TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Freshman Mike Morrison (Chesapeake, Va.) is on pace to break the oldest record in school history and stands in second after the opening day of the Southeastern Conference Track & Field Championships on Thursday at Sam Bailey Stadium.
Morrison set or tied four personal records during the five events contested in the first half of the decathlon to stand in second with
3,857 points – just 118 behind Tennessee’s Jangy Addy. Junior Kurt Lee (Spring Hill, Fla.) tied a PR in one event and is in seventh with 3,323 points.
Morrison is more than 100 points ahead of the pace of school-record holder Liston Bochette’s mark of 7,565, which was set in 1980 – the longest standing Florida record. Morrison also has a shot at becoming the first athlete in school history to win the SEC decathlon.
“Coming into the meet, Rana Reider and I talked about what we thought Mike and Kurt could do and they went out and did it today,” Florida men’s coach Mike Holloway said. “They both listened to Coach Reider and created some momentum for the rest of the team tomorrow. I expect us to come out and compete hard, listen to the coaches and concentrate on what we do and not on anything else. If we do that, then we’ll be fine.”
In the opening event of the day, Morrison recorded a PR in the 100m to take second in 11.17 and claim 823 points. Lee was fifth in 11.53 to earn 746 points.
Morrison uncorked an outdoor PR in the long jump to move into first after two events. On his second attempt, he posted a mark of
7.18m/23-6.75 to claim the victory and tally 857 points with the leap standing as the eighth best in the SEC by any athlete this year. Lee took eighth with a jump of 6.24m/20-5.75 (639 points). Through the first two events, Morrison was in the lead by 112 points with 1,680, while Lee was eighth with 1,385.
In the shot put, Lee posted the third-best throw with a mark of 12.55m/41-2.25 to notch 640 points, while Morrison recorded an outdoor PR with a toss of 12.13m/39-9.75 to notch 614 points. After a monster throw from Addy, Morrison was in second with 2,294 points – 109 behind Addy. Lee jumped up three places to fifth with 2,025.
Both Morrison and Lee tied their PRs in the fourth event, the high jump. Morrison took second overall after clearing 1.94m/6-4.25 to claim 749 points, while Lee jumped 1.73m/5-8 to earn 569 points and tie for 11th. After the event, Morrison closed the gap for first to 72 points behind Addy with a total of 3,043, while Lee was seventh (2,594).
The evening closed with the 400m as Morrison took third in 50.01 to pick up 814 points, while Lee was ninth in 51.90 to earn 729 points.
The SEC Outdoor Championships continue through Sunday. Live results of the event can be found at http://www.rolltide.com.
Courtesy UF Sports Info.