Arkansas Twilight for No. 15 Razorbacks
FAYETTEVILLE – In its final preparation for the conference meet, the No. 15 University of Arkansas men’s track and field team will host its Twilight meet Friday at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville. Field events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (CT) start with the hammer throw, while action on the track is slated for a 6 p.m. start with the 4×100-meter relays.
"This is going to be a smaller meet," head coach Chris Bucknam said. "Most of the athletes that competed (at Penn Relays), won’t compete this weekend but we still have some guys that are on the bubble on whether they make our top-30 squad going to the SEC meet and they’ll get to compete. There will be some good individual races Friday night so, by no means, do you want to write it off."
This will be the final event for the Razorbacks before the start of the championship season. The SEC Championships, hosted by the University of Georgia, are set for May 12-15 at the Spec Towns Track in Athens, Ga. The remainder of the season also includes the NCAA West Prelims (May 26-28) in Eugene, Ore., and the NCAA Championships (June 8-11) in Des Moines, Iowa.
Duncan Phillips and Raymond Higgs lead the Razorbacks’ group of national performers. Phillips owns the No. 2 time in the NCAA in the 1,500 meters with his 3:39.87 effort at the Mt. SAC Relays. In the long jump, Higgs is ranked ninth in the country based on his 25-11.25 jump at Texas Relays. Arkansas has five other marks-Marek Niit (100m, 13th), Tarik Batchelor (LJ, 14th), Kevin Lazas (decathlon, 14th), Eric Fernandez (10K, 15th) and 4×100 relay (13th)-ranked inside the nation’s top 15.
Last weekend at the 117th Penn Relays, Arkansas came away with a pair of runner-up finishes in the distance-medley and 4xMile relays and a top-10 program performance in the 4×400-meter relay. In second-place results, the DMR team had a time of 9:38.40, while the 4xMile relay clocked in at 16:20.42; Dorian Ulrey’s third-leg was the fastest by any runner in the race. On day three, the 4×400 relay ran to a time of 3:06.29, the No. 9 performance in school history and the fastest by a Razorback mile relay since the 2000 season.
Arkansas holds on to its No. 15 spot in the May 3 release of the USTFCCCA national poll following the team’s weekend at historic Franklin Field. Seven teams from the SEC, tied for the most among conferences in the NCAA, are ranked inside this week’s top 25, including the Razorbacks, second-ranked LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 12 George, No. 16 Ole Miss, No. 21 Mississippi State and No. 22 Auburn.
The John McDonnell Invitational, contested April 22-23 in Fayetteville, will be aired by Cox Sports Television on tape-delay May 12 at 7 p.m. For more information and meet-day coverage, including live results, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
Download: Notes 18_Arkansas Twilight.pdf
