DMR improves at Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The distance medley relay, junior Miranda Walker and freshman Leah Orley competed for No. 17 Arkansas Razorback women’s track and field on day one of the Texas A&M SEC-Big 12-PAC-10 Challenge in College Station, Texas on Friday.

"Considering the travel circumstances we have been dealing with, I thought our team responded with a lot of class," head coach Lance Harter said. "They had every excuse in the book to give up and shut it down but they didn’t and they fought really well. For the DMR, I think 11:15 will make it into the NCAA meet but we are going to run it again in New York next weekend. Miranda Walker had a solid PR in the 5K and it was good to see her back on the track and racing."

In the distance medley relay, sophomore Samantha Learch, junior Shelise Williams, freshman Stephanie Brown and sophomore Kristen Gillespie combined for a time of 11:15.70 and a second-place finish.

Learch led off with a 1,200-meter split of 3:29.45. Williams followed with a quarter-mile split of 52.69. Brown’s 800 meters was clocked at 2:07.62 and Gillespie anchored with a 4:45.96 mile.

Oregon won the race with an NCAA auto qualifier and NCAA leader of 10:59.64.

Junior Miranda Walker made her 2010 debut in the 5,000 meters Friday night. She finished fourth with a personal-best time of 17:00.76. Her time ranks No. 1 in the SEC and No. 6 in the NCAA.

Freshman Leah Orley finished fourth in the pentathlon with 3,594 points. She recorded marks of 9.17 in the 60-meter hurdles, 5-3.25 in the high jump, 33-10 in the shot put, 16-8.5 in the long jump and 2:18.96 for 800 meters. Orley’s high jump is a personal best and she won the pentathlon 800 meters for the second time in as many weeks.

Events will continue at the Texas A&M SEC-Big 12-PAC-10 Challenge on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. For continued coverage of Razorback track and field, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.