Friday, April 28
Baton Rouge, La.
All Day
Texas A&M
at
SEC Relays
Photo by: Errol Anderson
Initial SEC Relays feature nine conference schools competing at LSU
Apr 27, 2017 | Track and Field
BATON ROUGE – On a weekend of big relay meets, nine schools in the Southeastern Conference are meeting on the LSU campus for the first installment of the SEC Relays, which will be held at Bernie Moore Stadium this Friday and Saturday.
In addition to LSU and Texas A&M the conference schools involved include Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
"I think it's a needed meet for the Southeastern Conference," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "The SEC is so dominant right now in track and field and any meet that involves this many SEC schools will have an audience. Now, if we can get it on the SEC Network then it would really be good.
"This should be a fine competition this weekend. With the exception of a few schools, such as Florida and South Carolina, most everybody is going to be at the SEC Relays. It's a shame some decided to go a separate way after we all voted to have this meet. We just need the SEC office to step up and say we're going to do this every year now. I think it will be great for the sport, great for the conference, and it's great for the athletes as well."
The team scored meet, in which the final score is a combined men's and women's tally, will involve seven relay events and will pool jumping and throwing events into a relay format as well.
Relay events contested include the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, 4x800, sprint medley, distance medley and shuttle hurdle. Scoring in each relay event of the top eight places will be on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis and only one relay per institution will score in these events.
The single highest mark from each school in each throwing or jumping discipline will be added together for a combined four-event total. The jumping events include high jump, pole vault, long jump, and triple jump. The throwing events include shot put, discus, javelin and hammer.
"It will be fun to say that your best marks in the jumps all add up to be a relay," noted Henry. "In doing that with each discipline, I think it makes for a very good concept. In addition, combining both the men and women into one team score makes it even more fun."
Non-scoring individual events on the track during Friday's competition will include 100/110m hurdles, 400m, 400m hurdles, 3,000m steeplechase, 200m and 5,000m. On Saturday the non-scoring events include the 1,500m and 100m.
Competition starts at 3 p.m. on Friday with field events as running events begin at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, field events start at 10:30 a.m. with running events beginning at noon. Results will be available online at http://results.deltatiming.com/lsu.
Earlier this season the Aggies had a stellar showing at the Texas Relays, placing first or second in nine of the 11 relays they contested. Combined they registered five victories, four runner-up finishes, and added one fifth-place finish.
Texas A&M men won the 4x400 (3:01.74) and sprint medley (3:15.57) and were runner-up in the 4x200 (1:22.28), 4x800 (7:29.16), and distance medley (9:46.73). They did not compete in the final of the 4x100.
The Aggie women won three relays – 4x100 (42.82), 4x200 (1:29.89) and sprint medley (3:42.10) – while placing runner-up in the 4x400 (3:29.18) and finishing fifth in the distance medley (11:39.75).
"You can't win every relay," said Henry. "No one team will have the depth to win every relay, especially in a two-day format. So, you'll put the absolute best group you can put on the track in each relay you compete in. You don't know which schools will put their absolute best groups on the track in particular relay events. So, it makes for an interesting two days, it will be fun to see."
In addition to LSU and Texas A&M the conference schools involved include Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
"I think it's a needed meet for the Southeastern Conference," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "The SEC is so dominant right now in track and field and any meet that involves this many SEC schools will have an audience. Now, if we can get it on the SEC Network then it would really be good.
"This should be a fine competition this weekend. With the exception of a few schools, such as Florida and South Carolina, most everybody is going to be at the SEC Relays. It's a shame some decided to go a separate way after we all voted to have this meet. We just need the SEC office to step up and say we're going to do this every year now. I think it will be great for the sport, great for the conference, and it's great for the athletes as well."
The team scored meet, in which the final score is a combined men's and women's tally, will involve seven relay events and will pool jumping and throwing events into a relay format as well.
Relay events contested include the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, 4x800, sprint medley, distance medley and shuttle hurdle. Scoring in each relay event of the top eight places will be on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis and only one relay per institution will score in these events.
The single highest mark from each school in each throwing or jumping discipline will be added together for a combined four-event total. The jumping events include high jump, pole vault, long jump, and triple jump. The throwing events include shot put, discus, javelin and hammer.
"It will be fun to say that your best marks in the jumps all add up to be a relay," noted Henry. "In doing that with each discipline, I think it makes for a very good concept. In addition, combining both the men and women into one team score makes it even more fun."
Non-scoring individual events on the track during Friday's competition will include 100/110m hurdles, 400m, 400m hurdles, 3,000m steeplechase, 200m and 5,000m. On Saturday the non-scoring events include the 1,500m and 100m.
Competition starts at 3 p.m. on Friday with field events as running events begin at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, field events start at 10:30 a.m. with running events beginning at noon. Results will be available online at http://results.deltatiming.com/lsu.
Earlier this season the Aggies had a stellar showing at the Texas Relays, placing first or second in nine of the 11 relays they contested. Combined they registered five victories, four runner-up finishes, and added one fifth-place finish.
Texas A&M men won the 4x400 (3:01.74) and sprint medley (3:15.57) and were runner-up in the 4x200 (1:22.28), 4x800 (7:29.16), and distance medley (9:46.73). They did not compete in the final of the 4x100.
The Aggie women won three relays – 4x100 (42.82), 4x200 (1:29.89) and sprint medley (3:42.10) – while placing runner-up in the 4x400 (3:29.18) and finishing fifth in the distance medley (11:39.75).
"You can't win every relay," said Henry. "No one team will have the depth to win every relay, especially in a two-day format. So, you'll put the absolute best group you can put on the track in each relay you compete in. You don't know which schools will put their absolute best groups on the track in particular relay events. So, it makes for an interesting two days, it will be fun to see."
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