Arkansas among 4 of top 5 nationally ranked teams contending for SEC Outdoor title

OXFORD, Miss. – No. 5 Arkansas faces another stern challenge this weekend as the Razorback squad attempts to add another conference team title to its impressive collection during the SEC Outdoor Championships held at the Ole Miss Track & Field Complex this Thursday through Saturday.

Coverage of the meet will be available through SEC Network + (stream and broadcast) Thursday through Saturday. The finals held from 5 to 9 p.m. on Saturday will air on the SEC Network. Live results are available through https://live.deltatiming.com/meets/15663.

Day One – Thursday, May 12

Day Two – Friday, May 13

Day Three – Saturday, May 14

Four conference teams join Arkansas among the nation’s top five schools in the latest national team ratings index. Texas A&M is ranked No. 2, followed by Florida, LSU, and the Razorbacks.

Other SEC schools in the top 25 include No. 7 Kentucky, No. 17 South Carolina, No. 20 Ole Miss, and No. 22 Auburn.

In conference ratings, which accounts more for team depth, LSU holds an edge over Florida for the top position as Kentucky, Arkansas, and Texas A&M round out the top five schools. The next five positions include Ole Miss, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi State.

“This week we moved up to No. 5 in the nation and there are still three teams in the SEC ahead of us,” noted Razorback women’s head coach Lance Harter. “Florida, LSU and Texas A&M have exceptional teams, to say the least, nationally. This year they happen to have great conference teams as well. So, we’re going to have a battle again to try to neutralize those three.

“The goal is to score 100 points, but none of them will come easy. We’re in the conversation and the meet may come down to the 4 x 400 relay again. The 5,000m is right before the relay and that event is one of our key events.”

Arkansas’ recent run of SEC titles includes 22 of the past 23 contested among cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. The Razorbacks have claimed the past seven SEC Outdoor team titles and each one has completed a SEC Triple Crown for Arkansas.

“We’re loading the distance events up in order to stay competitive in this meet,” said Harter. “We need to fire on all cylinders. We are trying to maximize our scoring potential in the middle distance and distances as best we can.”

Arkansas has a trio of athletes with top seeds heading into the SEC Championships, and a pair of them are also collegiate leaders in 2022.

Lauren Gregory is the collegiate leader in the 10,000m with her 32:34.21 debut victory at the Stanford Invitational. Britton Wilson held the world lead in the 400m hurdles for over a month with her Texas Relays meet record performance of 54.37. Jada Baylark has a windy conference best of 10.83 in the 100m.

In addition to the prowess in their respective primary event, they each rank in conference scoring positions for a secondary event as well.

With a 15:25.17 best in the 5,000m this season, Gregory ranks second in the SEC to a 15:17.28 by Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat. Gregory will also contest the 1,500m for the first time this season, outside of her third leg effort on the collegiate record victory at the Penn Relays.

Joining Gregory in the 1,500m are Krissy Gear, Kennedy Thomson, and Carmie Prinsloo. Also racing in the 5,000m for Arkansas are Logan Jolly, Isabel Van Camp, Prinsloo, Sydney Thorvaldson, and Adoette Vaughan.

Jolly (9:45.47) and Gear (10:00.26) will double in the 3,000m steeplechase where they rank second and third in the SEC behind Auburn’s Joyce Kimeli, who leads the league with a 9:41.15. Last season, Gear defeated Kimeli (9:47.32) and broke the meet record with a 9:38.62 performance that also became the UA school record.

Wilson, who set the school record in the 400m indoors, moved to third on the Razorback outdoor all-time list with a 50.97 meet record victory at the Arkansas Twilight last weekend. She currently ranks third in the SEC in the 400m and will be joined by teammates Rosey Effiong, Ashanti Denton, and Morgan Burks-Magee.

In addition to leading the 100m field, Baylark ranks sixth in the 200m with a 22.92. Effiong will also race in the 200m while Joanne Reid joins Baylark in the 100m and 200m.

“Britton is an exceptional talent,” noted Harter. “Coach Chris Johnson has been racing her in the 400 and 400 hurdles in the past couple of meets to prepare her for that double in the conference meet. Last weekend displayed her ability as she did a fantastic job in winning both events with a 50.97 in the 400 and then coming back an hour later to run 55.41.”

A pole vault field of 27 includes five Razorbacks, four of which rank among the top 10 in the SEC this season. Leading the group with a height of 14-4.5 (4.38) is Amanda Fassold, who ranks third in the league behind LSU’s Lisa Gunnarsson (15-3 | 4.65) and Lyndsey Reed of Ole Miss (14-5.5 | 4.41).

Joining Fassold are teammates Kaitlyn Banas, Elien Vekemans, Mackenzie Hayward, and Bailee McCorkle. Vekemans claimed the SEC Indoor title and has vaulted only twice outdoors as she recovers from a foot injury.

Scoring potential for the Razorbacks also includes Yoveinny Mota in the 100m hurdles, where she ranks sixth with a windy 12.98, as well as the potent Arkansas 4 x 400 relay, currently third in the SEC with a 3:26.40.