FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas has some work to do today if the Razorbacks are going to repeat as the Southeastern Conference women's indoor track and field champions.
But Razorbacks Coach Lance Harter isn't panicking.
Friday’s results
SEC WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Results of Friday’s finals at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville:
TEAM SCORES 1, Georgia 25; 2, Arkansas 22; 3, Tennessee 18; 4, Alabama 15; 5, Auburn 13; 6, Florida 12; 7. Mississippi State, Kentucky (tied) 11; 9. Ole Miss 10; Vanderbilt 8; 11. Texas A&M 7; 12. Missouri 4.
PENTATHLON 1, Kendell Williams, Georgia, 4,420; 2, Taliyah Brooks, Arkansas, 4,376; 3, Annie Kunz, Texas A&M, 4,277; 4, Leigha Brown, Arkansas, 4,207; 5, Alex Gochenour, Arkansas, 4,171; 6, Michelle Atherly, Auburn, 4,148; 7, Xenai Rahn, Georgia, 4,139; 8, Payton Stumbaugh, Arkansas, 4,116.
SHOT PUT 1, Raven Saunders, Ole Miss, 56-8 1/2; 2, Cassie Wertman, Tennessee, 56-6 3/4; 3, Rachel Dincoff, Auburn, 54-2 3/4; 4, Lloydricia Cameron, Florida, 53-2 1/4.; 5, Valentina Muzaric, Auburn, 53-1 3/4; 6, Haley Teel, Alabama, 51-10; 7, Beckie Famurewa, Kentucky, 50-11 1/2; 8, Adriana Brown, Kentucky, 49-5 3/4.
3000 METERS 1. Chelsea Blaase, Tennessee, 9:20.57; 2, Carmen Carlos, Vanderbilt, 9:21.34. 3. Marta Freitas, Mississsippi State, 9:22.18; 4. Cornelia Griesche, Mississippi State, 9:23.88; 5. Karissa Schweizer, Missouri, 9:27.51; 6. Devin Clark, Arkansas, 9:28.14; 7. Rachael Reddy, Alabama, 9:18.15. 8. Regan Ward, Arkansas, 9:29.53.
LONG JUMP 1, Quanesha Burks, Alabama, 22-1 3/4; 2, Chanice Porters, Georgia, 21-9 1/2; 3, Sha’Keela Saunders, Kentucky, 21-7 1/2; 4, Keturah Orji, Georgia, 5, Darrielle McQueen, Florida, 21-4 1/4. 6, Yanis David, Florida, 20-7 1/4. 7, Destiny Carter, Kentucky, 20-3 3/4; 8, Jennifer Madu, Texas A&M, 20-2 1/4.
Georgia, ranked No. 2 nationally, leads after Day One thanks to solid performances in the pentathlon and long jump.
The Bulldogs have 25 points, while Arkansas sits in second with 22. Tennessee is third with 18.
Kendell Williams, the defending SEC and NCAA champion in the pentathlon, won that event with 4,420 points for Georgia. But Arkansas sophomore Taliyah Brooks finished second with 4,376 points.
The Razorbacks scored 18 points in the pentathlon, led by the strong performance of Brooks. Leigha Brown (fourth), Alex Gochenour (fifth) and Payton Stumbaugh (eighth) also scored for Arkansas in the event.
Brooks, who failed to make the finals in the 60-meter hurdles, said she battled a shin problem the past two weeks.
"I've had a rough two weeks," Brooks said. "I had a minor shin injury, and I've battled that. But we've been doing what we can to work through it with the trainers. I had some pretty positive performances today and also some that I can work on.
"I don't think it was bad. There were some positives. The high jump and shot put went pretty well. The 800 and the long jump are both things that could have gone better, but you have those days. We had five girls coming in ranked and four scored. I think that's a successful day overall."
Harter said he was hoping for more out of the 3,000, but he wasn't too disappointed.
"We were hoping for 10 and got four," Harter said. "But all in all, a good day [because] we advanced everybody. Two in the quarter, we got three in the mile. Our pentathletes did what they need to do. We're good. Taliyah's a gamer. She went out and chased the collegiate record-holder in that event and scared her. Leigha had a good day, too."
Gochenour got tripped up in the final event of the pentathlon, and Harter said it likely had an effect on the overall standings. She ended up fifth overall and could have finished as high as third, Harter said.
"She could have gotten third; she's a good half-miler," Harter said. "But we're OK."
Arkansas senior Taylor Ellis-Watson qualified for the finals in both the 200 and 400, while Stumbaugh, a Springdale Har-Ber graduate, also made the finals in the 60 hurdles. Ellis-Watson was part of some scorching times in the 200 qualifying, as she and two others ran under 23 seconds.
Sophomore Nikki Hiltz of Arkansas was also the leading qualifier in the mile, running a 4:42.74, as three Razorbacks made the finals in that event.
Sophomore Raven Saunders of Ole Miss won the shot put by less than two inches with a throw of 56 feet, 8½ inches. Tennessee's Cassie Wertman was second at 56-6¾.
Alabama junior Quanesha Burks won the long jump with a leap of 22-1¾.
Sports on 02/27/2016