Sprint Duo Lights Up the Track at Arkansas Invite
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – 2015 NCAA 4×100-meter relay champions Kenzo Cotton and Jarrion Lawson raced to a photo-finish in the 60 meter dash at the Arkansas Invitational in a race for the history books. The event was just one of many outstanding performances for the No. 10 Arkansas men’s track and field team at their home opener.
Cotton and Lawson posted SEC leading times with 6.64. The times check in as the fourth best performances in the NCAA and the World of 2016 at 60 meters. Marqueze Washington helped close out a clean sweep of the podium with a time of 6.73.
In the field events redshirt freshman Kempka powered the shot put 16.35m/53-7.75 to earn first place. He was joined in the top five by teammates Devin Randall, Jeff Rogers and Erich Sullins who finished second, third and fourth respectively. Randall returned in the weight throw to claim the top spot recording a distance of 18.13m with Sullins in second throwing 17.84m/.
On the runway, junior Kurt Jenner posted a huge PR of 7.57m/24-10 to win the long jump by .2m over Texas Tech’s Charles Brown. Jenner marked 7.39m/24-3 on his first attempt and came back huge on his second attempt eclipsing his former PR by .12m.
The Razorbacks backed their impressive performance in the 60 meter dash with another sweep in the 800 meter run. Noah Findlay paced Arkansas posting a top time of 1:54.57 followed by Cameron Griffith in second and Noah Arrindell in third.
Senior Cale Wallace treated fans to an engaging race finishing first in the 1000 meter run off of a final kick on the home stretch 2:24.94. Elijah Silva of Tulsa led field through 950 meters when Wallace turned on the jets blowing by him on the final 50 meters of the event.
2015 Indoor All-SEC runners Alex George and Austen Dalquist placed first and second in the mile respectively. Dalquist had a great start and ran in front for the majority of the race before George emerged in final 20 meters to take the win in 4:05.69. Freshman Carlton Orange was also among the top milers placing fourth in the first race of his college career.
Texas native Obi Igbokwe placed second for the Razorbacks in the 200-meter dash finishing behind new NCAA collegiate leader Bryce Robinson of Tulsa. The freshman sprinter ran a solid race coming through in .25 seconds ahead of the next finisher in 21.20. Sophomore Jamarco Stephen finished fourth in 21.53.
Arkansas closed out the night finishing third in the 4×400-meter relay in a time of 3:13.17 with a team of Igbokwe, Cotton, Washington and Lawson. The Razorbacks will be back in action on Jan. 29-30 when they host 14 of the best teams in the country at the Razorback Invitational.
Head Coach Chris Bucknam Sounds Off
First and foremost I’m pleased with the attitude of our team and their professionalism. We’ve been training for four to five months without a beat. Some of these guys were going into competition for the first time in months and I’m just pleased with how they carried themselves and prepared the day before and have been exhibiting all the habits that one needs to be a championship team.
We were probably at 75 percent strength, we had some student-athletes that haven’t stepped on the track yet but for the kids that did we had some outstanding performances.
We’re going to just going to work on having a great week of practice next week and continue to do what we need to do to prepare ourselves for the Razorback Invitational and championship season.
I want to thank Texas Tech for coming here. They have a fine program and it was good to have them here in this early season meet. It was a good atmosphere. We’re just going to try to keep getting better each week.
2016 Arkansas Invitational
Randal Tyson Track Center
Fayetteville, Ark.
60 Meters – Prelims
Andreas Trajkovski – 7.04
Anthony Blakely – 6.93
Brandon Workman – 7.15
Jarrion Lawson – 6.81
Kemar Mowatt – DNS
Kenzo Cotton – 6.73
Marqueze Washington – 6.77
Ryan Green – 6.82
Zach Riley – 6.89
60 Meter – Finals
Kenzo Cotton (1) – 6.64
Jarrion Lawson (2) – 6.64
Marqueze Washington (3) – 6.73
Ryan Green (5) – 6.81
Zach Riley (7) – 6.88
200 Meters
Obi Igbokwe (2) – 21.20
Jamarco Stephen (4) – 21.53
400 Meters
John Winn (3) – 49.58 (Unattached)
Larry Donald – DNF
800 Meters
Noah Findlay (1) – 1:54.57
Cameron Griffith (2) – 1:54.88
Noah Arrindell (3) – 1:56.85
1,000 Meters
Cale Wallace (1) – 2:24.94
Ryan Thomas (5) – 2:27.33
Aidan Swain (7) – 2:29.19
Mile
Alex George (1) – 4:05.69
Austen Dalquist (2) – 4:06.02
Carlton Orange (4) – 4:12.10
Gabe Gonzales (6) – 4:16.19
Kyle Hosting (7) – 4:16.46
Stephen Mugeche (9) – 4:19.03
60 Meter Hurdles – Preliminaries
Brad Culp – 8.46
Davon Anderson – 8.07
Lane Austell – 8.47
Derek Jacobus – 8.92
Kemar Mowatt – 7.93
60 Meter Hurdles – Finals
Kemar Mowatt (4) – 8.00
Davon Anderson (5) – 8.15
4×400 Meter Relay
Arkansas A (Obi Igbokwe, Kenzo Cotton, Marqueze Washington, Jarrion Lawson) 3 – 3:13.17
Arkansas B (4) – 3:13.71
Arkansas C (8) – 3:25.04
Arkansas D – DNF
High Jump
Ken LeGassey (3) – 2.15m/7-00.50
Brendon Rivera (4) – 2.10m/6-10.75
Alex Campbell (5) – 2.05m/6-08.75
Pole Vault
Brad Culp (4) – 4.90m/16-00.75
Alex Mile (9) – 4.45m/14-07.25 (Unattached)
Derek Jacobus (10) – 4.30m/14-01.25
Lane Austell (11) – 4.30m/14-01.25
Long Jump
Kurt Jenner (1) – 7.57m/24-10.00
Brandon Workman (3) – 7.13m/23-04.75
Cameron Case (8) – 6.54m/21-05.50
Shot Put
Sam Kempka (1) – 16.35m/53-07.75
Devin Randall (2) – 16.31m/53-06.25
Jeff Rogers (3) – 15.97m/52.04.75
Erich Sullins (4) – 15.43m/50-07.50
Alex Mile (6) – 12.64m/41-05.75 (Unattached)
Lane Austell (7) – 12.45m/40-10.25
Derek Jacobus (8) – 12.43m/40-09.50
Brad Culp (9) – 12.26m/40-02.75
Weight Throw
Devin Randall (1) – 18.13m/59-05.75
Erich Sullins (2) – 17.84m/58-06.50
Jeff Rogers (4) – 15.21m/49-11.00
Sam Kempka (5) – 14.82m/48-07.50
For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
