AUBURN, Ala. -- Junior Jeremy Hicks stepped onto the long jump runway Saturday at the 2008 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships without a 25-foot jump to his credit while battling through a series of injuries for much of the 2008 campaign. But Hicks lined up for his final attempt of the competition and hit a jump of 25 feet, 8 inches to leapfrog two competitors and earn all-conference honors with a second-place finish in the event. The Houston native entered the meet healthy and well-rested as he hadn’t seen any action since the Tigers played host to the LSU Alumni Gold on April 19. Hick’s struggles this season are largely due to the fact that he has been recovering from a strained groin muscle suffered during his warm-up for the long jump at the Razorback Invitational during the indoor season back on Jan. 25. He has since suffered a strained abdominal that has slowed his recovery during the outdoor season. “I made sure to warm up for a long time to get my groin and my abs ready to jump,” Hicks said following his performance. “This really is as good as I’ve felt all season. I’ve haven’t jumped in a while, and a lot of my training has been spent preparing to come back for this meet. I felt pretty good today and just tried to go out there and do my best.” And Hicks did just that by earning All-SEC honors for the second time in his career, matching his second-place finish at the 2006 SEC Outdoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Hicks qualified for the final with the third-best mark of the preliminary round with a short-lived seasonal best of 25-1 ¼. He then fell into fourth place when Alabama’s Tim Grier posted a mark of 25-5 ¼ in the sixth and final round of jumps. Hicks responded with the second-longest jump of his collegiate career at 25-8 to move past both Grier and Ole Miss’ Justin Gunn (25-7 ½) and give the Tigers eight big points in the team standings. Hicks and Gunn were separated by a mere one-half inch for the second and third spots. “Jeremy has proven to us in previous SEC Championships that he can compete in these kinds of track meets,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “He had been hurt for most of the season, and I talked to Coach (Todd) Lane about just having him ready to compete at this meet. I couldn’t be happier with the way Jeremy responded because we needed those points from our jumps group.” The scoring was not limited to the men’s team as five Lady Tigers finished among the top eight of their respective events to give the LSU women 21.5 points in the field events on the day. Like Hicks, sophomore Katelyn Rodrigue earned all-conference honors during Saturday’s action by finishing runner-up in the pole vault with a clearance of 13-4 ½. This marks the first time in her LSU career that Rodrigue has earned All-SEC honors in the event. Freshman Brittani Carter added valuable points by tying for third place in the high jump, while junior Anna Lyons took fourth in the javelin, and freshman Melissa Ogbourne and senior Andrea Linton placed seventh and eighth in the long jump, respectively. “We’re starting to pick up a few points in the field events from both the men and the women, and that is a must if we want to win this track meet tomorrow,” Shaver said. “I thought Katelyn did a great job of competing today because there are some tremendous vaulters in this league. Arkansas has quite a few of those. We also picked up some big points in the javelin and long jump. “I can say at the end of the day that it is our track meet to lose on the women’s side. We just have a lot more scoring opportunities left in the track meet than anybody else. That does not guarantee us any points, but it puts us in a good position to win the team championship.” In fact, the Lady Tigers have 21 scoring opportunities Sunday with eight more athletes advancing to championship finals during Saturday’s preliminary action. The Lady Tigers will occupy four lanes in the final of the 100-meter dash as Kelly Baptiste (11.32), Juanita Broaddus (11.52), Kenyanna Wilson (11.61) and Samantha Henry (11.65) each punched their ticket to the final on Saturday. Brooklynn Morris (53.26) will run in the final of the 400 meters, while Nickiesha Wilson (13.0), Jessica Ohanaja (13.28) and Angel Boyd (13.47) look to score big points in the final of the 100-meter hurdles. The Lady Tigers have scored 26.5 points over the course of the first two days of competition and will kick off Sunday’s action in fifth place in the team standings. Florida currently leads the way with 70 points, followed by Arkansas in second place with 52.5 points. The Tigers will have 21 scoring opportunities of their own on the meet’s final day after qualifying seven athletes into championships finals on Saturday. Richard Thompson (10.18) and Trindon Holliday (10.21) qualified with the top two times in the prelims of the 100-meter dash, while Armanti Hayes (47.24) and Reggie Dardar (47.32) are set to line up in the finals of the 400 meters. Ryan Fontenot (13.98) advanced in the 110-meter hurdles, and both John Kosgei (3:44.52) and Michael Hendry (3:47.82) qualified in the 1,500 meters. Thanks to Hicks’ effort in the long jump, the Tigers wrapped up the evening alone in eighth place with 16 points. Arkansas tops the men’s standings with 45 points followed by Auburn with 39. “I think our men have done a good enough job to put themselves in a position to win,” Shaver said. “I thought coming in that they could have a good meet and finish second or third. They’ve certainly done enough to be in the hunt tomorrow. They can win just as likely as anybody else. It is anybody’s track meet to win on the men’s side.” The final day of competition at the 2008 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships is slated to get underway Sunday at 12:30 p.m. CDT as 27 event finals are scheduled throughout the day. This year’s team champions will be crowned during an award’s ceremony immediately following the competition at 8:50 p.m. 2008 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships Results Men’s Steeplechase Long Jump Discus TEAM STANDINGS (6 events scored) Women’s Steeplechase High Jump Pole Vault Long Jump Shot Put Javelin TEAM STANDINGS (9 events scored)
Saturday at Hutsell-Rosen Track in Auburn, Ala. (All race distances in meters)
1. Barnabas Kirui, Ole Miss, 8:41.12; 2. Peter Kosgei, Arkansas, 8:43.02; 3. Augustus Maiyo, Alabama, 8:47.57; 4. Scott MacPherson, Arkansas, 8:48.35; 5. Ryder Leary, Florida, 8:56.18; 6. Scott Novack, Auburn, 9:00.39; 7. Abraham Kutingala, Alabama, 9:01.45; 8. Andre Silva, Kentucky, 9:06.28.
1. Alain Bailey, Arkansas, 26-0 ¾; 2. Jeremy Hicks, LSU, 25-8; 3. Justin Gunn, Ole Miss, 25-7 ½; 4. Tim Grier, Alabama, 25-5 ¼; 5. Derrick Locke, Kentucky, 24-11; 6. Mychael Stewart, Arkansas, 24-2 ¼; 7. Brenard Wilson, Tennessee, 24-1 ¾; 8. Wale Odetunde, Ole Miss, 23-11 ¾.
1. Chase Madison, Kentucky, 198-1; 2. Cory Martin, Auburn, 192-3; 3. Wes Stockbarger, Florida, 190-4; 4. Andy Fryman, Kentucky, 186-2; 5. Edis Elkasevic, Auburn, 185-5; 6. Zach Clayton, Auburn, 183-7; 7. Colin Boevers, Kentucky, 179-6; 8. Nick Panezich, Tennessee, 175-7.
1. Arkansas, 45; 2. Auburn, 39; 3. Alabama, 28; 4. Kentucky, 27; 5. Florida, 22; 6. Tennessee, 21; 7. Ole Miss, 17; 8. LSU, 16; 9. Georgia, 12; 10. Mississippi State, 6; 11. South Carolina, 1.
1. Sarah Madebach, Georgia, 10:14.89; 2. Lindsay Sundell, Florida, 10:24.00; 3. Andrea Halasek, Kentucky, 10:35.76; 4. Caroline Peyton, Arkansas, 10:44.68; 5. Megan Jackson, Arkansas, 10:44.77; 6. Jenna Ortman, Kentucky, 10:55.30; 7. Lindsay Petri, Kentucky, 10:56.77; 8. Julia Hicks, Alabama, 10:58.50.
1. Raevan Harris, Auburn, 6-0; 2. Brittney Reese, Ole Miss, 5-10 ½; t3. Brittani Carter, LSU, 5-8 ¾; t3. Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky, 5-8 ¾; 5. Carmia Carroll, Ole Miss, 5-7; 6. Mallory Hitt, Vanderbilt, 5-5; 7. Cherice Robertson, Vanderbilt, 5-5; 8. Dorothy Youmans, Mississippi State, 5-5.
1. Katie Stripling, Arkansas, 13-6 ½; 2. Katelyn Rodrigue, LSU, 13-4 ½; 3. Lynda Cooper, Alabama, 13-4 ½; 4. Sarah Landau, Arkansas, 12-11 ½; 5. Daisy Glasser, Florida, 12-11 ½; 6. Tara Diebold, Arkansas, 12-7 ½; t7. Kristen Keith, Arkansas, 12-1 ½; t7. Sallie Gurganus, South Carolina, 12-1 ½.
1. Brittney Reese, Ole Miss, 22-5 ¼; 2. Shara Proctor, Florida, 21-2; 3. Brittney James, South Carolina, 20-9 ¼; 4. Peter-Gaye Beckford, Arkansas, 20-2 ¼; 5. Marrissa Harris, Mississippi State, 20-1 ¾; 6. Lynne Layne, Tennessee, 19-11 ½; 7. Melissa Ogbourne, LSU, 19-5 ½; 8. Andrea Linton, LSU, 19-2 ½.
1. Annie Alexander, Tennessee, 56-6 ¾; 2. Mariam Kevkhishvilli, Florida, 54-9 ¼; 3. Davina Orieukwu, Ole Miss, 50-5 ¼; 4. Jennifer Svodoba, Kentucky, 50-2; 5. Angelica Howard, Alabama, 48-3 ½; 6. Emilee Strot, Kentucky, 47-3 ½; 7. Kristin Smith, Kentucky, 46-10 ¼; 8. Katalin Mate, Auburn, 46-4 ¼.
1. Evelien Dekkers, Florida, 169-6; 2. Sigrun Sveinsdottir, Georgia, 160-5; 3. Star Sansone, Florida, 158-9; 4. Anna Lyons, LSU, 154-2; 5. Meghan Austin, Alabama, 146-1; 6. Peter-Gaye Beckford, Arkansas, 145-7; 7. Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky, 130-5; 8. Kelsey Mollenkamp, Arkansas, 128-8.
1. Florida, 70; 2. Arkansas, 52.5; 3. Kentucky, 46.5; 4. Ole Miss, 30; 5. LSU, 26.5; 6. Auburn, 26; 7. Alabama, 23; 8. Tennessee, 21; 9. Mississippi State, 20; 10. Georgia, 18; 11. South Carolina, 10.5; 12. Vanderbilt, 7.