COLUMBIA, Mo. - Leoman Momoh never expected to be in position to win an 800-meter title in the Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships.
But there the Arkansas senior was Sunday afternoon leading the race entering the final straightaway at Audrey J. Walton Stadium.
Momoh still had to hold off Florida’s Sean Obinwa, who was coming on strong in the final 100 meters, to take the championship and score 10 points for the fifth-ranked Razorbacks as they chased after their 18th SEC outdoor team title.
Momoh, who hadn’t run faster than 1 minute 54 seconds this spring made it across the finish line in a 1:47.74, .18 ahead of Obinwa.
“I just thought about my teammates,” Momoh said. “They work with me every day and I didn’t want to let them down, so I just did all I could. Even if I was going to fall through the line, I was going to make it, somehow, some way.”
It took a lot of stories like Momoh’s - of athletes finding something extra -as Arkansas posted five event titles Sunday to continue its tradition of dominance in men’s track and field since joining the conference in 1992. The Razorbacks finished the meet with 152.5 points to beat top ranked Florida, which scored 123. Texas A&M placed third with 118 points.
The Razorbacks claimed their second consecutive SEC Triple Crown, winning cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.
“We have a tradition at Arkansas,” Coach Chris Bucknam said. “Track and field is a team sport at our school. They all know it. It’s in our DNA. This is an extremely important part of our mission, and that’s to win conference championships. It’s important to our school, it’s important to represent the state of Arkansas in the toughest conference in the country. … My hat’s off to an unbelievably dedicated group of athletes. I’m really, really proud of them.”
Sophomore Patrick Rono delivered the day’s first victory with a strong kick in the 1,500 with a time of 3:50.22, beating Kentucky’s Matt Hillenbrand by just over half a second.
“Last year, my boy Duncan (Phillips) won it,” Rono said. “Today, he sent me a text saying, ‘Go out there. You can do it.’ As long as I remember, it was always won by an Arkansas kid, and those were words of wisdom and they definitely helped me out.”
The Razorbacks won the pole vault when sophomore Andrew Irwin soared over a height of 18 feet, 4 inches in a duel with Mississippi’s Sam Kendricks, the NCAA leader this season. It was Irwin’s fourth SEC title - two indoors and two outdoors.
Soon after, senior Akheem Gauntlett came in second in the 400 behind Texas A&M’s Deon Lendore, a member of Trinidad and Tobago’s bronze-medal winning 1,600-meter relay team in last summer’s Olympics. Senior Caleb Cross successfully defended his SEC title in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.42 seconds after taking third earlier in the day in the 110 hurdles.
“I think I would have run a little bit faster, but I didn’t execute my first 200,” said Cross, who also could have been excused for being tired after running the lead leg for a 400-meter relay team that finished fourth.
Arkansas closed strong, too, as junior Kemoy Campbell won the 5,000 with a time of 13:57.17.
The sixth-ranked Lady Razorbacks put the finishing touches on a third-place result in the team competition by winning the 1,600 relay in the meet’s final race. Senior Regina George the anchor leg of the relay in 50.8 seconds as Arkansas overtook Florida in the race and held it off in the team standings.
Arkansas scored 109 points, three more than the fourth-place Gators. Texas A&M won the team title with 117 points, and LSU was second with 112.
Earlier in the day, George made a successful defense of her individual title in the 400, winning in 51.74 seconds. She out kicked Texas A&M’s Kamaria Brown after the two entered the final straightaway side-by-side.
“It means a lot,” George said of winning another conference title. “It’s my senior year. I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
Junior Sparkle McKnight finished third in the 400 and came back only an hour later to win the 400 hurdles in a time of 55.71, giving the Lady Razorbacks four individual titles in the meet.
Sports, Pages 13 on 05/13/2013