Hughes Leads Alabama on Day Two of the SEC Championships
5/14/2010 12:00:00 AM
May 14, 2010
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - After a one-hour lightning delay, the second day of the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium came to an end late Friday night. Junior Michael Hughes, in the decathlon, led the Alabama men's track and field team as the only point earner. Alabama is in 10th place after two days of competition.
"It was kind of an up and down day," head men's track and field coach Harvey Glance said. "We're real pleased with Hughes. He did a good job of scoring and he competed very hard, improving from 10th to seventh in the last three events. We had several other personal-bests today. Fabian just missed qualifying for the finals as a freshman. It was unfortunate that Moses went down and we had to pull him off the track (in the 10,000 meters). We lost some very valuable points as well as a good performance in that. We'll just have to regroup and get ready for tomorrow."
The decathlon athletes began the day with five events remaining. Hughes found himself in ninth place with 3,538 points, while sophomore Justin Brady sat in 12th place with 3,213 points. Cory Holman of Georgia led the competition with a point total of 4,164.
In the discus event of the multi-event competition, Hughes placed seventh with a career-best launch of 115-4 and Brady was 10th with a personal-best heave of 101-6. Brady's mark is a new personal-best by over 14-feet.
Hughes notched a second place finish in the pole vault event with a season-best clearance of 14-11, moving him into seventh overall with two events remaining. Brady was eighth in the event with a leap 12-11 1/2.
Brady was second in the javelin with a heave of 166-11 and was followed by Hughes in third with a personal-best throw of 165-8. Hughes' new personal-best bettered his previous mark by nearly 20-feet.
In the final event of the decathlon, the 1,500 meters, Hughes ran a career-best time of 4:49.36 to finish fifth and Brady clocked a time of 5:06.92, crossing in 11th place.
The final decathlon standings had Hughes finishing seventh with a career-best 6,794 points, an improvement from his eighth place finish indoors in the heptathlon. Hughes improved on his previous best by 649 points, moving him into ninth on the Alabama all-time list. Brady was 12th with 6,056 points, just five points from his lifetime-best total. Gray Horn of Florida successfully defended his 2009 title, claiming the championship with 7,652 points.
The 800 meter prelims had two Alabama men competing, but only one moving on to the Sunday final. Junior Fred Samoei won his heat with the seventh-fastest time of the day, 1:49.30, to move on to the final. Sophomore Aaron Stockstell clocked a time of 1:52.13 to finish 14th.
Freshman Fabian Norgrove just missed advancing to the 400 meter finals by .61 seconds, finishing 10th with a time of 53.83.
The Crimson Tide will return to action on the oval on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. (ET) with the 1,500 meter prelims. The final event on Saturday is the 3,000 meter steeplechase, set for a 8:30 p.m. start.
Friday's Alabama Men's Results
Decathlon Final: 7. Michael Hughes - 6,794 points!; 12. Justin Brady - 6,056 points*
100 Meters: 6. Michael Hughes - 11.01 (+2.6); 11. Justin Brady - 11.80 (+1.6)*
Long Jump: 10. Michael Hughes - 21-4 (+3.7); 11. Justin Brady - 21-3 1/2 (+2.1)
Shot Put: 2. Michael Hughes - 42-9; 12. Justin Brady - 31-10 1/4*
High Jump: 9. Justin Brady - 6-2*; 12. Michael Hughes - 5-5 3/4
400 Meters: 5. Michael Hughes - 50.44!; 12. Justin Brady - 53.45*
110 Meter Hurdles: 11. Michael Hughes - 16.34 (-0.1)!; 12. Justin Brady - 16.91 (-0.1)*
Discus: 7. Michael Hughes - 115-4!; 10. Justin Brady - 101-6!
Pole Vault: 2. Michael Hughes - 14-11*; 8. Justin Brady - 12-11 1/2*
Javelin: 2. Justin Brady - 166-11*; 3. Michael Hughes - 165-8!
1,500 Meters: 6. Michael Hughes - 4:49.36!; 11. Justin Brady - 5:06.92*
800 Meter Prelims: 7. Fred Samoei - 1:49.30+; 14. Aaron Stockstell - 1:52.13
200 Meter Prelims: 16. Ray Jadusingh - 21.36 (-0.8)
400 Meter Hurdle Prelims: 10. Fabian Norgrove - 53.83
10,000 Meters: Moses Kiptoo - DNF
Alabama Men's Scorers (Top Eight Finishers - All Weekend)
Decathlon: 7. Michael Hughes - 6,794 points!
! - Personal-best; * - Season-best; + - Advanced to next round; DQ - Disqualified; DNF - Did not finish; NM - No mark; FS - False start; SR - School record
Men's Team Standings (3 of 21 Events Scored)
1. Auburn - 28
2. LSU - 20
2. Georgia - 20
4. South Carolina - 14
5. Florida - 13
6. Arkansas - 8
7. Mississippi - 7
8. Mississippi State - 3
9. Tennessee - 6
10. Alabama - 2
