Hogs win 19th 4x1500M at Texas Relays

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 15 Arkansas Razorback men’s track and field won its 56th Texas Relays title on day three of the 2010 Texas Relays, held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.

"We are thrilled to win this race," head coach Chris Bucknam said. "It’s very important to our program. Our guys ran really well. Patrick Russell really got us into good position and allowed Michael Chinchar to run an even-paced anchor leg. I’m happy with the opening legs we got out of freshmen Scott Gillespie and Omar Abdi."

Arkansas won its 12th-straight title in the 4×1,500-meter relay. Arkansas has won 19 4×1,500-meter relay titles since the start of the event in 1925 with its first win in the event coming in 1951. The Hogs have won 56 Texas Relays titles since the meet’s inception in 1925. Arkansas anchor leg junior Michael Chinchar is a three-time winner in the event.

Freshman Scott Gillespie (3:58.28), freshman Omar Abdi (3:48.84), junior Patrick Russell (3:49.47) and Chinchar (3:49.50) combined for a winning time of 15:26.43.

Sophomore Rick Elliott finished seventh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He clocked a time of 9:20.17. Freshmen Hunter Bourke (200 meters), junior LaShawn Butler (200 meters), freshman Chris Muncie (400 meters) and freshmen Leoman Momoh (800 meters) finished ninth in the sprint medley relay. They combined for a time of 3:22.68.

Sophomore Justin Holmes had another consistent competition in the discus throw. He finished sixth in the "B" flight. His best toss of the day measured 163-6, just off his PR of 164-4.

In the prelims of the 110-meter hurdles, freshman Caleb Cross finished 16th with a time of 14.37 (3.3w) and sophomore Andrew Pennington was 39th in 14.87 (5.3w).

Butler competed in the prelims of the 100 meters. He finished 28th with a season-best 10.74 (2.0w). Sophomore Andrew Pennington and freshmen Travis Southard, Cory Kocurek and Alex Kelly finished 23rd in the prelims of the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:19.40.

Events will continue at 1:30 p.m. Saturday for the Razorbacks with junior Luke Laird in the javelin.