University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
SEC Indoor Championships
Tennessee Captures Five Medals on Final Day of SEC Indoor Championships
February 27, 2022 | Track & Field
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Tennessee Vols and Lady Vols finished sixth at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships with both squads picking up 50 points. For the Lady Vols, it is their best finish at the conference meet since tying for fourth-place in 2016. It is the second consecutive season the men have placed sixth at SECs.
Individually, the Orange & White picked up five medals Saturday as the conference meet wrapped up at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in Bryan-College Station.
Arkansas took home the men's title with 86 points, followed by Florida (77), Alabama (71), Kentucky (64) and Ole Miss (59) to round out the top five. The Razorbacks also captured the women's title at 127.5 points and were followed by Florida (97), Kentucky (79), LSU (64) and Ole Miss (63.5).
"I am very proud of the Vols and Lady Vols right now," director of track & field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said after the meet. "I think that's probably our best women's finish in the last couple years and it was a hard-fought battle for the men in the sixth-place range again. We left some points out there but we came through when we had to have it. We had some unbelievable performances, so many I can't recap them all, but I'm very proud of our team. We will look very good at the National Championships in two weeks' time. Our program is rockin' and we put 100 percent effort behind everything we did. I couldn't be prouder of the staff, couldn't be prouder of our young people. I'm very proud of my seniors on the team."
TAYLOR'S DOUBLE
Charisma Taylor ended her first SEC Championship meet with a bang as she took home medals in the women's triple jump and 60-meter hurdles. She opened the evening in the triple jump, notching a best jump of 13.74m (45-1). Her distance was strong enough to place third in the event as the Nassau, Bahamas, native won her first-career SEC medal.
Roughly 30 minutes later, the graduate student returned to the floor for the finals of the 60mH. Taylor fired out of the starting blocks and toppled her own school record as she turned in a silver-medal winning time of 7.93.
Taylor's placement in the 60mH and triple jump along with her seventh-place finish in the long jump on Friday garnered a team-high 16 points for the Lady Vols.
"Charisma has just rewritten our record books all season and continued her incredible run this weekend," Alford-Sullivan said. "She scored 16 points for the Tennessee Lady Vols and performed extremely well today in a tough back-to-back. It was a lot of fun watching her compete and we are excited to see what she can do at NCAAs."
SOTO SNAGS BRONZE
Yariel Soto capped his strong start in the heptathlon Friday by securing the Vols' first medal in the event since Michael Ayers won gold in 2009. Soto took home bronze with a final score of 5,760.
The Hatillo, Puerto Rico, native set personal bests in the 60-meter hurdles at 8.45 seconds and continued to roll with PBs in the pole vault (4.85m (15-11) and 1,000m (2:39.06).
Soto was fourth in the heptathlon standings heading into the final event – the 1,000m run – and won the race with his time of 2:39.06. His event win catapulted him into third in the heptathlon and secured the bronze medal.
WEST CLAIMS SILVER
In men's shot put, Jordan West won silver with a throw of 20.07m (65-10.25). The mark broke his own school record in the event and made him the first Vol to ever throw 20-meters in shot put. It is West's second consecutive silver medal at the indoor conference meet in the event.
MCLEOD PICKS UP SECOND MEDAL
Carey McLeod captured his second medal at the 2022 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships – a bronze – in the men's triple jump. The Kingston, Jamaica, native leaped 16.33m (53-7) en route to winning the sixth SEC medal of his career.
Thanks to his gold-medal-winning performance in the long jump on Friday night and bronze-medal performance in the triple jump, McLeod finished the meet with a team-leading 16 points.
"Carey was tremendous," Alford-Sullivan said. "He has big jumps in his history and to his name. And so, this was about coming in and competing hard. We haven't worked the triple jump and it's been something that he has just wanted to show up at championship time and do and he did that. He really jumped well and qualified for nationals. We'll see him in both events in two weeks and he will be even better."
SEC SCORERS
In addition to its five podium finishes Saturday, UT had 12 top-8 scoring performances to close out the 2022 SEC Championships.
Joella Lloyd scored four points for the women in the 60-meter dash as she placed fifth in 7.21 seconds. The time is a season-best for the sophomore.
Joining Taylor in the triple jump finals, Mikele Vickers and Kala Penn picked up a combined three points as they finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Vickers set a personal best with a top jump of 12.93m (42-5.25), while Penn followed with a distance of 12.87m (42-2.75).
Vickers mark of 12.93m (42-5.25) ranks sixth all-time in Lady Vols history.
The men's 800m duo of Will Mazur and Alex Kay brought home three total points for the Vols as they crossed the finish line in seventh and eighth. Mazur placed seventh in 1:51.10 and was chased home by Kay in 1:54.69.
Ethan Robinson gave the Vols a second scorer in the heptathlon as he placed eighth overall with a personal-best 5,378 points. The heptathlon performance makes Robinson the ninth-best performer in Tennessee history.
It is also the first time since 2020 that the Vols have had two points scorers in the heptathlon.
Emmanuel Bynum captured three points for Tennessee in the men's 200m dash with his sixth-place finish in 21.02.
Latavia Maines placed fourth in the women's shot put with a best throw of 17.28m (56-8.5). It is the third consecutive year the senior has scored at the indoor conference meet.
In his SEC Championships debut, Garison Breeding added to UT's points haul in the men's triple jump as he finished eighth at 15.42m (50-7.25). The mark is a personal best for the freshman jumper.
Katie Thronson raced her way into points-scoring position for the women as she posted a personal-best time in the women's 3,000m at 9:09.72. Her time placed her eighth overall and is the second-fastest 3,000 time in Lady Vol history.
Tennessee scored on both sides in the 4x400-meter relay to cap the SEC Championships. The men's quartet of Jakwan Hale, Christopher Bailey, Rasheeme Griffith and Justin Swann finished in 3:05.64, good for fifth-place and four points. The women's 4x400m relay of Uchechi Nwogwugwu, Nicole Sreenan, Kyla Robinson-Hubbard and Mia O'Neil ran a season-best 3:35.83, which placed sixth at the championship meet and brought home three points.
PR TRACKER
Yariel Soto – Heptathlon 60mH – 8.45
Yariel Soto – Heptathlon Pole Vault – 4.85m (15-11)
Yariel Soto – Heptathlon 1,000m – 2:39.06
Yariel Soto – Heptathlon – 5,760 points – 4th in Tennessee History
Ethan Robinson – Heptathlon – 5,378 points – 9th in Tennessee History
Ethan Robinson – Heptathlon 1,000m – 2:47.82
Peyton Davis – Heptathlon 1,000m – 2:39.99
Jordan West – Men's Shot Put – 20.07m (65-10.25) – 1st in Tennessee History
Chance Crawford – Men's Shot Put – 16.12m (52-10.75)
Mikele Vickers – Women's Triple Jump – 12.93m (42-5.25) – 6th in Tennessee History
Charisma Taylor – Women's 60mH – 7.93 – School Record
Katie Thronson – Women's 3,000m – 9:09.72 – 2nd in Tennessee History
Kayla Gholar – Women's 3,000m – 9:31.72 – Tennessee Freshman Record
Brooke Dixon – Women's 3,000m – 9:38.68
Rachel Sutliff – Women's 3,000m – 9:44.22
UP NEXT
Tennessee athletes that post top-16 NCAA qualifying marks will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the 2022 NCAA Indoor National Championships. The nation's top athletes will converge on the Birmingham CrossPlex Friday and Sunday, March 11-12.
For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee track & field, follow @Vol_Track on Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
