Alcide finishes fourth in heptathlon

AUSTIN, Texas – With a personal-best 5,543 points, Makeba Alcide finished fourth place in the heptathlon Thursday at the 84th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Track Stadium in Austin. During the seven-event competition that began Wednesday, the Razorback sophomore posted six personal bests. Her previous best of 5,172 points came last summer at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Championships.

"What a fantastic first heptathlon of the season for Makeba," head coach Lance Harter said. "Of the seven events, she had six personal bests which is rarified air because of all the variables that could go wrong during two days of competition. This is a score that will rank in the NCAA and get her to the national meet."

Entering the day in fourth place in the heptathlon, Alcide maintained her position throughout the day with the help of two personal bests on day two of the seven-event competition. She began action Thursday with a personal mark of 17-11.5 in the long jump and came within a foot of her previous best in the javelin with a throw of 121-7. In the final section of the 800 meters, Alcide ran to a personal-best effort of 2:18.03. Alcide’s point total is also an improvement of her own national record for her native country of St. Lucia.

Teammate Leah Orley finished 12th in the heptathlon with a point total of 5,032, just 11 points off her all-time best in the event set last year at the SEC Championships. She had a personal best in the javelin competition with a throw of 127-7 and closed the day with a time of 2:20.67 in the 800 meters.

In the preliminary rounds of the 400-meter hurdles, Brittany Hyter dipped below the minute mark for the first time this season and crossed in a time of 59.21. She took nearly two seconds off her seasonal best run last weekend at the Razorback Spring Invitational in Fayetteville. Hyter finished 10th overall and was the first runner left out of Saturday’s final.

Day three of the 2011 Texas Relays begins Friday at 9:30 a.m. (CT) with the 4×100-meter relay. For full schedule, live results and interactive blog, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com. The interactive blog for the event will begin with Friday’s afternoon session.