medal on Saturday at the SEC Indoor Championships inside the Randal Tyson Track Center. All five medal-winning performances went down as UT school records and ranked among some of the best marks in the NCAA and the world this season.

"I'm very proud of our Tennessee squads," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said after the meet. "We've had this weekend highlighted on our calendar, knew it was coming and trained and prepared for it. We had some really great highlights that took place, so I was just absolutely thrilled with it.

"It's a great competition venue, just a world-class facility. Arkansas continues to just put on great championships, and we're looking forward to going back for the NCAAs in a couple weeks.

"Our squad showed up nicely. It took school records to win a lot of events, which just shows how strong the conference is right now. It also just shows how our squads have evolved and continue to be competitive in the SEC. We're certainly going to be competitive in the NCAA Championships in two weeks."

The Big Orange totaled seven medals on the weekend (four gold, two silver, one bronze) between the men's and women's squad. Tennessee finished sixth on the men's side as a team with 50 points for the meet, marking the third-straight year the Vols have scored 50 or more at the SEC Indoor Championships. The Lady Vols placed ninth overall with 32 points.

McLEOD WRAPS UP HISTORIC MEET: Tennessee junior Carey McLeod placed himself among the top-10 triple-jumping collegians in NCAA indoor history Saturday afternoon, recording a mark of 17.17 meters (56-4) on his sixth-round attempt. He now ranks as the No. 10 triple jump performer in collegiate indoor history.

McLeod's jump was a new school record and surpassed the 2020 Olympic qualifying standard, in addition to being the No. 1 mark in the NCAA and No. 3 in the world for the 2020-21 indoor campaign.

Combining with his 8.25-meter (27-0.75) long jump on Friday, the Kingston, Jamaica, native put together one of the best single-meet performances in collegiate history in the horizontal jumps. According to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) communications staff, McLeod's combined total of 25.42 meters ranks third in NCAA history—only trailing collegiate legends Mike Conley (Arkansas, 25.67) and Marquis Dendy (Florida, 25.65).

McLeod is Tennessee's first SEC Champion in the men's triple jump since former overall school-record holder John Tillman swept indoor and outdoor titles in 1987. McLeod topped Tillman's previous program standard by nine inches on Saturday.

"Carey has been with us now for two years, and you just see him growing into such a tremendous young person, teammate, and leader on our team," Sullivan said. "You've just seen this growth in training. Coach [Travis Geopfert] has just done a tremendous job bringing him along and evolving his talents. They're a great tandem that work together, along with our volunteer coach Clive Pullen. It's just great mojo, and he's got a great group of guys that he's training with. Carey always values the opportunity to compete, and you saw that show out."

WORLD'S FASTEST 4X4: The Tennessee men's 4x400-meter relay squad of Sebastian Cooper, Christopher Bailey, Emmanuel Bynum and Jonathan Sacoor posted a 2021 world-leading mark of 3:04.08 to claim a gold medal for the Big Orange on Saturday. The time broke a 19-year-old school record by more than 1.5 seconds.

Cooper completed the opening leg in 48.34 seconds before handing off to Bailey, who blazed around the track twice in a staggering 44.66 to put the Vols back in contention. Bynum's heroic 45.38 split gave UT a lead it would not relinquish, as Sacoor closed out the victory in 45.70 on the anchor leg.

The group now ranks No. 1 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the world for the 2020-21 indoor season. The time of 3:04.08 bumped Tennessee up to the eighth-fastest school in the event in collegiate track & field history.

"The guys were on a mission this weekend," Sullivan said. "We had our entries set to be fresh for the 4x4, and both teams showed up and showed out. Coach [David Neville] and Coach [Ken Harnden] really put together great lineups and great competitive spirit, and the young people just took it to another level. The guys have great chemistry right now. They told me they were going to win, and they went out and executed that win. I think NCAAs are going to be a special time for them as well."

FASTEST WOMAN IN THE SEC: Redshirt sophomore Joella Lloyd became the first Lady Vol to ever win an indoor 60-meter conference title Saturday night, clocking in at 7.15 seconds for first place at the meet. Her time tied the all-time program record held by former Lady Vol Courtney Champion, who ran a 7.15 at the 2007 SEC Indoor Championships.

This season, Lloyd's time is currently the No. 1 mark in the world recorded by any female athlete under 20 years old. She is also the second-fastest woman in the NCAA during the 2020-21 indoor season.

"You have to step back and remember that Joella's just 18," Sullivan said. "She joined us at 16 years old, and sometimes we forget that. She's really come into her own. A year ago, I believe she had some trouble with nerves, and this year, she stepped up against really most of the nation's best sprinters. It seems strange that it is the first win for the Lady Vols in that event, because we've had such a great history in her event areas, but she's certainly a great ambassador to have that title behind her."

DEFENDED HER TITLE: Lady Vol senior Latavia Maines claimed her second-straight gold medal in the shot put at the SEC Indoor Championships, heaving a new personal-best of 17.81 meters (58-5.25) to claim the conference title. She is the first woman in UT history to win back-to-back indoor shot put titles.

Maines' mark set a new school record, topping VFL Stamatia Scarvelis' previous program-best of 17.77m (58-3.75). Maines now ranks as the No. 4 shot putter in the country on the 2020-21 NCAA indoor performance list.

"Latavia really just rises under pressure," Sullivan said. "This was a lot of pressure for her. Her season hadn't been perfect and had some challenges in it, but when championship time came she stepped up. It was also great to see her earn that school record with our former school record holder there to be a part of that. Those are always special moments, so I was really excited for that as well."

WEST CLAIMS SILVER: Tennessee had a pair of medal-winning shot put performances on Saturday, as redshirt junior Jordan West claimed silver on the men's side. His heave of 19.98 meters (65-6.75) was good for a new school record, as the Rahway, New Jersey, native now holds the program standards both indoors and outdoors.

"Jordan had a great competition and a great exposure to what it's going to be like at the national level. You have to have your A-game, and even when you have your A-game, you still end up in a competitive environment like that. I thought he competed extremely well today, and was proud of that silver and that school record."

ADDITIONAL SCORING PERFORMANCES: Tennessee senior Jalen Tate added two points for the Vols in the men's triple jump, scoring in the event for the third year in a row. The Clarksville native posted a mark of 15.93 meters (52-3.25) to place seventh at the meet.

Sophomore Alex Kay posted UT's best finish in the SEC indoor 800-meter run in 10 years, finishing fifth in the final with a time of 1:50.65. It was the highest placement for the Vols in the event since Peter Sigilai won bronze in 2011.

In the women's 3,000-meter run, Lady Vol junior Katie Thronson placed 8th overall with a time of 9:22.72. It was her first time scoring in the SEC indoor 3K, as the Spokane, Washington, native added a point to the Lady Vols' tally.

The women's 4x400-meter relay squad of Vanessa Watson, Martina Weil, Britton Wilson and Jada Chambers clocked in at a season-best time of 3:37.25 on Saturday night, wrapping up the meet with a sixth-place finish for the Lady Vols.

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

Karl Thiessen - Men's 3,000m - 8:09.78
Carey McLeod - Men's Triple Jump - 17.17m (56-4)
Jordan West - Men's Shot Put - 19.98m (65-6.75)
Skylar Coffey - Men's Shot Put - 15.94m (52-3.75)
Joella Lloyd - Women's 60m - 7.15
Latavia Maines - Women's Shot Put - 17.81m (58-5.25)

CLOSING THOUGHTS FROM COACH SULLIVAN: "As we move forward off of this weekend … we scored in just about every event we entered and had a ton of personal-bests along the way. Even if we didn't score, we were right in contention for it with a handful of 9th-place finishes throughout the weekend. It just shows that the quality of the program is evolving and getting better. I couldn't be more proud of everybody across the board."

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.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Claims Five Medals On Final Day Of SEC Indoor Championships

Players Mentioned

Christopher Bailey

Emmanuel Bynum

Jada Chambers

Skylar Coffey

Sebastian Cooper

Alex Kay

Joella Lloyd

Latavia Maines

Carey McLeod

Jonathan Sacoor

Stamatia Scarvelis

Jalen Tate

Karl Thiessen

Katie Thronson

Vanessa Watson

Martina Weil

Jordan West

Britton Wilson

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