Thompson begins SEC Championships

FAYETTEVILLE – Now that John McDonnell Field is officially open, the question is who was the first University of Arkansas athlete to compete on the new and improved facility and the name is Megan Thompson who ran in the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 11.

Thompson, a freshman for the Lady Razorbacks, ran in the first race of the day, the 100-meter hurdles, and had a rough start to her weekend. Hitting the third hurdle, Thompson went down hard to the Mondo surface and stayed down for several seconds before getting up and finishing the race to earn 134 points for her effort.

Following her tumble, Thompson was looked at by Arkansas’ medical staff and deemed unable to continue in the multi-event competition. She gets another chance to run the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday in the open event preliminaries.

“It was unfortunate that Megan was unable to finish today,” Arkansas head coach Lance Harter said. “It was nice to finally get out on the track and compete. We have had plenty of compliments from our fellow coaches about this facility and it really is one of the best in the nation. We can’t wait to see Brandy Blackwood make her final appearance at the SEC meet and get our young 10,000-meter runners on the track.”

Arkansas’ lineup expands on Friday with the women’s hammer throw, 800-meter preliminaries and 10,000-meter run. The events should yield Arkansas’ first points of the competition with Brandy Blackwood and Michelle Rossio in the hammer throw and a quintet of Lady’Backs in the 10,000-meter run.

For more information about Lady Razorback track or about Arkansas women’s athletics, please go to www.ladybacks.com.