Leads, Records and Top Marks For No. 2 Arkansas

Arkansas Invitational Results

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Eight events saw eight different members of the second-ranked Arkansas women’s track and field team place first on Friday evening at the Arkansas Invitational. Junior Taliyah Brooks and sophomore Tori Weeks jumpstarted the winning trend with remarkable displays of athleticism in the long jump and pole vault, respectively.

“I was absolutely elated at how some of our student-athletes did such a fantastic job of following the program over Christmas break,” head coach Lance Harter said. “They trained well. We opened up with three of the best pole vaulters in the United States, then we come back with some personal bests in the sprints and the mile relay ran great. 4:36 and 4:37 [for Nikki Hiltz and Therese Haiss] after a hard week of training is phenomenal. If we can open up like this, we’re going to have a successful year.”

Tori Weeks was the first to capture a meet title, vaulting a personal best of 4.42m/14-6 to take over the NCAA-leading position in the event. She made up one part of Arkansas’ pole vault trio which included her sister Lexi Weeks and Desiree Freier, both of whom own the second- and third-best collegiate clearances in the country, respectively.

Elsewhere in the field, Brooks was quick to make strides of her own, marking a new Arkansas record in the long jump of 6.44m/21-1 1/2 on her first attempt. Brooks’ best jump of the day eclipsed the 14-year-old mark set by Angel Heath by 1 1/4 inches.

“We’ve been on a pretty hard training phase recently, and we actually trained through the meet, but I’m impressed with where we’re at right now,” associate head coach Chris Johnson said. “I wasn’t necessarily training [Brooks] to break the school record, but from a technical standpoint we’ve been working on some things. I think there’s more left there and we’re working on continuing with her progression and getting faster.”

Middle distance duo Nikki Hiltz and Therese Haiss led the way on the track, finishing first and second, respectively, in a competitive mile race. Their performances earned them both a place in the top-three on the NCAA mile leaderboard. Hiltz’ winning time of 4 minutes, 36.42 seconds is the sixth-best in program history.

Additional Notable Performances:
Freshmen Take Over: Jada Baylark (60), Alexandra Byrnes (800) and Carina Viljoen (1,000) all raced to meet titles in their respective events in the first meet of their collegiate careers.
Top Two in Two or More: Leigha Brown (HJ/1,600 relay), Kiara Parker (60, 200, 1,600 relay) and Brianna Swinton (400, 1,600 relay) all finished in second place or better in at least two events at the Razorbacks’ home opener.
Alumni Showcase: Chrishuna Williams and Sparkle McKnight headlined the 400, placing first and third, respectively. Alex Gochenour had a strong showing in the 60 hurdles, capturing the meet title in 8.56.

Arkansas will journey to Nashville next weekend for the Vanderbilt Invitational, returning to the Randal Tyson Track Center in two weeks as the hosts of the highly-anticipated Razorback Invitational.

Arkansas Invitational
January 13, 2017
Randal Tyson Track Center (Fayetteville, Ark.)

60 Meters
1. Jada Baylark – 7.48
2. Kiara Parker – 7.59
7. Kelsey Herman – 7.77
8. Tamara Kuykendall – 7.78

200 Meters
1. Kiara Parker – 24.41
2. Daina Harper – 24.51
3. Taliyah Brooks – 24.61

400 Meters
2. Brianna Swinton – 54.47 (top collegiate)
4. Ceara Watson – 56.18
10. Sydney Hammit – 58.72

600 Meters
4. Madison Cooley – 1:38.54
5. Emily Jeacock – 1:38.84

800 Meters
1. Alexandra Byrnes – 2:12.61
5. Autumn Sehy – 2:32.96

1,000 Meters
1. Carina Viljoen – 2:54.99

Mile
1. Nikki Hiltz – 4:36.42
2. Therese Haiss – 4:37.27
4. Maddy Reed – 4:50.85
5. Sydney Brown – 4:52.11
6. Valerie Reina – 4:53.21
12. Micah Huckabee – 5:10.15
14. Grace Taylor – 5:12.60
19. Samantha Mohler – 5:24.19
20. Kristen Larkan – 5:31.34
21. Abby Tedford – 5:42.17

60m Hurdles
4. Kelsey Herman – 8.61
5. Leigha Brown – 8.71
6. Jada Baylark – 8.72

4x400m Relay
1. Swinton/Parker/Watson/Brown – 3:43.17

High Jump
2. Leigha Brown – 1.74m/5-8.5
3. Kelsey Herman – 1.69m/5-6.5
4. Carmen Sitz – 1.64m/5-4.5

Pole Vault
1. Tori Weeks – 4.42m/14-6
2. Lexi Weeks – 4.27m/14-0
3. Desiree Freier – 4.17m/13-8.25
9. Rylee Robinson – 3.67m/12-0.5
14. Madeline Telford – 3.47m/11-4.5
17. Stephanie Diettinger – 3.07m/10-0.75

Long Jump
1. Taliyah Brooks – 6.44m/21-1.5 (school record)
–. Jada Baylark – F

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.