Britton Wilson wins NCAA 400m hurdle title, Razorbacks finish sixth
EUGENE, Oregon – Razorback Britton Wilson, the dominate collegiate 400m hurdler this season, completed her mission of winning a NCAA title, winning the event in 53.86 seconds at Hayward Field on Saturday amid inclement weather.
Arkansas totaled 38 points in the meet, finishing sixth in team scoring.
The Razorbacks closed out the meet with a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 relay, clocking a time of 3:23.69 with a foursome of Morgan Burks-Magee (52.3), Rosey Effiong (50.4), Jada Baylark (51.44), and Wilson (49.55).
Wilson became the first Razorback to claim the women’s 400m hurdle title. Another stellar run had her winning by nearly a full second over Florida’s Anna Hall (54.76), Duke’s Lauren Hoffman (55.58), and Kentucky’s Masai Russell (55.83).
The final day started with Krissy Gear producing another season best of 4:10.06 to place fourth for five Razorback points. A time of 4:09.42 by Sintayehu Vissa of Ole Miss won the race with Colorado’s Micaela Degenero runner-up in 4:09.62.
Gear led a majority of the race with splits of 49.34 (300m), 1:59.15 (700m), and 3:07.36 (1,100m). With a rush on the homestretch to the finish line, Gear split a pair of runners from Stanford, with Christina Aragon placed third in 4:10.00 while Julia Heymach finished fifth in 4:10.58.
Logan Jolly broke her own school record in the 3,000m steeplechase with a 9:34.76, bettering the 9:38.13 she ran in the semifinal. Ten of the top 11 among the 12 racers set a career best. Already in possession of the automatic qualifier for the USATF Championships, Jolly moved closer to the World Championships standard of 9:30.00.
BYUY’s Courtney Wayment broke the collegiate record with a 9:16.00 victory, taking down the 9:24.41 previous collegiate and meet record set by New Mexico’s Courtney Frerichs in 2016.
Jolly dropped the back of the field midway through the race and rallied in the late stages to place seventh and acquire a pair of points for the Razorbacks.
In the 5,000m a late rally by Lauren Gregory placed her fifth in 13:28.33 while Isabel Van Camp claimed a scoring place to finish eighth in a career best of 15:35.64, which moves her to No. 3 on the UA all-time list.
Effiong clocked 51.55 in the 400m to place seventh, earning a pair of Razorback points.