But Grant Ashby running a 1:47.7 is HUGE for him

Day 2 Preview
Prelims day! Today is all about qualifying for Saturday's finals! And as we saw with yesterday's 200 races. This conference is absurdly elite. The middle of our conference probably makes finals everywhere else. So it will be intense, it will be wild. But let's go get after it today!

Yesterday was a great start on both sides. It all began with our men's heptathletes collecting personal bests like infinity stones! Blake Harris and Adam Averett went off! Harris is well on his way to a historic score over 6000, meanwhile in his first meet in an Aggie uniform Averett is on his way to a top 5 or 6 finish in the. They have 3 events left today, the 60 hurdles, pole vault, and the 1000.

Field Events
Today we only have a couple field events, but an important one on the men's side, the weight throw. In the weight throw, we'll have school record holder Henry Zimmerman competing. He's going into the meet ranked second behind Ole Miss Tarik Robinson O'Hagan who is a monster in multiple throwing events. Tarik has a best 4 feet further, however there are some athletes right behind Zimmerman. However we have seen Zimmerman improving each meet and he seems to be a great competitor so I like his chances of getting on the podium and hopefully getting at least points for us. The other field event is the women's high jump. After Lamara Distin we've struggled to score anything here. We have Milena Chevallier and Bradie Menegatti competing who have both gone 5'9 but it's going to take around 5'11 to score even in a weak event for the SEC. There could be misses and such that propel us into some points, but any points would be a plus.

Track
We got 5 running events today, the 60, 60 hurdles, 400, 800, and 1600. We have a lot more opportunities to qualify for finals on the men's side. The 60 will be tough as we aren't strong at that event. The hurdles we have two elite hurdlers in Jaiya Covington and Ja'Qualon Scott. The 400 on either side is historically elite. It would be nice to get multiple men in the 400 finals, not sure we get any in the women's. The 800 will be a key event in the championship race between us and Arkansas. The mile is loaded on the women's side and a lot weaker on the men's.

Mile
Things kick off at 4 with the women's mile, followed by the men's. There will be 3 heats and to make the final well it's the top 2 in each heat plus the 4 next best times. We'll have two athletes competing in Elise Smoot and Sophia Bendet. Luckily, they are both in heat 3 so they'll know what the bubble time is. They will be in a fast heat with 4 runners who have gone sub 4:40. This is an event that is loaded, much more than the men's where we will have Ondrej Gajdos and Youssef Asslouj who were the first and last leg on yesterday's DMR. Ondrej is in heat 1 and Youssef in the last heat. Ondrej is one of only 3 in his heat with a sub 4 mile. However, these meets usually go a little slower so strategy and a strong kick are what win. Youssef has gone sub 4, but this season his fastest is 4:02. It would be awesome if we could get some points in this race. Arkansas entered no one putting all their marbles in the 3000/5000 and they already picked up 14 points in the 5k to our 1. So we need to grab some mile points.

60
A weak event for us where we aren't projected to score any points. We have multiple women running and it would be amazing if we could get one into the final, but it's gonna be an uphill climb. The conference is loaded here. There are 7 heats, the heat winners will make the final along with one other time. Georgia will flex their strength here. Camryn Dickson is in a heat with one of the top 60 runners but many she can be carried to a fast time. But her, Aysha Shaheed, and Anya Jackson have yet to PR in this event this season. Machaeda Linton is in a slower heat so maybe she can squeak in or come close. On the men's side we only have two athletes competing: Richard Lee Jr and Keanu Jones. Our top 60 runner Micah Larry isn't competing this week. Lee has become a pleasant surprise this season, only a freshman he placed 13th in the 200 yesterday and has a 60 PB of 6.65. However it may take a 6.60 or lower to make the final. Our best sprinter is David Foster, but he only has outdoor eligibility. Arkansas is projected to get at least 3 into this final, possibly 4, hopefully other schools can help us out. All were additions this last off season.

400
After the 60 we move onto the 400. We have 4 women entered but none are projected to score. They all ran their best on the season last time out so if they improve once more maybe we can get one into the final. What used to be our main event has been steadily declining. Even with a bunch of portal adds, none are expected to have an impact in this meet. It may take a high 51 to make the final, our fastest PB is Tyler Lowe at 52.9. On the men's side we have a lot more strength, however the SEC is historically loaded in this event. We won't see Auhmad Robinson in this race as he's focusing on the 200. Lawson Jacobs comes in ranked 4th with his 45.37. I think his best is yet to come and I expect to fight for the podium. However the top two times have both under 45 seconds already. We'll need Jacobs to get close to 45. Aside from him we have Kimar Farquharson and Erick Hemphill. Farquharson hasn't reached his best by .4 seconds. He is capable of making the final is he runs like his old self. Eric Hemphill is ranked 14th and has an outside shot of the final with a PB. We need to make sure Jacobs gets into the final and hope we can squeak another in as well. Arkansas is hoping to get two into the final. We need Jacobs to beat their top guy.

800
This will be maybe the most important event on the men's side. It could determine who wins this meet. On the women's side, we aren't expected to score. Tharushi Karunarathna has gone 2:01 outdoors but that was 2 years ago. Her fastest time this season is 2:08. She is in a slow heat and the last one so maybe she can squeak into the final. It's former Aggie Sanu Jallow with the fastest time coming in, but she's with Arkansas. On the men's side, gone are Aggie legends Sam Whitmarsh and Caden Norris and Kimar Farquharson, an all American in the 800 hasn't competed in the event all year, a move that hasn't paid dividends yet. However we grabbed a top international recruit in Peter Narumbe who's projected to advance to nationals and has a PB of 1:46.13. He should easily win his heat. We also added Reese Sharman-Newell who's gone 1:45 outdoors, but his best this season so far is 1:47. 58. He's an experienced runner in a heat with Arkansas' Rivaldo Marshall another 800 veteran. We'll also have Grant Ashby and Stefon Dodoo in the same heat so maybe they can run together and get one to win the heat. Ashby looked great yesterday in the DMR. Arkansas has the two fastest times coming in. Last year we saw Sam Whitmarsh take them down, can Peter Narumbe do the same. This is a tactical race in a championship meet. Narumbe is young and he hasn't been in any competitive races, but we'll see what he's got today and tomorrow. We absolutely need to get two into this final to combat what Arkansas can do, they might even get 3 into the final. Only the heat winner and the next 4 best times will make the final so chaos can happen. We may need it.

60 Hurdles
We end the day with the 60 hurdles. An event where we have the reigning indoor national champion in Jaiya Covington. She's .13 seconds off her 7.90 best this year but she always shows up in big meets. She's going to need to with 3 other girls who have broke 8 seconds this year. I think she easily wins her heat, but I'm excited to see what she does in the finals. We also have Jasmine Harmon who's improved but will need a huge lifetime best to make the final. She will have Emmi Scales of Kentucky who's the ncaa leader in the event at 7.83. On the men's side we have Ja'Qualon Scott, one of the most versatile hurdlers in NCAA history. There's only 17 guys entered but one Aggie and 4 Razorbacks. All 4 arky hurdlers are in the ncaa top 16. An event they've struggled in for so many years revamped through the portal and recruiting. Ja'Qualon Scott is ranked 4th in the conference. Auburn's Ja'Kobe Tharp is the ncaa leader followed by Arkansas' Jerome Campbell who chose the Razorbacks over the Aggies in the portal this offseason. Scott has the potential to win but this meet is crazy competitive. He's in a heat with tu's Kendrick Smallwood who has a .01 faster PB. There's 3 heats, so it's the heat winner and 5 next best times. Doomsday is all the Arkansas runners making the final or multiple beating JQ, so we'll need some help with our conference friends to take up some finals spots and we'll need JQ to take them all down Saturday. However the hurdles are chaotic sometimes, especially in a competitive meet where everyone's chasing a crazy time. People clip hurdles, trip, hot each other, stumble, anything can happen.

It's all about making the finals today. Let's get some Ags into each final, and hope in a couple races we see multiple Aggies. This is where it's us vs Arkansas. They have more depth but we'll need to beat them and score more. They don't have a miler, but they are loaded in the 60 and 60 hurdles. Strength will meet strength in the 800 and I think we have the advantage in the 400. We already saw them advance 3 to our 1 in the 200. Where we need to make up the difference is field events! Let's hope Zimmerman can put us ahead 8 points there. Let's hope Harris takes care of business and gives 10 in the heptathlon and let's see if Adam Averett can beat Arky's multi Cooper Williams. That's a potential 20 point swing in our favor today. We'll need to limit their points as much as we can and do our part of scoring. Saturday's field events can go a long way as well in deciding the winning school. Stay tuned!