University of Tennessee Athletics
Photo by: Cayce Smith/Tennessee Athletics
UT’s Three Medal Winners, Relay Record Cap SEC Indoor Championships
February 24, 2024 | Track & Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Tennessee picked up three more conference medals and set a record in the 4x400-meter relay on Saturday to wrap up the 2024 SEC Indoor Championships. Senior sprinter Jacious Sears and graduate distance runner Yaseen Abdalla took home silver in the women's 60-meter and men's 3,000-meter, respectively, while freshman Grant Campbell earned a share of bronze in the men's high jump competition at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Sears earned her sixth career SEC medal with her performance on Saturday, crossing the line in 7.12 seconds to finish runner-up and add to her hardware collection. The mark contributed a team-high eight points to the Lady Vols' total of 38, which finished eighth in the team standings.
Abdalla won SEC silver for the third consecutive conference meet with an impressive Heat 2 win in the 3k that ultimately finished second overall. He broke through the finish line in 7:52.32 to run his point tally to 9.25 for the meet, helping the Vols tie for an eighth-place team finish with 32.5 total points.
Campbell led off the second and final day of competition at Arkansas in the high jump, clearing his first two heights of 2.06m (6-9) and 2.11m (6-11). The Maryville native finished in a six-way tie for third place to earn bronze in his SEC Championship debut and tack on 3.5 points for the Big Orange.
The Lady Vol 4x400-meter relay quartet emphatically punctuated the meet breaking the program's all-time indoor record with a time of 3:29.94 to finish fourth overall. Javonya Valcourt, DaJour Miles, Kyla Robinson-Hubbard and Brianna White fended off LSU to win Heat 2 and etch their names into the Tennessee history books. All four runners ran under 53 seconds on their splits, and the relay's time of 3:29.94 ranked No. 10 in the country at the time of the performance.
BIG ORANGE SCORERS: In addition to the three medal winners and 4x400-meter relay record, Tennessee saw 10 more scoring performances on Saturday in Arkansas. The Volunteer duo of Dalton Hengst (4:01.91) and Jacob Lewis (4:02.35) led off the running events with fifth and sixth place finishes in the men's mile, respectively. Lewis was later recognized post-meet and presented with a trophy for his SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year recognition unveiled earlier this week.
The Tennessee sprinting duo of sophomore T'Mars McCallum and senior Javonte' Harding each posted a pair of sixth-place finishes for the Big Orange in Saturday's finals. McCallum scored three points in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.67 seconds, while Harding added three points in the 200-meter dash with his time of 20.88.
Lady Vol distance specialist Emily Covert suited up for Heat 1 of the women's 3k after running the 5,000-meter Friday night, and upped her weekend tally to seven points with a sixth-place finish over 3,000 meters. The Minneapolis native's time of 9:18.84 ranks No. 9 in program history.
UT logged two seventh-place outings in Saturday's final, beginning with freshman middle-distance stud Ka'Myya Haywood clocking in at 2:06.98 in the women's 800-meter run. Graduate student Sam McLendon also fought for two points in the men's 60-meter hurdles, posting a time of 7.83 in his first SEC final.
A trio of Lady Vols tallied one point each with eighth-place finishes to round out Saturday's scoring performances. Dennisha Page clocked a time of 7.32 in the women's 60-meter dash, while Layla Anderson turned in a mark of 8.17 in the women's 60-meter hurdles. Making her triple jump season debut, senior Mikele Vickers took eighth with a second-round leap of 12.25 meters (40-2.25).
UP NEXT: Tennessee athletes that post top-16 NCAA qualifying marks will travel to Boston, Massachusetts, for the 2024 NCAA Indoor National Championships. The nation's top athletes will converge upon the TRACK at New Balance on Friday and Saturday, March 8-9.
Sears earned her sixth career SEC medal with her performance on Saturday, crossing the line in 7.12 seconds to finish runner-up and add to her hardware collection. The mark contributed a team-high eight points to the Lady Vols' total of 38, which finished eighth in the team standings.
Abdalla won SEC silver for the third consecutive conference meet with an impressive Heat 2 win in the 3k that ultimately finished second overall. He broke through the finish line in 7:52.32 to run his point tally to 9.25 for the meet, helping the Vols tie for an eighth-place team finish with 32.5 total points.
Campbell led off the second and final day of competition at Arkansas in the high jump, clearing his first two heights of 2.06m (6-9) and 2.11m (6-11). The Maryville native finished in a six-way tie for third place to earn bronze in his SEC Championship debut and tack on 3.5 points for the Big Orange.
The Lady Vol 4x400-meter relay quartet emphatically punctuated the meet breaking the program's all-time indoor record with a time of 3:29.94 to finish fourth overall. Javonya Valcourt, DaJour Miles, Kyla Robinson-Hubbard and Brianna White fended off LSU to win Heat 2 and etch their names into the Tennessee history books. All four runners ran under 53 seconds on their splits, and the relay's time of 3:29.94 ranked No. 10 in the country at the time of the performance.
BIG ORANGE SCORERS: In addition to the three medal winners and 4x400-meter relay record, Tennessee saw 10 more scoring performances on Saturday in Arkansas. The Volunteer duo of Dalton Hengst (4:01.91) and Jacob Lewis (4:02.35) led off the running events with fifth and sixth place finishes in the men's mile, respectively. Lewis was later recognized post-meet and presented with a trophy for his SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year recognition unveiled earlier this week.
The Tennessee sprinting duo of sophomore T'Mars McCallum and senior Javonte' Harding each posted a pair of sixth-place finishes for the Big Orange in Saturday's finals. McCallum scored three points in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.67 seconds, while Harding added three points in the 200-meter dash with his time of 20.88.
Lady Vol distance specialist Emily Covert suited up for Heat 1 of the women's 3k after running the 5,000-meter Friday night, and upped her weekend tally to seven points with a sixth-place finish over 3,000 meters. The Minneapolis native's time of 9:18.84 ranks No. 9 in program history.
UT logged two seventh-place outings in Saturday's final, beginning with freshman middle-distance stud Ka'Myya Haywood clocking in at 2:06.98 in the women's 800-meter run. Graduate student Sam McLendon also fought for two points in the men's 60-meter hurdles, posting a time of 7.83 in his first SEC final.
A trio of Lady Vols tallied one point each with eighth-place finishes to round out Saturday's scoring performances. Dennisha Page clocked a time of 7.32 in the women's 60-meter dash, while Layla Anderson turned in a mark of 8.17 in the women's 60-meter hurdles. Making her triple jump season debut, senior Mikele Vickers took eighth with a second-round leap of 12.25 meters (40-2.25).
UP NEXT: Tennessee athletes that post top-16 NCAA qualifying marks will travel to Boston, Massachusetts, for the 2024 NCAA Indoor National Championships. The nation's top athletes will converge upon the TRACK at New Balance on Friday and Saturday, March 8-9.
Players Mentioned
Distance
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Sprints/Hurdles
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Jumps
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Distance
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Sprints
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Sprints/Mid-Distance
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Mid-Distance
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Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
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Sprints
/ Track & Field
Hurdles/Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Jumps/Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
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