Hall elevates to No. 8 competitor in American indoor history with 4,618 points, capped by 2:05.33 in 800; Rebels win fourth straight men’s DMR and eighth in nine years, with Ole Miss women ending title drought; Moore soars to collegiate lead in women’s long jump, Chelangat triumphs in 5,000 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – A pair of memorable firsts for female competitors set the stage for another chapter in one of the most impressive men’s legacies in Southeastern Conference Indoor Championship history Friday at the Gilliam Indoor facility at Texas A&M.

Anna Hall not only became the first Florida female athlete to capture a pentathlon title, but she did so by surpassing 4,600 points for the first time in her career.

INTERVIEWS

Ole Miss secured its first women’s distance medley relay championship in program history, with Sintayehu Vissa rallying the Rebels to victory.

And for the fourth year in a row, along with the eighth time in nine seasons, Ole Miss prevailed in the men’s distance medley relay, relying on another strong anchor leg from Mario Garcia Romo.

Cade Bethmann, Jacob Lough, Marcus Dropik and Garcia Romo clocked 9:30.32, including a 3:56.04 anchor 1,600-meter split to help the Rebels match Arkansas’ success with eight titles from 1997-2005.

The Razorbacks were second in 9:31.57, with a 3:56.78 anchor from Amon Kemboi.

Anna Elkin, Jayda Eckford, Loral Winn and Vissa finally broke through to secure the first women’s DMR title for Ole Miss in a meet-record 10:56.39.

Arkansas (10:57.26) led until the final 200 meters, but after sitting behind Lauren Gregory for the first seven laps of their anchor carry, Vissa made a decisive move on the back stretch and never relinquished control, capping the victory with a 4:30.23 split.

Hall, already the No. 4 all-time indoor collegiate competitor, also elevated to the No. 8 performer in American indoor history with 4,618 points, punctuated with a personal-best 2:05.33 in the 800.

Hall, the 85th female athlete to eclipse the 4,600-point barrier indoors, achieved the No. 8 score by a collegiate competitor, including 5-10.50 (1.79m) in the high jump and 42-2 (12.85m) in the shot put.

She also became only the second female performer in conference history to win the same event for multiple schools, joining Becki Wells, who won the mile and 3,000 in 1994 for Alabama, then did so again for Florida in 1996-97. Hall prevailed in the pentathlon last year for Georgia.

Jasmine Moore added another significant victory for the Gators by producing a collegiate-leading mark in the opening round of the long jump with her leap of 22-1.75 (6.75m) to secure the first title for the Gators since 2010, with Texas A&M’s Deborah Acquah placing second at 21-9.50 (6.64m).

Carey McLeod of Tennessee earned his second career indoor long jump title, taking the lead with a first-round effort of 26-5.75 (8.07m) to hold off collegiate leader Matthew Boling of Georgia at 25-11 (7.90m).

Another collegiate leader was unable to capture a crown in the women’s weight throw, with Jasmine Mitchell repeating as champion with an opening-round effort of 76-10.50 (23.43m) to edge No. 2 all-time NCAA indoor competitor Shey Taiwo at 76-0.75 (23.18m).

Ole Miss has won three straight titles between Mitchell and Taiwo, along with five championships in the past six years.

Alabama’s Bobby Colantonio finally secured his first career title in the men’s weight throw with a second-round effort of 75-9.25 (23.09m). Colantonio, who rebounded from being diagnosed with bone cancer earlier in his career, was able to erase the disappointing memories of fouling out in the same venue in the 2020 conference indoor final.

Mercy Chelangat produced the first women’s 5,000-meter crown for Alabama since 1988 by clocking a meet-record 15:43.64, with Tennessee’s Sydney Seymour achieving a personal-best 15:47.85 for second place.

Alabama believed it had swept the 5,000 titles, with freshman Hillary Cheruiyot running 13:44.76 in his collegiate indoor debut at the distance. But it was later discovered that Cheruiyot stepped inside the rail twice during the race and he was subsequently disqualified, with Arkansas’ Patrick Kiprop earning the championship by clocking 13:49.09.

Texas A&M’s Zach Davis survived a tight battle in the men’s pole vault to clear a personal-best 17-3 (5.26m) to earn the championship based on fewer attempts against two-time winner Matthew Peare of Kentucky and Auburn’s James Courson.

Georgia’s Kyle Garland holds a commanding first-day lead in the men’s heptathlon with 3,590 points, looking to secure his third straight championship and the Bulldogs’ 10th in a row overall.