The SEC outdoor men’s and women’s track and field championships are always one of the premier meets in collegiate track and field. 2024’s meet should be no different. The SEC championships are filled with top-ranked teams and loaded with some of the top regular-season performers creating must-watch matchups. Here’s a look at some of the top potential head-to-head matchups to watch.
Note: At the time of writing (Monday, May 6) the start lists for the SEC Championships haven’t been published, meaning athletes listed below may not participate in an event. These aren’t guaranteed because some matchups may need athletes to advance to the finals to happen.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Updates, schedule and results for the 2023 SEC outdoor track and field championships
Women
100 meters — Jacious Sears (Tennessee) vs. Brianna Lyston (LSU)
The top two 100 meter sprinters in the country have been Jacious Sears and Brianna Lyston. As I’ve stated earlier this season, I think either is capable of resetting the collegiate record book. There could be potentially three head-to-head matchups between Sears and Lyston during the postseason, and SECs could be the start of something special.
NEXT TO FALL: T&F records on notice this postseason
200 meters — JaMeesia Ford (South Carolina) vs. McKenzie Long (Ole Miss)
The rookie vs. the vet. A tale as old as time. Both are tied for the national lead in the 200 meters at 22.21 seconds. Freshman JaMeesia Ford has arguably been the best freshman in the entire NCAA across the indoor-outdoor seasons, and senior McKenzie Long finished second in the 200 meter final at last year’s NCAA championships.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: These are the top freshmen in women’s outdoor track and field halfway through 2024
100 hurdles — Grace Stark (Florida) vs. LSU’s trio
Grace Stark has been a woman on a mission this outdoor season, going undefeated across the 100 hurdles. At SECs, she’ll have to hold off LSU’s hurdling trio of Leah Phillips, Shani’a Bellamy and 2023 SEC 100 hurdles champion Alia Armstrong. I think we might get a new national lead when this quartet of athletes takes the track.
RECORDS: Every collegiate track and field record broken in 2024
High Jump — Lamara Distin (Texas A&M) vs. Rachel Glenn (Arkansas)
Did you watch the high jump final at NCAA indoors, where the winning mark was a collegiate record? If you did, you’ll remember the names Lamara Distin and Rachel Glenn from that exciting battle. In the outdoor season, Distin has the No. 1 mark at 1.96 meters, and Glenn has the No. 5 mark at 1.90 meters. We might near collegiate record territory once again when these two matchup.
While Distin and Glenn are the headliners of the event, don’t forget about Elena Kulichenko (Georgia) and Charity Hufnagel (Kentucky) as contenders too.
Men
100 meters — TJ McCallum (Tennessee) vs. Favour Ashe (Auburn) vs. Godson Oghenebrume (LSU)
TJ McCallum and Favour Ashe are the only collegiate sprinters to break 10 seconds in the 100 meters this season, with both of their times being wind-legal. They say three’s a crowd, but you can’t count out Godson Oghenebrume from this competition either; he’s the defending SEC 100 meter champion and appears to be peaking at the right time of his training. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of these three run sub-10 seconds to win the title.
ELITE: Ranking the top 20 men’s and women’s outdoor track and field athletes
400 meters — Christopher Morales Williams (Georgia) vs. Auhmad Robinson (Texas A&M)
Only two collegiate athletes have run sub-45 in the 400 meters during the collegiate outdoor season, Christopher Morales Williams and Auhmad Robinson. Morales Williams finished first and Robinson finished second at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in the outdoor season and at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Morales Williams beat Robinson again during the outdoor season at LSU’s Battle on the Bayou, where Robinson finished fourth.
Since Morales Williams has hit his stride in the 400 meters this season, he’s had Robinson’s number. That doesn’t mean Robinson can’t upset the favorite entering the event.
BOWERMAN RANKING: Ranking the 10 men and 10 women on the fifth 2024 Bowerman watch list update
1500 meters — Anass Essayi (South Carolina) vs. Parvej Khan (Florida)
The 2023 SEC outdoor 1500m champion vs. the 2024 SEC indoor mile champion. Experienced junior vs. freshman standout. Essayi vs. Khan is one of the most intriguing battles at SECs, especially considering the 0.51 seconds that separate their season’s best times.
FRESHMAN PHENOM: Top freshmen halfway through 2024 men’s outdoor track and field season
Javelin — Marc Minichello (Georgia) vs. Tzuriel Pedigo (LSU)
We should see a battle of the last three NCAA javelin champions at the SEC Championships when Marc Minichello (2022 winner) faces Tzuriel Pedigo (2021 and 2023 winner). While both are former champions, the 2024 season couldn’t place these two farther apart.
Minichello leads the NCAA with his 82.32-meter throw. Pedigo is 37th in the East Region with his 65.52 meter throw, a far cry from his 79.79m personal best. Only the top 48 throwers in each region get invited to the NCAA First Round so Pedigo needs to live up to his past performances to make sure he doesn’t get passed up this weekend.
So Pedigo has to face a championship-level rival under the pressure of the looming cuts for NCAAs. Minichello gets his second shot at Pedigo since losing his title last year. I’m excited about this matchup already.