No. 1 Razorbacks Ready for Tough Road Contests

Bryan Clay Meet Schedule | Start Lists
Mt. SAC Meet Schedule | Start Lists
Texas Meet Schedule

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ranked No. 1 in the nation by FloTrack and the USTFCCCA, Arkansas women’s track and field is ready to take on several competitions this weekend in California and Texas. The Razorbacks will send their mid-distance and distance groups to Azusa and Norwalk, California for the Bryan Clay Invitational and Mt. SAC Relays, respectively, on April 14-15. Arkansas’ sprinters and field athletes will travel to Austin, Texas for Saturday’s one-day Texas Invitational.

Logan Bishop will be the first Razorback in action, competing in the collegiate open B section of the 10,000-meter run Thursday evening at Mt. SAC. Friday at the relays will feature three Razorbacks — Sydney Brown, Devin Clark and Jessica Kamilos — racing for regional qualifying times in the 5K. Oregon transfer Nikki Hiltz will also race Friday at Mt. SAC taking on the 1,500-meter run.

Four additional Razorback middle distance runners Therese Haiss, Valerie Reina, Annika Sisson and Aubree Worden will also race the 1,500 on Friday, showcasing their talent in Azusa at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

Traveling to Mike A. Myers Stadium for the second time this season, Arkansas’ sprints and field events crews will face off against several nationally-ranked opponents including a few Southeastern Conference rivals.

Teams Participating at Texas: No. 24 Auburn, Iowa, No. 2 LSU, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Penn State, Stephen F. Austin, No. 7 Texas, Texas Christian and University of Texas at San Antonio

National Rankings

• April 11, 2016 marked the fifth time in program history the Razorbacks were listed as the No. 1 team by the USTFCCCA.
• Six of the nine nationally-ranked SEC teams hold spots inside the top-10: No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 LSU, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Kentucky and No. 9 Florida.
• Through three weeks of rankings (inclusive of preseason) an SEC team has led the nation (LSU preseason No. 1).

NCAA indoor 400-meter national runner-up Taylor Ellis-Watson will look to continue her short-sprint speed work taking on the 100, 200 and 4-x-100 relay on Saturday. Ellis-Watson currently leads the nation in the 200 with her time of 22.70 from the Arkansas Spring Invitational.

Arkansas’ multis — Taliyah Brooks, Leigha Brown, Alex Gochenour, Kelsey Herman and Payton Stumbaugh — will all focus on competition in various open events. All five student-athletes are entered to compete in the 100-meter hurdles and on one of three Razorback 4-x-400 relay teams.

Razorback pole vaulters Ariel Voskamp, Lexi Weeks, Tori Weeks and Megan Zimlich will headline Arkansas’ field event action. Lexi and Tori Weeks are currently ranked third and seventh in the nation, respectively, with clearances exceeding 14 feet.

Additional notable Razorbacks at Texas this weekend include Damajahnee Birch (400mH), Daina Harper (400) and Brianna Swinton (400mH).

Coach Lance Harter Sounds Off
“Our kids are having great meets the past couple weeks. The weeks to come, especially the next two weeks are very big for us. I think that we have an opportunity to have a very special team this year, might be one of the best we’ve ever had. One of our philosophies of our program is that we want to make sure that they go to the optimal site that will give them the best opportunity for performance. Mt. SAC is always perfect at night, so we want to go there and make sure that our kids have a good chance to get things done.”

Live results for the Mt. SAC Relays and Texas Invitational will be made available on arkansasrazorbacks.com prior to the start of competition.

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.