Freshman Kaylyn Browns wins 400m in world-leading 49.95

GAINESVILLE – Arkansas freshman Kaylyn Brown won the 400m Invite in an outdoor world-leading time of 49.95 seconds from lane 9 during Saturday’s portion of the Tom Jones Memorial meet hosted by Florida.

Brown’s impressive performance ranks as the No. 7 performer on the all-time collegiate list, No. 5 among U.S. collegians, and No. 2 on the UA all-time list behind Britton Wilson’s collegiate record of 49.13 set in 2023.

While a Razorback freshman, Brown is not an under-20 athlete this season as her birthdate is December 31, which caused her to miss another season in U20 competition by a day.

On Friday, Brown lowered her outdoor best in the 200m by a full second with a 22.77 effort that ranks No. 4 on the UA all-time list. Her improvement in the 400m during her victory at Florida bettered her previous outdoor best of 53.11 from high school.

Finishing behind Brown in a loaded collegiate 400m section was Georgia sophomore Aaliyah Butler in a PR of 50.03 while Razorback Amber Anning claimed third in a career best of 50.08, which ranks her No.11 performer on the collegiate all-time list, as well as No. 7 on the British all-time list and No. 3 on the UA all-time list.

Nickisha Pryce improved her career best to 50.13 in placing fourth and is No. 4 on the UA all-time list and equal 14th on the Jamaican all-time list. In fifth place was South Carolina freshman JaMeesia Ford in a career best 50.81.

Additional Razorbacks in the 400m field included Rosey Effiong (52.23), Aaliyah Pyatt (52.95), Joanne Reid (53.78), and Ashanti Denton (54.96).

Brown also supplied key legs on both relay efforts for the Razorbacks. She ran third leg on the 4 x 100 as Arkansas won its section in 43.13 to place fourth overall and finish as the second best collegiate team to a 43.05 by LSU.

The top two times in the 4 x 100m relay were generated by professional sprinters comprising USA Red and USA White squads. USA Red won in 41.94 with Aleia Hobbs on anchor leg while USA White finished as runner-up in 41.99 with Arkansas alum Kiara Parker on third leg.

Joining Brown on the sprint relay were Ariane Linton, Effiong, and Anning. The time by the Razorbacks ranks No. 4 on the UA all-time list.

Five SEC schools placed first through fifth among the collegiate teams. Following LSU and Arkansas were South Carolina (43.25), Georgia (43.26), and Ole Miss (43.31).

To cap the meet Brown ran the second leg of the Razorback 4 x 400m relay as Arkansas improved its outdoor collegiate leading time to 3:26.10, which ranks No. 10 on the UA all-time list.

The Razorbacks defeated Houston (3:28.36) and Texas A&M (3:29.03) in their section, which also included Georgia (3:30.23), LSU (3:30.39), and South Carolina (3:32.69).

Anning led off the Arkansas 4 x 400m relay and combined with Brown to produce a split of 1:43.24 over the first two legs. Then Rachel Glenn supplied a 50.87 carry on third leg and Pyatt covered the anchor leg with a 51.99 split.

A second group of Razorbacks won their section in 3:34.51 with a line-up of Reid, Sanu Jallow, Linton, and Denton. Reid and Jallow combined for a split of 1:47.01 on the first two legs, followed by Linton (54.31) and Denton (53.19).

After winning the 1,500m on Friday in a national record for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Arkansas alum Shafiqua Maloney nearly bettered her 800m national record of 1:59.94 in winning the race in 1:59.97.

Maloney split 58.38 over the first lap and covered the second lap in 1:01.59 in defeating Clemson’s Gladys Chepngetich, who was runner-up in 2:00.53, and Houston’s Kelly-Ann Beckford, third at 2:00.70.

Razorback Sanu Jallow placed seventh in that section of the 800m and eighth overall with a PR of 2:03.58, which places her No. 6 on the UA all-time list. Racing in another section, Tiana LoStracco clocked a career best of 2:04.64 to take over the No. 10 position on the UA all-time list.

Ainsley Erzen finished 10th in the first section with a 2:07.05. Analisse Batista also set a PR with a time of 2:07.45 to place sixth in another section of the 800m.

Arkansas vaulters produced a victory by Rachel Homoly with a clearance of 13-3 (4.04). Then in the Invite section, Marin Chamberlin finished fourth with a height of 13-9 (4.19) while Hannah Estes placed in a three-way tie for seventh at 13-3 (4.04).

Sara Van Aken cleared 5-8 (1.73) to place second and equal the winning height in the high jump.

Linton also raced in the 100m, placing fourth in her section with an 11.46 to finish 17th overall.

Professional sprinters raced in their own 4 x 400m relay section and produced a world-leading time of 3:23.83 by Empire Athletics. CAP Athletics, which included pros training in Fayetteville, placed third in 3:25.14 with a line-up of Andrenette Knight, Shamier Little, Alexis Holmes (51.54), and Paris Peoples (51.53).

In the Olympic Development 400m, Holmes produced the top time of 50.65 while Britton Wilson was third best at 50.74.

Parker raced in the 100m Olympic Development and finished second in her heat with an 11.13 behind Abbie Steiner’s 11.05. They placed fifth and sixth overall. In the 100m hurdles OD, alum Ackera Nugent finished fourth in 12.52 while Cindy Sember posted a 12.57 in sixth place.