Robert Black

Arkansas Trio Nab SEC Top Awards

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Recently named the No. 1 team in the country, Arkansas women’s track and field continues to prosper as head coach Lance Harter has been selected as the 2016 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year.

Conference individual event champions Dominique Scott-Efurd (5K) and Lexi Weeks (pole vault) also received the top awards for their respective disciplines earning the SEC Co-Runner of the Year and Freshman Field Athlete of the year, respectively.

In addition to the top SEC honors, Arkansas collected All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman accolades in recognition of outstanding Razorback performances at the 2016 SEC Outdoor Championship.

Currently wrapping up his 26th season at the helm of the women’s cross country and track and field programs, Harter has now accumulated 27 SEC Coach of the Year honors since the Razorbacks joined the conference in 1991. The USTFCCCA Hall of Famer guided Arkansas to its sixth SEC outdoor title and fourth SEC Triple Crown this season in dominant fashion. Set to travel to Eugene, Oregon for the national meet in a few days, Harter’s Razorbacks head into the competition with the most qualifiers of any school at 21.

Scott-Efurd lays claim to two of the 21 Razorback entries at the national meet as the NCAA leader in the 5K and 10K. The three-time NCAA national champion is now a six-time SEC Runner of the Year selection across three seasons (cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field). Scott-Efurd scored 18 points toward Arkansas’ SEC outdoor win with a victory in the 5K and runner-up finish in the 1,500. She currently is the only collegian this year to post a time under 32 minutes in the 10K.

Along with Scott-Efurd, Weeks also seeks to contribute at the national meet. The freshman out of Cabot, Arkansas, enters the pole vault as the NCAA-leader and reigning indoor national champion. Weeks followed up her remarkable indoor season with a phenomenal outdoor campaign vaulting an American junior record of 15-2 3/4 in the pole vault to become the third-best performer in the event in collegiate history. The talented Razorback newcomer opened up postseason competition with a victory in the event at SEC outdoors and cruised through the NCAA West Preliminary with perfect clearances to secure her spot at Hayward Field.

The Razorbacks next compete at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Eugene, Oregon, on June 8-11.

2016 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Awards

Women’s Coach of the Year: Lance Harter, Arkansas
Women’s Runner of the Year: Felicia Brown, Tennessee/Dominique Scott-Efurd, Arkansas
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Keturah Orji, Georgia
Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Kentucky
Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Lexi Weeks, Arkansas
Women’s Co-Scholar-Athletes of the Year: Keturah Orji, Georgia

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.