BATON ROUGE — Claston Bernard of LSU became the first man since 1996 to defend the conference title in the decathlon, capping off a strong second day of competition for LSU at the Southeastern Conference Championships at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
The Tigers find themselves in second place with 26 points, just off the 28 posted by Tennessee. Georgia sits in third, followed by Alabama. Arkansas has a commanding lead in the women’s competition with 42 points, followed by Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina.
Bernard opened the day by winning his heat of the 110-meter hurdles with ease, clocking a personal best time of 14.96. He then went on to win the discus with a throw of 156-0.
Needing to finish within 21 seconds of Boris Kawohl of Tennessee to secure victory in the 1,500-meter run to secure victory over the world’s fifth-ranked decathlete, Bernard finished just 13 seconds off Kawohl’s time in the event to hold him off. Kawohl won the event with a time of 4:24.83, but Bernard came in at 4:37.21.
Loren Leaverton finished fifth in the women’s heptathlon with a personal best score of 5,366. Despite finishing two places lower than a year ago, her score was higher than last year’s total and was an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
Likhaya Dayile came up with a second place finish in the men’s 10,000-meter run with a time of 30:36.58. Adam Dailey of Arkansas won the event with a time of 30:14.63.
Javier Nieto finished second in the men’s hammer throw for the second straight year with a throw of 212-1. Andras Haklits of Georgia won the event with an SEC Championship meet record throw of 242-7.
In preliminary action on Friday night, Peta-Gaye Dowdie looked good in the 200-meter dash, winning her heat in a season-best time of 22.86, the sixth fastest time in the world in 2000. Valma Bass also advanced to Sunday’s final, winning her heat in a time of 23.35.
The Lady Tigers qualified a pair of runners for Sunday’s 400-meter hurdle final, as April Sams finished third in her heat with a time of 1:00.87 and Althea Thomas finished fourth in her heat but advanced with a time of 1:00.92.
Claudine Williams finished second in her heat of the 800-meter run, but still qualified for Sunday’s final with a time of 2:10.88.
Derrick Brew finished second in his heat of the men’s 200-meter dash in a time of 20.63 and advanced to Sunday’s final.
The SEC Outdoor Championships continue Saturday afternoon with additional preliminary action and a number of field event finals.
Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Bernie Moore Track Stadium
Baton Rouge, La.
Day Two Results
Men’s Results
Team Scores- 1, Tennessee, 28. 2, LSU, 26. 3, Georgia, 18. 4, Alabama, 14. 5, Arkansas, 12. 6, Auburn, 11. 7, Kentucky, 6. 8, Florida, 2.
Track Events-
10,000-Meter Run- 1, Adam Dailey, Arkansas, 30:14.63. 2, Likhaya Dayile, 30:36.58. 3, Christopher Mutai, Alabama, 30:51.49. 4, Brad Leach, Tennessee, 30:59.39. 5, Japteth Koech, Alabama, 31:29.58. 6, Noah Murgor, 31:42.58. 7, Eddie Ernest-Jones, Florida, 32:00.64. 8, Michael Chettle, Alabama, 32:15.37. 9, Alan Dunleavy, Arkansas, 32:19.06. 10, Ryan Joseph, Arkansas, 33:27.25.
Field Events –
Hammer Throw- 1, Andras Haklits, Georgia, 242-7 (SEC Championship meet record – old record 231-0, Tomas Sjostrom, Georgia, 1995). 2, Javier Nieto, LSU, 212-1. 3, Matt Kavanaugh, Kentucky, 207-1. 4, Panagi Mavranganis, Georgia, 202-5. 5, Gabor Mate, Auburn, 196-11. 6, Ryan Kavanagh, Auburn, 191-1. 7, Kibwe Johnson, Georgia, 179-1. 8, Reedus Thurmond, Auburn, 174-7. 9, Stacey Andrews, Ole Miss, 164-10. 10, Lance Jauron, Tennessee, 164-9. 11, Steve Pitlik, Tennessee, 161-8. 12, Brian Woessner, Florida, 160-9. 13, Paul Gardner, LSU, 156-8. 14, Viktor Mara, Mississippi State, 153-0. 15, Matt Staub, South Carolina, 152-8. 16, Matt Caton, Mississippi State, 152-2.
Decathlon
Final Individual Scores- 1, Claston Bernard, LSU, 7,706. 2, Boris Kawohl, Tennessee, 7,633. 3, Stephen Harris, Tennessee, 7,313. 4, Kevin Thompson, Tennessee, 7,183. 5, Pat Buckheit, Tennessee, 7,137. 6, Matt Miller, Auburn, 7,097. 7, Enrico Gordon, Arkansas, 7,047. 8, Treon Penson, 7,006. 9, Daniel Hunter, Mississippi State, 6,611. 10, Garry Martin, South Carolina, 6,234. 11, Chris Machol, South Carolina, 6,175. 12, Sean Krawieki, South Carolina, 6,097. 13, Recie Medlock, LSU, 6010. 14, Mark Winiarski, Auburn, 5,854. 15, Ryan Hunter, Alabama, 5,806. 16, Marc Reardon, Kentucky, 5,556. 17, Matt Reardon, Kentucky, 5,353.
110-meter hurdles- 1, Pat Buckwheit, Tennessee, 14.85. 2 (tie), Boris Kawohl, Tennessee, Treon Penson, Georgia, 14.89. 4, Claston Bernard, LSU, 14.94. 5, Steven Mesler, Florida, 15.06. 6, Matt Miller, Auburn, 15.11. 7, Daniel Hunter, Mississippi State, 15.23. 8 (tie), Kevin Thompson, Tennessee, Stephen Harris, Tennessee, 15.26. 10, William Mizell, Florida, 15.47. 11, Enrico Gordon, Arkansas, 15.83. 12, Recie Medlock, LSU, 15.91. 13, Sean Krawieki, South Carolina, 16.57. 14, Ryan Hunter, Alabama, 16.79. 15, Mark Winiarski, Auburn, 16.94. 16, Garry Martin, South Carolina, 17.02. 17, Marc Reardon, Kentucky, 17.60. 18, Matt Reardon, Kentucky, 17.73. 19, Gary Barnes, Alabama, 18.06. 20, Chris Machol, South Carolina, 19.24. CJ Anderson, South Carolina, FS.
1,500-meter run- 1, Boris Kawohl, Tennessee, 4:24.83. 2, Garry Martin, South Carolina, 4:28.35. 3, Stephen Harris, Tennessee, 4:28.36. 4, Chris Machol, South Carolina, 4:36.28. 5 (tie), Matt Reardon, Kentucky, Matt Miller, Auburn, 4:36.57. 7, Claston Bernard, LSU, 4:37.21. 8, Treon Penson, Georgia, 4:40.42. 9, Marc Reardon, Kentucky, 4:41.82. 10, Pat Buckheit, Tennessee, 4:42.67. 11, Ryan Hunter, Alabama, 4:43.85. 12, Recie Medlock, LSU, 4:46.82. 13, Kevin Thompson, Tennessee, 4:49.07. 14, Mark Winiarski, Auburn, 5:06.36. 15, Sean Krawieki, South Carolina, 5:07.40. 16, Daniel Hunter, Mississippi State, 5:25.31. 17, Enrico Gordon, Arkansas, 5:35.37.
Pole Vault- 1, Boris Kawohl, Tennessee, 15-5. 2 (tie), Matt Miller, Auburn, Kevin Thompson, Tennessee, 14-5 1/4. 4, Pat Buckheit, Tennessee, 14-1 1/4. 5, William Mizell, Florida, 13-9 1/4. 6 (tie), Daniel Hunter, Mississippi State, Treon Penson, Georgia, 13-1 +. 8 (tie), Claston Bernard, LSU, Stephen Harris, Tennessee, 12-9 +.. 10, Garry Martin, South Carolina, 12-5 +.. 11, Steven Messler, Florida, 11-9 3/4. 12 (tie), Mark Winiarski, Auburn, Chris Machol, South Carolina, 11-1 3/4. 14, Recie Medlock, LSU, 10-6. 15 (tie), Matt Reardon, Kentucky, Enrico Gordon, Arkansas, 10-2. 17, Marc Reardon, Kentucky, 9-10. 18, Sean Krawieki, South Carolina, 9-6 1/4. 19, Gary Barnes, Alabama, 8-6 1/4. Ryan Hunter, Alabama, NH.
Discus- 1, Claston Bernard, LSU, 156-0. 2, Enrico Gordon, Arkansas, 151-0. 3, Pat Buckheit, Tennessee, 139-11. 4, Boris Kawohl, Tennessee, 139-11. 5, Steven Mesler, Florida, 134-3. 6, Gary Barnes, Alabama, 129-5. 7, Garry Martin, South Carolina, 124-10. 8, Treon Penson, Georgia, 123-10. 9, Stephen Harris, Tennessee, 122-8. 10, Matt Miller, Auburn, 121-0. 11, Kevin Thompson, Tennessee, 119-3. 12, William Mizell, Florida, 115-2. 13, Ryan Hunter, 110-2. 14, Mark Winiarski, Auburn, 108-11. 15, Chris Machol, South Carolina, 106-10. 16, Daniel Hunter, Mississippi State, 98-6. 17, Recie Medlock, LSU, 95-2. 18, Marc Reardon, Kentucky, 92-4. 19, Sean Krawiecki, South Carolina, 85-7. 20, Matt Reardon, Kentucky, 83-1. CJ Anderson, DNS.
Javelin- 1, Enrico Gordon, Arkansas, 195-8. 2, Boris Kawohl, Tennessee, 175-5. 3 (tie), Mark Winiarski, Auburn, Claston Bernard, LSU, 174-0. 5, Daniel Hunter, Mississippi State, 167-10. 6, Stephen Harris, Tennessee, 164-0. 7, Garry Martin, South Carolina, 162-7. 8, Treon Penson, Georgia, 160-0. 9, Kevin Thompson, Tennessee, 154-7. 10, Pat Buckheit, Tennessee, 151-5. 11, Ryan Hunter, Alabama, 145-6. 12, William Mizell, Florida, 144-4. 13, Matt Miller, Auburn, 142-7. 14, Chris Machol, South Carolina, 141-9. 15, Sean Krawieki, South Carolina, 141-9. 16, Gary Barnes, Alabama, 137-9. 17, Marc Reardon, Kentucky, 135-6. 18, Recie Medlock, LSU, 129-6. 19, Matt Reardon, Kentucky, 114-9. 20, Steven Mesler, Florida, 114-9.
Women’s Results-
Team Scores – 1, Arkansas, 42. 2, Georgia, 24. 3, Tennessee, 15. 4, South Carolina, 13. 5, Alabama, 11. 6, LSU, 4. 7, Auburn, 3. 8 (tie), Mississippi State, Florida, 2. 10, Ole Miss, 1.
Track Events-
10,000-Meter Run- 1, Amy Yoder, Arkansas, 35:59.22. 2, Erin Jones, Georgia, 36:12.21. 3, Amy Wiseman, Arkansas, 37:13.36. 4, Robin Carver, Georgia, 37:38.34. 5, Katie Orr, South Carolina, 38:16.66. 6, Mindy Watkins, Tennessee, 38:35.52. 7, Nicole Williamson, Arkansas, 39:47.22. 8, Amy Bartosik, Tennessee, 39:52.03. 9, Kelley Franklin, Auburn, 40:04.87. 10, Karen Padula, South Carolina, 40:32.48. 11, Ronni Watjus, Mississippi State, 41:15.17.
Field Events –
Hammer Throw- 1, Katie McCoy, Georgia, 183-0. 2, Safiya Ingram, Alabama, 177-5. 3, Amber Crumbo, Arkansas, 172-11. 4, Andrea Pappas, Tennessee, 171-0. 5, Loren Thouvenot, South Carolina, 169-9. 6, Brigitte Evans, Alabama, 169-0. 7, Jukina Dickerson, Florida, 168-5. 8, Beth Seymour, Georgia, 164-9. 9, Janna Wren, Alabama, 163-11. 10, Trisha Curtis, Mississippi State, 161-9. 11, Stacey Salmon-Rich, Mississippi State, 160-9. 12, Rebecca Wedel, Kentucky, 159-10. 13, Candy Mitchell, South Carolina, 159-1. 14, Katherine Townsend, Florida, 158-4. 15, Merilyn Brown, Florida, 155-7. 16, Beatrice Louisy-Louis, Auburn, 152-7. 17, Gudlei Harardottir, Georgia, 151-2. 18, Allison Walker, Georgia, 148-3. 19, Candice Gonzalez, LSU, 148-0. 20, Mamee Groves, South Carolina, 146-11. 21, Alana Robinson, South Carolina, 143-9. 22, Kyshia Ewing, Vanderbilt, 142-11. 23, Aisha Grant, South Carolina, 142-3. 24, Jennifer Wolfinger, LSU, 140-11. 25, Diane Slinden, Tennessee, 136-11. 26, Stacy Martin, Auburn, 123-9.
Heptathlon
Final Individual Scores- 1, Deedee Brown, Arkansas, 5,560. 2, Jamie Walker, Arkansas, 5,460. 3, Frenke Bolt, Tennessee, 5,449. 4, Tacita Bass, South Carolina, 5,381. 5, Loren Leaverton, 5,366. 6, Vanessa Johnson, Auburn, 5,167. 7, Elisha Williams, Mississippi State, 5,016. 8, Daya Hampton, Ole Miss, 4,863. 9, Virginia Miller, Arkansas, 4,822. 10, Temitavo Adeagbo, 4,582. 11, Fran Goodwin, Ole Miss, 4,497.
800-meter run- 1, Tacita Bass, South Carolina, 2:17.22. 2, Jamie Walker, Arkansas, 2:17.93. 3, Virginia Miller, Arkansas, 2:18.48. 4, Frenke Bolt, Tennessee, 2:19.01. 5, Loren Leaverton, LSU, 2:21.65. 6, Daya Hampton, Ole Miss, 2:23.36. 7, Deedee Brown, Arkansas, 2:24.29. 8, Temitavo Adeagbo, Kentucky, 2:32.83. 9, Fran Goodwin, Ole Miss, 2:33.22. 10, Elisha Williams, Mississippi State, 2:41.21. 11, Vanessa Johnson, Auburn, 2:42.05.
Javelin- 1, Deedee Brown, Arkansas, 129-9. 2, Frenke Bolt, Tennessee, 129-1. 3, Elisha Williams, Mississippi State, 127-9. 4, Fran Goodwin, Ole Miss, 117-0. 5, Jamie Walker, Arkansas, 112-4. 6, Vanessa Johnson, Auburn, 110-5. 7, Virginia Miller, Arkansas, 109-9. 8, Tacita Bass, South Carolina, 103-9. 9, Loren Leaverton, LSU, 101-8. 10, Temitavo Adeagbo, Kentucky, 90-0. 11, Daya Hampton, Ole Miss, 79-6.
Long Jump- 1, Elisha Williams, Mississippi State, 20-5. 2, Vanessa Johnson, Auburn, 19-10 3/4. 3, Jamie Walker, Arkansas, 19-5 1/4. 4, Loren Leaverton, LSU, 19-1 +. 5, Deedee Brown, Arkansas, 19-1 1/4. 6, Frenke Lott, Tennessee, 18-9 3/4. 7, Tacita Bass, South Carolina, 18-8. 8, Daya Hampton, Ole Miss, 18-3. 9, Temitavo Adeagbo, Kentucky, 17-6 1/4. 10, Fran Goodwin, Ole Miss, 15-9 3/4. Virginia Miller, Arkansas, Foul.