Three Razorback wins highlight second day of SEC meet

GAINESVILLE – Three wins marked the second day of the SEC Championships for Arkansas with victories earned by Jack Turner (decathlon), Romaine Beckford (high jump) and Wayne Pinnock (long jump).

Team scoring in eight of 21 finals puts the Razorbacks ahead with 55 points over Ole Miss (40), Alabama (39), Texas A&M (38) and Florida (28).

Turner and teammate Yariel Soto Torrado finished 1-2 in the decathlon for 18 team points. It was the first victory for a Razorback since Kevin Lazas in 2012, when Arkansas finished 1-2-3 in the event.

The Razorbacks’ double was the first since 2014, when Georgia accomplished the feat.

Pinnock became just the fourth jumper in SEC Outdoor history to win three consecutive long jump titles and happens to be the third Razorback to achieve the effort.

A leap of 26-6.5 (8.09) in the fifth round secured him the third victory as he joined Arkansas jumpers Erick Walder (1992-94) and Alain Bailey (2008-10). The first jumper to do so was LSU’s Billy Brown from 1939 to 1941.

Pinnock led the field from the first lap with an opening mark of 25-10.25 (7.88) in -1.2 wind. Georgia’s Micah Larry finished second with a score of 25-7.25 (7.80) in the final round to edge Florida’s Caleb Foster, who had the same distance but a lower secondary score.

Beckford’s winning height of 7-3.25 (2.22) completed his sweep of SEC high jump titles this season and matched the last sweep made by LSU’s JuVaughn Harrison in 2021. Beckford had three attempts at 7-5 (2.26), with his final jump coming up. the cupboards in the hallway.

Teammate Kason O’Riley finished in a three-way tie for fifth with a record of 6-10.25 (2.09) to collect three team points.

Turner’s win total of 7,935 points ranks him 4th on the UA all-time list and is just shy of his career-best total of 8,011 points in 2023. Soto Torrado followed with 7 803 points as a runner-up, far from his career high of 7,917 points set in 2023.

The second day of the decathlon began with a 14.51 in the 110m hurdles from Turner for 901 points as runner-up. Turner then led the discus with a mark of 144-1 (43.93) for 745 points.

Soto Torrado led the pole vault with a margin of 15-9 (4.80), collecting 849 points, while Turner went 15-1 (4.60) to collect 790 points. A javelin throw of 166-6 (50.76) earned Turner 600 points to take his total to 7,314 heading into the final event.

A cramp during the 1,500 slowed Turner as he finished in 4:49.53 for 621 points. He held off Soto Torrado, who ran 4:30.40 for 742 points to close to within 132 points of Turner.

Jack Williams narrowly missed out on scoring in the 3,000m steeplechase as his time of 9:10.50 placed 10th.

During qualifying, three athletes reached the final in two events for scoring opportunities on Saturday.

In the 110m hurdles, Elijah Morris and William Spencer, Jr. advanced. Morris produced a career-best 13.66, moving into 6th on the UA all-time list, with Spencer at 13.81.

James Benson II ran a time of 45.26 which placed seventh overall in the 400m while teammates Steven McElroy (45.74) and TJ Tomlyanovich (45.76) placed 13th and 14th overall.

Lance Lang ran in his second final with a 10.16 in the 100m to place sixth overall and move into 5th on the UA all-time list. Tevijon Williams (10.49) and Connor Washington (10.64) also competed in the 100m.