4x400M improves at McDonnell meet
FAYETTEVILLE – Freshman Brede Raa Ellingsen won the high jump, junior LaShawn Butler won the 200 meters and the 4×400-meter relay clocked a season-best time for No. 18 Arkansas Razorback men’s track and field at the John McDonnell Invitational on Saturday.
"Definitely a good day for us," head coach Chris Bucknam said. "We had personal bests all over the place, especially in the hurdles and the sprints. I’m happy with what I saw out of our young guys and in the 4×400-meter relay. It was good to have Brede Ellingsen out there high jumping and Alain Bailey ran a strong leg on our sprint relay."
Arkansas’ "A" team 4×400-meter relay finished second. The quartet of freshman Chris Muncie, junior Chris Bilbrew, freshman Caleb Cross and sophomore Ben Skidmore clocked a season-best time of 3:10.71.
Junior LaShawn Butler was third in the 100 meters. He clocked a prelim time of 10.48 (2.4w) and a final time of 10.51. His prelim time is a personal best. He also won the 200 meters. He clocked a season-best time of 21.02 (2.7w) to take the tape.
Cross finished fourth in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles. He clocked a final time of 14.21 and a prelim time of 14.03 (2.4w). His prelim time is a personal best. Sophomore Andrew Pennington was sixth in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles. He clocked a finals time of 14.36 and a prelim time of 14.41 (2.4). His final time is a personal best.
Pennington also finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.26. Freshman Hunter Bourke was eighth in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 54.58. Freshman Travis Southard was 10th in the same race with a personal-best time of 55.48.
In Friday’s hammer throw, freshman Brandon Heeger won the event. His winning toss measured 162-8 and broke his existing school record of 149-4, set at the Razorback Spring Invitational earlier this season. All of Heeger’s marks were farther than his previous personal best, including two throws of 160+ feet.
Sophomore Justin Holmes finished third in the discus. His best toss of the day measured 174-3. His throw is a personal best, ranks No. 4 on Arkansas’ all-time list and is No. 4 in the SEC. He also finished sixth in the shot put with a throw of 44-11.
Freshman Brede Raa Ellingsen, in his outdoor debut for Arkansas, won the high jump. He cleared 7-1. Senior Chad Burnett and sophomore Stuart Sparks tied for eighth in the pole vault with a height of 15-7. Junior Luke Laird was second in the javelin with a season-best toss of 214-5.
Sophomore Terry Prentice finished seventh in the shot put (39-7.75), fifth in the discus (115-2) and 14th in the pole vault (13-7.25). His height in the pole vault and toss in the shot put were personal bests.
Junior Patrick Russell was Arkansas’ top finisher in the invitational sections of the 1,500 meters. He clocked a time of 3:49.21. Junior Lane Boyer was 13th in 3:50.78. Freshman Solomon Haile ran a 3:53.80 to finish 18th. Sophomore Rick Elliott was 19th in 3:54.34.
At Saturday’s meet, the men’s outdoor track and field award winner for the 100 Years of the Razorback: Fan of the Century was recognized, Kathy Reece. Reece won the grand prize drawing that includes a travel bag of Razorback track and field equipment.
The Razorbacks will compete next when they travel to Austin, Texas for the Arkansas vs. Texas dual meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Sat., April 17.
Download: CompiledResults.pdf
