Despite schedule being pushed back more than five hours, resulting in decathlon ending after midnight, Erm shows he is again an NCAA championship contender; Distin captures first women’s outdoor high jump crown for Texas A&M, with Kimeli achieving historic 3,000 steeplechase win for Auburn

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

OXFORD, Miss. – Even at the conclusion of one of the longest days in Southeastern Conference Championship history, the tradition of the victory lap to celebrate the completion of the men’s decathlon remained just as important and meaningful for Georgia’s Johannes Erm, Arkansas’ Daniel Spejcher and Tennessee’s Yasiel Soto.

Lightning and thunder delays, in addition to heavy rainstorms, delayed the competition schedule more than five hours Friday at the Ole Miss Track and Field Complex, but even with the 1,500-meter race to cap the decathlon finishing just before 1 a.m. Central Time on Saturday morning, the top three competitors still had enough energy left to jog an additional 400 meters in front of a small, but appreciative collection of family, friends, coaches and officials.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Erm became the fifth Georgia decathlete to capture the conference title with 8,132 points, with Spejcher placing second with 7,695 points and Soto taking third with 7,600. Arkansas, the reigning team champions, accumulated 13 points total with Penn State transfer Noah Swaby finishing fourth with 7,302 points.

Erm, who completed only his second decathlon since 2019, boasts a personal-best 8,445 points and should join teammate and collegiate record holder Kyle Garland, along with Arkansas’ Ayden Owens-Delerme, as another top contender for the NCAA Division 1 title June 8-9 in Eugene, Ore.

Following a victory by Anna Hall at the USATF Combined Events Championships on May 6-7 in Arkansas, Florida demonstrated its depth in the women’s heptathlon, with Sterling Lester capturing the championship with a personal-best 5,749 points.

Mississippi State teammates Shayla Broughton (5,370) and Asia Poe (5,359) finished second and third.

Lamara Distin became the first Texas A&M female athlete to win the outdoor high jump title, clearing 6-4.75 (1.95m) on her third attempt.

Rachel Glenn of South Carolina, last year’s champion, and Nyagoa Bayak of LSU both cleared 6-1.25 (1.86m).

The shot put finals produced plenty of drama, with Georgia capturing its first women’s title since 2000, with Brazilian athlete Ana da Silva achieving a personal-best 60-6.75 (18.46m) in the sixth round to edge Vanderbilt’s Divine Oladipo, representing Great Britain, and her lifetime-best 58-11.50 (17.97m) and 2021 winner Latavia Maines of Tennessee at 58-7.25 (17.86m).

Tennessee’s Jordan West secured the first men’s shot put title for the Volunteers since 1983 with a fifth-round effort of 66-6.50 (20.28m) to hold off LSU’s John Meyer at 66-2.25 (20.17m) and Alabama’s Isaac Odugbesan at 65-9 (20.04m).

Odugbesan had won the past three conference shot put crowns, including a pair of indoor titles.

Tennessee also swept the top two spots in the men’s long jump, with Wayne Pinnock delivering a first-round performance of 26-5 (8.05m) and Carey McLeod adding a fifth-round effort of 25-11.50 (7.91m). Florida’s Malcolm Clemons achieved a personal-best 25-8.75 (7.84m) to take third.

Jasmine Moore captured her first outdoor conference long jump title with a leap of 22-1 (6.73m), as Florida also had Claire Bryant finish third with a mark of 21-6.25 (6.53m). LSU’s Morgan Smalls placed second with a leap of 21-7.25 (6.58m).

Joyce Kimeli, already an indoor conference champion in the 3,000 and 5,000, became Auburn’s first female athlete to triumph in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:49.13.

Kentucky’s Perri Bockrath ran a personal-best 9:52.48 to secure second and Arkansas’ Logan Jolly took third at 9:57.11. The Razorbacks, the defending team champions, received more important support from 2021 winner Krissy Gear, who finished fourth at 10:03.34 to score 11 points overall.

Andrew Kibet captured the first men’s 3,000 steeplechase title for Arkansas since 2018 with a lifetime-best 8:42.87.

Hillary Cheruiyot of Alabama placed second at 8:48.67 and Tennessee’s Alex Crigger, the 2019 champion, took third at 8:52.31.