The first-ever SEC Relays are this weekend at LSU, and I'll be there with on-site coverage and interviews. The scoring of the meet is a little unusual, with seven relays (4x1, 4x2, 4x4, 4x8, SMR, DMR, shuttle hurdles) plus field events (top marks from each of the four throwing and jumping events adding up to one "throws relay" and one "jumps relay") making up the team scoring--but the total points are coed, and there will only be one champion. Nine of the 14 SEC track teams--Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt--will mix it up in Baton Rouge, LA, on Friday and Saturday.

Complete entries
Meet schedule

Here are the seven best matchups to watch.

1. Christian Coleman vs. the clock

It's going to be a hot weekend in Baton Rouge, which means that fast sprint times are on the table if the wind is legal. Coleman has never run a wind-legal sub-10 during the collegiate season, but he ran 9.95 at the Olympic Trials last summer and ran 10.03 into a headwind three weekends ago. With the dominance he showed indoors--6.45 in the 60 and 20.11 in the 200 both rank him in the top 10 performers in world history--Coleman is clearly ready to throw down a sub-10 outdoors. The only question is how far under he can go in the right conditions.

He will have an SMR (Friday night) and 4x1 (two hours before) on his legs, but at NCAA indoors, he showed that four races in two days was no problem.

​Coleman missed the CR by 0.01 in March:


​And tied the 60m CR:

​2. Weeks vs. Weeks​ vs. Taylor

Arkansas' Lexi Weeks set the collegiate pole vaulting scene on fire as a freshman this past year, winning indoor and outdoor NCAA titles and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team. But she finished a stunning seventh at NCAA indoors in March, behind winner Lakan Taylor of Alabama and her sister, Tori Weeks, who was fifth. (Tori also beat Lexi on misses to win the SEC indoor title over her sister.)

South Dakota's Emily Grove has the NCAA leader this spring at 4.60m (15-1, college No. 6 all-time performer), and Taylor, both Weekses, NCAA third-placer Olivia Gruver of Kentucky, and NCAA sixth-placer Desiree Freier of Arkansas will all be gunning for new PBs this weekend. Lexi Weeks has the best career PB in the field at 4.64m (15-7.75), but again, she lost to Taylor, Gruver, Freier, and Weeks just this past month. Those five could finish in any order on Saturday morning.

3. LSU women vs. the collegiate record

For three legs at the Mt. SAC Relays, the LSU women looked like they were about to pull off a major upset and knock off Oregon. Ariana Washington ran down Aleia Hobbs at the finish line, but the Lady Tigers would have to settle for a time of 42.14 seconds, 0.2 of a second faster than the old collegiate record:



LSU is scheduled to run the exact same lineup of Mikiah Brisco, Kortnei Johnson, Jada Martin, and Aleia Hobbs on their home track on Saturday. With a team of Canadian pros and NCAA No. 3 Texas A&M in the field, that quartet could lower the collegiate record (currently Oregon's 42.12) even further. Of course, what the collegiate record even is depends on how Oregon runs this weekend.

4. Men's studs throwing down in the 4x1, 4x2, 4x4

Texas A&M and Tennessee rank 1-5 in the 4x4, and LSU, Arkansas, and A&M are currently sitting 1-4-7 in the 4x1. A&M's relay hero Fred Kerley is scheduled to run all three relays. LSU 400 stud Michael Cherry is on the 4x2 and 4x4. LSU 19.95 man Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake is on the 4x1 and 4x4, and Christian Coleman is on the 4x1. The loads on those star sprinters are a sure sign that those teams are taking this meet seriously, and the outcome will be a good dry run for the SEC meet in two weeks, when these teams will also have to face off against powerful relays from Florida, Georgia, and Auburn.

5. Thompson vs Kyriazis 

Mississippi State's Curtis Thompson and Texas A&M's Ioannis Kyriazis went 3-5 in the NCAA javelin as freshmen, 1-2 as sophomores, and have two of the best PRs in NCAA history. Thompson's 82.88m from last summer's Olympic Trials would be the No. 6 all-time in-season mark, while Kyriazis's 88.01m at the Texas Relays was the best collegiate javelin throw during the regular season in 27 years. They have a fantastic rivalry: Kyriazis has won the past two SEC titles but lost to Thompson at the past two NCAA championships. 

6. Brooks vs. Burks vs. Saunders

Arkansas' Taliyah Brooks is a pentathlete (second at NCAA indoors), but her best event is the long jump. The SEC is a beast of a conference in the event, though, as Alabama's Quanesha Burks and Kentucky's Sha'Keela Saunders are the two best collegiate long jumpers right now. Check out the podiums from the past three NCAA championships:

'16 indoor: Burks, Saunders, Keturah Orji (also SEC, but not at this meet)
'16 outdoor: Chanice Porter (also SEC, graduated), Burks, Brooks
'17 indoor: Saunders, Burks, Porter

Saunders has a 9-8 edge in the long jump over Burks since 2014. One of them will probably win another NCAA title this June.

7. Bonus: other athletes to watch

-Indoor 800m collegiate record holder Jazmine Fray (A&M) is in the 4x4 and sprint medley.
-2015 NCAA 1500m champion Rhianwedd Price (Mississippi State) is in the 4x800 and distance medley.
-Arkansas distance All-Americans Nikki Hiltz and Therese Haiss are in the 4x800 and distance medley.
-Collegiate 10K leader Alfred Chelanga (Alabama) is in the 1500m.