Feb. 27, 2014
Photo by Clayton Hotze
COLLEGE STATION, Tx. - A trio of combined event athletes kicked off the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships on Thursday, with junior Morgan Whitson finishing tenth in the women's pentathlon. From the men's team, sophomore Ser Whitaker and junior Tim Gilman battled out the first four events of the heptathlon. Events will continue for them tomorrow at the Gilliam Indoor Track starting at 1:40 p.m. CT.
"Our multi's always compete hard in championship meets, and today is no exception. We focused on one event at a time today, and I am very pleased with that aspect," Dan Lefever, associate head coach in charge of the multi-events and vertical jumps, said. "Morgan had a solid competition with a career-best pentathlon score in a tough field. Ser and Tim are doing well after day one, and we look forward to what tomorrow brings them."
Whitson started her five-event day at 1:30 p.m. with the women's 60-meter hurdles, finishing 16th before earning a new indoor personal record (PR) in the high jump. She finished with a final bar of 1.75m (5-8.75, tying her outdoor PR and putting her within an inch of leaving her mark on the All-Time Top Ten for the event.
Whitson tied for second in the shot put and fourth in the long jump, sending her into the final event of the competition in tenth-place overall. She maintained the position through the 800-meter run where she crossed the line with a new PR of 2:28.03.
She ended the competition with a new top score of 3,873-points and gained ground on the No. 5 spot on the All-Time Top Ten list (3,891 points).
Whitaker and Gilman also departed from day one of conference competition with new PR marks, each earning a pair of new bests. Whitaker started it off with the day's first event, the 60-meter dash, where he cruised to a 7.19 finish. Gilman followed that up with a new best mark in the long jump, hitting 6.15m (20-2.25) on his final attempt.
Both men ended the day with a pair of exciting performances in the high jump, with Gilman tying his PR mark of 1.87m (6-1.5) and Whitaker surpassing his with a final bar of 1.90m (6-2.75) to finish sixth and seventh, respectively. Whitaker will start the second day of competition in fifth with 2,911-points thus far, while Gilman currently holds ninth with 2,675-points.
Events will be in full swing tomorrow starting at 1:00 p.m. CT with the men's 60-meter hurdles and women's pole vault. For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
Pentathlon: 10. Morgan Whitson, 3878
60-Meter Hurdles: 16. Whitson, 9.30
High Jump: 4. Whitson, 1.75m (5-8.75)
Shot Put: 4. Whitson, 12.15m (39-10.5)
Long Jump: 8. 5.57m (18-3.25)
800-Meter Run: 13. 2:28.03
Heptathlon (through four events): 5. Ser Whitaker, 2911 | 9. Tim Gilman, 2675
60-Meter Dash: 3. Whitaker, 7.19 | 11. 7.38
Long Jump: 6. Whitaker, 6.67m (21-10.75) | 12. Gilman, 6.15m (20-2.25)
Shot Put: 6. Whitaker, 12.63m (41-5.25) | 8. Gilman (12.18m (39-11.50)
High Jump: 6. Whitaker, 1.90m (6-2.75) | 7. Gilman, 1.87m (6-1.50)
FRIDAY SCHEDULE
| 1:00 |
Men's 60m Hurdles (p) |
Kyle Smith Alyssa Applebee | Maggie Givens | Katrine Haarklau |
| 1:20 |
Women's 60m Hurdles (p) | |
| 1:40 |
Men's 60m Hurdles (Hep) Men's Pole Vault (Hep) Men's 1000m Run (Hep) |
Tim Gilman | Ser Whitaker Tim Gilman | Ser Whitaker Tim Gilman | Ser Whitaker |
| 2:00 | Men's 60m Dash (p) | Markesh Woodson |
| 2:20 | Women's 60m Dash (p) | |
| 2:30 |
Men's Long Jump Women's Long Jump |
Jonathan Ilori Kerri Furbert |
| 2:40 | Men's Mile (p) | Sam Dickerson | Chandler Dye |
| 3:00 | Women's Mile (p) | Libby Luciani |
| 3:20 | Men's 400m Dash (p) | Nadum Member-Meneh | Drake Stuedemann |
| 3:40 |
Women's 400m Dash (p) Women's Shot Put Men's High Jump |
Katie Evans | Kearsten Peoples | Jill Rushin Tyler Donels | Mitch Hatten |
| 4:00 | Men's 800m Run (p) | Ben Goodman | Cody Johnson |
| 4:20 | Women's 800m Run (p) | Landon Wachter |
| 4:50 | Men's 200m Dash (p) | Markesh Woodson |
| 5:15 | Women's 200m Dash (p) | Jacqueline Obi |
| 5:45 |
Men's 3000m Run |
Evan Chiplock | Marc Dubrick | Dan Roe | Tyler Schneider | Max Storms |
| 6:25 | Women's 3000m Run | Nicole Mello | Brooke Wolfe |