Men's track set for NCAA prelims

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas Razorback men’s track and field will continue the championship portion of the 2010 outdoor season with the NCAA West preliminary rounds, hosted by the University of Texas, Thurs.-Sat., May 27-29, at Mike A. Myers Stadium, in Austin, Texas.

Live results and a meet recap can be found at ArkansasRazorbacks.com. A live video stream can be found at texassports.com.

Arkansas will be represented by 18 student-athletes in 13 events at the NCAA West preliminary rounds. For the first time since the 2005 season, Arkansas’ 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relays have advanced to the NCAA Championships. Freshmen Hunter Bourke, Caleb Cross and Cobi Hamilton and junior LaShawn Butler comprise the sprint relay. Junior Chris Bilbrew, Butler, Cross and sophomore Ben Skidmore make up the mile relay.

Butler will also run the 200 meters. Skidmore will run the 400 meters and freshman Drew Butler will compete in the 800 meters. Cross and sophomore Andrew Pennington will run the 110-meter hurdles.

In the distance events, juniors Michael Chinchar and Patrick Russell will compete in the 1,500 meters. Sophomore Rick Elliott will run the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Arkansas will have a trio run the 10,000 meters: freshman Eric Fernandez, freshman Solomon Haile and junior Lane Boyer.

In the field events, sophomores Tarik Batchelor and Terry Prentice will compete in the long jump and Batchelor will triple jump. Freshman Brede Raa Ellingsen will high jump and junior Luke Laird will throw the javelin. Senior Alain Bailey, ranked No. 1 in the NCAA in the long jump (27-4.75), also qualified for the NCAA West prelims but will not compete because of injury.

In the current USTFCCCA ranking, the Razorbacks are not ranked. They have been listed as high as 15th and as low as 25th throughout the season. There are eight SEC schools in the top 25. Florida is No. 1, LSU is No. 5, Auburn is No. 9, South Carolina is No. 10, Mississippi State is No. 13, Georgia is No. 15, Ole Miss is No. 16, and Alabama is No. 23.

Fernandez is the SEC leader at 10,000 meters and Bailey is the NCAA and SEC leader in the long jump. Fernandez’s time of 28:37.77 is the fastest by a freshman this season and ranks No. 7 in the NCAA. Bailey’s jump of 27-4.75 is No. 1 in the NCAA.

Download: 5.27-29.10 NCAA West.pdf