Jordan Anthony records second fastest 60m in UA history

FAYETTEVILLE – Razorback sprinter Jordan Anthony posted the second fastest 60m in Arkansas history with a time of 6.59 seconds in the prelims of the Tyson Invitational on Friday.

The time for Anthony, second best in the prelim round, is just off the 6.56 school record set in 2016 by Kenzo Cotton. Anthony moved ahead of a 6.60 by Jarrion Lawson in 2016.

“He had a really good race,” said Arkansas associate head coach Doug Case. “We’ve been really working on his start. It improved and got a lot better. Honestly, I’m not sure he turned it on at the end like he can in that race. He cruised through the end of it, ran a very good time, second fastest time in Arkansas history. Overall, a great performance.”

Anthony didn’t race in the final as Case noted: “He’s only worked out for three weeks or so. I’m not going to risk it with him right now. We’ll get him ready for SECs and NCAAs. He really needs to work out, and we’re going to do a workout tomorrow. Those are the things he needs to do right now.”

In the 400m, Steven McElroy led a crew of Razorbacks with a 46.41 that placed him fifth overall. Arkansas alum Chris Bailey ran 45.75 as runner-up in the section with McElroy to place fourth overall.

Following were career best times for TJ Tomlyanovich (46.52) and William Spencer (46.65) while Brandon Battle clocked 46.77.

Tai Brown ran 7.74 twice in the 60m hurdles, moving to No. 8 on the UA all-time list. Brown finished fourth in the final.

“Tai has been struggling with his start,” said Case. “We’ve switched back and forth with either a seven or eight step approach to the first hurdle. We finally decided to do one. It proved to work really well for him and he had two really good races today.”

Tommy Romanow led the Razorback crew in the 3,000m with an 8:07.19 career best to place fourth. Myles Richter followed in sixth place with an 8:08.72.

Arkansas alum LaQuan Nairn finished third in the Invitational long jump with a leap of 26-0.25 (7.93). Florida’s Malcolm Clemons won the event with a 26-9.75 (8.17) while Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle hit 26-9 (8.15) as runner-up.