The University of Mississippi Athletics

Sunday, May 15
Athens, Ga.
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SEC Championships

Ricky Robertson celebrates his record jump (photo by Jake McDonald)

Moore, Robertson Crowned SEC Champions In Athens

5/15/2011 | Track and Field

May 15, 2011

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2011 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships Full Results Get Acrobat Reader

ATHENS, Ga. - Lee Ellis Moore and Ricky Robertson earned SEC titles on Sunday to lead Ole Miss to a strong finish at the 2011 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships from the Spec Towns Track on the University of Georgia campus.

Two of the nation's premier athletes in their events, Moore captured the league crown in the 400 meter hurdles, while Robertson broke his own school record and tied the SEC meet record en route to his fourth straight league title in the high jump.

In perhaps the nation's top track and field conference that boasts seven men's teams among the nation's top 25, the duo helped the 18th-ranked Ole Miss men place sixth overall, which matches last year's finish that had been the best by the Rebels since 1993.

The Ole Miss men finished with 68 team points, one shy of fifth-place Auburn's 69. Led by three top-3 performances, the Rebel women placed ninth with 38 points.

"I am really proud of how our kids competed," head coach Joe Walker said."With our men finishing one point out of fifth in probably the best conference in what is in my opinion the best track and field conference in America, I was tickled to death with our performance. We left a few points on the table, but not many. Most of our kids really stepped up and showed what they are capable of."

Robertson's jump may have been the highlight of the whole meet. He cleared 7-06.00 to break his own school record, set the Spec Towns Track record (that had stood since 1983) and tie the SEC Championships record set by Donald Thomas in 2007. He now claims sole possession of the second-best mark in the nation this year and has one of the top marks by any American, college or pro, this season.

The sophomore All-American from Hernando, Miss., has won four straight SEC titles, capturing the indoor and outdoor crowns in both his freshman and sophomore campaigns.

"I've been trying to get there for what seems like forever," said Robertson of clearing 7-6. "I'm going to make this motivation. I had some good attempts at 7-7, but I think a little more work and I'll be able to get it."

"Ricky had been stuck at 7-5 and three-quarters, and this was definitely a highlight of the meet," Walker said. "People don't realize how hard it is to repeat, and he is undefeated in four SEC Championships. You don't find that very much, and it certainly doesn't come easy."

Paced by Moore's SEC title run, Ole Miss dominated the men's 400 meter hurdles on Sunday. Moore crossed the line first in 50.31, followed closely by Rebel teammate Carson Blanks in second with a time of 50.95. Ras-Len Bully came in fifth with a time of 52.27 to cap off a huge performance for the Rebels.

"This is a great accomplishment, and I just go out here to glorify God," said Moore, a senior All-American from Cordova, Tenn. "It was great having my teammate right there with me. It feels like we're both champions. Hopefully this will just propel us going into the NCAA Regional. It puts a target on our back, but we have a lot of confidence."

"Moore has had a great career, so to top it off with an SEC Championship was really good," Walker said. "In my mind, Carson is an SEC champion, too, as he finished behind another Rebel. To score 22 points in that event was really big for us."

Another big event for the Rebels on Sunday was the men's 100 meter final, which saw two Rebels finish in the top four. Jonathan Juin raced to a third-place result in 10.13 seconds, which was just .02 seconds from the school record and Sunday's winning time of 10.11 by Florida's Terrell Wilks. Mike Granger came in fourth with a personal-best time of 10.16. Juin and Granger now rank second and third in school history in the event and both moved up into the top 15 in the national rankings this year.

"The 100 really got us going good today," Walker said. "Juin and Granger both ran really well to score 11 points for the team."

Both men's relay teams turned in fourth-place efforts on Sunday to earn the team 10 more points. The 4x100 meter relay squad of Granger, Bully, Caleb Lee and Juin raced to a time of 40.10, which ranks the unit fifth-best in school history and among the nation's best this year. The 4x400 squad of Dante Oliver, Blanks, Christopher Bush and Moore ran 3:08.43 to also finish fourth.

The other Rebel man to score on Sunday was freshman Kentrell Sanders, who claimed fourth place in the triple jump with a distance of 52-04.75 that ranks him among the nation's best this year.

On the women's side on Sunday, Sofie Persson again excelled in the 400 meter hurdles and Katie Breathitt captured her second school record of the weekend.

Persson, a senior All-American from Sweden, claimed third place in the 400 meter hurdle finals with a time of 58.08, earning her team six points. She entered the meet ranked 15th in the nation this year in the event.

Breathitt broke her teammate Logan Waites' school record in the 5000 meters with a time of 16:49.76 to place eighth and score another point for her team. She crossed the line just in front of Waites, who was ninth at 16:52.05. Breathitt had already broken the 3000-meter steeplechase school record earlier in the meet.

The women's 4x400 meter relay team of Lauren Hollingsworth, Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen, Kristin Bridges and Persson took sixth place with a time of 3:36.96. They entered the meet ranked eighth in the country this year.

After already scoring in the heptathlon, Brittany Bozeman added another top-eight performance in the javelin. She turned in a sixth-place effort with a throw of 138-6 on Sunday.

Marci Morman added an eighth-place effort in the triple jump with a personal-best 40-10.50 to score another point for the Rebels.

Earlier in the meet, Juliana Smith earned a runner-up finish in the weight throw and Neal Tisher took third with a school-record mark in the pole vault.

"We had a lot of gutsy performances on the women's side," Walker said. "Neal Tisher and Katie Breathitt getting school records was extremely good. Sofie ran really well in the 400 hurdles. We are really proud of Cookie (Smith) getting runner up in hammer and Bozeman scoring in two events, as well."

Ole Miss will now await selections for the NCAA East Regional, which is the first round of the NCAA Championships. The NCAA will select the East region's top 48 athletes in each event (except decathlon, heptathlon and 10,000 meters) to participate at the regional. The performances at the regional will determine who makes the field for the NCAA Championships. The top 24 decathlon, heptathlon and 10,000 meter qualifiers from across the nation will be sent directly to the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA East Preliminary Round will take place May 26-28 in Bloomington, Ind. The NCAA Championships will be held June 8-11 in Des Moines, Iowa.

FINAL AGATE

Men

100 Meter Finals
3. Jonathan Juin - 10.13 (6 points)
4. Mike Granger - 10.16 (5 points)

100 Meter Prelims
4. Jonathan Juin - 10.27q
7. Mike Granger - 10.32q

200 Meter Prelims
10. Jonathan Juin - 20.88
18. Mike Granger - 21.43
23. Creighton Serrette - 22.44

400 Meter Prelims
16. Dante Oliver - 47.79
21. Montez Griffin - 48.85
26. Brian Word - 49.34
27. Creighton Serrette - 49.69

800 Meter Prelims
20. Riley Young - 1:54.86
26. Chad Berry - 1:57.10

1500 Meter Prelims
16. Riley Young - 3:57.22
18. Chad Berry - 4:00.62

10,000 Meters
15. Kipchirchir Kiptoo - 33:16.15

400 Meter Hurdle Finals
1. Lee Ellis Moore - 50.31 (10 points)
2. Carson Blanks - 50.95 (8 points)
5. Ras-Len Bully - 52.27 (4 points)

400 Meter Hurdle Prelims
1. Lee Ellis Moore - 50.93q
3. Carson Blanks - 51.72q
4. Ras-Len Bully - 52.04q

3000 Meter Steeplechase
4. Martin Kirui - 9:02.61 (5 points)

4x100 Meter Relay
4. Ole Miss - 40.10 (5 points)

4x400 Meter Relay
4. Ole Miss - 3:08.43 (5 points)

Long Jump
8. Caleb Lee - 25-01.75 (1 point)
13. Ricky Robertson - 23-06.25
15. Ras-Len Bully - 23-00.75
20. Morris Kersh - 21-08.00

Triple Jump
4. Kentrell Sanders - 52-04.75 (5 points)
13. Morris Kersh - 49-09.00

High Jump
1. Ricky Robertson - 7-06.00 SR MR FR (10 points)

Pole Vault
Jason Anderson - NH

Javelin
5. Benjamin Lapane - 210-8 (4 points)

Discus
13. Peyton Wilhoite - 149-6

Hammer Throw
Peyton Wilhoite - FOUL

Women

100 Meter Prelims
12. LaJada Baldwin - 11.69
18. Jasmine Williams - 11.93

200 Meter Prelims
9. LaJada Baldwin - 23.63
19. Jasmine Williams - 24.09

400 Meter Prelims
12. Kristin Bridges - 54.02
17. Lauren Hollingsworth - 55.02

800 Meter Prelims
22. Tia Leake - 2:16.34
25. Anne Threlkeld - 2:17.74
26. Amy McCrory - 2:20.65

1500 Meter Prelims
23. Kayleigh Skinner - 4:39.10
30. Anne Threlkeld - 4:42.08
31. Amy McCrory - 4:42.54
36. Allison Kneip - 4:54.33

5000 Meters
8. Katie Breathitt - 16:49.76 SR (1 point)
9. Logan Waites - 16:52.05
27. Kayleigh Skinner - 17:47.88

10,000 Meters
10. Logan Waites - 37:40.13

400 Meter Hurdle Finals
3. Sofie Persson - 58.08 (6 points)

400 Meter Hurdle Prelims
3. Sofie Persson - 58.52q
10. Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen - 1:00.45

3000 Meter Steeplechase
5. Katie Breathitt - 10:39.95 SR (4 points)

4x100 Meter Relay
10. Ole Miss - 45.82

4x400 Meter Relay
6. Ole Miss - 3:36.96 (3 points)

Long Jump
9. Brittany Bozeman - 19-06.00
15. Aria Gaines - 18-11.75
16. Marci Morman - 18-10.50
19. Alexius Hightower - 18-08.00

Triple Jump
8. Marci Morman - 40-10.50 (1 point)
10. Aria Gaines - 40-01.25
17. Alexius Hightower - 37-02.25
18. Kelly Norton - 36-11.75

Pole Vault
3. Neal Tisher - 13-09.75 SR (6 points)

Shot Put
13. Betty Williams - 45-07.00

Discus
7. Betty Williams - 157-3 (2 points)

Hammer Throw
2. Juliana Smith - 189-0 (8 points)
18. Jazmin Miller - 154-8

Javelin
6. Brittany Bozeman - 138-6 (3 points)
13. Neal Tisher - 126-1

Heptathlon
6. Mary Ashton Nall - 5,195 points (3 points)
8. Brittany Bozeman - 4,885 points (1 point)
10. Fabia McDonald - 4,598 points
13. Christiana Coleman - 4,228 points

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