Arkansas throwers break meet records in McDonnell Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE – A pair of meet records in the discus and shot put were bettered by Razorbacks Ralford Mullings and Rojé Stona on Friday at the John McDonnell Invitational. Mullings won the discus with a throw of 199 feet, 2 inches, while Stona set a career best of 65 feet, 10.5 inches in the shot put.

“Mullings did a great job getting six throws in,” stated Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “He’s a perfectionist, and I knew he wanted more, but it wasn’t great conditions for the discus this morning without a lot of lift with the wind.

“We had a big throw from Stona in the shot put. Last week he had the fifth best discus throw in collegiate history, then he turns around and throws the shot put this week with another career best.”

Throwing early in the morning, Ralford Mullings set a meet record in winning the discus with his opening throw of 199-2 (60.72) to finish ahead of two Kansas throwers and top the field by nine-plus feet. Mullings bettered the meet record of 194-1 (59.16) set in 2010 by Mason Finley of Kansas.

Finishing fourth with his first discus throw of the season was Razorback Jordan West, who reached a distance of 172-10 (52.69) to move to No. 10 on the UA all-time list.

Stona bettered the meet record of 64-2.5 (19.57) set by Oklahoma’s Kevin Bookout in 2007 on his first-round mark of 64-8.75 (19.73). An improvement in round two measured 65-3.25 (19.89). Then in round five Stona added seven more inches to his winning distance with a 65-10.5 (20.08).

On the UA all-time list Stona moves to No. 3 in becoming only the third Razorback to surpass 20 meters. After competing in the discus, West finished third in the shot put with a mark of 62-3.75 (18.99) as Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell placed second at 65-6.75 (19.98).

“John Newell, our throws coach, is a phenomenal coach and he’s got those guys dialed in,” noted Bucknam. “We’re just excited about that part of our program.”

Razorback alums won the 4 x 100 relay in 39.17 over a pair of Razorbacks squads that finished second (39.68) and third (40.60). Running for Trackwired Elite were Omar McLeod, Jarrion Lawson, Marqueze Washington, and Kemar Mowatt. Three-quarters of that relay won the 2015 NCAA title in 38.47.

The Arkansas runner-up group included Carey McLeod, Lance Lang, Connor Washington, and James Benson II.

In the 4 x 400m relay Arkansas defeated Trackwired Elite with a meet record time of 3:04.35 with a crew of Chris Bailey (47.3), Benson II (46.8), Lang (45.76), and C. Washington (47.03). The Trackwired Elite squad clocked 3:05.36 and consisted of M. Washington, Hunter Woodhall, O. McLeod, and Mowatt.

The previous meet record of 3:06.88 set in 2013 by Texas A&M was bettered by the top three teams, with Kansas finishing third in 3:06.56. An Arkansas B squad placed fourth in 3:10.03 with Ethan Carney, Jeremy Farr, Brandon Battle (46.57), and TJ Tomlyanovich (47.06).

Solid sprinting continued in the 200m as Lance Lang won in 20.58 (0.0 wind) over teammates C. Washington (20.61) and Benson II (20.71), who placed second and third. In fifth place was Ayden Owens-Delerme (20.88).

Another 1-2-3 sweep for Arkansas came in the 110m hurdles with the trio of Phillip Lemonious (13.77), Matthew Lewis-Banks (13.90), and Brevin Sims (14.05).

Devontie Archer set a collegiate best of 51.50 to win the 400m hurdles. Farr produced an outdoor PR of 46.45 as runner-up in the 400m while Battle clocked 47.24 in fourth.

A debut in the 3,000m steeplechase produced a 9:07.60 victory for Jacob McLeod as he bettered a field of 10 runners by 23-plus seconds. McLeod started practicing the event on Thursday after mentioning to Coach Bucknam he would like to race in the event.

Reuben Reina ran 3:46.45 as runner-up in the 1,500m while teammates Tommy Romanow (3:50.58) and Josh Shearer (3:51.13) each set career best times in placing eighth and ninth. Ricardo Banks clocked 1:50.87 for third in the 800m with Ethan Carney finishing fifth in 1:51.17.

“It was great to have good weather, that really helped,” said Bucknam. “We filled a few holes this weekend and got some stuff done. We’re happy with some performances and made a positive step forward.”

Tomas Ferrari cleared 6-11 (2.11) as runner-up in the high jump while Christian Matamoros finished third with a 6-9 (2.06) clearance. John Baker had a windy 24-2.25 (7.37) as runner-up in the long jump with a wind-legal 24-1 (7.34) in his series. Runner-up in triple jump, Ryan Brown had a mark of 52-1.25 (15.88).

Members of the Arkansas multi-event crew competed in the discus, taking three throws each. Owens-Delerme led the squad with a career best of 153-0 (46.64) to place seventh. Daniel Spejcher followed with a 145-9 (44.44) mark in ninth place. A career best of 145-3 (44.27) placed Yariel Soto Torrado 10th. Noah Swaby (140-0|42.79) and Marcus Weaver (136-0|41.46) finished 12th and 13th.

Points in the decathlon would have earned 801 for Owens-Delerme, 755 for Spejcher, and 752 for Soto Torrado.