Rebels become first program since 1997 to capture both weight throw crowns, including 25-meter effort from Davis and first men’s championship in school history from Robinson-O'Hagan; Maru and Thorvaldson both set meet records for Razorbacks in 5,000 victories, with Abadie earning first women’s pole vault victory for Texas A&M and South Carolina achieving first men’s DMR win 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos courtesy of Lily Dozier, Arkansas, Ole Miss and SEC

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It was a day where long title droughts were ended, but also a night where some of the most consistent competitors in collegiate history also demonstrated exactly why with their performances Friday at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships.

Jalani Davis not only repeated as women’s weight throw champion, but also helped Ole Miss capture its fifth consecutive crown and seventh in the past eight years.

Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan made history for the Rebels by securing the first men’s weight throw championship at the conference final, completing the first sweep by any program of both titles since South Carolina in 1997.

INTERVIEWS | RESULTS | PHOTOS by Lily Dozier

Heather Abadie won the first women’s indoor pole vault title for Texas A&M, with Keaton Daniel repeating for Kentucky and earning his fifth career SEC men’s pole vault championship, including the past three outdoors.

Claire Bryant made it three in a row in the women’s long jump for Florida, including the first of her career.

Wayne Pinnock secured the first men’s long jump title for Arkansas since Jarrion Lawson in 2016.

And Florida celebrated its first women’s distance medley relay championship since 2014, but South Carolina ended an even longer drought, capturing the memorable first men’s DMR crown in program history.

Elise Thorner, Laila Owens, Flomena Asekol and Parker Valby triumphed in a meet-record 10:53.29, eclipsing the 2022 mark of 10:56.39 produced by Ole Miss.

Asekol, an Alabama transfer from Kenya, contributed to the Crimson Tide capturing the women’s DMR crown last year in 11:04.99.

Jaouad Khchina, Bryson Miller, Joshua Kosgei and Anass Essayi prevailed for South Carolina in 9:34.50, holding off Auburn (9:35.06) and Arkansas (9:38.43).

Davis became only the third collegiate female athlete and the ninth women’s competitor in global history to surpass the 25-meter mark, defending her title with a second-round effort of 82-3.75 (25.09m).

Jasmine Mitchell, the 2021-22 champion for the Rebels, placed second with an opening-round mark of 77-10.25 (23.73m).

Giavonna Meeks, a Vanderbilt sophomore competing in her first indoor season, took third with a lifetime-best 75-7.25 (23.04m) in the third round.

Robinson-O’Hagan produced a third-round performance of 77-3.25 (23.55m), improving from his second-place finish last season to capture the first men’s weight throw title for the Rebels.

Ruben Banks, an Arkansas transfer from Great Britain, rallied with a sixth-round throw of 73-11.50 (22.54m) to place second for Alabama.

Kentucky’s Dennis Ohene-Adu, representing Canada, took third with a personal-best effort of 73-6 (22.40m) in the fifth round.

Pinnock, representing Jamaica, prevailed with a third-round leap of 27-2 (8.28m), holding off a late surge from Florida’s Malcolm Clemons, who achieved a sixth-round performance of 26-11.75 (8.22m).

Caleb Foster took third for the Gators at 26-3 (8.00m).

Bryant soared to a third-round jump of 22-0.75 (6.72m) to follow the past two championships from former teammate and PUMA professional Jasmine Moore. Bryant is the sixth female competitor in program history to win an SEC indoor long jump crown.

Nia Robinson, representing Jamaica, was runner-up for Arkansas with a fifth-round effort of 21-1.50 (6.44m).

Joniar Thomas of Texas A&M, competing for Grenada, placed third in the long jump at 21 feet (6.40m) in the sixth round.

Thomas completed the long jump less than 20 minutes after running the 800 and clocking 2:27.18 to complete the pentathlon with a third-place performance of 3,997 points.

Kentucky’s Charity Hufnagel, a former Mid-American Conference pentathlon champion at Ball State, punctuated her first SEC crown with a 2:24.51 effort in the 800 to triumph with 4,098 points.

Auburn’s Paula Grauvogel, representing Germany, became only the second female athlete in program history to eclipse the 4,000-point barrier, achieving a lifetime-best 2:24.59 in the 800 to earn 4,011 points and place second overall.

Daniel cleared 18-5.25 (5.62m) on his second attempt to secure back-to-back pole vault titles for Kentucky.

Georgia’s Nikolai Van Huyssteen, representing South Africa, edged Texas A&M competitor Jack Mann III for second based on fewer attempts after both athletes cleared 17-6.50 (5.35m).

Abadie, a Canadian competitor, cleared 14-2 (4.32m) on her first attempt to capture the first women’s pole vault crown for Texas A&M.

Tennessee’s Sarah Schmitt and Arkansas athlete Marin Chamberlin tied for second by both clearing 13-10 (4.22m) on their first opportunities.

The host Razorbacks swept the 5,000 championships for the first time since 2020, including a meet record from Ugandan competitor Peter Maru in the men’s final to lead three Arkansas athletes finishing in the top four.

Maru clocked 13:31.11, eclipsing the 2004 meet all-time performance of 13:42.95 by former Arkansas star Alistair Cragg.

Toby Gillen of Ole Miss placed second in 13:32.66, with Kenyan competitors Kirami Yego (13:33.12) and Patrick Kiprop (13:34.11) taking third and fourth for Arkansas.

Sydney Thorvaldson followed her outdoor 10,000-meter championship by prevailing in the indoor 5,000 in a meet-record 15:42.45.

Thorvaldson lowered the 15:43.64 effort achieved in 2022 by Alabama standout Mercy Chelangat.

Alabama’s Brenda Tuwei, representing Kenya, was second in 15:53.86 and Australian competitor Amelia Mazza-Downie took third for Florida in 16:00.49.

Arkansas secured the top four spots on the opening day of the men’s heptathlon, with Marcus Weaver leading at 3,295 points, followed by Yariel Soto Torrado at 3,266 points, Gabriel Emmanuel with 3,239 points and Daniel Spejcher accumulating 3,230 points.