Florida Wins Men’s Team Title, 14 Event Titles From SEC at NCAA Track and Field Championships

The 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships wrapped up on Saturday, June 10th. Florida won the men’s team title on the final men’s race of the meet to go back-to-back, their sixth outdoor T&F title in program history (and second straight, having also won the title in 2022). Then on the women’s side, two SEC programs finished within the top three of the team rankings. It was also a strong weekend from an individual event title perspective, but more on that later.

In what was a captivating men’s team title race, the Gators trailed Arkansas heading into the final race of the men’s meet (the 4×400 relay), then a collegiate record time of 2:57.74 and event gold won the team national title for Florida. The relay team consisted of Emmanuel Bamidele, Jacory Patterson, Jevaughn Powell, and Ryan Willie.

Florida had 57 team points to win the national title, Arkansas finished second with 53 team points. LSU also finished in the top five with a fourth place, 43 point, finish.

Florida was also the highest finishing SEC team on the women’s side as they finished second (behind Texas) with 51 points. Arkansas finished right behind in third with 46 points.

All in all, there were 14 event national champions from the SEC (the conference took home 9-of-21 event titles in the men’s, and 5-of-21 events in the women’s). All in all, five different SEC schools had event champions.

Here are all of the event titles from the SEC:

SEC results from the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Men’s

LSU won the men’s 4×100 relay National Championship with a time of 38.05. They edged out Florida (38.26) who finished second. LSU’s relay team consisted of Dorian Camel, Da’Marcus Fleming, Brandon Hicklin, and Godson Oghenebrume.

Phillip Lemonious of Arkansas took home the gold in the Men’s 110 meter hurdles with a time of 13.24 seconds.

Florida swept the top two spots in the men’s 400 meter open as Emmanuel Bamidele finished in the top spot at 44.24 seconds. Bamidele barely edged out fellow Gator Ryan Willie who finished second at 44.25 seconds. Tennessee’s Emmanuel Bynum finished third at 44.49 seconds.

LSU’s Tzuriel Pedigo won the title in the men’s javelin throw with a toss of 79.79 meters on this third throw.

Arkansas took both the Gold and Silver in the men’s long jump. Carey McLeod edged out his teammate Wayne Pinnock with a jump of 8.26 meters. Pinnock jumped 8.15 meters. Jordan Turner of Kentucky finished third with a distance of 8.13 meters. The SEC featured the full top five in this event, plus had six of the top eight jumpers.

Georgia Freshman Will Sumner won the title in the 800 meters with a time of 1:44.26.

Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas took gold in the men’s triple jump with a distance of 17.56 meters.

Alabama went first and second in the men’s 400 meter hurdles. Chris Robinson took the title with a time of 48.12 seconds. Corde Long took silver with a time of 48.53 seconds.

The night cap of Friday was Florida winning the previously mentioned 4×400 to win the men’s team title.

Women’s

Ackera Nugent of Arkansas picked up the first women’s gold of the meet for the SEC on Saturday in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 12.25 seconds. The women’s 100m hurdles was an all-SEC podium as Kentucky’s Masai Russell finished second and Alia Armstrong from LSU finished third.

Jasmine Moore (Florida) took home the title in the Triple Jump with a distance of 14.78 meters.

LSU’s Michaela Rose led almost the entire way in the women’s 800 meter to win the title with a time of 1:59.83.

Florida’s Parker Valby pulled away from the pack to win the women’s 5K with a time of 15:30.57.

In the final event of the weekend, it was Arkansas who came out on top in the women’s 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:24.05. The relay team consisted of Paris Peoples, Joanne Reid, Nickisha Pryce, and Rosey Effiong. Texas A&M’s relay team finished second in the relay at 3:26.12

The SEC won both the men’s and women’s versions of three events (the 800, the Triple Jump, and the 4×400)

The meet also marked the final meet of the legendary head coaching career of Lance Harter, who has coached Arkansas’ women’s program for 33 years before retiring this year.