Arkansas men, South Carolina women win at SEC championships

Posted 7:32AM on Monday 16th May 2005 ( 19 years ago )

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - James Hatch won the 800 meters and Arkansas won its 12th Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field championship in 14 years Sunday night at Vanderbilt. The Razorbacks won their third straight conference title with 169 points, while Florida was second at 116 and Tennessee was third with 109. ``This is a tough conference,'' Arkansas coach John McDonnell said. ``When people see the final points, they think it was easy. But we didn't blow it out until the final two events. This is a good team.'' Shalonda Solomon won the 200 meters and finished second in the 100 meters to help South Carolina to the women's title. South Carolina scored 145.2 points to outdistance Arkansas and win its first SEC title since 2002. ``We knew we had a good team, and this is the greatest conference in the country,'' South Carolina coach Curtis Frye said. ``We knew Arkansas was strong in distance, Georgia was good in the field and Tennessee was good in sprints. We just tried to control what we could control. We had a lot of people come through.'' In the men's 100 meters, Steve Mullings of Mississippi State held off defending champion Tyson Gay of Arkansas, winning in 10.15 seconds. Mullings is ranked No. 1 in the nation in the event and just nipped Gay, who finished in 10.19. Florida was a surprise winner in the 4x100 meter relay in 39.10, defeating LSU and Mississippi State, which both had better qualifying times on Saturday. Florida's Kerron Clement set an SEC record in the 400 hurdles with a 48.29, the fastest time in the nation this year. LSU's Kelly Willie defended his title in the 400 meters in 45.51, pulling away from Jamel Ashley of Mississippi State, and teammate Xavier Carter won the 200 meters, upsetting Arkansas' Wallace Spearmon and Gay. In the women's 100, Tennessee freshman Cleo Tyson won in 11.25, edging Solomon, who ran a 11.29. South Carolina's quartet of Amberly Nesbitt, Erica Whipple, Alexis Joyce and Solomon won the 4x100 relay over Tennessee, and Tiffany Ross-Williams gave the Gamecocks another victory in the 400 meter hurdles and was a part of the winning 4x400 relay team.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/5/134931