In her first conference championships since she transferred from Baylor in the Big 12, Ackera Nugent set a pair of new personal bests in the 60m hurdles and 60m dash as Arkansas crowned themselves SEC champions on Saturday.

Nugent, who holds the U20 60m world record of 7.92, stormed to a personal best 7.81 to win the silver medal behind NCAA record holder Masai Russell, who took gold in 7.77s.

The winning time was just outside Russell’s collegiate record of 7.75 run earlier in the season.

Russell, a senior at Kentucky, broke the previous meet record of 7.89 set by LSU’s Tonea Marshall in 2020 and facilities record of 7.79 that had been held by Clemson’s Briana Rollins since 2013.

Nugent, who was also under the previous meet record, eclipsed her previous best of 7.88 set in January.

Tennessee’s Charisma Taylor ran 8.03 for the bronze medal.

Nugent would have gone into the hurdles final with a boost in confidence after winning the bronze medal in the 60m dash in a personal best of 7.20, finishing just behind silver-medallist Georgia’s Kaila Jackson who clocked 7.17.

Tennessee’s Jacious Sears ran a personal best 7.11 to win the gold medal.

Arkansas’ women topped the table with 130.5 points. Florida was second with 84 while Tennessee finished third with 56.33 points.

Alabama and Ole Miss shared fourth place with 54 points each.

Meanwhile, Arkansas' men also wrapped up the men's title scoring 102.25 points, some of which were contributed by Clemson's Roje Stona.

The former St Jago thrower hit a brand new personal best of 19.96m that won him the bronze medal in the men's shot put.

The top three men all produced personal bests as silver-medallist Jordan West of Arkansas hit his best throw ever of 20.29m. 

The winner, John Meyer of LSU, had the winning mark of 20.37m.

Florida finished second in the men's standings with 73 points while Alabama's 63 points put them third.

Georgia (59) and Tennessee (54) rounded out the top five.

Jamaican Texas A&M senior Lamara Distin continued her unbeaten run in the NCAA high jump in 2023 by winning the SEC Indoor title in Fayetville on Saturday.

Distin, gold medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, entered the Championships on the back of wins at the Razorback Invitational on January 27, New Mexico Collegiate Classic on February 3 and the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational on February 11.

The 22-year-old former Hydel High standout entered the competition at 1.80m and had a perfect card all the way through, eventually achieving a winning height of 1.95, a new meet record.

She also had three unsuccessful attempts at 2.00m which would’ve been a new personal best and broken her own national record of 1.97m.

Georgia sophomore Elena Kulichenko finished second with 1.92m while LSU junior Morgan Smalls cleared 1.80 for third.

Former Kingston College standout Wayne Pinnock produced a personal best 8.31m to finish second in the Men’s long jump at the South East Conference (SEC) Indoor Championships in Fayetville on Friday.

The Arkansas sophomore, who transferred from Tennessee in the summer, only jumped twice in the competition producing 8.10m in the first round before achieving his personal best in round two.

The event was won by American Mississippi State senior Cameron Crump who achieved a personal best of his own with 8.39m, breaking US Olympian JuVaughn Harrison’s meet record 8.33m done in 2021.

Jamaican Arkansas senior Carey McLeod was third with 8.19m. McLeod produced distances of 8.09m, 8.19m and 8.17m in his series.

Pinnock’s distance puts him joint 32^nd all time on the indoor long jump list and second among Jamaicans with only James Beckford’s 8.40m done in Madrid in 1996 ahead of him.

TLamara Distin and Carey McLeod were among the winners at the 2022 SEC Indoor Championships held at College Station, Texas from February 25-26.

Texas A&M junior Distin won the Women’s High Jump in 1.91m. The former Hydel High star, who recently set a new Jamaican indoor record of 1.92m, finished ahead of South Carolina sophomore Rachel Glenn (1.88m) and LSU senior Abigail O’Donoghue (1.88m).

McLeod, the University of Mississippi junior, won the long jump with a leap of 8.07m to defeat Georgia's standout sophomore Matthew Boling (7.90m) and Alabama sophomore Emmanuel Ineh (7.87m).

The former Kingston College man also finished third in the triple jump in 16.33m behind LSU freshman Sean Dixon-Bodie (16.64m) and Missouri junior Georgi Nachev (16.48m).

Distin’s Texas A&M teammate, Charokee Young, was fourth in the Women’s 400m in 51.28. The event was won by Kentucky’s Alexis Holmes in 50.77 while Arkansas freshman Britton Wilson ran 50.88 for second and Florida freshman Talitha Diggs ran 51.25 for third.

Young was a member of Texas A&M's 4x400m relay team that ran 3:25.43 while finishing second Arkansas that ran 3:24.09 for victory.

Texas A&M Junior Charokee Young enters the South Eastern Conference (SEC) Indoor Championships at the Aggies Gilliam Indoor Stadium this weekend in perhaps the form of her life.

The former Hydel High School star, opened the season running 37.33 in the 300m at the Wooo Pig Classic, which ranks her 18^th in collegiate history and then in her first race over 400m, won in 52.00 at the Charlie Thomas Invitational.

She then clocked an impressive 51.24 in the 400m at the Don Kirby Open to win in what the fourth-best time all-time indoors at Texas A&M that established her as the Aggies leading quarter-miler, replacing the outstanding Athing Mu, who went pro before winning gold medals in the 800m at the US trials and the Tokyo Olympics.

Herself a former 800m runner, Young believes her progress this season comes down to building on her success last season when she finished the Texas Tech Invitational with two event titles, winning the 400m at a time of 52.64 and ran the second leg on the 4x400m that won at 3:31.09, the second-fastest 4x400m in the NCAA in 2021 as well as clocking a personal best 400m time of 51.93 at the Charlie Thomas Invitational, the fifth-best performer in Aggie history.

The season culminated with her booking a ticket to Japan for her first Olympics.

“I honestly feel like what drove my improvement this year is just adding to what I had already learned last year. So instead of starting from zero, I started from 50 per cent,” said Young, who is looking beyond the NCAA to don Jamaica's colours in the individual 400m at the World Championships in Oregon in July.

“I am still trying to learn more in trying to improve my races.

“I feel like my experience in Tokyo really motivated me for this year to work hard and just go out and give it my best shot. I am really working hard this year so I wouldn’t be like an alternate, hopefully, I will be able to cement my spot on the team. So I am working hard so I can run faster and hopefully get a better result.”

Wanting to succeed for both school and country can be challenging for collegiate athletes. Navigating indoor and outdoor seasons with each having both regional and national competitions can be physically and mentally taxing.

Young acknowledges that reality but believes she is now better able to find that balance that will allow excelling at both.

“I do agree that the NCAA takes a toll on your body but if you can complete an NCAA circuit, it shouldn’t be a problem to push a couple more months to go to the World Championships. Last year was my first time doing it, so this year I will have an idea what it feels like so I will be way more prepared this year than last year,” she said.

With that in mind, she said, her primary goal this season is to improve each time she steps on the track. It is clear in her mind that if she keeps doing that, then doing well for Texas A&M and Jamaica will be achievable.

“I really don’t have a set time I want to achieve this year, I just hope to keep getting better and better, so my main goal this year is to end with a season-best,” she said.

Joella Lloyd and Carey McLeod shone brightly for the University at Tennessee at the SEC Championships at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Centre in Arkansas on the weekend.