Tyson Invitational up next for Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE – The No. 6 University of Arkansas women’s track and field team continues its 2011 indoor campaign this weekend with the Tyson Invitational. The prestigious event will be held Feb. 11-12 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. The field of teams is scheduled to feature 14 teams ranked in this week’s release of the national poll. Competition begins Friday at noon with the evening session set for 6 p.m. (CT).

"We’re back home and are ramped back up for the Tyson Invitational," head coach Lance Harter said. "We built our schedule to face tough competition as we get ready for the SEC and NCAA Championships. We have a very good list of competitors, both collegiate and pro, that will make this a great weekend."

With Arkansas, this weekend’s competing teams is scheduled to include No. 1 Oregon, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Clemson, No. 9 Auburn, No. 10 Florida State, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 17 Central Florida, No. 18 Texas Tech, No. 19 Penn State, No. 20 Indiana, No. 21 South Carolina, No. 22 TCU and No. 23 Louisville. Southeastern Conference teams Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt are also set to compete.

Through the first four meets of the season, the Razorbacks have collected four NCAA automatic-qualifying marks with Shelise Williams in the 400 meters, Tina Sutej in the pole vault, the 4×400-meter relay of Williams, Gwendolyn Flowers, Regina George and Whitney Jones and the distance-medley relay of George, Williams, Stephanie Brown and Kristen Gillespie. Sutej is the national leader in the pole vault while Williams, the 4×400- and distance-medley relays own the No. 2 times in the NCAA.

Last weekend at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, Arkansas came away with 49 points, good for a fourth-place finish in the team standings. The distance-medley relay team broke the school record with its time of 11:02.45. Sutej established a new meet record with her 14-7.25 performance in the pole vault. The mark is also the second best in school history. Following her effort, she was named the SEC Female Field Athlete of the Week.

This weekend’s meet is the Razorbacks’ final preparation for the Feb. 25-27 SEC Championships. Following Friday’s action, the meet resumes Saturday with field events at noon and running events at 1 p.m. Fans unable to attend can follow the Tyson Invitational with a video stream, live results and interactive blog at ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

Download: Entries List_2011 Tyson Invitational.pdf