No. 7 men's track at Texas A&M Challenge

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -No. 7 Arkansas Razorback men’s track and field will continue the 2010 indoor season with the Texas A&M Big 12 – SEC – PAC-10 Challenge, Fri.-Sat., January 29-30, at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.

No. 10 Baylor, No. 3 Florida, No. 2 Oregon, No. 15 South Carolina, No. 17 Stanford, Texas, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 21 Washington State will be competing with the Hogs at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, combined events begin at 5:55 p.m. and running events begin at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, combined events begin at 11 a.m., field events at 12 p.m. and running events at 12:30 p.m. Live results can be found at ArkansasRazorbacks.com. A complete meet recap will available at ArkansasRazorbacks.com shortly after the final event.

Arkansas student-athletes hold the leading marks in the SEC in the 400 meters (Ben Skidmore), the 800 meters (Drew Butler), the 3,000 meters (Scott MacPherson), the 5,000 meters (Lane Boyer) and the distance medley relay.

The Razorbacks currently hold five NCAA provisional qualifiers in the first three weeks of competition: Butler in the 800 meters, freshman Brede Raa Ellingsen in the high jump, senior Alain Bailey and sophomore Tarik Batchelor in the long jump and sophomore Terry Prentice in the heptathlon.

At the Razorback Invitational, Prentice set the Arkansas school record in the seven-event heptathlon. He finished third with 5,350 points. His score is a personal best, an NCAA provisional qualifier and ranks No. 4 in the NCAA and No. 3 in the SEC. During the two-day event, he recorded personal bests in the high jump (6-6.25), the pole vault and the 1,000 meters.

Butler is this week’s SEC Freshman of the week for his performance at the Razorback Invitational. He led off the DMR that clocked a season-best and race-winning time of 9:55.75. Butler clocked a 1,200-meter split of 2:59.91. The quartet’s time of 9:55.75 leads the SEC, by more than 15 seconds, and ranks No. 6 in the NCAA. Butler’s runner-up time of 1:50.15 in the 800 meters is a personal best and an NCAA provisional qualifier. His time ranks No. 5 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the SEC. He has the top time by a freshman in the NCAA in 2010.

The Razorbacks are seated at No. 7 and are the second-highest Southeastern Conference school within the USTFCCCA rankings, including seven SEC teams total. The Florida Gators are ranked No. 3, the LSU Tigers sixth, the Georgia Bulldogs sit at No. 14, the South Carolina Gamecocks are 15th, the Auburn Tigers are No. 18 and the Kentucky Wildcats are No. 19.

Download: 1.29-.30.10 TAMU.pdf