GAINESVILLE, Fla. (May 10) – LSU sophomore and young Jamaican sprinter Brianna Lyston was in blistering form on Day 1 at the 2024 SEC Outdoor Championships on Thursday, clinching a first-place finish in the women’s 200-meter preliminaries with a personal best time of 22.31 seconds in a slight -1.0m/s headwind.
Lyston’s impressive performance not only secured her a spot in the final but also catapulted her to fifth in the world rankings for the outdoor season.
There were highlighted performances in the women’s 200m preliminaries as well as from McKenzie Long of Ole Miss, who won heat 3 with a time of 22.37 (0.6m/s), while heat 4 went to South Carolina’s JaMeesia Ford, who ran a slightly wind-aided 22.47 (2.1m/s).
Read more: Ole Miss’ Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan & Jasmine Mitchell win 2024 SEC Championship Hammer Throw titles
Jacious Sears of Tennessee, the 2024 world leader in the women’s 100m with 10.77secs, also progressed to the final and remains one of the medal favorites.
Makanakaishe Charamba of Auburn clocked 20.17 secs to lead the way on the men’s side of the 200m heats, while Tarsis Orogot of Alabama, perhaps the gold medal favorite, was also a heat winner with a time of 20.18.
Also advancing to the final of the men’s 200m were Florida’s Robert Gregory, who clocked 20.29secs and Arkansas’ Lance Lang, who clocked 20.34secs.
Among the other standout performances for LSU was Will Lawrence, who won a bronze medal in the javelin in his debut at the SEC Championships.
The former Division III national champion reached a distance of 74.58 meters to secure third place behind event winner Marc Minichello of Georgia who did 77.92m and Abraham Sargent of Florida( 75.12m) for a personal best.
In the middle-distance events, Michaela Rose and Lorena Rangel Batres secured spots in the 800-women’s meter final with strong finishes in the preliminaries.
Rose’s commanding victory in her heat, clocking a time of 2:04.52 to lead all qualifiers, with Sylvia Chelangat of South Carolina the next fastest at 2:04.81 and Rangel (2:04.97).
Sam Whitmarsh of Texas A&M led the way in the men’s 800m, clocking the fastest time of the day at 1:46.30. Also advancing to the final were Anass Essayi of South Carolina at 1:47.54 and Kimar Farquharson of Texas A&M, at 1:47.57.
The 2024 SEC Outdoor Championships continue on Friday with the second day of competition slated to start at 11:00 a.m. ET with the remaining events in the Decathlon and Heptathlon
