Razorbacks capture both team championships in same year for first time since 2016; Clark clocks all-conditions collegiate best 21.89 in 200 meters, Laird runs wind-legal 19.82 in 200 final, Mu produces 49.84 effort in 400 and Moore earns Olympic standard in triple jump with 47-2.50 (14.39m) mark, all No. 3 all-time

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor/Photos by Bert Richardson

Arkansas swept both men’s and women’s team titles for the first time since 2016 at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships, but some of the most memorable performances in collegiate history belonged Saturday to student-athletes from Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M at E.B. Cushing Stadium in College Station, Texas.

The Razorbacks edged LSU by a 127 to 120.5 margin to capture their second straight women’s team title, with Alabama taking third at 116 points.

Arkansas prevailed with 129 points to secure its first men’s championship since 2016, with Alabama taking second at 109 points, just ahead of third-place LSU (108).

Alabama senior Tamara Clark ran the fastest all-conditions 200 meters in NCAA history, benefiting from a +4.1 m/s wind reading to clock 21.89 seconds, ahead of the 21.97 wind-aided performance achieved at the 2018 Division 1 East Regionals by former Tennessee standout Shania Collins.

It marked the first conference title in the event for the Crimson Tide since 1994.

Clark ended an even longer drought for Alabama in the 100-meter dash, running a wind-aided 10.87 for the No. 5 all-conditions effort in collegiate history to secure the first championship for the program since 1988.

Clark followed former LSU standout Sha’Carri Richardson in sweeping both sprint titles in the same year.

Not to be outdone, LSU senior Terrance Laird also swept the 100 and 200 in significant fashion as well.

Laird clocked a wind-aided 9.80 in the 100 for the No. 5 all-conditions mark in collegiate history.

He also produced a wind-legal 19.82 in the 200, just behind his 19.81 in March at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, which ranks as the No. 3 all-time NCAA competitor.

Laird, the first LSU athlete to sweep both championships since Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake in 2016, joined former Texas Tech star Divine Oduduru as the only two athletes in Division 1 history to run wind-legal performances twice under 19.85.

Texas A&M freshman Athing Mu won the women’s 400 in 49.84, elevating her to the No. 3 all-time collegiate performer. Mu also anchored the Aggies to victory in the 4x400 relay with a 49.96 split, as Texas A&M clocked 3:26.17 for its first title in the event since 2017.

Georgia sophomore Jasmine Moore not only achieved the Olympic standard in the women’s triple jump, she also improved to the No. 3 collegiate competitor in history with a first-round effort of 47-2.50 (14.39m). Keturah Orji, the NCAA record holder, had won four consecutive triple jump titles from 2015-18, before Florida’s Yanis David prevailed in 2019.

Only Orji at 47-11.75 (14.62m) and Texas Tech senior Ruth Usoro with her mark of 47-7 (14.50m) are ahead of Moore among all-time Division 1 athletes.

Alabama sophomore Mercy Chelangat became the first female athlete since 2013 to sweep titles in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Following her victory Thursday in the 10,000 in a collegiate-leading 32:13.13, Chelangat rallied from third to first in the final lap Saturday of the 5,000 to prevail in 15:45.32, just ahead of Arkansas graduate student-athlete Katie Izzo (15:46.06) and Auburn junior Joyce Kimeli (15:48.78).

LSU sophomore Noah Williams, already the collegiate leader in the 400 meters at 44.30, won the title in 44.37, the first for the Tigers since 2006.

Williams and Laird also contributed to LSU winning its fifth consecutive men’s 4x100 championship in 38.87.

The Tigers also extended their streak to five straight in the women’s 4x100 by clocking 42.52, a lineup led off by senior Tonea Marshall, who won the 100 hurdles crown in a wind-aided 12.62 to capture the first conference championship in the event for LSU since 2012.

South Carolina freshman Rachel Glenn outlasted Texas A&M teammates Tyra Gittens and Lamara Distin in the women’s high jump final, with all three athletes clearing 6-2.25 (1.89m). Glenn and Gittens both made the final height on their second attempts, with Distin achieving a personal-best clearance on her third opportunity.

Glenn had fewer misses at earlier heights than Gittens, securing the Gamecocks’ first conference title since 2015. Gittens had cleared a collegiate-leading 6-4.75 (1.95m) during the heptathlon Thursday.

Georgia senior Amber Tanner secured the first 800 championship for the Bulldogs since 1995, clocking 2:02.94.

Sophomore Gabrielle Wilkinson became the second straight 1,500 champion for Florida in 4:15.28, following Imogen Barrett in 2019.

LSU senior Brittley Humphrey, a Florida transfer, won the 400 hurdles in 56.14, giving the Tigers back-to-back titles in the event.

Ole Miss sophomore Tedreauna Britt prevailed in the women’s discus with a first-round throw of 178-8 (54.46m), earning the first conference championship in the event in program history for the Rebels.

Kentucky also enjoyed a program first in the men’s pole vault, with freshman Keaton Daniel – who previously attended Division 2 Fresno Pacific – winning with a first-attempt clearance at 18-8.25 (5.70m), before missing three opportunities at 18-10.25 (5.75m).

The Wildcats also received a victory from Charles Lenford, Jr., in the men’s discus, as he produced a second-round throw of 195-6 (59.58m) to capture the first conference crown for Kentucky in the event since 2012.

Kentucky also capped the meet in impressive fashion, holding off Texas A&M to win the 4x400 relay by a 3:01.71 to 3:01.73 margin. Bryce Deadmon of Texas A&M was credited with a 43.82 anchor split for the Aggies.

Alabama earned a pair of men’s championships, with freshman Eliud Kipsang clocking 3:37.99 to take the 1,500 title, in addition to finishing second in the 800 in 1:47.16. It marked the first victory for the Crimson Tide in the event at the conference final since 2001.

Senior Robert Dunning ended a similar drought for Alabama in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, clocking a wind-aided 13.15 to capture the first championship in the event since 2002.

Texas A&M freshman Brandon Miller secured the fourth straight 800 title for the Aggies by running 1:45.95. Devin Dixon, who won the past three championships, placed eighth in 1:49.91.

Moitalel Mpoke, a junior, edged LSU freshman Sean Burrell by a 48.89 to 48.92 margin in the men’s 400 hurdles to give Texas A&M its second straight victory in the event.

Arkansas secured the men’s team championship by placing four athletes in the top six in the men’s 5,000, led by individual winner Amon Kemboi in 13:52.98, who followed Gilbert Boit’s title in 2019 for the Razorbacks.

Tennessee senior Jah-Nhai Perinchief produced a wind-aided 55-5 (16.89m) on his third-round attempt in the men’s triple jump, helping the Volunteers achieve their first title in the event since 1987.