LSU Invitational next challenge for No. 3 Razorbacks

BATON ROUGE – Visiting the site of the SEC Outdoor Championships in a couple weeks, No. 3 Arkansas continues to prepare for the conference meet against a talented field at the LSU Invitational, held on Saturday at Bernie Moore Stadium.

Teams joining host LSU include Alabama, Baylor, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indian Hills CC, New Orleans, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. In recent national rankings, Florida is No. 2 with LSU No. 5, followed by No. 8 Georgia, No. 10 Ole Miss, and No. 13 Alabama.

Live results will be available here: https://live.deltatiming.com/meets/19474.

Arkansas will have nine entries in the 400m along with five Razorbacks in the pole vault.

NCAA Indoor champion Amanda Fassold is currently equal third among the collegiate outdoor list in the pole vault with a clearance of 14-7.25 (4.45). Joining her in the field of 19 are teammates Kaitlyn Banas, Mackenzie Hayward, Bailee McCorkle, and Marin Chamberlin.

Rosey Effiong leads the crew in the 400m and will double up in the 200m as well. Four Razorbacks – Aaliyah Pyatt, Amber Anning, Nickisha Pryce, and Joanne Reid – join Effiong in the first section of the 400m. The section also includes Arkansas volunteer assistant Shamier Little and Florida’s Talitha Diggs.

Ackera Nugent, NCAA Indoor champion at 60m hurdles, returns to the 100m hurdles this weekend and will race in the first of three sections along with LSU’s Alia Armstrong, the defending NCAA Outdoor champion.

Dazsay Freeman and Madison Langley-Walker are in the second section of the 100m hurdles along with professional Anna Hall.

Defending NCAA champion Britton Wilson is the featured entrant in the 400m hurdles as teammate Madison Langley-Walker joins her in the first section. Wilson opened her 400m hurdle account this season with a 53.23 victory in Florida two weeks ago to register the third best performer and performance on the all-time collegiate list.

The LSU stadium record in the 400m hurdles is a 54.70 mark set by Olympian Ashley Spencer in 2016.

Arkansas alums competing in the meet include Jada Baylark (100m) and Shafiqua Maloney (800m). Baylark races in the second section of the 100m with current Razorback Ariane Linton. Maloney joins UA’s Chachi Gonzales in the one-section final of the 800m.

Additional field event entries for Arkansas include Sydney Billington (high jump), Georgia Brian (long jump), and Macy Owens (javelin).

Drake Relays

A group of Razorbacks raced Thursday evening in the 5,000m 113th Drake Relays. On Friday evening Arkansas will have a team entered in the 4 x 800 relay as well as individuals in the 1,500m.

Claire McCune led the crew in the 5,000m as she finished fifth in a career best of 16:05.61 with Julia Paternain seventh at 16:10.38. Also racing the distance were Laura Taborda (16:19.35 PR), Nyah Hernandez (16:27.13 PR), and Gracie Hyde (16:34.77).

McCune bettered her previous best of 16:13.20 set a couple of weeks ago in the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific. Taborda improved her previous best of 16:46.12 from 2022 by a good margin while Hernandez shaved off a couple of tenths off a 16:27.31 from her performance in the Stanford Invitational earlier this season.

Arkansas | LSU Invitational entries