Home finale with Arkansas Twilight

FAYETTEVILLE – After a busy weekend on the road, the No. 8 University of Arkansas women’s track and field team returns to Fayetteville for the Arkansas Twilight this weekend at John McDonnell Field. The one-day event will be held Friday with field competition beginning at 9 a.m. (CT) and running events starting at 6 p.m.

"This weekend is just a bit of a tune-up meet," head coach Lance Harter said. "We’re going to pick and choose what’s best for them. Some of our younger people will get a chance to run an off-event. Ultimately, it’s all to get ready for the SEC meet next week because it’s going to be another great competition."

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.

Arkansas owns six top-10 national marks in five events, led by NCAA leader Tina Sutej in the pole vault. The Razorbacks are represented twice in the 400 meters with Shelise Williams, No. 2 in the country, and Regina George, holder of the eighth-faster quarter time. Stephanie Brown and Makeba Alcide are both ranked No. 5 in the 800 meters and heptathlon, respectively, and the 4×400-meter relay team of Williams, George, Gwendolyn Flowers and Whitney Jones has posted the second-fastest performance in the NCAA.

Last weekend, the Razorbacks split their roster between Penn Relays, Drake Relays and the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational. At Penn, Sutej set the meet record with a winning clearance of 14-7.25 on her way to an 11th consecutive win. At Drake, the 4×400 relay ran to a new meet and school record, crossing in a time of 3:28.63. At the Stanford meet, each runner posted a No. 1 or 2 career time, including a 2:04.31 performance by Brown in the 800 meters. Sutej and the mile relay were recognized by the SEC for their efforts.

The Razorbacks move back into the top 10 in the May 3 release of the USTFCCCA national poll. Arkansas is the eighth-ranked team in the country following its busy weekend. The team was ranked 11th last week. The SEC is represented by five teams in the this week’s top 25, including Arkansas, top-ranked LSU, No. 13 Auburn, No. 19 Georgia and No. 21 Tennessee.

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: Twilight Schedule_final.pdf