UT Claims Three Medals On Final Day Of SEC Outdoor Championships

COLLEGE STATION, TX - 2021.05.15 - Outdoor SEC Track and Field Championship Day 3

Photo by: Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics

UT Claims Three Medals On Final Day Of SEC Outdoor Championships

May 15, 2021 | Track & Field

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Tennessee track & field program rounded out the 2021 SEC Outdoor Championships with three graduate students claiming three medals on Saturday at E.B. Cushing Stadium. Jah-Nhai Perinchief won the title in the men's triple jump, Nayoka Clunis earned silver in the women's discus and Maia McCoy took bronze in the women's 100-meter dash to highlight UT's individual performances on the day.

"The 2021 SEC Championships were just an outstanding competition as always," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said after the meet. "It was special in that it's been a two-year wait to get back into this meet. It was just a great feeling for all the athletes and coaches to be back out there for the SEC outdoor championships. Much appreciation to the SEC office and Texas A&M that put on a great meet in a phenomenal facility."

In the team standings, the 14th-ranked Tennessee men's squad finished in a tie for sixth with 67 points over the course of the three-day championship meet. The Vols had four podium finishes and 15 scoring performances, placing in the top-half of the league and scoring more than 60 points as a team for the third-consecutive outdoor conference meet.

"We went into a great epic battle on the men's side," Sullivan said. "I'm very proud of our individual accomplishments, just had some amazing things happen throughout the weekend. Collectively, I'm very proud of the team. Scoring 67 points and getting sixth place in this conference in this challenging year, our men showed up and battled for it. We were just eight to 10 points short of feeling like we really accomplished at the highest levels that we're capable of. We walk away with a lot of lessons learned, but our heads held high. This team is strong, competitive and well-balanced, and we're excited for the NCAA drive off of this showing at the conference championship."

The Lady Vols took ninth place with 38 points, finishing one spot ahead of their pre-meet projection according to the USTFCCCA conference rating index. The women of UT had three medal winners and nine scoring performances throughout the meet.

"On the women's side, we're just very young," Sullivan said. "Some of our upperclassmen showed up and gave us some great performances and carried their weight, but we're really depending on the rest of the team growing into their shoes and growing into this conference. From Joella, to the 4x100, to our quarter hurdlers, Katie Thronson, it goes on and on, these young women learning how to be battle ready when needed. We got those experiences, and we'll continue to chip away at it. We're going to be a couple of teams going into the first round of NCAAs looking to get into the NCAA finals, and I think our women have that focus ahead for them. In some ways, they have an easier path to the NCAA finals than they do the SEC finals. We're looking to continue to evolve that competitive spirit within them."

NHAI STAYS FLY: In his lone season as a graduate student with the Vols, Jah-Nhai Perinchief made his impact on the program by winning the conference title in the men's triple jump Saturday afternoon. The Hamilton, Bermuda, native dominated the competition with a wind-aided mark (+2.5 m/s) of 16.89 meters (55-5) on his third attempt, jumping 48 centimeters (15") further than the runner-up Christian Edwards from Alabama (16.51m / 54-2).

Perinchief is the first Vol to win an outdoor SEC title since 1987, when VFL and school record holder John Tillman claimed his third-straight SEC gold with a mark of 16.55 meters (54-3.75).

CLUNIS CLAIMS SILVER: Lady Vol graduate student Nayoka Clunis needed just one throw to win a medal at her first SEC Outdoor Championships, taking second in the discus throw with a season-best 52.42 meters (172-0) in the first round. The newcomer from Kingston, Jamaica, moved herself into the program's all-time top-10 list, ranking 10th in Lady Vol history.

Clunis' performance marks the second-straight SEC outdoor meet that a Lady Vol has placed second in the discus, following Stamatia Scarvelis' runner-up finish in 2019. Saturday's showing was also good for Clunis' second-career silver medal at a Power 5 conference meet, as she took second in the indoor weight throw at the 2020 B1G Championships for Minnesota last season.

McCOY GOES OUT WITH BRONZE: Competing in her fourth and final SEC Outdoor Championships, two-time UT graduate Maia McCoy took home her third-career bronze medal with a wind-aided (+2.7 m/s) time of 11.08 seconds. The performance marked Tennessee's third medal in the event since 2016, as McCoy joined former Lady Vol teammates Shania Collins (2nd in 2018) and Felicia Brown (3rd in 2016) as SEC 100m medalists.

"I'm really, really proud of the seniors that came back or joined us for this season in strengthening us and making us better," Sullivan said. "We look forward to seeing those things play out at the national championships as well."

TACKING ON POINTS: In addition to its trio of Day 3 medals, the Big Orange posted eight scoring performances that finished fourth through eighth on Saturday at the SEC Outdoor Championships.

Jordan West - Men's Discus - 5. 55.94m (183-6)
Chance Crawford - Men's Discus - 7. 54.69m (179-5)
Christopher Bailey - Men's 400m - 7. 46.03
Emmanuel Bynum - Men's 400m - 8. 46.53
Joella Lloyd - Women's 100m - 5. 11.25w
Maia McCoy - Women's 200m - 8. 22.98W
Karl Thiessen - Men's 5,000m - 7. 14:12.29
Sebastian Cooper, Emmanuel Bynum, Rasheeme Griffith, Christopher Bailey - Men's 4x400m Relay - 4. 3:05.78

UP NEXT: Tennessee athletes that post top-48 marks on the NCAA East outdoor qualifying list will head to Jacksonville, Florida, for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. The regional contest is set for Wednesday through Saturday, May 26-29 at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium.

Full results for the 2021 SEC Outdoor Championships can be found at this link. For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee track & field, follow @Vol_Track on Twitter and Instagram.