Hogs Pick Up Qualifiers on Distance Night at Penn Relays

PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – Arkansas Razorback track and field collected three regional-qualifying marks in the distance events Thursday night at Penn Relays. With cooperative weather expected for the rest of the weekend, Thursday night was a solid start for what hopes to be a successful weekend for the Hogs in Philadelphia.

“We had a pretty good night,” head coach John McDonnell said. “We had three guys qualify for regionals and that is promising. We got a lot of important regional qualifiers out of the way tonight and now we don’t have to worry about them. We can keep our focus on the conference meet.”

Peter Kosgei and Scott MacPherson were the first Razorbacks to compete at the 114th running of Penn Relays. Both competing in the championship steeplechase, they earned their spot in postseason competition with regional-qualifying marks. Kosgei finished third in the field of 16 with a clocking of 8:47.86. MacPherson was right behind him with a time of 8:49.19, good for fifth-place finish.

“It was tough coming back here to run after hitting that hurdle last year,” MacPherson said. “Once I cleared that (one I hit my knee on last year), I said to myself ‘let’s, go, let’s race’. I don’t think I’m in good shape at all so I was happy to see that I PR’ed and qualified. It was great running with Peter (Kosgei) and to see a familiar face out there. I think we both have a lot to improve on but that was a great start.”

MacPherson’s time is a personal best and ranks second in the SEC to Kosgei’s conference-leading time from this evening.

The Razorbacks also picked up a regional qualifier from Tyler Hill in the championship 5,000 meters. Hill placed eighth in the field of 35 with a time of 14:02.20, a personal best. His time ranks fifth in the SEC.

Chris Barnicle just missed the qualifying time of 14:12 with his 16th-place finish and clocking of 14:16.45. Michael Chinchar finished 29th (14:56.64).

Lane Boyer was the final competitor of the evening in the 10,000 meters. In his collegiate 10K debut, he finished 10th in the field of 42 with a time of 30:02.99.

For complete results of Penn Relays, visit
www.thepennrelays.com
.