STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A race that lasted more than a half-hour saw two competitors separated by two-hundredths of a second.
Arkansas's Frankline Tonui and Georgia's Luke Baker sprinted the final 100 meters of the 10,000 with a second-place finish on the line, with Tonui's lean edging Baker for second in 29 minutes, 52.17 seconds.
Arkansas' first points were also the most exciting earned Thursday on the opening day of the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
"I thought he got me," Tonui said. "When I turned my head I could see his body. I was happy."
The momentum continued into the final race of the day, the women's 10,000 meters, when Diane Robison won the event by more than 15 seconds.
"My last year, fifth year of track, it's just unbelievable," Robison said as tears welled in her eyes. "I was envisioning it all day and getting nervous, getting butterflies."
Robison's victory in 33:55.12 left Arkansas' top-ranked women's team in third place with 10 points heading into the second day of the meet. Arkansas' women's team is trying to win its third SEC triple crown after winning SEC titles in cross country last fall and indoor track earlier this year.
Texas A&M leads the women's race with 20 points, and Missouri is second with 18. Georgia leads the men's side with 25 points, with Texas A&M second at 17 and Florida third with 16. Arkansas' men are tied for fifth with Kentucky with eight points.
Robison won the SEC championship in the 5,000 last year and finished third in the 10,000, and she couldn't hold back the tears Thursday after her year of hard work paid off in the 10,000.
"A lot of emotion," Robison said. "Just all the work we do. To have my teammates out here at 9 p.m. when they are racing tomorrow is unbelievable. Just to share the runs we do together, the hard work we put in, this is not an easy sport."
Arkansas' women's team also received an unexpected boost in the heptathlon. Taliyah Brooks is third after four events and junior Alex Gochenour is fourth.
"I feel really good," said Brooks, who has never finished better than fourth. "We've been putting in a lot of work at practice. I feel really prepared. It's been a good day."
Brooks, a freshman, threw a career-best 39 feet, 3.25 inches in the shot put at the Mike Sanders Track and Field Complex. Her previous best was 38-05.5 at the John McDonnell Invitational on April 11.
"I knew it was going to be farther," Brooks said. "I'm usually competing for last in shot put. It felt good to not be last."
Brooks said she had worked with Arkansas' coaching staff to improve her glide leading up to the throw. The results showed as she finished seventh of 13 competitors.
Gochenour finished third -- her best finish of the day -- in the shot put with a throw of 42-11.5. Brooks placed third in the 100 meters (13.33) and fourth in the 200 (24.43).
Both Razorbacks trail the leader Erica Bougard of Mississippi State.
The heptathlon concludes today with the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
On the men's side, Nathanael Franks is in seventh heading into Day 2 of the decathlon.
Men's events begin at 10 a.m. today and women's events start at 11 a.m.
Sports on 05/15/2015