Arkansas Adds More To NCAA Top 10 List
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The second-ranked Arkansas women’s track and field team added a few more student-athletes to NCAA top-10 event lists on Friday night at the Razorback Invitational.
First to shake up the national event rankings were Tori and Lexi Weeks who placed first and second, respectively, in the pole vault with clearances well over 14 feet. Vaulting for the first time since the Arkansas Invitational held earlier this season, Lexi Weeks improved to a 2017 best of 4.43m/14-6 1/4. Current NCAA pole vault leader, Tori Weeks captured her third meet title in a row, bettering her lifetime best by four inches to finish the day with a clearance of 4.53m/14-10 1/4. The Weeks’ own the top-two best clearances in the country, both among the top-12 best in the world.
“With Lexi being out and this only being her second meet back we were just trying to get her some jumps in with better bars coming back from as long a season as she had last year,” assistant coach Bryan Compton said. “Tori has been jumping really well all season and she’s just eyeing that 15-foot mark.”
Prior to the dominating performances by the Weeks in the pole vault, sophomore Kelsey Herman and senior Leigha Brown opened up strong in the pentathlon both finishing in the top-three in at least three out of the five events. Herman’s final total of 4,278 points is the fifth-best score in program history with Brown’s 4,257 right behind in sixth.
On the track, Arkansas’ distance medley relay team of Nikki Hiltz, Damajahnee Birch, Therese Haiss and Taylor Werner raced to the seventh-best time in the NCAA, clocking a season’s best of 11 minutes, 15.54 seconds over the 4,000-meter race. The new mark eclipsed Arkansas’ previous best from last weekend’s Vanderbilt Invitational by over 15 seconds.
What’s Next
• 400 Invitational: A permanent fixture on Arkansas’ 1,600 relay senior Daina Harper will search for the first NCAA indoor 400 berth, looking to improve on her current season’s best mark in the event of 52.72.
• 800 Invitational: Birch will take on the second 800-meter race of her career and is set to be challenged by Oklahoma State’s Savannah Camacho in the invitational section.
• Mile Invitational: Werner will be back on the mondo tomorrow in the invitational section of the open mile, lining up next to 2016 NCAA cross country champion Karissa Schweizer of Missouri.
• 3,000 Invitational: Abby Gray, Valerie Reina and Regan Ward hope to continue the Razorbacks’ trend of shaking up the NCAA event lists all in the hunt for top collegiate times.
Day Two Meet Info
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 28, 12 p.m. CT
Venue: Randal Tyson Track Center
Tickets: $5 for Adults, 17 and under free
Important Links: Meet Schedule / Entries / Live Results / WatchESPN
The Razorbacks will return to the oval tomorrow at approximately 10:30 a.m. as Katie Adams, Safee Belbina, Logan Bishop and Samantha Mohler take on the 3,000-meter run.
Razorback Invitational (Day 1)
January 27, 2017
Randal Tyson Track Center (Fayetteville, Ark.)
Team Scores (thru seven events)
1. #3 Georgia – 52
2. #2 Arkansas – 44
3. Texas A&M – 39.33
4. #7 LSU – 26.33
5. #4 USC – 25
6. #16 Ole Miss – 21
7. Mississippi State – 14
8. Auburn – 11.33
9. #14 Oklahoma State – 11
10. #17 Tennessee – 8
11. South Carolina – 5
12. #5 Florida – 3
13. Missouri – 3
200 Meters
19. Kiara Parker – 24.10
22. Daina Harper – 24.28
25. Brianna Swinton – 24.36
36. Sunkietra McCallister – 25.09
43. Kaylee McCarthy – 26.55
Distance Medley Relay
3. Hiltz/Birch/Haiss/Werner – 11:15.54
High Jump
5. Carmen Sitz – 1.68m/5-6
Pole Vault
1. Tori Weeks – 4.53m/14-10.25
2. Lexi Weeks – 4.43m/14-6.25
10. Rylee Robinson – 3.68m/12-0.75
11. Madeline Telford – 3.53m/11-7
12. Stephanie Diettinger – 3.33m/10-11
Pentathlon
2. Kelsey Herman – 4,278 points
2. 60mH – 8.52 (1,013 points)
2. High Jump – 1.79m/5-10.5 (966)
3. Shot Put – 12.38m/40-7.5 (686)
2. Long Jump – 6.17m/20-3 (902)
8. 800m – 2:28.55 (711)
3. Leigha Brown – 4,257 points
4. 60mH – 8.58 (1,000 points)
3. High Jump – 1.73m/5-8 (891)
2. Shot Put – 12.75m/41-10 (711)
5. Long Jump – 5.77m/18-11.25
1. 800m – 2:16.23 (875)
7. Ashlee Moore – 3,766 points
6. 60mH – 8.70 (974 points)
10. High Jump – 1.64m/5-4.5 (783)
6. Shot Put – 11.15m/36-7 (605)
3. Long Jump – 5.95m/19-6.25 (834)
12. 800m – 2:40.27 (570)
For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
