BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas—The Auburn track and field team will compete at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Thursday thought Saturday at E.B. Cushing Stadium on the Texas A&M University campus. Auburn will have a combined 41 athletes from the men's and women's teams competing in the three-day meet.
"Our mindset is focusing on taking one throw, one jump and one race at a time," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "We're not going to look ahead of ourselves, because if you do that sometimes you get left behind. We're going to treat every throw, jump and race as a final.
Action begins at 12 p.m. CT on Thursday, 1:45 p.m. on Friday and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The SEC Championships will be streamed live on SECN+ Thursday at 5:40 p.m. CT and Friday at 4:35 p.m. The meet will air live on the SEC Network Saturday at 5 p.m. The broadcast talent includes Dwight Stones, Dan O'Brien, John Anderson and Jill Montgomery.
"It's going to be a great competition and the meet will maximize individual's performances," Spry said, who is in his 24th year at the helm at Auburn. "The SEC is a very tough league with a lot of ranked teams and that's why the conference sets the standard. That's what makes this meet so special.
The Tiger women will have 20 athletes competing, including 10 that have previously competed at the SEC Outdoor Championships. Junior Joyce Kimeli, the 2021 NCAA Indoor national champion at 5000m and SEC Indoor champion at 3000m and 5000m will look to continue her winning ways when she races in the 3000m Steeplechase and 5000m. The Eldoret, Kenya native enters with the SEC's top time in the Steeplechase.
Senior Kylee Carter, the league's defending champion in the women's javelin throw will look to become the first Auburn woman in 10 years to win consecutive SEC titles in an even when she competes Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Carter enters the meet ranked No. 2 in the SEC and nationally.
On the men's side, senior javelin thrower Nils Fischer, senior decathlete Alex Spyridonidis and sophomore pole vaulter James Courson are each seeded fourth in their respective events. In his first year competing for the Tigers, Fischer has won all three meets he's entered and broke the school record in the javelin throw. Spyridonidis was an indoor All-American in the heptathlon and was a NCAA Division II champion in the decathlon in 2019 while competing for Angelo State. Courson, meanwhile, was the SEC runner up indoors three months ago and was an indoor honorable mention All-American after qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
The Auburn women are ranked 18th in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and are one of 17 SEC men's and women's track and field teams are ranked among the nation's top-25 teams.
Live results will be available online here.
SEC Outdoor Championships begin Thursday
