May 11, 2018
Knoxville, Tenn. - Auburn sophomore thrower Erin Perkins finished third in the women's hammer throw and the men's trio of Justin Carter, John Putnam and Cade Antonnuci all placed in the javelin throw to highlight a light Day 1 of the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships Friday at Tom Black Track on the University of Tennessee campus.
A Winona, Minn., native in her first year at Auburn, Perkins had a career day, with a personal-best throw of 61.23m/200-10 to claim bronze in the women's hammer. Perkins' mark was nearly two feet longer that her previous best and was the fifth-best throw in school history and made her the No. 3 performer all-time at AU.
Competing in his final SEC meet, Carter finished fourth with a throw of 66.69m/218-9, marking the third time in his career to score at the conference meet. The Auburn, Ala., native and school record holder in the event was second as a freshman in 2014 and eighth in 2015.
Putnam was right behind Carter, taking fifth place with a mark of 66.32m/217-7. A freshman in his first SEC Championship, Antonucci was seventh (65.00m/213-3).
Sophomore All-America sprinter Natalliah Whyte was fifth in the prelims of the women's 200m dash in 22.89 to advance to Saturday evening's finals.
On the men's side, junior decathlete Chris Stone is in sixth after one day of competition with 3622 points. Stone PR'ed in the 100m with a time of 11.08 and had the top high jump mark at 1.97m/6-5.5.
Saturday's action will be televised by SEC Network+ beginning at 10:15 a.m. ET on Saturday. Sunday's final day will be televised by the SEC Network beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Live results can be found at http://adkins.trackscoreboard.com/#/results/meet/81