Season continues at Armory Collegiate meet

FAYETTEVILLE – The fourth-ranked University of Arkansas women’s track and field team begins the month of February with a trip to the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York. Competition for the Razorback women begins Friday at 9 a.m. (CT) and Saturday at 8:24 a.m. The Razorbacks are one of 12 ranked teams scheduled to compete this weekend in New York.

Including Arkansas, the field of ranked competition at the Armory is set to include No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Kansas, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 7 Florida, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 14 Texas, No. 15 Dartmouth, No. 16 Stanford, No. 21 South Carolina and No. 25 Connecticut. Last season at the Armory, the Razorbacks posted two school records with performances by Regina George at 500 meters and the distance-medley relay. George’s time also stands as the Armory meet record.

The Razorbacks moved to a season-high No. 4 ranking in Tuesday’s release of the national poll by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Arkansas began the 2013 season ranked seventh in the preseason poll and was ranked fifth last week. Arkansas is one of seven ranked SEC teams, the most of any conference in the country.

Arkansas owns seven top-five national performances through the first month of the season, including NCAA-leading marks by George at 400 meters and Makeba Alcide in the pentathlon. George posted a personal-best time of 52.26 last weekend during the Razorback Team Invitational. Alcide is the national leader in the pentathlon with 4,644 points, the sixth-highest collegiate score ever. For her school-record efforts, Alcide was named the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week and SEC Field Athlete of the Week.

Along with the first-place results by Alcide and George, Grace Heymsfield turned in an SEC-best time in the mile, crossing the finish line 4:35.44 with the second-fastest time in school history. Other top conference-best marks on the team belong to Alcide in the high jump (1.89m/6-2.25) and Ivanique Kemp in the 60-meter hurdles (8.23). All five of Arkansas’ SEC-best marks were set last weekend during the Razorback Team Invitational.

Fans can follow along this weekend with Arkansas’ interactive blog, live results at ArmoryTrack.com and video coverage available at Flotrack.org. For more information regarding Razorback track and field or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Fans can also keep up with Arkansas cross country and track and field through the team’s sport-specific RazorbackTF Facebook and Twitter pages.