#NCAATF Podium Hunt: The Relays
This is a continued series leading up to the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships in which the Razorbacks’ top qualifiers are featured. For the 12th time since first hosting in 2000, Fayetteville serves as the host site for the national meet. This year’s NCAA Indoor Championships will be contested March 13-14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
A two-day, all-session ticket for the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships is $30 for general admission. Tickets for the NCAA meet are available for purchase HERE, by contacting the Razorback Ticket Center at 800-982-HOGS (4647) or visiting the Ticket Center located just east of Baum Stadium at 1295 S. Razorback Road.
4×400-Meter Relay
When to Watch
Saturday, March 14 at 8:45 p.m. (CT)
How They Qualified
The Razorbacks posted a season-best time of 3:06.98 at the Tyson Invitational in February and enter the NCAA meet with the No. 8 seeding among qualifying teams. Arkansas secured its spot with the relay quartet of Kenzo Cotton, Jarrion Lawson, Omar McLeod and Marqueze Washington. Lawson (long jump), McLeod (60m hurdles) and Washington (400m) have also qualified individually for the national meet.
History at the NCAA Championships
Arkansas is a two-time NCAA champion in the 4×400-meter relay when the program’s posted back-to-back wins in 2012 and 2013. With their victory in 2013, the foursome of Neil Braddy, Caleb Cross, Akheem Gauntlett and Marek Niit capped the Razorbacks’ team-title performance in Fayetteville with a then-record of 3:03.50 which currently stands as the No. 4 performance in collegiate history.
Distance Medley Relay
When to Watch
Friday, March 13 at 9:20 p.m. (CT)
How They Qualified
Austen Dalquist (1,200m), Jamarco Stephen (400m), Patrick Rono (800m) and Kemoy Campbell (1,600m) put together a near-record performance of 9:28.37 to win the Alex Wilson Invitational in February. Arkansas has the third-fastest time in the DMR field for the NCAA Championships, just .15 behind the top time held by Georgetown. The Razorbacks’ effort at Alex Wilson was just .02 off the program record set in 2009.
History at the NCAA Championships
Just like the program’s 4×400-meter relay, Arkansas has two NCAA event titles in the DMR with the most recent coming in 2006. The Razorbacks first won the event in 1994. Arkansas’ 2006 DMR title run came in front of its home crowd at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. Since its last DMR title, the program has turned in a pair of runner-up results in 2009 and 2010.
For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
