Stripling clears school record NCAA leader

FAYETTEVILLE – Senior Katie Stripling set a new school record in the pole vault for No. 13 Arkansas Razorback women’s track and field on Friday at the Arkansas Twilight.

"Despite a rocky start with the weather, it really turned out to be a great meet for us," head coach Lance Harter said. "We had some spectacular performances from Katie Stripling in the pole vault, Stephanie Brown in the 800 meters, Regina George in the 400 meters and Samantha Learch in the 1,500 meters. We really have our gears going for the SEC Championships in two weeks."

Stripling won the pole vault with a height of 14-5.5. Her clearance is a personal best and replaces her previous school record of 14-5.25, set at the 2009 SEC Championships. Stripling is now the NCAA and SEC leader in the event.

Stripling led a 1-2-4 finish for the Razorbacks in the pole vault. Sophomore Tina Sutej set a personal best and a Slovenian national record with her height of 14-1.75 and runner-up finish. She now ranks No. 2 in the SEC and No. 6 in the NCAA. Senior Janice Keppler was fourth with a height of 12-11.75.

Freshman Stephanie Brown won the 800 meters with a season- and personal-best time of 2:05.71. Her time ranks No. 7 in the NCAA (No. 1 among freshman) and No. 5 in the SEC (No. 1 among freshman). Sophomore Kristen Gillespie finished third with a personal-best clocking of 2:07.58. Freshman Martine Borge finished 12th with a personal-best time of 2:13.76.

Freshman Regina George won the 400 meters with a season- and personal-best time of 52.89. Her time ranks No. 8 in the NCAA (No. 1 among freshman) and No. 5 in the SEC (No. 1 among freshman). Senior Karen Thomas was fourth in 54.46, junior Shelise Williams was eighth in 55.24 and junior Edina Brooks finished 10th in 55.69.

George also won the 200 meters with a time of 23.63. Freshman Gwendolyn Flowers was fourth in 24.32, sophomore Whitney Jones was seventh in 24.54, Williams was 11th in 24.94, Brooks was 12th in 24.96 and freshman Rachel Werner was 17th in 25.21. Flowers also won the 100 meters with a time of 11.89 (1.6w). Jones was second in 11.91 (1.6w) and Werner was 12th with a clocking of 12.27 (1.1w).

Sophomore Samantha Learch led the Arkansas charge in the 1,500 meters. She earned a bronze finish with a personal-best time of 4:26.94, ranking No. 8 in the SEC. Junior Miranda Walker was seventh in 4:30.58, sophomore Taylor Johnson was ninth in 4:31.27 and freshman Natanya Luther was 14th with a clocking of 4:38.64.

Sophomore Brittany Hyter won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.60. She also finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.25) Brooks, George, Williams and Jones combined for a time of 45.35 to win the 4×100-meter relay. Arkansas ended the meet with a win in the 4×400-meter relay. The quartet of Brooks, George, Thomas and Williams combined for a time of 3:34.30.

The Razorbacks will compete next at the SEC Championships, May 13-16, in Knoxville, Tenn.

Download: ArkTwiCompiledResults.pdf