Bailey Scores 14 Hogs in Second After Day Three of SEC Championships

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alain Bailey repeated his performances from the SEC Indoor Championships with a second-place finish in the long jump and a third-place finish in the high jump on day three of the SEC Outdoor Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Arkansas currently sits in second after three days of competition with 48 points. Tennessee is leading the team race with 54.5 points and Auburn rounds out the top three with 41 points.

“Miracles happen, we may still be able to pull it out,” head coach John McDonnell said. “We have two guys in the 100 meters, the triple jump, two guys in the 1,500 meters, the 4×100 meters and the 5K still to go. We’ll score some points but LSU has qualified a bunch of guys for the finals and so has Tennessee. Anything could happen. We just don’t have a lot of bodies.”

Bailey finished third in the high jump around 8 p.m. with a clearance of 6-10.75 after starting the day at 1 p.m. with the long jump. Bailey’s clearance matches his personal best and is his second regional-qualifying mark in the event this season. Brent Rosson finished sixth with a height of 6-8.75 scoring six points.

Bailey also led the Hogs in the long jump and missed his first SEC title by .25 inches. He finished second with a mark of 25-7.25, his outdoor collegiate best, currently the sixth-best mark in the nation and his fifth regional-qualifying mark of the season. Bailey’s best mark came on his third attempt of the preliminaries.

Charles Bailey of Ole Miss won the event with a leap of 25-7.5, his only legal jump of the event. Bailey fouled on his first attempt, marked his winning jump and then passed on his final four attempts.

Indoor All-American Mychael Stewart finished seventh with a 24-3, his second regional-qualifying mark of the season. Daniel Quinn rounded out the scoring spots with an eighth-place finish and a leap of 23-11.75. Nkosinza Balumbu finished just out of scoring range with a ninth-place finish and a personal-best jump of 23-11.

Peter Kosgei ran in his second race of three scheduled this weekend. He finished third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:48.40. The time also qualifies him for the NCAA Regional Championships later this month. Scott MacPherson finished 10th with a time of 9:18.12.

Making his SEC Championships debut, Kyle Komarek scored a crucial point and placed eighth in the javelin with his toss of 200-8. Komarek’s point put Arkansas ahead in the team race with 33 points. LSU, scoring 16 points in the javelin, was second in the team race with 32 points after the javelin.

Adam Perkins and Micky Cobrin both qualified for the finals in the 1,500 meters. Perkins clocked the second-fastest qualifying time with a 3:47.99. Cobrin, running a 3:50.43, clocked the sixth-fastest qualifying time.

“At 600 meters, I just took off for about 75 meters really hard and just broke everybody off,” Perkins said. “(Emmanuel) Bor (of Alabama) came with me and I just kept looking back just to make sure because top four was all that mattered. My only goal was to get to the finals. It’s conference, it’s my senior year; it’s time for me to step it up.”

In the 100-meter prelims, J-Mee Samuels returned to his true form after a lackluster 200 meters on Friday. He won his heat with a time of 10.27 and automatically advanced to the finals.

“You can tell a lot about their mindset when they are warming up and (J-Mee) was a lot looser today,” sprints coach Kyle White said. “He was a totally different J-Mee today. He does feel more confident in the 100 meters. This is a good step for him and I feel confident he’ll run well in the finals tomorrow. He always runs well when he has someone right on his shoulder.”

His clocking is the sixth-fastest time in Arkansas school history, the second-fastest qualifying time and his second regional-qualifying time of the season.

“I knew I’d do better in the 100 meters than the 200 meters,” Samuels said. “I knew I was more prepared for the 100 meters. I feel more confident in that race. I didn’t want to get revenge after the 200 meters but I knew I was ready for this race. I think I could have run faster than I did and that’s what I’m ready to do in the finals.”

Stewart, also pulling double duty today, clocked a 10.49 and qualified for the finals of the 100 meters. His mark is a personal best and a regional-qualifying mark.

Sunday will start at 2 p.m. for the Razorbacks with Bailey, Balumbu, Quinn and Stewart in the triple jump. Running finals will start at 5:10 p.m. with the 4×100-meter relay. Perkins and Cobrin will run the 1,500-meter finals at 5:30 p.m. Samuels and Stewart will run the 100-meter finals at 6:30 p.m. The Hogs will end the day with the 5,000 meters at 7:55 p.m.

For complete results, schedule and details of the SEC Outdoor Championships, visit www.rolltide.com.