No. 5 Women's @RazorbackTF Ready for Razorback Invite

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After a solid showing at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky. last weekend, the No. 5 Arkansas women’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. 5 Razorbacks will battle seven 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. 1 Florida, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 7 Texas, No. 10 Stanford, No. 11 Florida State, No. 13 Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Kansas, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Purdue and Tulsa.

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

UP NEXT
After the Razorback Invitational, the Razorbacks will compete at the New Mexico Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. on Feb. 7.

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 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 Sandi Morris continued her solid 2015 campaign with her third consecutive victory in the pole vault. She is now three-for-three in the pole vault to start her senior season. The reigning Southeastern Conference Field Athlete of the Week won the event after clearing 14-10.25, which is the McCravy Meet record.

Senior Dominique Scott won the women’s mile on the final day of the McCravy Memorial. She wrapped up a solid weekend by winning the mile with a personal-best time of 4:32.48, after helping the Razorback DMR team pick up a win on Friday afternoon. Not only was the Capetown, South Africa native’s time a program record, a McCravy Meet record and a Nutter Field House record, but it was also the No. 1 mark in the NCAA and SEC so far this season.

The team of Diane Robison, Sparkle McKnight, Chrishuna Williams and Scott took home the DMR title in 11:02.80, nearly six seconds ahead of second place Florida. The quartet’s time is the top time in NCAA and SEC so far this season. The team of McKnight, C. Williams, Taylor Ellis-Watson and Daina Harper placed second in the 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:30.50, less than one second behind first-place Florida (3:29.58). The quartet’s time is the second fastest time in the NCAA and SEC so far this season.

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 women’s track and field team checked in at No. 5.

The USTFCCCA also released the first regular season NCAA Division I Regional Rankings and the Razorbacks took the No. 1 spot in the South Central Region.

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.

Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. Texas A&M
4. Oregon
5. Arkansas
6. Kentucky
7. Texas
8. Providence
9. Georgetown
10. Stanford
11. Florida State
12. Kansas State
13. Oklahoma State
14. Wisconsin
15. Michigan
16. Maryland
17. Southern California
18. Akron
19. Texas Tech
20. Mississippi State
21. UCLA
22. Auburn
23. Michigan State
24. Baylor
25. Clemson

Women’s Indoor Track & Field Regional Rankings (Top 15) | South Central Region
1. Arkansas
2. Texas A&M
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Baylor
6. Texas State
7. Louisiana Tech
8. Sam Houston State
9. Houston
10. Lamar
11. Stephen F. Austin
12. Arkansas State
13. Tulane
14. Northwestern State
15. New Orleans

SEC WEEKLY HONOR
Senior Dominique Scott was named SEC Co-Runner of the Week by the conference office on Jan. 27, marking the second time in her career that Scott has earned a SEC indoor weekly honor.

The Capetown, South Africa native earned the award for her solid performance at the 2015 Rod McCravy Memorial at Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky.

Friday night (Jan. 23), Scott took the baton as the final 1,600-meter leg for the Razorbacks’ distance medley relay team in fourth place. She ran down the anchor legs from Oregon, Baylor and Florida and pulled away for a convincing five-second win over second-place Florida in 11:02.80. The DMR team’s time is currently the fastest in the NCAA and SEC this season.

The next day (Jan. 24), she lined up for the mile and once again blew away the field. Her margin of victory was even bigger in her individual event, as she ran a collegiate-leading 4:32.48 to win by nearly seven seconds over All-American Colleen Quigley of Florida State.

Her 4:32.48 in the mile was a personal-best, a program record, a McCravy Meet record and a Nutter Field House record. Her mark also gave her the No. 1 mark in the NCAA and SEC so far this season.

HALL OF FAME
In recognition of his standout career, University of Arkansas women’s cross country and track and field head coach Lance Harter was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Coaches Hall of Fame on Monday, Dec. 15.

Harter, in his 25th year as the Razorback women’s cross country and track and field head coach, was one of six members of the Class of 2014 inductees and was joined by Chris Daymont, Tom Donnelly, Joey Haines, Ed Nuttycombe and the late Johnny Thomas. The 2014 USTFCCCA Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place Monday, Dec. 15, at the organization’s annual convention in Phoenix.

Through his 25 year career at Arkansas, Harter has led the Razorbacks to 14 NCAA top-five finishes, including four national cross country runner-up performances, and 23 Southeastern Conference (SEC) team titles, including the most recent addition with the 2014 cross country title at Agri Park. Individually, Harter’s Razorback student-athletes have won 15 NCAA event titles and 134 conference event titles.

As a reflection of his Arkansas success on the national level, Harter has been named the USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year on three occasions and SEC Coach of the Year for each of his team’s 23 titles. The Razorbacks’ conference titles including 15 cross country, four indoor track and field and four outdoor track and field crowns. During the 2013-14 athletic season, Arkansas won two—cross country, outdoor track and field—of the three SEC legs.

Prior to his days in Fayetteville, Harter won 13 Division II national team titles at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo which still stands as the fifth-largest collection by a Division II coach in any sport. Individually, he guided his student-athletes to 30 national event titles in his time at Cal Poly-SLO.

In addition to numerous other national and regional coaching awards, Harter has previously been inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Honor, Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame and Cal Poly Hall of Fame. On the international level, Harter served as the assistant coach for Team USA at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and head coach of Team USA at the 1999 IAAF World Championship in Seville, Spain.

A LOOK BACK AT THE 2014 INDOOR SEASON
Head coach Lance Harter and his Razorbacks finished in sixth place at the 2014 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships. Following the national meet, Arkansas earned 19 All-American honors, highlighted by the national champion distance medley relay team of Grace Heymsfield, Chrishuna Williams, Stephanie Brown and Dominique Scott. The top-seeded distance medley relay team made Arkansas history by winning the first-ever distance-medley relay title for the Razorbacks in 11:05.83.

Arkansas took third at the 2014 SEC Indoor Championships, finishing with 93.5 points, behind first-place Florida (102) and Texas A&M in second (96.5). The third-place finished marked the seventh-consecutive year the Razorbacks have finished in the top three at the SEC Indoor Championships.

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.