University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Tallies Two 10k Medals Thursday At SEC Championships
May 12, 2023 | Track & Field, Cross Country
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Big Orange distance crew secured Tennessee's first two medals of the 2023 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the men's and women's 10,000-meter Thursday night at LSU's Bernie Moore Stadium. UT junior Yaseen Abdalla captured silver in his first 10k as a Vol, while Lady Vol grad student Jasmine Fehr made her outdoor season debut and placed third for the Lady Vols in her first career 25-lapper.
In a strategic race with warm, humid conditions, Abdalla turned in a time of 30:00.18 to score eight points for the Big Orange in his SEC outdoor debut. The Sudanese international claimed his second SEC medal of 2023 after also taking silver in the indoor 5k in March.
Fehr made her first appearance for the Lady Vols since February at the BU Valentine Invitational and added six points to Tennessee's tally with her third-place performance on Thursday. She became Tennessee's first SEC medalist in the women's 10k since All-American Chelsea Blaase won the event in 2016.
SCORING PERFORMANCES: Tennessee notched two more scoring efforts on Thursday with Karl Thiessen placing sixth in the men's 10k with a time of 30:23.62, while junior Chandler Hayden finished seventh in the women's hammer throw with a mark of 62.18m (204-0).
MOVING ON: The Big Orange will have plenty of scoring opportunities on Saturday after seeing eight athletes advance past prelims in five events Thursday evening.
Tennessee junior Javonte Harding stood out in the men's 200-meter dash with a lifetime-best clocking of 20.12 seconds, the fastest time of the day. His mark ranks No. 12 on the 2023 world list and No. 7 in the NCAA this season, and the Prince George, Virginia, native moved to No. 3 on UT's all-time list—trailing only the legendary sprint tandem of Christian Coleman (19.85) and Justin Gatlin (19.86).
Memphis native Emmanuel Bynum also posted a qualifying mark in the men's 200-meter dash, running a time of 20.51 for a new PR to place ninth in prelims. The junior is now the No. 10 performer in school history outdoors.
On the women's side, sprint star Jacious Sears was the second-fastest in the 200-meter prelims with a personal-best wind legal time of 22.65 (+0.1 m/s). She now ranks No. 19 globally this outdoor season and moved to No. 4 on Tennessee's all-time list with her performance Thursday evening.
'Hurdle U' saw all four of its athletes advance to Saturday's finals in the 400-meter hurdles, headlined by three Vols running season-best times on the men's side. Jakwan Hale paced the group with a lifetime-best 49.18 to place fourth overall, moving to No. 2 in UT history and No. 5 in the NCAA this season. Rasheeme Griffith followed in sixth place with a PR time of 49.33, which stands ninth nationally and fourth in program annals. Clement Ducos secured a qualifying spot as well with his eighth-place outing, running a season-best 49.68 that ranks top 40 in the world this year and No. 5 in program history.
Lady Vol junior Kyla Robinson-Hubbard posted Tennessee's final qualifying mark on Thursday when she placed ninth overall in the 400-meter hurdles prelims with a time of 56.94 seconds. The Calabasas, California, native will make her second-straight appearance in the SEC final after taking seventh a year ago in Oxford, Mississippi.
UP NEXT: Day two of the SEC Outdoor Championships begins at noon ET with Peyton Davis resuming the men's decathlon. The junior from Centralia, Missouri, currently sits ninth in the standings with 3,660 points through five events.
The Lady Vol pole vaulting trio of Ellison Colarossi, Kendall Ford and Sarah Schmitt will open Friday's field events at 5 p.m. before running events start on the track with five Vols competing in the men's 110-meter hurdles prelims at 6 p.m.
In a strategic race with warm, humid conditions, Abdalla turned in a time of 30:00.18 to score eight points for the Big Orange in his SEC outdoor debut. The Sudanese international claimed his second SEC medal of 2023 after also taking silver in the indoor 5k in March.
Fehr made her first appearance for the Lady Vols since February at the BU Valentine Invitational and added six points to Tennessee's tally with her third-place performance on Thursday. She became Tennessee's first SEC medalist in the women's 10k since All-American Chelsea Blaase won the event in 2016.
SCORING PERFORMANCES: Tennessee notched two more scoring efforts on Thursday with Karl Thiessen placing sixth in the men's 10k with a time of 30:23.62, while junior Chandler Hayden finished seventh in the women's hammer throw with a mark of 62.18m (204-0).
MOVING ON: The Big Orange will have plenty of scoring opportunities on Saturday after seeing eight athletes advance past prelims in five events Thursday evening.
Tennessee junior Javonte Harding stood out in the men's 200-meter dash with a lifetime-best clocking of 20.12 seconds, the fastest time of the day. His mark ranks No. 12 on the 2023 world list and No. 7 in the NCAA this season, and the Prince George, Virginia, native moved to No. 3 on UT's all-time list—trailing only the legendary sprint tandem of Christian Coleman (19.85) and Justin Gatlin (19.86).
Memphis native Emmanuel Bynum also posted a qualifying mark in the men's 200-meter dash, running a time of 20.51 for a new PR to place ninth in prelims. The junior is now the No. 10 performer in school history outdoors.
On the women's side, sprint star Jacious Sears was the second-fastest in the 200-meter prelims with a personal-best wind legal time of 22.65 (+0.1 m/s). She now ranks No. 19 globally this outdoor season and moved to No. 4 on Tennessee's all-time list with her performance Thursday evening.
'Hurdle U' saw all four of its athletes advance to Saturday's finals in the 400-meter hurdles, headlined by three Vols running season-best times on the men's side. Jakwan Hale paced the group with a lifetime-best 49.18 to place fourth overall, moving to No. 2 in UT history and No. 5 in the NCAA this season. Rasheeme Griffith followed in sixth place with a PR time of 49.33, which stands ninth nationally and fourth in program annals. Clement Ducos secured a qualifying spot as well with his eighth-place outing, running a season-best 49.68 that ranks top 40 in the world this year and No. 5 in program history.
Lady Vol junior Kyla Robinson-Hubbard posted Tennessee's final qualifying mark on Thursday when she placed ninth overall in the 400-meter hurdles prelims with a time of 56.94 seconds. The Calabasas, California, native will make her second-straight appearance in the SEC final after taking seventh a year ago in Oxford, Mississippi.
UP NEXT: Day two of the SEC Outdoor Championships begins at noon ET with Peyton Davis resuming the men's decathlon. The junior from Centralia, Missouri, currently sits ninth in the standings with 3,660 points through five events.
The Lady Vol pole vaulting trio of Ellison Colarossi, Kendall Ford and Sarah Schmitt will open Friday's field events at 5 p.m. before running events start on the track with five Vols competing in the men's 110-meter hurdles prelims at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
XC/Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Multis
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Mid-Distance
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Hurdles/Sprints
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
XC/Distance
/ Track & FieldEverything Orange S2 | Sarah Schmitt (Track & Field)
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Track & Field | 400m Hurdles Feature
Wednesday, May 22
Track & Field | Tennessee Invite Recap
Wednesday, April 10
Track & Field | Battle on the Bayou Recap
Saturday, March 30
