Arkansas Opens Strong In Azusa
AZUSA, Calif. — The No. 6 Arkansas men’s track and field team opened competition strong at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Thursday evening in Azusa led by a pair of upperclassmen.
The Razorbacks were paced to success by redshirt seniors Aidan Swain and Cale Wallace who both finished among the top-eight most talented runners of the day in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Swain made his 2017 debut in the event posting a 10-second PR to place seventh in 8 minutes, 59.46 seconds. His outstanding effort earned him a spot in the Southeastern Conference standings as the No. 3 best performer in the steeplechase this year. An All-SEC performer in the event last year, Wallace finished as the steeplechase runner-up at Bryan Clay in 8:53.15, a nine second improvement on his season’s best. Wallace leads the SEC in the steeplechase and ranks among the top-15 best of the NCAA West region.
Arkansas capped off the day with exceptional performances in the 5,000 meters off the heels of sophomores Cameron Griffith, Austen Dalquist and Kyle Levermore. Griffith was the top Razorback finisher in the event, crossing the finish line in second place with a PR of 13:52.65. Dalquist also finished inside the top-10, improving on his personal best by seven seconds to place seventh in 14:00.33. Levermore rounded out the trio, placing 18th with a season’s best of 14:19.41.
The Razorbacks currently own the top-three 5,000-meter performances in the SEC courtesy of Alex George (13:40.66, Stanford Invitational), Griffith and Dalquist.
“Really pleased with how these guys competed today,” head coach Chris Bucknam said. “We had some outstanding performances and I think we got some NCAA qualifiers in. Camerron [Griffith] had a solid run and Austen’s [Dalquist] time was a personal best and I think that could be good enough to get in. Cale [Wallace] also put his qualifying time down as well as Aidan Swain with his performance too. We’ll continue to try and improve on them as we enter the second half of the season. We temper our enthusiasm because we know there’s still a lot of season left but with what these guys accomplished tonight I’m pleased.?
George and Ethan Moehn will represent the Razorbacks in the 1,500 at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Friday, April 14 at 9:15 p.m. CT while junior Jack Bruce will take on the Mt. SAC Relays 5,000 at 10:20 p.m. CT to close out Arkansas’ stay out West.
Bryan Clay Invitational
April 13, 2017
Cougar Athletic Stadium (Azusa, California)
5,000 Meters
2. Cameron Griffith – 13:52.65
7. Austen Dalquist – 14:00.33
18. Kyle Levermore – 14:19.41
Steeplechase
2. Cale Wallace – 8:53.15
7. Aidan Swain – 8:59.46
For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
