Three Aggies in multi-event medal hunt, Kyriazis runner-up in SEC javelin

Tyra Gittens - SEC heptathlon leading day 1

May 11, 2018 | Track and Field

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – First day of competition at the SEC Championships have three Aggies in contention for medals in the multi-events as Tyra Gittens and Shaina Burns are currently first and second in the heptathlon while Nathan Hite is stationed in third place in the decathlon.

Finals on the opening day of the conference track and field championships had three-time defending SEC javelin John Kyriazis placing second even though he bettered his meet record on his first throw of the season.

Karis Jochen placed fourth in the 10,000m with a time of 35:24.07, producing the second best finish by an Aggie female in the conference race. Hillary Montgomery finished third in 2015 with Jochen placed fifth. For Jochen, it was the fourth time for her to score in the SEC 10k, with previous finishes of eighth in 2014 as well as fifth in 2016.

In the men's 10,000m, Brandt Preston clocked 31:45.31 to place 13^th, as Alabama swept the top three places for 24 points and Arkansas placed fifth through ninth for 10 points. Also racing in the women's 10,000m, Ashley Driscoll finished 14^th in 37:47.49.

With three of 21 men's finals scored, Alabama leads with 30 points, followed by Mississippi State (16), Florida (15), Arkansas (13), and Auburn (11). After two women's finals, Mississippi and Missouri are tied with 15 points and followed by Alabama (11) and Tennessee (10).

Qualifying rounds had Texas A&M advancing five to the finals of the 800m and 400m hurdles. The Aggie women will have three individuals – Jazmine Fray (2:05.50), Sammy Watson (2:07.20) and Brittany Parker (2:08.39) – in the 800m final. On the men's side Devin Dixon (1:48.23) led the qualifying in the 800m while Infinite Tucker (51.01) advanced in the 400m hurdles with the fourth best time.

Seeking to become the first athlete to claim four consecutive SEC men's javelin titles, Kyriazis reached a meet record distance of 263-6 (80.33) on his initial throw of his senior season. That mark bettered the 262-11 (80.15) championship record he established in winning the 2017 title. Kyriazis added a second round toss of 252-2 (76.87) and then passed his remaining four attempts.

Current NCAA leader Mississippi State's Anderson Peters offered a challenge as he threw 269-2 (82.04) in the third round. That effort bettered the collegiate-leading 268-10 (81.95) Peters set in March, prior to throwing 271-8 (82.20) to earn a bronze medal for Grenada at the Commonwealth Games held in Australia in April.

"I wanted to win my fourth consecutive title, but the situation was kind of hard," noted Kyriazis, who currently ranks third among collegians this season. "I threw a second time to see if I could produce something a little better than my first throw, but my abdomen and groin were hurting to where it was difficult to run on my approach.

"My form may be ok while my explosiveness and strength is there still, but I haven't thrown in competition for such a long time."

Three career best marks highlighted Gittens day in the heptathlon as she performed in front of family and friends to produce a leading score of 3,842 points. Gittens, a freshman at Texas A&M, attended Ensworth High School in Nashville.

"It's so much fun being back in Tennessee," noted Gittens. "I competed on this track a lot while in high school. I'm having a great time."

Starting in the 100m hurdles, Gittens clocked 13.21 seconds to score 1,093 points. Her effort also ranks No. 10 on the Aggie all-time list. Her previous best this season was 13.47.

Moving to the high jump, where she held a best of 6-0 ¾ (1.85) from 2016, Gittens improved her career best to 6-1 ¼ (1.86) for 1,054 points. After needing three attempts to get over her opening height of 5-6 (1.71), Gittens made the next three heights on first attempts. A second try was needed at 5-10 ¾ (1.80), but Gittens cleared 6-0 (1.83) on one attempt.

Clearing 6-1 ¼ on her third try moved Gittens to No. 3 performer with an equal No. 4 performance on the Aggie all-time list. Only Melinda Clark (6-3 ½ in 1989) and Caroline Wolf (6-1 ½ in 2007) have jumped higher at Texas A&M.

Gittens produced the second best shot put in the heptathlon field with a 42-0 ¾ (12.82), which is an outdoor best, for 715 points. Then she closed out the first day with the leading time in the 200m, a 24.01 for 980 points, which bettered her previous best of 24.02 from earlier this season.

"I was very nervous coming into today, since I didn't know how I was going to compete," said Gittens. "After I had a huge PR in the hurdles I felt really good. In the high jump it was amazing. I broke through a barrier that I've been trying to break through indoors and outdoors. The 200 was a PR as well, but I wanted a little more there."

Burns generated a score of 3,499 points on the first day of the heptathlon. Her career best in the 100m hurdles of 13.91 scored 991 points while a 5-8 ½ (1.74) high jump added 903. Burns led the shot put with a toss of 46-1 ½ (14.06) for 798 points. She finished with a 25.89 in the 200m for 807 points.

"There is no doubt Tyra and I are going to hold our 1-2," stated Burns. "We are each having a great time hyping each other up right now. I started off the day with a hurdle PR, so from there it's one of those days where the energy keeps carrying on.

"I'm extremely excited for tomorrow. This past week of practice I've had in-practice PRs in both the long jump and javelin. The 800 is one of my favorite events to make up points on the field while I hunt people down. It's my eighth and final conference meet, so I'm just out here trying to have a good time and make the team proud."

With a score of 4,081 points Hite is 119 points out of first place in the decathlon. Georgia's Karl Saluri leads with 4,200 and Gabe Moore of Arkansas is in second place with 4,104.

Hite started with a career best of 10.66 in the 100m for 938 points and added 842 from a windy 23-4 ½ (7.12) long jump. He led the shot put with a mark of 46-11 ¾ (14.32) for 748 points and high jumped 6-3 ¼ (1.91) for an additional 723 points. Wrapping up the first day with the 400m, Hite ran the third best time of the field as his 49.66 picked up 830 points.

An early final in the women's hammer had Carissa van Beek placing ninth with a toss of 179-11 (54.84) as she produced her best finish and mark in her fourth SEC meet. William Petersson finished 10^th in the men's javelin with a mark of 199-5 (60.78). In the men's hammer, Austin Cook threw a season best of 205-9 (62.73) and placed 14^th.

Aggies competing in the prelims of running events included Jean Jenkins in the women's 800m, where her 2:09.14 placed her ninth overall with eight advancing to the final. In the men's 800m, Efrain Hernandez (1:51.71) placed 15^th overall. Amber Ivy posted a time of 23.45 in the women's 200m, placing 16^th overall, while Jace Comick ran 21.01 in the men's race to place 17^th overall.

Lauren Lawless finished in the ninth spot with a 59.09 in the women's 400m hurdles while Gabrielle McDonald was 11^th overall in 1:01.34. In the men's 400m hurdles, a trio of Aggies – Tyler Hart (51.55), Ilolo Izu (51.56) and Jackson Davis (52.29) – finished 9-10-11 overall.

Saturday's action starts at 9:15 a.m. (CT) with the heptathlon followed by the decathlon at 11 a.m. Field events begin at 1 p.m. while running events get underway at 5:30 p.m.