By Jacob Most
May 14, 2015 –

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Raymond Dykstra and Rebecca Famurewa scored eight points each for Kentucky’s men’s and women’s teams respectively, getting the Wildcats off to a solid start to the 2015 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The men’s javelin competition proved to be one of the most exciting editions of the event in SEC-Championship history. Dykstra, who entered as the defending champion, threw a season-best
254 feet, 8 inches /77.63 meters on the final attempt of the competition, but the heave was only good for the Silver Medal.

Texas A&M freshman Ioannis Kyriazis launched his final attempt 257’3″/78.41m to eclipse Dykstra, who had led on a mark of 253’8″/77.32m since the third round. Kyriazis had not surpassed 243-feet on any of his first five attempts, and his previous best this season was 248’6″

Missouri’s MaCauley Garton also passed Dykstra on his final attempt, the penultimate of the entire competition, with a mark at 254’2″/77.47m. But having entered the final as the top qualifier, Dykstra threw last and passed Garton to claim the SEC Silver Medal for the third time.

Famurewa claimed the Silver Medal in the hammer throw with a toss that travelled 200’8″/61.16m. Famurewa earned her first SEC Silver Medal to go along with Bronzes in the discus in 2013 and the weight throw indoors this past season.

The throw was the third best of her career.

In the decathlon, two Wildcats sit in scoring position after the first five events, while another is in striking position.

Tim Duckworth is in fourth (3796), Ibn Short is sixth (3756) & Nathan Donnellon is ninth (3561). The final five events of the competition will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Friday.

Six of a possible nine Wildcats advanced from Thursday preliminary heats into finals.

Kendra Harrison moved a step closer to defending her SEC 400m hurdles time as she recovered from an early stumble to win her heat going away in 56.86.

Harrison has the second fastest qualifying time behind reigning NCAA Champion Shamier Little (Texas A&M), who ran 56.54. Saturday’ final will pit last season’s top two NCAA 400m hurdles finishers.

Harrison will be joined in that race by teammates Leah Nugent, who qualified third in 57.77 and Daje Pugh (59.19).

Dezerea Bryant and Dominique Booker both advanced to the 200m final with respective times of 23.30 (-0.2) and 23.44 (-0.6). Bryant claimed Silver in the event last season, as well as the past two years indoors.

Keffri Neal advanced into the 800m final, clocking a qualifying time of 1:47.38.

Ariah Graham came up just short of the 800m final. She ran 2:08.88 in her second-ever 800m race to finish 10th overall.

Athletes earn points for their teams at the SEC Championships based on top-8 finishes on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

Women’s Scores

1 Texas A&M: 20
2 Missouri: 18
3 Arkansas: 10
4 Alabama: 9
5 Kentucky: 8
6 Auburn: 5
7 Florida: 3
7 Vanderbilt: 3
9 Georgia: 2

Men’s Scores

1 Georgia: 25
2 Texas A&M: 17
3 Florida: 16
4 Mississippi: 10
5 Arkansas: 8
5 Kentucky: 8
5 Miss State: 8
8 Missouri: 6
8 South Carolina: 6
8 Auburn: 6
11 LSU: 4
12 Tennessee: 3