Razorbacks collect five SEC Outdoor Honors

BIRMINGHAM – Arkansas totaled five SEC Outdoor honors the conference office announced on Wednesday based on voting by the league coaches.

Coach of the Year went to Chis Bucknam, Jaydon Hibbert collected a pair of awards – Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman Field Athlete of the Year – while Ben Shearer was named co-Freshman Runner of the Year.

An honor announced during the SEC Outdoor Championships included Ayden Owens-Delerme being named co-SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Bucknam has been SEC Coach of the Year 30 times over his 15 years with the Razorbacks, earning his eighth honor during the outdoor season to go along with 10 in cross country and 12 during the indoor season.

Scoring 149 points gave Arkansas a 60-point cushion over runner-up LSU (89) for the SEC Outdoor championship in Baton Rouge. It was the eighth outdoor conference title for Bucknam and 29th overall, joining the 10 won in cross country and 11 during the indoor season.

Bucknam’s distance crew totaled 31 in four events, earning silver and bronze medals in the 5,000m.

Hibbert becomes the first freshman to claim both field event honors since Mondo Duplantis of LSU in 2019. The previous Razorback to sweep both awards was pole vaulter Andrew Irwin in 2009.

Other Arkansas Freshman Field Athlete of the Year include jumpers Nkosina Balumbu in 2006 and Tarik Batchelor in 2009. Razorbacks named Field Athlete of the Year include jumper Alain Bailey in 2009 and decathlete Ayden Owens-Delerme in 2022.

Shearer becomes the first Razorback to be named Freshman Runner of the Year since sprinter Kenzo Cotton in 2015. Previous recipients also include sprinter Wallace Spearmon in 2004 and sprint hurdler Omar McLeod in 2014.

Hibbert, who also claimed the SEC Indoor Freshman of the Year accolade, broke the triple jump collegiate record by nearly a full foot in winning the SEC Outdoor title on his second attempt in the competition.

His mark of 58-7.5 (17.87) bettered the field by four feet, while his opening round effort of 55-10.25 (17.02) would also have claimed the victory.

In addition to breaking multiple records, four of which were set in the 1980s, Hibbert moves to =13th on the all-time world list, matching the career best mark by Mike Conley from 1987.

Hibbert is the No. 2 performer with the No. 2 performance on the Jamaican all-time list, trailing only the 58-9.5 (17.92) by James Beckford from the 1995 NJCAA Championships in Odessa, Texas.

On the Arkansas all-time list, Hibbert surpassed two of Conley’s marks that were both set in winning the 1985 NCAA title in Austin, Texas. A wind-assisted 58-1.25 (17.71) and a wind-legal 57-6.5 (17.54).

Shearer produced a career best of 14:07.30 for the bronze medal in the SEC 5,000m to finish behind Tennessee senior Dylon Jacobs and Arkansas junior Patrick Kiprop. He was the lone freshman to score in the event.

SEC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Awards