Elite Speed Descends on Fayetteville for Tyson Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Following a trip to New Mexico last weekend, the No. 22 Arkansas men’s track and field team will return to action Feb. 8-9 with its sprinters and field event competitors at home in Fayetteville for the Tyson Invitational, and its distance runners on the road at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash.

The Tyson Invitational will feature 33 collegiate teams and a slew of sponsored professionals competing at the ‘Fastest Indoor Track in the World.’ Among the 33 collegiate teams, nine of them rank inside the national top-25 including No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Georgia, No. 9 Alabama, No. 11 Southern California, No. 16 Kansas, No. 21 Baylor and No. 26 Illinois.

“Again, [we’re hosting] an outstanding track meet here for the second time in two weeks,” said head coach Chris Bucknam. “That’s by design, there’s a lot of competition out there and our goal is to bring the best that’s out there that we possibly can to Fayetteville so our kids run against the best.”

Meanwhile, the premier indoor distance meet in the country – the Husky Classic – will see the Razorbacks toe the line in the mile, 3,000 and 5, 000 alongside the best runners from across the country.

“We’re taking our distance runners to Washington again,” said Bucknam. “That’s kind of where the fish are schooling, and we have to go there to get our marks. It’s an oversized track, there’s a conversion on that, and that’s why we’re there, chasing those times.”

The Razorbacks currently boast four athletes in the top-20 of the NCAA Rankings across three events.