Arkansas wins 10th SEC Outdoor title, 45th overall for retiring Lance Harter

BATON ROUGE – In winning a 10th SEC Outdoor championship, Britton Wilson repeated an unprecedented double victory in the 400m and 400m hurdles on the final day of the meet and lowered her collegiate record in the 400m to 49.13, becoming the fourth fastest American ever.

No. 3 Arkansas totaled 134 points to defeat No. 2 Florida, who scored 112 points in their title defense after winning the 2022 title by four points over the Razorbacks. Texas A&M (86) finished third and were followed by Ole Miss (73.5), Tennessee (67), Georgia (57), LSU (53), Alabama (50), and Kentucky (50).

This marks the 45th SEC title for Arkansas women’s head coach Lance Harter, who is retiring this summer after 33 seasons leading the Razorbacks. In addition to 10 outdoor titles, Harter has 22 cross country and 13 indoor league wins.

Wilson continued to amaze with her ability to deliver victories in the 400m and 400m hurdles with record performances.

A day after improving her 49.51 collegiate record to 49.40 in the SEC prelims, Wilson put away the 400m field with a 49.13 victory. That performance moves her to No. 4 on the US all-time list, ahead of a 49.26 for Allyson Felix and only trailing Sanya Richards-Ross (48.70), Valerie Brisco (48.83), and Chandra Cheeseborough (49.05). Wilson is No. 17 on the all-time world list.

Finishing over a full second behind Wilson were Texas A&M’s Tierra Robinson-Jones (50.54) and Florida’s Talitha Diggs (50.74) in the medal positions. Three other Razorbacks in the race included a 6-7-8 finish for Aaliyah Pyatt (51.42), Nickisha Pryce (51.49), and Rosey Effiong (52.05).

Following a 30-minute lightning delay prior to the start of the 400m hurdles, Wilson generated a near two-second victory with a time of 53.28, which is just shy of her collegiate season best of 53.23 from earlier this season and two-tenths off her career best of 53.08.

Runner-up in 55.21 was Kentucky’s Masai Russell with Florida’s Vanessa Watson third in 55.59. Razorback Madison Langley-Walker set another career best in placing fourth with a 56.60, moving to No. 6 on the UA all-time list.

Another double act for Arkansas is Ackera Nugent, the silver medal in the 100m hurdles and fourth in the 100m.

A 12.43 career best in the 100m hurdles improved her 12.52 she set on the same track two weeks prior and moved her ever closer to the UA school record of 12.40 set by fellow Jamaican Janeek Brown.

LSU’s Alia Armstrong, who ran an all-conditions collegiate best of 12.31w in the prelims, broke the meet record with a winning time of 12.40 (0.4 wind) while Russell of Kentucky, the collegiate record holder at 12.36, finished third in 12.47.

Langley-Walker, who qualified for both hurdle finals, ran 13.22 for eighth place.

In the 200m, Pryce (23.12) and Effiong (23.23) added three more points in finishing seventh and eighth. Pryce set a career best and moved to No. 10 on the UA all-time list.

Arkansas completed the meet with a runner-up finish in the 4 x 400m relay, posting a time of 3:27.91 from the foursome of Paris Peoples, Aaliyah Pyatt, Joanne Reid (51.62), and Amber Anning (50.79).

Distance points on the final day included 11 in the 5,000m as well as six in the middle-distance from three points each in the 800m and 1,500m.

Arkansas placed six runners in the top 10 of the 5,000m, with scoring positions of 4-6-7-8. Heidi Nielson led the 5k crew with a 16:15.14 in fourth place. Following were Sydney Thorvaldson (16:15.85), Gracie Hyde (16:23.95), and Julie Paternain (16:25.80). Just missing on scoring places were Claire McClune (16:33.33) and Carmie Prinsloo (16:33.55) in ninth and 10th place.

A career best of 2:05.56 placed Lainey Quandt sixth in the 800m. Earlier in the day, Nielson finished seventh in the 1,500m with a 4:22.56 while Katie McCune placed eighth with a 4:23.73.