Florida Standout Wins Long Jump And Also Makes 100 Meters Final On Day 2 At SEC Championships; Kristi Perez-Snyman Pulls Off Upset In High Jump 

By David Woods for DyeStat

Bobby Goddin photos

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Few athletes have the legacies that Anthaya Charlton must follow.

Consider two of her former Florida teammates, long jumpers Jasmine Moore and Claire Bryant, are a double Olympic medalist and world indoor champion, respectively. And Charlton has a 29-year-old sister, Devynne, who happens to be a world indoor champ and world record-holder in the 60-meter hurdles.

“It’s some big shoes to fill, but like, she’s really supportive,” Anthaya said of her sister. “She helps me stay on the right path because I’m not the most focused person. She definitely keeps me in check.”

Charlton, second to Bryant last year, won her first SEC long jump title Friday on day 2 of the SEC Championships.

Start of competition was delayed by storms, but an amended timetable allowed day 2 to finish before more storms hit Lexington.

Charlton passed her last three attempts after leaping 21 feet, 2.75 inches (6.47m) into a headwind (-2.9). That’s because coming up was the 100 meters, in which Charlton qualified for Saturday’s final.

Her time was 11.36 seconds, compared with a PB of 11.11. You might have to go back to Marion Jones or Heike Drechsler to find a long jumper who can sprint that fast.

“Sometimes I can’t control myself,” Charlton allowed.

She got a glimpse of what she could do when jumping 22-10.75 (6.98m) indoors, nearly breaking Moore’s collegiate record and climbing into world No. 1. But then Charlton was fourth indoors in the SECs and NCAAs.

“I don’t know how I jumped that jump. And that’s the problem,” she said. “It took a little minute to find my footing.”

The 21-year-old Bahamian is No. 2 outdoors in the NCAA (and world) at 22-4.5 (6.82).

Yet it is not implausible that she could be an NCAA champion or join her sister as a global medalist. Her indoor distance would have won a medal in all but two World Championships since 1993.

If not at Tokyo in September, maybe in 2026, 2027 or 2028.

“That’s really exciting for me, really making me want to dial in more,” she said. “We're working to try to stay as consistent as possible.”

Another SEC champion on hold is Sofia Yakushina, a 19-year-old Russian freshman at Texas A&M. She took the heptathlon with 6,075 points and was third in the long jump at 20-3.5 (6.18m).

Russian athletes have been banned from World Athletics events since the invasion of Ukraine, so the U.S. college system has allowed Yakushina to develop her talent. She is aiming at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“Next season, next summer, or in two years, we will see what happens in the world,” she said. “So I hope that everything will be fine.

“And hopefully, L.A. will not be without me.”

Yakushina is the NCAA heptathlon leader at 6,260. She is just ahead of Oklahoma’s Pippa Lotta Enok (who didn’t do the hep here after scoring 6,258) and three-time NCAA pentathlon champ Jadin O’Brien of Notre Dame (6,231 last month and 6,220 at ACCs).

Two other foreign winners were South African high jumper Kristi Perez-Snyman of Missouri and Kenyan steepler Doris Lemngole of Alabama.

Perez-Snyman beat two NCAA champs, Georgia’s Elena Kulichenko and Arkansas’ Rachel Glenn, with a PB of 6-2.75 (1.90m). Perez-Snyman cleared 6-1.5 (1.87m) on a third attempt to stay in contention. Kulichenko was second and Glenn third, both at 6-1.50.

Lemngole broke her own meet record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:20.83, winning by 33 seconds.

Double Olympic medalist Kaylyn Brown of Arkansas was fastest in heats of the 400 at 51.07. Georgia's Aaliyah Butler, the NCAA leader at 49.44, was fourth at 51.27.

Arkansas’ Rosey Effiong collided with Tennessee’s Javonya Valcourt just before her race and was holding her head afterward. Effiong went on to win a heat in a slowish 52.17.

Fastest in other trials were South Carolina soph JaMeesia Ford, 11.20 in the 100 after a 22.33 in the 200 Thursday, and Jamaican freshman Habiba Ford of Florida, a PB of 12.62 in the 100m hurdles.

Through eight of 21 events, No. 1-ranked Georgia has 50 points, Alabama 38 and No. 4 Texas A&M 37. No. 3 Arkansas is fifth with 26 and defending champion LSU 11th with 10.

SEC men: Robinson-O’Hagan gets 9th throws title

The men’s side had a couple of foreign winners. But what about those 400-meter trials?

Or Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan?

The Mississippi junior from Woonsocket, R.I., increased his haul of SEC titles to nine in the throws. He repeated as shot put champion with a distance of 67-10.25 (20.68m), a series that included three attempts longer than 67 feet.

Robinson-O’Hagan has won the most recent three NCAA titles in the shot. He won his third SEC hammer crown Thursday.

Elsewhere, Kenyan steepler Collins Kiprop Kipngok of Kentucky broke the meet record with a time of 8:26.83. Previous record of 8:31.54 by Alabama’s Tim Broe had stood since 2000.

Texas A&M vaulter Aleksander Solovev cleared a PB of18-9.25 (5.72m), making the Russian the outdoor NCAA leader. He was the indoor leader at 19-0.25 (5.80m).

The 400 trials resembled a World Championships first round more than a college meet.

South Carolina freshman Josiah Wrice had the top time of 44.99. Wrice, 18, was .01 off the World U20 lead held by Samuel Ogazi, a Nigerian soph at Alabama.

Wrice, of Mathews, N.C., said he became ill late during the indoor season, knocking him out of NCAAs. His previous PB was 45.20 on May 3 at Jacksonville, Fla., after a high school PB of 46.25. He said he had been hitting 38 seconds for 350 meters in workouts.

“That kind of lets me I’m in shape to run 44 in the 400,” he said.

Georgia soph Will Floyd, a Seattle native who represents Canada, and Ogazi were second and third in 45.14 and 45.34, respectively. Texas A&M’s Auhmad Robinson, the collegiate leader at 44.61, won a heat in 45.63 to advance to Saturday’s final – and he was just eighth overall.

Wrice could travel to Oregon twice next month – for NCAAs and USATF U20s.

“I’m excited for my first-ever trip to Eugene,” he said.

Also in trials, Arkansas soph Jordan Anthony clocked 9.96 in the 100 with a slight wind (+2.1). Three freshmen were next: Jelani Watkins, LSU, 10.07; Brody Buffington, Georgia, 10.09; Israel Okon, Auburn, 10.12.

Texas junior Kendrick Smallwood led 110 hurdles trials at 13.25. Auburn soph Ja’Kobe Tharp – NCAA indoor champ and outdoor runner-up, and U20 American record-holder – was just third in his heat in 13.51 but advanced on time.

Through eight of 21 events, Mississippi has 48 points, No. 5 Georgia 43 and Alabama 42. No. 4 Tennessee is fourth with 24. Arkansas, winner of the past four team titles, and No. 2 Texas A&M are tied for sixth with 20.

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.