Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

… And a clarification

However, a later check of UK’s meet notes, as well as the media guide listings of “top 10 marks” in each event, showed that Buncic threw 217-4.

And now …

You’ve got to love how the Kentucky men stepped up to take third place in the team standings. The top five in individual events, as well as the top three relays, automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, June 10-13, at Arkansas.

The 20th-ranked Wildcats have been snake-bitten with injuries for most of the outdoor season, particularly in the sprints.

But there was Rondel Sorrillo, who didn’t even compete outdoors until the Southeastern Conference meet because of injuries, taking third place in the 200 meters and anchoring the second-place 4-by-100-meter relay.

Rondel Sorrillo

“Better than SEC, but it still hurts,” said Sorrillo, who ran the 200 for Trinidad and Tobago at last summer’s Beijing Olympics — beating eventual gold-medal winner Usain Bolt in the first round. “It hurts, but I’m back.”

What hurts?

“My butt, my hamstrings, my calves,” he said. “Both legs.”

Jose Acevedo

There was Jose Acevedo, who also ran the 200 at Beijing, representing Venezuela.

He ran second on the 4-by-100 relay, then anchored the third-place 4-by-400 relay. That despite a foot injury that, Coach Don Weber said, would have kept a less-determined sprinter out of the meet.

When Justin Austin went down at the Penn Relays, the Cats had to plug holes on both relays.

Also missing was Mikel Thomas, a 2008 Olympian for Trinidad and Tobago in the 110-meter hurdles. He suffered a broken collarbone during practice, a week-and-a-half ago.

Kwasi Obeng

Stephan Smith

Saturday, Kwasi Obeng did the job on the relays, running the third leg on the quick relay and leading off the 4-by-4.

Stephan Smith, a half-miler, filled in on the second leg of the 4-by-4.

“Considering the way we’ve been for most of the outdoor season, especially in our sprint group — hurt and banged up as much as we have been — it’s a great day,” Weber said. “Especially for those guys.”

Now, being off next weekend, the Cats will try to “maintain” fitness and continue the healing process.

Erin Tucker

Don Weber

“We can get a little bit better,” Weber said, “so that’s encouraging.”

In the 4-by-100, UK led through three legs. Obeng’s handoff to Sorrillo didn’t go too well, though, allowing 100-meter champion Trindon Holliday of LSU to be first out of the final exchange zone.

“Trindon … had the baton first because (Sorrillo) had to wait on Kwasi to get the baton,” said Erin Tucker, UK’s sprints and hurdles coach. “Anytime, the four-by-one, when you have to wait a little bit, you lose that acceleration and then you’ve got to start back up from square one. … You want to get the baton going full speed.”

The good news is that the problem was due in part to Sorrillo accelerating, finally, through the zone. By his own admission, Sorrillo had been deficient in that area during practice. And now Obeng and Sorrillo have nearly two weeks to work on the final exchange.

Gordon McKenzie

Tucker said Gordon McKenzie “ran an awesome leadoff leg. … Jose built off it. … Kwasi just looked like a superstar because he’s out in front. And then we had the little thing with Rondel.”

As good as the sprint results were, UK came out best in the weights.

Rashaud Scott, who won the shot put on Friday, added the discus title Saturday. Having successfully defended his regional title, Scott will try to repeat as national champion at Arkansas.

And consider this: all six of his throws Saturday were better than second-place finisher Greg Pilling of Central Michigan.

Pilling threw 197-2, two feet ahead of UK’s Chase Madison.

Rashaud Scott

Madison, a senior who transferred in 2007 from Iowa State, can relate to UK’s sprinters.

At Iowa State, he broke a bone in his left foot. A titanium screw was inserted to fix the bone. It didn’t work.

Chase Madison

When he arrived at UK for his entrance physical, “they said, ‘well, you’re either going to have to have another surgery on that thing to fix it because they did it totally incorrect, or you’re never going to throw again,’” Madison said when interviewed before last winter’s SEC Indoor Championships.

He opted for surgery, which involved taking bone from his ankle and grafting the bone to his foot. Oh, and four screws and a plate.

He went from June 2006 until April 2008 without throwing a disc in competition.

Now, he throws in pain. Look at his foot and you can actually see the plate and a screw sticking out from the bone. Pain limits his practice time, but he’s a believer in quality workouts over quantity. When he does throw, he throws with purpose.

Saturday, he said his pain was controlled as well as could be expected: “I had quite a bit of Aleve in me.”

“It’s nice to be back to a national meet. I haven’t been since 2006, since I’ve been hurt,” he said. “It was a decent day, I guess. Could have expected a lot more, could have been a lot worse. So, regroup and get ready for two weeks.”

U of L: A crown of Thorne’s

Corey Thorne

Louisville’s highlight Saturday came from Corey Thorne, who outkicked Eastern Michigan’s Josh Karanja to win the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a stadium-record 8:36.98. Karanja finished in 8:37.20.

“It’s going to be just like that at nationals,” Thorne said. “Whether it goes fast or slow, it’s going to come down to who has the best kick. So coming out here, it’s kind of like a trial.”

Ron Mann

Head coach Ron Mann and distance coach Brice Allen prepared Thorne well.

“One of the things that Coach Allen and I have done over the last 10 days is doing a lot of speed work over the barriers, preparing for that last quarter,” Mann said. “Those barriers come up very quickly and you’ve got to be ready for it. He did a nice job of executing that.”

Tarah McKay

Jere' Summers

U of L also had two automatic qualifiers in women’s events.

Tarah McKay ran fourth at 1,500 meters. Jeré Summers, the surprise winner of Friday’s discus, took second in Saturday’s shot put.

McKay, a junior from St. Clements, Ontario, Canada, improved one spot from her regional finish of a year ago.

Summers, a junior from Oakland, Calif., is a two-time Most Outstanding Field Event Performer in the Big East.  She transferred to U of L after competing two indoor seasons and one outdoor season at Cal State Northridge.

WKU: Smellie is good

Gavin Smellie

Western Kentucky senior Gavin Smellie won the men’s 200 meters, tying the Cardinal Park record of 20.45 seconds. (Auburn freshman Marcus Rowland was runner-up, followed by Sorrillo. Earlier, Rowland false-started out of the 100 meters, an event in which he was ranked No. 2 in the region and No. 4 in the nation.) 

Smellie, a Canadian, also led off the Hilltoppers’ second-place 4-by-400 relay and anchored the eighth-place 4-by-100 relay. The first seven spots in the quick relay went to Southeastern Conference schools, led by LSU and Kentucky.

Western’s women placed third in the 4-by-100 relay.

EKU: I go, you go, we all go for Mugo

Stanley Mugo

Eastern Kentucky’s top finish of the day came from Stanley Mugo in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

 

A junior from Kenya and the Ohio Valley Conference’s Co-Male Track Athlete of the Year, Mugo placed 10th.

By placing among the top 12 in the region, he still has a chance of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships (bids to be announced Tuesday). His time Saturday was 9:00.89. However, he ran 8:52.07 in April at the Penn Relays.

Regions and records

The Mideast, one of four regionals, is comprised of 167 teams from 12 states (Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin).

Cardinal Park records were set in 22 of Saturday’s 28 events. Two others were tied, and another was negated because it was wind-aided.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UK’s Scott was among five athletes setting regional records, and the only male.  

Phoebe Wright

Women’s meet records went to: 

* U.S. Olympic Trials champion Kara Patterson of Purdue, who won javelin for the fourth year in a row, this time at 192-1.

* Two-time defending NCAA champ Tiffany Ofili of Michigan, 12.96 in the 100-meter hurdles.

* Tennessee former walk-on and now top-ranked Phoebe Wright, 2:02.20 in the 800.

* Middle Tennessee State’s Sarah Nambawa, ranked second nationally, with a triple jump of 45-9.

Spanning the commonwealth and beyond …

The Mason-Dixon Athletic Club will host its 49th annual Mason-Dixon Games, Friday and Saturday, in Broadbent Arena at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

Approximately 3,000 Kentucky middle school and high school athletes will compete, plus about 70 Masters and Open athletes.

Friday’s schedule begins at 4:30 p.m. with Masters and Open events. Middle school events begin at 5:15 p.m.

Saturday’s high school schedule begins at 8 a.m. for Class A, 1 p.m. for 2A and 5 p.m. for 3A. The meet is designated by the Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association as the indoor state championships.

Admission is $5 each day. Officials will again be collected canned goods and non-perishable items, to be donated to the Dare to Care Food Bank.

In conjunction with the Games, the Mason-Dixon Games Hall of Fame induction banquet will be tonight (Thursday) at Wildwood Country Club in Fern Creek.

Inductees include athletes Bobby Brown (long jump), Susie Brutscher (pole vault pioneer), 1976 Olympian Tommy Haynes (triple jump, long jump) and 1968 Olympic gold-medalist (200 meters) Tommie Smith (440 yards), along with officials Ron Althoff, David L. Armstrong, Donnie Ray and Jack Thompson, plus “significant supporter” of the Games David A. Jones.

Al Michaels returns to Olympic broadcasting

Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, announced Thursday that Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Al Michaels will serve as host of NBC’s live weekend and weekday daytime coverage of next year’s Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Michaels last broadcast a Winter Olympics in 1988, also in Canada — Calgary, Alberta.

In 1980, Michaels made the call on what, according to a variety of polls, Americans consider the nation’s top sports moment of the 20th century, The Miracle on Ice hockey victory over the Soviet Union.

“Do you believe in miracles? YES!” was his most memorable line as the game neared the finish at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics.

Michaels will host more than 50 hours of live coverage. Although this will mark Michaels’ debut as an Olympic host, he is no stranger to the Games. Vancouver will mark his sixth Olympic assignment.

He covered hockey, biathlon, speed skating, ski jumping and cross-country skiing at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics; hockey at the 1980 Lake Placid Games; figure skating and hockey at the 1984 Sarajevo Games; track and field, plus road cycling, at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games and hockey at the 1988 Calgary Games.

Michaels is the only broadcaster to call a Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals and host a Stanley Cup Final for network television.

12 semifinalists for Sullivan Award are named

The 12 semifinalists for the 79th annual James E. Sullivan Award include three gymnasts and three swimmers.

Nastia Liukin

The Sullivan Award, named in honor of the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) founder and past president, is presented annually to the outstanding amateur athlete in the United States. In addition to athletic accomplishsments, the Sullivan Award considers the qualities of leadership, character, sportsmanship and the ideals of amateurism.

Gymnasts on the semifinals list are Beijing Olympics all-around champion Nastia Liukin, Olympic balance beam gold-medalist Shawn Johnson and Olympic silver-medalist on the horizontal bar, Jonathan Horton.

Swimming semifinalists are the Olympic men’s 4-by-100-meter freestyle relay champions, Paralympian champion Erin Popovich (four gold medals, two silver) and 41-year-old Olympian Dara Torres (three silver medals).

Also on the list are: Cynthia Barboza, Stanford University, volleyball; Amanda Blumenherst, Duke University, golf; Sam Bradford, University of Oklahoma, football; Tyler Hansbrough, University of North Carolina, basketball; the Lopez family (Olympic medalists Diana, Mark and Steven), taekwondo, and Gerald “Buster” Posey, Florida State University, baseball.

Fan can vote online at www.usatoday.com. The winner will be announced April 15 at the New York Athletic Club.

Trammel is USATF Athlete of Week

Two-time Olympic and World Outdoor silver-medalist Terrence Trammell, winner of the men’s 60-meter hurdles and the Visa Championship Series at last weekend’s USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, is USA Track & Field Athlete of the Week.

Trammell led all the way at Boston, clocking 7.37 seconds to break Reggie Torian’s 10-year-old meet record of 7.38. Trammell just missed the American record (7.36) but did get the fastest time in the world this season.

Among others, Trammell beat Oklahoma State freshman German Fernandez for weekly honors. Running in the Big 12 Indoor Championships at College Station, Texas, Fernandez won the mile in a collegiate-record 3:55.02. Three hours later, Fernandez won the 3,000 meters in the second-best time in meet history, 7:57.21.

UK baseball opens 3-game set vs. Indiana State

James Paxton

Chris Rusin

The Cats (6-2) and Sycamores (9-2) will meet Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m.

 

Cats add two games to schedule

Pre-game clinic Saturday

Briefly: James Johnson, Bobby Curtis

James Johnson, right, with Helena Hau and myself in Beijing.

James Johnson,

a three-time national champion Greco-Roman wrestler out of the University of Kentucky, has been on tour since Feb. 23 as coach of U.S. Greco-Roman athletes competing in the Hungary Grand Prix and in Slovakia. The tour ends Sunday.

The title is the 12th in 13 years and 16th in 18 years for Arkansas, but the first under Coach Chris Bucknam — successor to the legendary John McDonnell.

Tennessee rallied to edge defending champion LSU for the women’s championship, 111-105. Arkansas was third with 97 points.

Kentucky placed seventh in both the men’s (48 points) and women’s (49 1/2) competition.

“We’ve got a lot of holes to fill, and it’s trying to balance the scholarship money across the event areas so that we’re more competitive across the board,” UK Coach Don Weber said. “But for what we had out there today, especially on the men’s side but even on the women’s side, I was really pleased with the way they competed. Their will to win.

“So we’re not where we want to be. We’ve got have more depth, more balance. But the way they competed, I was pretty pleased.”

Mikel Thomas

UK’s top efforts came from Mikel Thomas, runner-up in the 60-meter hurdles, and Jose Acevedo, who was third in the 400, seventh in the 200 and anchored the Wildcats’ third-place 4-by-400 relay.

“Man, there’s nobody that wanted it more than me,” Thomas said after running second to South Carolina’s Jason Richardson. “I got out great. I had it for like three hurdles, smashed that No. 4, but I stayed in there and fought all the way across the line and gave it all I had.”

Richardson clocked 7.72. Thomas, a senior who competed for Trinidad and Tobago at last summer’s Beijing Olympics, was timed in 7.77.

Jose Acevedo

Acevedo won his 400 heat in 46.85, but was upstaged by second-heat winner Robert Simmons of LSU (46.22). Acevedo’s 200 of 21.14 placed him just behind teammate Justin Austin (20.99). Georgia’s Torrin Lawrence won in 20.81.

The 4-by-400 went to Florida (3:05.82), followed by South Carolina (3:06.11) and the Wildcats (3;06.78).

“It was a really good day,” said Acevedo, a senior who ran the 200 for Venzuela at last summer’s Beijing Olympics. ”I ran 46 (seconds) twice in the 400. I haven’t run under 47 in like three years, so I was pretty pleased about that. The 200, after running the 400, believe me, I was really tired and I couldn’t give more. But I still ran good, 21.1 indoors.”

Arkansas’ Bucknam credited his assistant coaches and the Razorback seniors who made it all possible.

“They came with a first-year coach with just a short period of time left,” Bucknam said. “I asked them to lead the program and to help us get through this this year. And, of course, they did. With flying colors.

“So my hat’s off to the seniors that stepped it up another level. When there was adversity, when there was a coaching change, they continued to train hard. And this is the end result.”

Dorian Ulrey, who came with Bucknam from Northern Iowa, led a 1-2-4-8 Arkansas finish in the mile. Bucknam finished in 3:59.77. Duncan Phillips came in second (4:01.30), Michael Chinchar took fourth (4:03.52), with Rick Elliott eighth (4:08.33).

“We train all year round for this meet and one other particular indoor meet,” Ulrey said, nodding to the NCAA Championships. “We just ran smooth. We ran relaxed. Our whole plan was to just blanket the finish with Razorbacks, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Arkansas’ other wins Sunday came from Alex McClary in the 800 and in the distance medley relay (Chinchar, Jake Stephens, McClary and Phillips). With the team title in hand, Ulrey opted out of the relay in order to spread the event titles around.

Ulrey tipped his hat to McDonnell, saying he was pleased “to be able to continue that excellent tradition with the new coach and the new athletes, and kind of usher in a new era for Arkansas. And we’ve done a pretty good job this weekend.”

The Razorbacks got a 2-3 finish in the triple jump from Nkosinza Balumbu and Tarek Batchelor. as well as second-place finishes by J-Mee Samuels in the 60, Niit Marek in the 200 and Shawn Forrest in the 5,000. Samuels, who also took fifth in the 200, got things rolling.

“It energized our team when J-Mee busted out that great 60,” Bucknam said. “He’d been struggling all year. To see him come through like he did and hit an auto-qualifier (6.63) against (LSU’s) Trindon Holliday, a world-class sprinter in his own right, that was a big start for us. Then it just built from that point on.”

Florida freshman Christian Taylor, who won the long jump Saturday, added the triple jump Sunday, knocking off defending champion Balumba with a fifth-round distance of 52-10 1/4. Taylor scored 22 1/2 points to win the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Tennessee’s women blanketed the results sheet, scoring in 14 of 17 events.

Sarah Bowman led the Vols completing a third consecutive trifecta with wins in the mile, 3,000 meters and as anchor of the distance medley relay. That added up to 22 1/2 points and the Commissioner’s Trophy as the high scorer of the meet.

Tennessee also got wins from a pair of former walk-ons: Celriece Law in the 60-meter hurdles and Phoebe Wright in the 800. Law also placed third in the triple jump. Lynne Layne placed second in the 60 and 200, adding an eighth-place finish in the long jump.

Quoteworthy

Christian Taylor, Fla., triple jump winner – “I was happy I came through, … happy to get out on the fifth jump and then just watch. … That (5) is my new number. I’ll take it. I’m blessed with good health and strong training. I’ll carry this to nationals.”

Jason Richardson, S.C., hurdles winner – “It went OK. … I’m blessed that I came out as champion. That’s all I can ask.”

Richardson, on trailing Kentucky’s Thomas out of the blocks – ”I usually come on at the end, so I didn’t panic and I didn’t fret. I just stayed confident in my training and I was able to come out on top at the end.”

Trindon Holliday, LSU, 60-meter dash winner – “I didn’t have the start that I wanted to have. I kind of stumbled a little bit, but I was able to maintain what I was doing and finish the race.”

Holliday on having the second-best qualifying time, behind Kentucky’s Rondel Sorrillo, Sunday’s fourth-place finisher – ”It wasn’t any cause for concern. It was more motivation than anything. So I just told myself to come out and ‘I’m gonna be ready to go when the gun’s shot.’”

Tennessee Lady Vols Coach J.J. Clark – ”We had a couple things go our way and had some youngsters come through. We had some SEC champions come through with big points for us, and that’s what really helped to pull us through. It was a great meet for our Lady Vols, really something to remember.”

Catherine Kalmer, on leading Arkansas’ 1-2-3 finish in the women’s 5,000 – ”We’re very excited. We just decided to come out here today and try to get a national (qualifying) mark. Unfortunately we didn’t run as fast as we’d hoped for, but I still think we made a point that Arkansas distance running is something to be reckoned with.”

Earlier coverage from Sunday’s meet

Update: Newspaper duties call, but here are the final team standings. I’ll update this blog once I’m done with my Herald-Leader paper duty!

Men – Arkansas 130; Florida 102; Tennessee 78; South Carolina and Auburn 65; LSU 64; Kentucky 48; Georgia 47; Alabama 35; Ole Miss 29. Commissioner’s Trophy (for points leader): Christian Taylor, Florida.

Women – Tennessee 111; LSU 105; Arkansas 97; Florida 84; South Carolina 57; Auburn 54; Kentucky 49 1/2; Ole Miss 32; Mississippi State 28; Alabama 26 1/2; Georgia 14; Vanderbilt 5. Commissioner’s Trophy: Sarah Bowman, Tennessee.

*With the men’s team championship in hand, Arkansas gave 3,000-meter and mile champion Dorian Ulrey a rest, having him set out the distance medley relay. No matter. The Razorbacks still won in 9:47.31.

Michael Chinchar led off, followed by Jake Stephens, 800-meter champion Alex McClary and Duncan Phillips.

Phillips outkicked Alabama’s Emmanuel Bor on the final straightaway. Bama came in at 9:47.66.

After 16 events, Arkansas has 127 points. Florida has 92, Tennessee 77, Auburn 65, LSU 60 and South Carolina 57. Kentucky and Georgia are tied for seventh with 42 points.

Christine Kalmer, Denise Bargiachi and Catherine White gave Arkansas a 1-2-3 sweep in the women’s 5,000. Kalmer won in 16:20.06, followed by Bargiachi, the defending champion.

Through 13 events, LSU leads Tennessee 92-83 in the women’s standings. Arkansas has 81, Auburn 48. Kentucky is seventh with 31 1/2.

* 200-meter wins go to Georgia’s Torrin Lawrence (20.81) and LSU’s Samantha Henry (23.45). Kentucky’s Justin Austin and Jose Acevedo placed 6-7 in the men’s race.

Through 15 men’s events, Arkansas leads Florida 117-87. Tennessee has 73, LSU 60, Auburn 59. UK is eighth with 40.

Through 12 women’s events, LSU leads Tennessee 92-80. Arkansas is next with 57, then South Carolina with 46, Auburn with 44, Florida 41 and UK 31 1/2.

* Winners at 800 meters were Arkansas’ Alex McClary (1:49.37) for the men and Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright (2:02.31) for the women.

Arkansas leads the men’s standings 105-87 over Florida. Tennessee has 72, LSU 60. Kentucky is seventh with 35.

With a 2-4-5 finish in the 800, LSU has taken a 76-72 lead over the Tennessee women. Arkansas has 55, South Carolina 46. UK is seventh with 31 1/2.

* More winners include Dorian Ulrey of Arkansas in the mile (3:59.77), Robert Simmons of LSU in the 400 (46.22) and Tyson David of Alabama in the 5,000.

Through 13 events, the Arkansas men hold a 95-77 lead over Florida. Tennessee is third (64), followed by LSU and South Carolina (57 each), Auburn 48 and Kentucky 35.

Auburn’s Joanna Atkins prevailed in the women’s 400 (52.61).

Through 10 women’s events, Tennessee and LSU remain tied with 59 points. Arkansas has 53, South Carolina 46. Kentucky is seventh with 31 1/2.

* Quick update: Through nine events, Tennessee and LSU are tied to the women’s lead with 59 points. Then it’s Arkansas (48), Florida (35), South Carolina (33) and Kenutcky (31 1/2).

LSU’s Samantha Henry took the 60 meters (7.21) over Tennessee’s Lynne Layne (7.22).

Tennessee’s Sarah Bowman, winner of Saturday’s 3K, won the mile in 4:41.35. She is the first woman ever to sweep the SEC mile and 3K three years in a row.

* South Carolina’s Jason Richardson just edged Kentucky’s Mikel Thomas in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, 7.72 seconds to 7.77.

Results are rolling in now. My duty as a newspaper reporter call first, so updates will be less frequent. However, results are availalbe very quickly online at ukathletics.com.

A 23-point bonanza in the pole vault has put Tennessee on top of the men’s standings.

The Vols jump from third place to first, leading Arkansas 62-51. Florida is third with 45, followed by South Carolina’s 37 and LSU’s 32. Kentucky is 10th with 13 points.

Tennessee went 1-2 in the vault, Joe Berry and Brad Holtz each topping 17-3. Michael Ayers, winner of the heptathlon, cleared 17-0 for fourth place.

Taylor gets his second win for Gators

Florida freshman Christian Taylor picked up his second win, taking the men’s triple jump just the way he won Saturday’s long jump.

Christian Taylor

David Banks

Defending champion Nkosinza Balumbu of Arkansas led through four rounds.

But Taylor, just as happened Saturday, came up with a winning effort on his fifth attempt, 52 feet, 10 1/4 inches.

Balumbu, jumping last, finished with a 52-footer in the fifth round and 52-1 1/4 on his last try. Teammate Tarek Batchelor finished third at 50-2 3/4.

Kentucky’s David Banks, seeded 11th, popped a season-best 49-8 1/4 to place fifth.

Arkansas leads the men’s points race with 51 points. Florida has 43, Tennessee 39, South Carolina 27. UK is 10th with 13 points.

Auburn senior Raevan Harris took top honors in the women’s high jump at 6-0 3/4. LSU’s Brittani Carter was runner-up at 5-11 1/2.

For UK, pentathletes Ashley Newby and Precious Nwokey finished seventh (5-5 1/4) and 15th (5-3 1/4). Natalie Wise no-heighted.

Arkansas leads the women’s standings with 45 points. LSU has 40, Kentucky 29 1/2 and Tennessee 25.

LSU’s Henning dominates in weight throw

The first title to be won Sunday, the final day of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, goes to LSU’s Walter Henning.

Walter Henning

The sophomore from Kings Park, N.Y., dominated the men’s 35-pound weight throw with a winning distance of 75-feet, 5 1/2 inches at the University of Kentucky’s Nutter Field House.

Henning, who transferred from North Carolina, where his junior world record of 72-3 earned him third place in the NCAA Indoor Champs.

Saturday, he had four throws beyond 22 meters. No other thrower reached 21 meters.

South Carolina sophomore Mike Zajac was second at 20.67 meters — 68 feet, 1 1/2 inches.

Kentucky’s Rashaud Scott slipped from fourth place in flight competition to sixth in the finals. His best mark, 63-11 3/4, came in the third round. He fouled all three attempts in the finals.

Through six men’s events, Arkansas leads Tennessee 37-34. Florida has 33, South Carolina 27, and LSU is tied with Auburn at 25. Kentucky is 10th with nine points.

Sarah Bowman, Tenn., on her unprecedented three-peat sweep of the mile, 3K and distance medley relay: “Each year you have to go in with your right, and you can’t expect to be handed anything. You have to work for everything. So I came in ready to work.”