University of Tennessee Athletics
Relay Titles Headline Six Medal-Winning Performances To Close Out SEC Championships
May 12, 2024 | Track & Field
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Lady Vol relay squads won a pair of conference titles Saturday night as the Tennessee track & field program wrapped up the 2024 SEC Outdoor Championships. UT totaled six podium finishes on Day 3 of the conference meet to run its medal count for the meet to eight.
The senior quartet of Jacious Sears, Dennisha Page, DaJour Miles and Joella Lloyd led off Saturday's running events with a season-best performance of 42.42 seconds in the women's 4x100-meter relay, improving their own school record and collegiate leading mark by a tenth of a second to claim the program's first SEC title in the event since 1984. Their time ranks sixth on the 2024 world list and seventh on the all-time collegiate program list.
To cap the meet, the Lady Vols smashed another school record in the women's 4x400-meter relay, winning the conference championship with a time of 3:24.44. Javonya Valcourt, Kyla Robinson-Hubbard, Miles and Brianna White delivered UT its first outdoor 4x400-meter SEC title since 1987 and took down the previous program standard by more than three second with their victory on Saturday. The time established a new collegiate lead for 2024 and the No. 5 mark in the world this year, in addition to ranking UT as the seventh-fastest school in NCAA history.
Individually, the men of Tennessee picked up four medals on Saturday to conclude the conference meeting. The Vols eventually collected a silver and bronze from the 400-meter hurdles final after a lengthy protest denied UT redshirt senior Clement Ducos a conference title in the event, while a pair of UT standouts took home bronze in the 1,500-meter and 100-meter finals, respectively.
UT appeared to have scored 21 points in the 400-meter hurdles with a 1-3-4 showing from Ducos, Rasheeme Griffith and Ja'Kwan Hale. After winning the race with a historic mark of 47.69 seconds, Ducos was later disqualified according to Rule 15.6.2a – shifting his teammates to silver and bronze positions with their times of 49.24 and 49.64, respectively.
In the men's 1,500-meter, sixth-year graduate transfer Dalton Hengst fought to the very end to carve out a third-place finish in his final SEC competition. After five seasons at Ole Miss and one at Tennessee, the York, Pennsylvania, native earned his first career SEC medal with a time of 3:43.51. Fifth-year senior and Murfreesboro product Canaan Anderson also scored in the event with his eighth-place finish in 3:44.91.
Sophomore sprinter T'Mars McCallum added to UT's medal tally in the 100-meter dash final, securing a third-place finish with his time of 10.03 seconds with a legal tailwind of +0.6 m/s. The Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, native contributed 9.25 points for the Vols on Saturday, also finishing sixth in the 200-meter dash (20.34) and helping UT score a point with an eighth-place outing in the men's 4x100-meter relay alongside his teammates Aaron Bell, Davonte Howell and Emmanuel Bynum – getting the baton around the oval in 39.47 seconds.
In addition to her championship performance on the 4x100-meter, Lady Vol graduate student Dennisha Page had a pair of lifetime-best efforts in the 100- and 200-meter finals to total 10.5 points for the Big Orange. The Camden, New Jersey, product posted a time of 11.10 to place fourth in the 100m, followed by a mark of 22.39 to take sixth in the 200m. Her marks rank fourth and second, respectively, on the program's all-time charts.
Tennessee opened Saturday's competition with freshman Aron Alvarez Aranda scoring five points in the men's discus. The South African international heaved his best throw in the fifth round with a mark of 58.68m (192-6) to place fourth in his SEC championship debut. He was the only rookie to score in the event and fell to three fifth-year seniors with his efforts in the ring on Saturday.
Jacksonville, Florida, native Ka'Myya Haywood was UT's other rookie scorer on Saturday, taking a seventh-place finish with her lifetime-best mark of 2:03.98 in the women's 800-meter final.
UT saw a pair of scoring performances from its quarter milers, beginning with Bynum's season-best clocking of 45.40 to place sixth on the men's side. White represented the Lady Vols in the 400-meter final and dipped below 51 seconds for the first time in her career, turning in a personal-best time of 50.83 to take seventh at the meet. Her mark ranks No. 2 on the program charts, and she joined Olympic champion DeeDee Trotter as the only Lady Vols to run sub-51 during their Tennessee careers.
As the meet began to wind down, the Big Orange distance squad saw a pair of fifth-place finishes from two graduate transfers in the men's and women's 5k finals. Brandon Olden earned four points for the men with his time of 13:45.81, while Emily Covert secured four points for the women with her mark of 15:52.26.
Prior to the Lady Vols' title-winning effort in the women's 4x400-meter relay, the Volunteer foursome of Bynum, Christian Parker, Ducos and Griffith rallied for a Heat 1 victory in the men's 4x400-meter with a season-best time of 3:02.64. Their mark finished sixth overall at the meet and established the No. 2 performance in Tennessee history outdoors.
In the final team standings, Tennessee finished sixth on the men's side with 56 points and seventh on the women's side with 51 points.
UP NEXT: Tennessee athletes that post top-48 marks on the NCAA Division I East Region qualifying list will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, for the 2024 NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. The four-day contest will take place at the University of Kentucky Track & Field Complex May 22-25.
The senior quartet of Jacious Sears, Dennisha Page, DaJour Miles and Joella Lloyd led off Saturday's running events with a season-best performance of 42.42 seconds in the women's 4x100-meter relay, improving their own school record and collegiate leading mark by a tenth of a second to claim the program's first SEC title in the event since 1984. Their time ranks sixth on the 2024 world list and seventh on the all-time collegiate program list.
To cap the meet, the Lady Vols smashed another school record in the women's 4x400-meter relay, winning the conference championship with a time of 3:24.44. Javonya Valcourt, Kyla Robinson-Hubbard, Miles and Brianna White delivered UT its first outdoor 4x400-meter SEC title since 1987 and took down the previous program standard by more than three second with their victory on Saturday. The time established a new collegiate lead for 2024 and the No. 5 mark in the world this year, in addition to ranking UT as the seventh-fastest school in NCAA history.
Individually, the men of Tennessee picked up four medals on Saturday to conclude the conference meeting. The Vols eventually collected a silver and bronze from the 400-meter hurdles final after a lengthy protest denied UT redshirt senior Clement Ducos a conference title in the event, while a pair of UT standouts took home bronze in the 1,500-meter and 100-meter finals, respectively.
UT appeared to have scored 21 points in the 400-meter hurdles with a 1-3-4 showing from Ducos, Rasheeme Griffith and Ja'Kwan Hale. After winning the race with a historic mark of 47.69 seconds, Ducos was later disqualified according to Rule 15.6.2a – shifting his teammates to silver and bronze positions with their times of 49.24 and 49.64, respectively.
In the men's 1,500-meter, sixth-year graduate transfer Dalton Hengst fought to the very end to carve out a third-place finish in his final SEC competition. After five seasons at Ole Miss and one at Tennessee, the York, Pennsylvania, native earned his first career SEC medal with a time of 3:43.51. Fifth-year senior and Murfreesboro product Canaan Anderson also scored in the event with his eighth-place finish in 3:44.91.
Sophomore sprinter T'Mars McCallum added to UT's medal tally in the 100-meter dash final, securing a third-place finish with his time of 10.03 seconds with a legal tailwind of +0.6 m/s. The Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, native contributed 9.25 points for the Vols on Saturday, also finishing sixth in the 200-meter dash (20.34) and helping UT score a point with an eighth-place outing in the men's 4x100-meter relay alongside his teammates Aaron Bell, Davonte Howell and Emmanuel Bynum – getting the baton around the oval in 39.47 seconds.
In addition to her championship performance on the 4x100-meter, Lady Vol graduate student Dennisha Page had a pair of lifetime-best efforts in the 100- and 200-meter finals to total 10.5 points for the Big Orange. The Camden, New Jersey, product posted a time of 11.10 to place fourth in the 100m, followed by a mark of 22.39 to take sixth in the 200m. Her marks rank fourth and second, respectively, on the program's all-time charts.
Tennessee opened Saturday's competition with freshman Aron Alvarez Aranda scoring five points in the men's discus. The South African international heaved his best throw in the fifth round with a mark of 58.68m (192-6) to place fourth in his SEC championship debut. He was the only rookie to score in the event and fell to three fifth-year seniors with his efforts in the ring on Saturday.
Jacksonville, Florida, native Ka'Myya Haywood was UT's other rookie scorer on Saturday, taking a seventh-place finish with her lifetime-best mark of 2:03.98 in the women's 800-meter final.
UT saw a pair of scoring performances from its quarter milers, beginning with Bynum's season-best clocking of 45.40 to place sixth on the men's side. White represented the Lady Vols in the 400-meter final and dipped below 51 seconds for the first time in her career, turning in a personal-best time of 50.83 to take seventh at the meet. Her mark ranks No. 2 on the program charts, and she joined Olympic champion DeeDee Trotter as the only Lady Vols to run sub-51 during their Tennessee careers.
As the meet began to wind down, the Big Orange distance squad saw a pair of fifth-place finishes from two graduate transfers in the men's and women's 5k finals. Brandon Olden earned four points for the men with his time of 13:45.81, while Emily Covert secured four points for the women with her mark of 15:52.26.
Prior to the Lady Vols' title-winning effort in the women's 4x400-meter relay, the Volunteer foursome of Bynum, Christian Parker, Ducos and Griffith rallied for a Heat 1 victory in the men's 4x400-meter with a season-best time of 3:02.64. Their mark finished sixth overall at the meet and established the No. 2 performance in Tennessee history outdoors.
In the final team standings, Tennessee finished sixth on the men's side with 56 points and seventh on the women's side with 51 points.
UP NEXT: Tennessee athletes that post top-48 marks on the NCAA Division I East Region qualifying list will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, for the 2024 NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. The four-day contest will take place at the University of Kentucky Track & Field Complex May 22-25.
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