Razorbacks vault into meet lead

Sandi Morris of Arkansas clears the ball while competing in the pole vault during the Tyson Invitational Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015, at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Opening day of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships nearly turned into Hog Heaven.

Both the Arkansas women and men bolted to the lead inside the University of Kentucky's Nutter Field House.

SEC Indoor Championships

Results from Friday’s finals at the SEC Indoor Championships being held through today at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.:

MEN

TEAM SCORES (4 events) 1. Arkansas, 33; 2. Florida, 24; 3. Auburn, 20; 4. Tennessee, 19; 5. Alabama, 16; 6. Texas A&M, 15; 7. Mississippi, 11; 8. Georgia, 9; 9. Missouri, 7; 10. Kentucky, 1; 10. LSU, 1.

3,000 1. Kemoy Campbell, Arkansas, 8:00.27; 2. Stanley Kebenei, Arkansas, 8:02.64; 3. Mark Parrish, Florida, 8:05.70; 4. Ty McCormack, Auburn, 8:05.76; 5. Brandon Lord, Georgia, 8:08.08; 6. Alex George, Arkansas, 8:08.61; 7. Jimmy Clark, Florida, 8:14.77; 8. MJ Erb, Mississippi, 8:16.62; HIGH JUMP 1. DJ Smith, Auburn, 7-3 ¼; 2. Justin Fondren, Alabama, 7-2 ¼; 2. Ken LeGassey, Arkansas, 7-2 ¼; 4. Shawn Johnson, Auburn, 7-0 ½; 5. Branden Greene, Mississippi, 7-0 ½; 6. Mitchell Hatten, Missouri, 6-10 ¾; 7. Samuel McSwain, Texas A&M, 6-10 ¾; 8. Wesley Edwards, Tennessee, 6-10 ¾. LONG JUMP 1. Marquis Dendy, Florida,26-3; 2. Olabanji Asekun, Texas A&M, 25-1 ¾; 3. Phillip Young, Mississippi,25-1 ¼; 4. Jarrion Lawson, Arkansas, 24-11 ¼; 5. KeAndre Bates, Florida, 24-10 ½; 6. Cameron Hudson, Alabama, 24-10; 7. Latario Collie, Texas A&M, 24-7 ¾; 8. Terence Boyd, Kentucky, 24-3 ½. WEIGHT THROW 1. Cameron Brown, Tennessee, 74-1 ¾; 2. Tavis Bailey, Tennessee, 70-6 ¼; 3. Daniel Haugh, Alabama, 68-7; 4. Alex Poursanidis, Georgia, 68-6 ½; 5. Brian Duncan, Missouri,67-5 ¼; 6. Austin Cook, Texas A&M, 66-6 ½; 7. Kyle Strawn, Florida, 64-10 ¾; 8. Rodney Brown, LSU, 64-10 ½.

WOMEN

TEAM SCORES (5 events) 1. Arkansas 49.50; 2. Georgia 22; 3. Kentucky 19; 4. Auburn 16; 5. Tennessee 15; 5. LSU 15; 7. Missouri 14; 8. Florida 13; 9. Texas A&M 12.50; 10. Mississippi State 9; 11. Alabama 7; 12. Mississippi 3.

3,000 1. Dominique Scott, Arkansas, 9:17.24; 2. Diane Robison, Arkansas, 9:21.13; 3. Chelsea Blaase, Tennessee, 9:26.06; 4. Shannon Klenke, Arkansas, 9:27.72; 5. Taylor Tubbs, Florida, 9:31.84; 6. Grace Fletcher, Texas A&M, 9:39.41; 7. Susan Rachel Givens, Auburn, 9:40.14; 8. Karissa Schweizer, Missouri, 9:40.20.

LONG JUMP 1. Sha’Keela Saunders, Kentucky, 21-6 10; 2. Kenyattia Hackworth, Kentucky, 21-3 ½; 3. Keturah Orji, Georgia, 21-1 ¼; 4. Nataliyah Friar, LSU, 20-9 ¾; 5. Darrielle McQueen, Florida, 20-8; 6. Quanesha Burks, Alabama, 20-5; 7. Dominique Bullock, Auburn, 20-4 ¼; 8. Erica Bougard, MSU, 20-3 ¾.

POLE VAULT 1. Sandi Morris, Arkansas, 15-3 ½; 2. Jessie Johnson, Auburn, 14-0 ½; 2. Ariel Voskamp, Arkansas, 14-0 ½; 4. Desiree Freier, Arkansas, 13-8 ½; 5. Lakan Taylor, Alabama, 13-8 ½; 6. Erin Champion, Tennessee, 13-2 ½; 7. Megan Zimlich, Arkansas, 13-2 ½; 7. Brittany Wooten,Texas A&M, 13-2 ½.

SHOT PUT 1. Tori Bliss, LSU, 60-1; 2. Jill Rushin, Missouri, 57-9 ½; 3. Cassie Wertman, Tennessee, 56-3 ¾; 4. Kearsten Peoples, Missouri, 55-10 ½; 5. Brea Garrett, Texas A&M, 53-3 ¾; 6. Valentina Muzaric, Auburn, 53-3 ½; 7. Rachel Dincoff, Auburn, 51-9 ¼; 8. Beckie Famurewa, Kentucky, 50-5 ¼.

PENTATHLON 1. Kendell Williams, Georgia, 4519; 2. Erica Bougard, MSU, 4376; 3. Quintunya Chapman, Georgia, 4,244; 4. Brittany Harrell, Florida, 4,208; 5. Jena Hemann, Texas A&M, 4,179; 6. Fabia McDonald, Mississippi, 4,168; 7. Taliyah Brooks, Arkansas, 4,125; 8. Leigha Brown, Arkansas, 4,059.

The top-ranked women, behind a 1-3-4-7 finish in the pole vault and a 1-2-4 in the 3,000 meters, have 49.5 points through five events. No. 2 Georgia is in second with 22 points, followed by No. 9 Kentucky with 19.

"If there is a preliminary scoring sheet that is out there, as far as we're concerned as a staff, we're ahead of schedule," women's Coach Lance Harter said. "We're really pleased."

Arkansas' third-ranked men, who completed the day with a 1-2-6 finish in the 3,000 meters, have 33 points through four events. No. 1 Florida is in second with 24 points.

"We had a good day," men's Coach Chris Bucknam said. "Obviously a good way to end the first day of a two-day competition. It's falling into line how we expected, but it's going to be a big battle, I think, tomorrow between us and (Texas) A&M and Florida.

"So we're going to have to come back tomorrow and make some hay with the five qualifiers that we have, plus stay on top of the game in our other events. And hopefully we'll prevail, but there's a lot of meet to go."

The Razorback women picked up 23 1/2 points in the vault. Senior sensation Sandi Morris led the way with a meet-record 15-3 1/2 clearance. She missed three times at 15-7 1/4, trying to reclaim her collegiate record that was surpassed last month by Stephen F. Austin's Demi Payne.

"The vault was fantastic," Harter said. "I think every weekend now, this entire season, Sandi has jumped either at or set the collegiate record, which is a phenomenon unto itself to be that consistent. And then to pile up four places. Ariel Voskamp gets a national qualifier -- we've been waiting for that to happen. A little freshman, Desiree (Freier), is in there, so we'll have three vaulters at the nationals."

"It was a huge day," Morris said. "I was expected to win it, but you still have to come out here composed and be able to perform under pressure. When I first started out vaulting in college, I kind of had trouble with that. So I'm really proud of myself -- I've come a long way and I learned how to keep myself calm and just do what I know how to do."

Morris broke the meet record of 14-11, set by Arkansas' Tina Sutej in 2012.

Dominique Scott led the charge in the women's 3,000, winning comfortably in 9:17.24. The Hogs' Diane Robison took second, with Shannon Klenke in fourth.

"I'm glad I looked comfortable," Scott said. "It was a hard day today mentally, running the mile earlier in prelims and then coming back and running the 3K right at the end of the day. It's been a long day, but I knew that whatever the pace was going to be, it was going to be slower than my personal best. So I just tried to remind myself of that, and that enabled me to stay relaxed throughout the race."

The Hogs picked up a 7-8 finish in the pentathlon from Taliyah Brooks and Leigha Brown. Third-seeded Alex Gochenour suffered calf cramps and did not finish.

The men's 3,000 was all Arkansas as Kemoy Campbell held off fellow senior Stanley Kebenei in 8:00.27. Freshman Alex George came in sixth.

Ken LeGassey, a sophomore, tied for second by clearing a season-best 7-2 1/4 in the men's high jump.

Jarron Lawson, who entered as the top seed in the long jump, settled for fourth at 24-11 1/4.

Sports on 02/28/2015