The Gateway to Sacramento:
The Power That Is the SEC

This feature is the fifth of a seven-part series highlighting the athletes, coaches, and teams that will attend the NCAA Mideast Track & Field Regional Championships on May 25 and 26, held at Audrey J. Walton Stadium in Columbia, Mo.

The Southeastern Conference has been a dominant part of the track and field landscape for many, many years. With LSU, Arkansas, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, always tearing up the track, what will they bring to watch at the Mideast Regional? Quite a bit actually.

By Shawn Davis
Missouri Media Relations Student Assistant

Over the past several years, the Southeastern Conference has been one of the most dominant and most competitive in all sports, including track and field. This season has been no different as the SEC occupies seven of the top 25 spots in the Trackwire top-25 on the men's and women's side. Four of the top six teams on the women's side are from the SEC and three of the top six on the men's side are SEC schools proving the stranglehold the conference has on the sport. At the 2007 Mideast Regional, athletes from nine schools from the SEC, who qualified with a regional-high (by conference) 296 marks, will showcase their skills in hopes of advancing to Sacramento, Calif., for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Among the top teams in the SEC, Louisiana State seems to be the odds on favorite in both the men's and women's side based on national polls. The women enter the regional ranked first in the nation by Trackwire, while the men come in second. Both are coming off of an impressive showing at the SEC Championships. The women took the title with 139½ points which was more than a comfortable margin of victory over Arkansas who finished with 110. Coming into the final day in seventh place, LSU earned 124½ points on the final day to take home their first title since 1996.

The Lady Tigers posted four individual conference champions in the 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles, the 800 and triple jump. Junior Andrea Lipton broke her personal best in the triple jump with a leap of 44 feet, 1¼ inches, good enough for fourth all-time at LSU and will set her as the No. 1 seed in the regional. Lipton also has a mark that ranks in the top-25 in the World and third among Jamaicans.

With a sweep of the hurdles last weekend by LSU's Nickiesha Wilson and Jessica Ohanaja, in the 400 and 100 respectively, the Lady Tigers look primed to have several athletes advance to Sacramento.

On the men's side, the Tigers are led by Trindon Holliday and Jamaal James. Holliday, a short distance specialist, took home top honors at the 2007 SEC Championships in the 100-meter dash. Holliday ran a 10.08 which is the fourth- fastest time in the world this season and fastest in the NCAA. His time also shattered the school record at LSU which was set last season by Xavier Carter. James, a middle-distance expert also took home the title in the 800 with a time of 1 minute, 47 seconds, good enough for fourth in school history.

Tennessee's men on the other hand moved up to sixth nationally after winning the SEC crown. With the victory, the Vols now own 25 conference championships, one third of the 75 that have been claimed. For the past three seasons the Vols have been the runner up, but for the first time since 2002, they are SEC champs. Despite only having one conference champion, Rubin Williams in the 200-meter, the Vols had 12 athletes in the top eight in their respective events. Coming into the season ranked 17, the Vols have been one of the surprise teams in the SEC this season.

Auburn's women enter the regional ranking fourth in the country. The 2006 and defending national champions Lady Tigers are led by Kerron Stewart, the 2007 National Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and indoor national champion at 60-meter and 200-meter. In addition to her indoor accolades, Stewart brought home outdoor SEC titles in the 100-meter and the 200-meter. If the Tigers are to repeat as national champions, it will take a strong showing from Stewart and the supporting cast.

Adding to the rich history of track & field in the SEC, the University of Arkansas brings a long resume into the regional competition. Currently ranked 12th on the men's side and 13th on the women's side, the Razorbacks have been one of the top programs over the past 35 seasons. Since head coach John McDonnell took over the men's program in 1972, the Razorbacks have won 19 indoor track and field titles and 12 outdoor. Since their introduction into the SEC in 1991-92, the Hogs have won 14 of 16 indoor conference titles and 13 of 16 outdoor titles and boast an astounding 81 conference championships.

The conference as a whole is one likely the best in the nation. LSU and Auburn have legitimate shots to win a title on both the men's and women's side while surprise teams such as Tennessee and South Carolina look primed to continue their climb through the national ranks. Individually, the SEC has plenty of title contenders, and will also dominate both relays on the men's and women's side. The SEC filled 134 spots for the 19 events and 12 teams in each of the relays on the men's side and 154 spots on the women's side, while qualifying eight teams for the 4x1 and 13 for the 4x4 relays, all for the Mideast Regional. If there is a heat in an event, it is likely that there will be an athlete from the SEC.