Weekend Recap: Collegiate Stars Alter Record Book At Conference Championships

Collegiate track & field athletes have been on another level in 2023!

Did you expect them to slow down during Conference Championships Weekend?

From The USTFCCCA InfoZone: Meets & Results | Records & Lists

Stars always shine under the bright lights and nothing illuminates competition more than the postseason.

Here are some moments that stood out from Conference Championships Weekend.

Hibbert Breaks Triple Jump CR

Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas took down one of the oldest CRs on the books, bounding 17.87m (58-7½) at the SEC Championships in round 2 of the triple jump.

That added almost a foot to the CR of 17.57m (57-7¾) set by Keith Connor of SMU 41 years ago at the 1982 NCAA Championships. The wind reading on Hibbert’s mark was 1.3 meters/second, under the allowable of 2.0 for record purposes.

Hibbert set the indoor CR of 17.54m (57-6½) in winning the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.

LSU & Florida Better CR 4×100

The final day of SEC Championships track action got off to a scintillating start Saturday in the men’s 4×100 relay as both LSU and Florida broke the collegiate record.

LSU’s 37.90 just held off Florida’s 37.93 as both foursomes were faster than the previous CR of 37.97, set by Florida in winning the 2019 NCAA Championships.

Brandon Hicklin, Dorian Camel, Da’Marcus Fleming and Godson Oghenebrume got the baton around the oval for the Tigers, while the Gators matched up with Ryan Willie, Jacory Patterson, PJ Austin and Robert Gregory.

Florida & Alabama Break 4×4 CR

Florida and Alabama both went under the collegiate record in the 4×400 at the SEC Championships.

The Gators won in 2:57.76, with the Crimson Tide at 2:58.01 also under the previous CR or 2:58.53 (set by Florida last April).

Georgia finished third in 2:59.63 as three collegiate foursomes ran sub-3:00.

Garland Marvels With 8589 Points In Decathlon

Georgia’s Kyle Garland won the decathlon at the SEC Championships with 8589 points.

That’s a score no other collegian has ever achieved. Only Garland himself has scored higher with his 8720 from last year.

Garland was as hot as the temperatures at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium, which reached 90 degrees on Friday. He was cooking in the first event – blazing to a 10.57 in the 100 meters on Thursday – as well the Day 1’s final 400 – a PR 47.89.

He was at 4626 points at that point. He started Day 2 just as hot with a wind-aided 13.66 in the 110-meter hurdles – the fastest ever by a collegian in the decathlon. That gave him 1019 points, the most of any of his single events.

With 7998 points after nine events, Garland cruised 3.75 victory laps in the 1500 meters in 4:54.89 to close out the second-highest score in collegiate history.

Armstrong Hurdles In Her Territory – 12.31

Only Alia Armstrong has run as fast as 12.31 collegiately in the 100-meter hurdles.

The LSU junior is the only collegian who can claim two such times.

Alas, on both occasions the wind reading was over the allowable 2.0 meter-per-second limit for record purposes.

Her latest 12.31 came in the prelims of the SEC Championships on her home track at Bernie Moore Stadium in Baton Rouge with a wind reading of 2.2mps. Her previous 12.31 (+2.5) came in finishing fourth at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Armstrong followed a day later by winning a loaded final in a PR 12.40 to hold off Ackera Nugent of Arkansas (12.43) and Masai Russell of Kentucky (12.47).

Armstrong moved to =No. 3 on the all-time collegiate list at 12.40, while Nugent is now No. 6 at 12.43. Russell’s 12.47 matches her second-fastest ever – she’s the collegiate record holder at 12.36.

Smith Soars Into Rarefied Air

Hey, Tara. You have company.

Ackelia Smith of Texas leapt 7.08m (23-2¾) to win the long jump title at the Big 12 Championships and move up to No. 2 in collegiate history behind former The Bowerman finalist Tara Davis (now Davis-Woodhall). Davis flew a collegiate-record 7.14m (23-5¼) two years ago at the Texas Relays.

Davis, Smith, Carol Lewis and Jasmine Moore are the only four women in collegiate history to surpass the 7.00m barrier in the event (Moore did so indoors this past March at the NCAA Championships).

Stona No. 2 All-Time In Discus

Roje Stona of Arkansas hurled the discus out to 68.64m (225-2), winning the SEC title with a mark that would have been a collegiate record a year ago.

He now stands to No. 2 all-time collegiately behind California’s Mykolas Alekna, who owns the CR at 71.00m (232-11).

Stona had four measured throws that would have won the competition as teammate Ralford Mullings was runner-up at 62.00m (203-5).

Alfred Continues To Sizzle The Track

Julien Alfred left her mark at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.

Alfred opened the afternoon by teaming up with Ezinne Abba, Rhasidat Adeleke and Kevona Davis to lower Texas’ collegiate record in the Women’s 4×100 Relay to 41.89 from 42.00. Then, just a few events later, Alfred clocked a wind-legal 10.84 in the 100 meters to win the conference title and notch the fourth-best performance in collegiate history, just off her wind-legal PR of 10.81 set last year at the same Championships.

Moore Jumping, Moore Titles

The SEC should change their slogan to “It Just Means Moore.”

Moore, as in Jasmine Moore.

The Florida junior won her ninth overall conference title Friday with an incredible display in the long jump.

Any one of her five marked jumps would have won her second-straight SEC Outdoor title in the event.

All were over 6.80m and 22-feet, but her farthest was her longest wind-legal effort ever at 6.88m (22-7), equal to No. 9 on the all-time collegiate list.

Moore has a career six NCAA titles, combining her skills in the triple jump. She owns the farthest absolute collegiate mark ever in the triple jump – an indoor 15.12m (49-7¼).