FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas got going on the opening day of the 2019 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships with the decathlon and preliminary action in select running events Thursday afternoon at John McDonnell Field.
In one of the two scoring opportunities for Arkansas Thursday night, the Razorbacks collected 22-points in the 10,000-meter final with Gilbert Boit (29:31.17) taking runner-up honors followed by Matt Young (29:32.90) in third, Austen Dalquist in fourth and Preston Cates in sixth (29:57.09).
Gabe Moore got Arkansas off to a strong start as the senior in the decathlon opening with a run of 10.71 in the 100-meters, a season-best performance.
In the long jump, Moore leaped out to a mark of 7.16m (23-6) and followed that event with a throw of 14.10m (46-3.25) in the shot put. The high jump saw Moore clear 1.91m (6-3.25) to bring him to the final event of the day, the 400-meters.
The one lap sprint took Moore 50.10 seconds, leaving him with a day one total of 4,045 points. Moore is currently in second-place through five events.
Freshman Daniel Spejcher is currently in seventh-place of the decathlon after recording marks of 11.10 in the 100-meters PR, 6.47m (21-2.75) in the long jump PR, 12.81m (42-0.50) in the shot put, 1.76m (5-9.25) in the high jump, and a run of 59.48 in the 400-meters for a day one total of 3,209-pts.
Spejcher’s marks in the 100-meters and long jump were personal-bests.
Erich Sullins advanced to the final of the hammer throw before turning in a ninth-place finish in the event. Sullins, a senior from Arlington, Texas, made the SEC final with a throw of 65.43 (214-8) on his third attempt.
In the final, Sullins improved his mark to 66.07m (216-9) that would prove to be his best at the meet.
Kieran Taylor ran 1:49.89q in the prelims of the 800-meters to punch his ticket to the final with the seventh-fastest time on the day. Chase Pareti finished 13th with a time of 1:52.41.
True-Freshman Rashad Boyd narrowly missed the final of the 200-meter prelims despite running a collegiate PR of 20.93. Boyd finished 10th-overall missing the final by four one-hundredths of a second (.04).
Arkansas’ season-leader in the 400-meter hurdles, Travean Caldwell wrapped up the preliminary round in the event with a time of 51.02q that was the sixth-fastest on the night. Nick Hilson was the first one out, finishing 10th in the prelims running 51.45.
The Razorbacks are currently in second place with 22-points through three events.
| PLACE | MEN [3 out of 21 scored] | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Miss State | 24 |
| 2 |  |
Arkansas | 22 |
| 3 |  |
Florida | 20 |
| 4 |  |
Alabama | 15 |
| 5 |  |
Texas A&M | 10 |
| 6 |  |
Georgia | 8 |
| 7 |  |
LSU | 5 |
| 8 |  |
Kentucky | 4 |
| 8 |  |
Ole Miss | 4 |
| 10 |  |
Tennessee | 3 |
| 11 |  |
Auburn | 2 |
| – |  |
Missouri | 0 |
| – |  |
South Carolina | 0 |
