No. 3 Men's @RazorbackTF Set To Host Razorback Invite

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After a solid showing at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky. last weekend, the reigning SEC Indoor Track Champions and No. 3 Arkansas men’s track and field team will host some of the nation’s best at the Razorback Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center (Jan. 30-31).

Arkansas is among 14 universities scheduled to compete this weekend. The No. 3 Razorbacks will battle nine teams ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I Indoor Team Top 25 (released on Jan. 26), including No. 2 Florida, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 LSU, No. 10 Texas, No. 15 Florida State, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 20 Purdue and No. 23 Iowa State.

For the latest information on Arkansas men’s track and field, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.

UP NEXT
After the Razorback Invitational, the Razorbacks have a couple weeks off before returning to the Randal Tyson Track Center to host the Tyson Invitational Feb. 13-14.

SEC NETWORK+ BROADCAST
Fans will be able to watch the Razorbacks in action during the Razorback Invite, as both days of the competition will feature live streaming video on SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN App. Friday’s coverage will begin at 5 p.m., while Saturday’s coverage will start at noon.

LAST TIME OUT | ROD MCCRAVY MEMORIAL
In their last outing the No. 3 Razorbacks competed at the 2015 Rod McCravy Memorial at Nutter Field House (Jan. 23-24). The meet was initially billed as the best track meet anywhere in America all weekend. The level of competition definitely lived up to expectations, as there were 17 meet records and nine Nutter Field House records that went down during the event.

Senior Andrew Irwin won the pole vault with a mark of 5.61m/18-4.75, which gave him the McCravy Meet record, the Nutter Field House record, the top SEC mark this season and the No. 2 mark in the NCAA in 2015. The Mount Ida, Ark. native also attempted 5.81m/19-0.75 three times to close the event.

Senior Kemoy Campbell took third in the 3,000 meters, crossing the finish line in 7:55.41, while freshman Alex George placed sixth in the mile with a personal-best (4:09.42). The distance medley relay team of Cale Wallace, Eric Janise, Ryan Thomas, Kemoy Campbell earned a third-place finish with a time of 9:39.46, just three seconds behind second-place Florida and less than seven seconds behind first-place Oregon. Senior Stanley Kebenei took fourth in the 5,000 meters, crossing the finish line in 13:48.48, while Malik Broughton placed sixth in the high jump with a personal-best (6-8.25) and Eric Hawkins finished eighth in the 200 meter dash (21.64).

USTFCCCA RANKINGS
On Monday (Jan. 26) the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its first regular season edition of the NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings and the Arkansas men’s track and field team checked in at No. 3.

The USTFCCCA also released the first regular season NCAA Division I Regional Rankings and the Razorbacks took the No. 2 spot in the South Central Region, behind No. 1 Texas A&M.

The national team rankings are compiled by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. Preseason rankings included marks from 2014, and the National Team Computer Rankings will continue to do so through the third regular-season edition.

Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
1. Oregon
2. Florida
3. Arkansas
4. Texas A&M
5. Penn State
6. Georgia
7. Stanford
8. Nebraska
9. LSU
10. Texas
11. Alabama
12. Baylor
13. Texas Tech
14. Villanova
15. Florida State
16. Oklahoma State
17. Wisconsin
18. Akron
19. Houston
20. Purdue
21. Tennessee
22. Virginia Tech
23. Iowa State
24. Kent State
25. Michigan State

Men’s Indoor Track & Field Regional Rankings (Top 15) | South Central Region
1. Texas A&M
2. Arkansas
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Houston
6. Baylor
7. Texas State
8. Stephen F. Austin
9. Southeastern Louisiana
10. Arkansas State
11. Sam Houston State
12. UT Arlington
13. Louisiana-Lafayette
14. UTSA
15. ULM

SEC WEEKLY HONOR
Two-time NCAA pole vault champion Andrew Irwin was named Southeastern Conference Field Athlete of the Week by the league on Jan. 13. That marked the fifth time in his career that Irwin has earned a SEC weekly honor (2 – indoor; 3 – outdoor).

The senior turned in a strong showing in his opening pole vault competition of the 2015 season at the Arkansas Invitational (Friday, Jan. 9). Irwin captured the pole vault event with a winning mark of 18-1, which currently ranks as the second-best men’s pole vault mark in the nation this season.

BY INVITE ONLY
The USA Track & Field (USATF) and the US Olympic Committee (USOC) invited Arkansas men’s track and field assistant coach Travis Geopfert and junior Jarrion Lawson to participate in a Jumps Initiative Camp at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. In early December 2014.

The USATF Jumps Initiative was designed to help top collegiate horizontal jumps athletes and coaches by identifying physical, biomechanical, and technical components that are related to performance outcomes and injury prevention.

The USATF and the USOC hope that the information received from this camp will help with training design for the 2015 season, plus introduce student-athletes to the range of USATF and USOC sport science resources that will be available to them as a post-collegian.

Lawson’s stellar 2014 indoor/outdoor track season helped him get the invite. He finished 2nd at the Outdoor USA National Championships and won the 2014 NCAA Indoor title after dominating the field with a world-leading 27-6.5 jump, a huge final leap that took him a foot further than his competitors. With his mark, Lawson ranks No. 4 all-time in NCAA history and No. 7 in all-time U.S. history. Lawson’s jump just missed the NCAA Championship meet record of 8.48 set by the legendary Carl Lewis in 1981.

SOLID RECRUITING
Arkansas, the 2013 national champion, is looking to reclaim its spot atop the Division I indoor track & field mountain. The Razorback recruiting class for this season was ranked seventh in the country by Track & Field News.

This is the sixth recruiting class for Bucknam and his staff. The last three signing Arkansas track and field signing classes have ranked inside the top 10 in the nation.

The initial wave of future Razorbacks includes Stephen Mugeche (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs HS), Laquan Nairn (Nassau, Bahamas/St. Johns College HS), Carlton Orange Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Memphis University HS), Brendon Rivera (Edinburg, Texas/Robert Vela HS), Frankline Tonui (Nakuru, Kenya/Iowa Central Community College) and Joshua Washington Jr. (Woodbridge, Va./Richard Bland College).

A LOOK BACK AT THE 2014 INDOOR SEASON
Head coach Chris Bucknam and his team took the SEC Championship last season, marking the third-consecutive indoor title for the program, and finished second at the 2014 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. The Razorbacks scored 54 points over the two-day national meet, just eight points behind Oregon and 18 points ahead of third-place Florida.

The Razorbacks earned 19 All-American honors last season, highlighted by a pair of national champions in Jarrion Lawson (long jump) and 2014 SEC Freshman Runner of the Year Omar McLeod (60-meter hurdles). Lawson’s NCAA-leading jump of 27-6.5 took down his previous personal record of 26-2.75 (set at the 2014 Tyson Invitational). With his mark, Lawson ranks No. 4 all-time in NCAA history and No. 7 in all-time U.S. history. Lawson’s jump just missed the NCAA Championship meet record of 8.48 set by the legendary Carl Lewis in 1981. He currently ranks No. 2 all-time in Arkansas history. McLeod recorded a top-finishing time of 7.58 in the 60-meter hurdles for the title in his first-ever NCAA Championship. McLeod’s time followed an NCAA-leading performance in the prelims (a school-best 7.57).

At the SEC Indoor Championships, the Razorbacks scored 121 points, earning three individual titles (high jump – Anthony May; long jump – Raymond Higgs; 5000m – Solomon Haile). Arkansas also had five events earn a silver medal (60m hurdles, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and 5000m).

Fayetteville, the “Track Capital of the World”, will be at the center of the track and field universe on the weekend of March 13-14 as the Razorbacks will host the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center, the home of the “Fastest Indoor Track in the World”. Since the facility’s opening in 2000, Arkansas and the Randal Tyson Track Center have hosted the event 11 times, including nine straight seasons and 11 of the last 13 championships.

A two-day, all-session ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships is $40 for reserved seating and $30 for general admission adult ticket.

Season tickets and NCAA all-session passes are available online at HERE, by contacting the Razorback Athletics Ticket Center via phone at (800) 982-HOGS or in person at the Razorback Athletics Ticket Center, located just east of Baum Stadium at 1295 S. Razorback Rd. in Fayetteville.