Korakidis, Thiessen Log Points For UT At SEC Championships

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Tennessee track & field program had two scoring performances and two athletes advance to running finals on the opening day of the 2021 SEC Outdoor Championships Thursday at E.B. Cushing Stadium. With three of 21 events scored on the men's side, the Vols currently sit 7th in the team standings with six points.

THE BEAST FROM GREECE: Redshirt junior Georgios Korakidis was the first to tally points for the Big Orange as he placed sixth in the men's hammer throw Thursday afternoon. The result marked his best career finish at the SEC Championships, having previously placed 7th in 2019 and 8th in 2018. The Kilkís, Greece, native topped his Thursday series with a throw of 67.78 meters (222-4) on his fifth attempt.

KING KARL FOR THREE: Tennessee redshirt sophomore Karl Thiessen scored at the SEC outdoor meet for the first time in his career, taking sixth place in the 10,000-meter run Thursday night with his time of 29:50.66. The performance marked the first time UT scored in the SEC men's 10k since former Vol Austin Whitelaw also placed sixth in 2016.

MOVING ON: The Lady Vol sprint squad had a pair of athletes advance past prelims Thursday evening. Two-time UT graduate Maia McCoy ran a time of 23.36 seconds in the 200-meter dash, placing eighth to qualify for her first career outdoor SEC final. Redshirt freshman Vanessa Watson also grabbed a timed qualifying spot, finishing ninth in the 400-meter hurdles prelims with a mark of 58.91 in her SEC outdoor championship debut.

Watson will run the 400-meter hurdles final at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET on Saturday night, followed by McCoy's 200-meter final at 8:35.

MULTIS UPDATE: Tennessee had three athletes begin combined events on Thursday, headlined by redshirt freshman Yariel Soto who sits fourth in the standings with 3,872 points through the first five events of the men's decathlon. The Puerto Rican international set season-best marks in the 100-meter dash (10.83), long jump (7.36m / 24-1.75) and 400-meter dash (48.94) on the opening day of the conference meet.

On the women's side, senior Kiara Rhodes sits eighth in the heptathlon with a Day 1 total of 3,338 points. The Memphis native began the meet with a PR in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 13.44 to improve her standing as the No. 7 performer in Lady Vol history in that event. She also logged a personal-best in the shot put (10.21m / 33-6) and turned in a wind-aided time of 24.04 in the 200-meter dash.

Redshirt freshman Peyton Davis made his SEC decathlon debut alongside Soto, rounding out the first day of competition with 3,456 points which included a season-best 6.76-meter (22-2.25) leap in the long jump.

PR TRACKER: Tennessee athletes combined to record six outdoor personal records on Thursday at the SEC Outdoor Championships.

Joella Lloyd - Women's 200m - 23.62
Allison Rand - Women's 800m - 2:09.31
Kiara Rhodes - Women's 100m Hurdles - 13.44
Kiara Rhodes - Women's Shot Put - 10.21m (33-6)
Yariel Soto - Men's 100m - 10.83
Max Barbour - Men's 10,000m - 30:42.87

UP NEXT: The Vols and Lady Vols return to action Friday with entries in 24 events throughout the second day of conference competition, beginning at 2:45 p.m. ET with the men's decathlon 110-meter hurdles.

Full results from Thursday can be found at this link. For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee track & field, follow @Vol_Track on Twitter and Instagram.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Korakidis, Thiessen Log Points For UT At SEC Championships

Players Mentioned

Max Barbour

Peyton Davis

Georgios Korakidis

Joella Lloyd

Maia McCoy

Allison Rand

Kiara Rhodes

Yariel Soto

Karl Thiessen

Vanessa Watson

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