The Sports Examiner

ATHLETICS Flash: Roberts beats Holloway in SEC final, matches 13.07 world-leader, plus 6.00 m for Mondo!

Daniel Roberts beats Grant Holloway, 13.07-13.12, in the SEC Final. (Photo: Kentucky Athletics)

Even while the IAAF World Relays are ongoing in Yokohama (JPN), the Southeastern Conference Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas has been the performance center of the track & field world. Just today:

● Kentucky’s Daniel Roberts, badly beaten by Florida’s Grant Holloway in the prelims, 13.07-13.31, came back in the final to beat Holloway, 13.07 to 13.12, with a 1.0 m/s wind, well under the allowable for record purposes. So now the two hurlers – both juniors – share the world lead for 2019.

● LSU freshman Mondo Duplantis (SWE), already the world leader at 5.94 m (19-6), cleared 6.00 m (19-8 1/4) on his final try to win the SEC title, increase his own world lead and set the U.S. Collegiate Record held by Tennessee’s Lawrence Johnson from way back in 1996. Duplantis has a lifetime best of 6.05 m (19-10 1/4) from last year.

● Texas A&M’s men’s 4×400 m relay team won the conference title in 3:01.77, faster than any of the national teams running in the heats in Yokohama! LSU’s runner-up finish in 3:02.09 was faster than all of the World Relays teams except the U.S.!

● Arkansas soph Janeek Brown (JAM) lowered her world lead in the women’s 110 m hurdles to 12.55 (from 12.57) in winning the SEC title. The wind was legal at +1.3 m/s.

Although not a world leader, Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown – running for Florida – won the men’s 100 m in 9.99, moving him to no. 4 on the 2019 world list. LSU frosh Sha’Carri Richardson won the women’s 100 m in 11.00, but wind-aided at +2.1 m/s, and the 200 m with a wind-legal 22.57.

Meanwhile, in Tucson, Arizona, USC’s women’s 4×100 m team won its heat in 42.44, also a world leader and faster than the U.S. national team (42.51) at the World Relays. Wow!

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