No. 1 Arkansas competes in New Mexico Collegiate Classic
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – The first travel trip for Arkansas this season takes the No. 1 Razorbacks to the host site of the NCAA Indoor Championships as they compete in the New Mexico Collegiate Classic this Friday and Saturday.
Visiting the Albuquerque Convention Center, the host site for the national championships in March, are a crew of sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, and vaulters among the Arkansas squad.
Teams in the meet include Cal State Fullerton, Iowa, Kansas State, Miami, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rice, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, UC Irvine, USC, and UTEP.
Coverage of the New Mexico Collegiate Classic will be available through a paid stream from FloTrack at the following link – https://www.flotrack.org/events/7949592-2023-new-mexico-collegiate-classic.
Results will be available: http://www.liverunningresults.com/events/2023unmclassic/
Rankings among teams competing in Albuquerque this weekend include – No. 1 Arkansas, No. 3 Texas, No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 12 USC, and No. 13 Texas Tech.
“We had a harvest of top marks last week, because many of our athletes were in their primary or secondary event over the past weekend,” said Arkansas women’s head coach Lance Harter. “I just hope that as the weeks go on, and we get more of our athletes competing in their primary event, we can try to secure or defend that position.”
The New Mexico meet offers an opportunity to get familiar with the venue prior to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
“I think it’s critical in that it gives the kids a routine when they get back to Albuquerque in March for the national meet,” noted Harter. “They familiarize themselves with the warm-up aspect, the track itself. We’re not taking any of longer distance runners to this meet, only up to 800m.”
Amanda Fassold, who shares the collegiate lead in the pole vault this season with a pair of other vaulters, headlines the event this weekend along with Canadian professional Anicka Newell, a finalist at the World Championships in 2017 and 2022.
Joining Fassold among the Razorback entries in the Friday event are Bailee McCorkle, Kaitlyn Banas, Marin Chamberlin, and Grace Ridgeway.
In the high jump, Sydney Billington gets a rematch with Texas A&M’s duo of Lamara Distin and Bara Sajdokova from the Razorback Invitational when Billington produced a career best of 6-0 to tie for second place.
Arkansas’ 60m hurdle crew includes Daszay Freeman, Yoveinny Mota, and Madison Langley-Walker. The sprint crew includes Tiana Wilson in the 60 along with Imani Carpenter and Ariane Linton. Competing at 200m are Joanne Reid, Linton, Ashanti Denton, and Carpenter. Racing in the 400m are Denton, Aaliyah Pyatt, Reid, Langley-Walker and Alexis Torns.
Contesting the Invitational 800m is Ainsley Erzen while Carmie Prinsloo, Lainey Quandt, Chachi Gonzalez, Kessiah Bemis, and Macy Owens race in separate sections.
Razorbacks in the long jump field includes Langley-Walker, Georgia Brain, Owens, Torns, and Bemis.
