Hunt For No. 16
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Over Arkansas’ 26 years in the Southeastern Conference there have been very few league titles that have eluded them. On Thursday, head coach Chris Bucknam’s crew will dig deep this weekend as they embark on their hunt for Arkansas’ 16th SEC Triple Crown at the 2017 SEC Outdoor Championships in Columbia, South Carolina.
SEC Outdoor Championships
Date/Time: Thursday, May 11, 4:55 p.m. CT | Friday, May 12, 5:10 p.m. CT | Saturday, May 13, 2:10 p.m. CT
Location: Cregger Track (Columbia, South Carolina)
Important Link: : Meet Central | Entries/Heat Sheets | Live Results
Watch: SEC+ (Friday) | SEC+ (Saturday)
Arkansas at SEC Quick Facts
• 119 SEC Outdoor Event Titles (Most from 5,000 with 17)
• 65 SEC Team Titles (XC: 24, Indoor: 22 and Outdoor: 19)
• 19 Outdoor Team Titles: McDonnell Era (14), Bucknam Era (5)
• Highest Team Total: 1994, 223 points | 2016 Team Total: 121 points
Individual Title Contenders (Track)
Second only to his teammate at the 2016 SEC outdoors, redshirt senior Cale Wallace is one of the favorites for a gold medal in the steeplechase this year. Wallace heads into the competition as the second-best performer in the conference with a season-best of 8 minutes, 53.15 seconds from the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Junior transfer Kemar Mowatt is the top seed in the 400-meter hurdles, following his national-leading performance of 49.09 at the SEC Relays. The intermediate hurdle competition will feature four of the top-six fastest hurdlers in the NCAA, including No. 2 TJ Holmes (Florida), No. 4 Robert Grant (Texas A&M) and No. 6 Eric Futch (Florida). Mowatt has already beaten Grant in head-to-head competition, but has yet to line up against the pair from Florida.
Cross country All-Americans Jack Bruce and Alex George will be tasked with capturing the 5,000-meter title, as the pair sit atop of the SEC leaderboards at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Bruce and George both have individual conference titles to their claim. Bruce won the 3,000 indoors while George was the top finisher at the cross country championships last Fall.
Individual Title Contenders (Field)
Two-time national triple jump champion Clive Pullen is the lone returning SEC outdoor gold-medalist from the 2016 squad. Florida’s KeAndre Bates leads the nation with a mark of 54-9 1/2. Pullen finished behind Bates at the SEC indoor championships, but emerged victorious against the talented Gator at indoor nationals.
Arkansas will open the three-day meet on Thursday morning at 9:15 a.m. CT with four hogs entered in the decathlon, including Lane Austell, Brad Culp, Derek Jacobus and Gabe Moore. Fans can follow along throughout the weekend via the live results. The meet will be live streamed on SEC Network + Friday, May 12, starting at 5:25 p.m. CT and on Saturday, May 13, starting at 2:10 p.m. CT.
Nationally Ranked SEC Teams (12 of 13)
1. Texas A&M
2. Florida
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. LSU
9. ARKANSAS
12. Ole Miss
18. Auburn
19. South Carolina
21. Kentucky
22. Mississippi State
23. Tennessee
For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
