No. 1 Razorbacks ready to challenge for NCAA Indoor title

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – No. 1 Arkansas contends for a second NCAA Indoor Championship in the past three seasons this Friday and Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. The Razorbacks claimed a national championship in 2023 and were runner-up in 2024.

Coverage of the NCAA Indoor meet will be available through live streams on ESPN+ while a recap of the meet will air Sunday at 6 pm (CT) on ESPNU.

In updated national rankings, based on entries for the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Razorbacks maintain its hold on the No. 1 position over USC, Texas A&M, Auburn, and Washington. In addition, Arkansas enters the meet with the most entries at 16 in 12 events.

In winning the 2023 NCAA Indoor title, the Razorbacks totaled 63 points to defeat Georgia (40). Texas Tech secured the 2024 NCAA Indoor title with 50.5 points with Arkansas runner-up (41).

Razorback men’s head coach Chris Bucknam also claimed an indoor national title in 2013 and has been runner-up at the NCAA Indoor Championships on four occasions (2012, 2014, 2016, 2024).

“Well, I have the runner-up trophy from last year right above my desk and every time I see it I feel like jumping off a cliff,” stated Bucknam. “That was a hard fought runner-up position last year and we came excruciatingly close. Once you’ve won, nothing else is good enough except for that.

“This is a new team, and a new group of athletes. Our goal is to be national champions. This is one of the hardest meets to qualify for and one of the hardest sports in the NCAA. We have to be on and dialed in. You have to have a little luck on your side, too.”

Arkansas enters the NCAA Indoor Championships following a runner-up finish in the SEC Championships. Host Texas A&M won the team title with 107.5 points with the Razorbacks totaling 102 points in second place while Oklahoma and Ole Miss tied for third with 56.5 points.

“It was an emotional week for us during the SEC Indoor,” noted Bucknam. “It was event-by-event all the way throughout the whole 17 events over three days. We spent the past week recovering emotionally and physically from that kind of grueling meet. We’re a resilient group and the kids we have going to NCAA Indoor are excellent athletes.”

Scottie Vines is the top seed and one of two freshmen in the high jump with a clearance of 7-6 (2.29) during his debut season of indoor high jumping. The last freshman to win a NCAA Indoor title in the high jump was Andra Manson of Texas in 2004.

Vines ranks equal seventh in the world for 2025 and is second among Americans. The NCAA field includes a 7-5 (2.26) jumper in Houston’s Antrea Mita as well as three jumpers who have cleared 7-4.5 (2.25) this season in Nebraska’s Tyus Wilson, Oklahoma’s Kyren Washington, and Texas State’s Kason O’Riley.

SEC 60m champion Jordan Anthony will race in the second prelim heat in lane 5, with USC’s JC Stevenson (4) and Auburn’s Kanyinsola Ajayi (6) in adjacent lanes. Anthony produced an Arkansas school record 6.54 in winning the SEC title. Stevenson has posted a 6.52 this season while Ajayi, who false started in the SEC final, has a best of 6.51.

“He has made tremendous progress this season and came in injury free,” Bucknam said of Anthony. “Last year he had a foot injury, hobbled through indoor track, then played spring football, and went right into an operation.

“So, he’s been able to come in and focus in on track every single day. He’s still not where he could be, and the more time that he can spend this spring at what we’re doing the faster he can get. After the 60m this weekend we move to the 100m for the outdoor season.”

Seeded fifth in the 60m hurdles with a career best 7.52, Vashaun Vascianna ranks No. 2 on the UA all-time list behind a 7.45 set by Omar McLeod in winning the 2015 NCAA title. Racing in lane 5 of the second prelim heat has Vascianna stationed between USC’s Johnny Brackins (7.43) and Texas A&M’s Ja’Qualon Scott (7.51).

Jack Turner competes in the heptathlon where his score of 5,869 points ranks sixth. The top seed is Peyton Bair of Mississippi State with 6,104 points followed by a 6,070 tally from Jip DeGreef of Illinois.

Three Razorbacks qualified in the 400m. TJ Tomlyanovich (45.61) races first in lane 6 of the first section. Then Jaden Smith (45.82) races in the third section from lane 3 along with Georgia’s Will Floyd, the SEC silver medalist, and Texas A&M’s Auhmad Robinson, the SEC gold medalist.

Brandon Battle (45.77) will contest the fourth section from lane 4 next to Baylor’s Nathaniel Ezekiel, the collegiate leader at 44.85 that ranks second in the world for 2025 behind Chris Bailey’s 44.70.

Tyrice Taylor races in the second section of the 800m that includes three entries from Penn State. Taylor produced a career best of 1:46.62 that just missed the Jamaican national record by 0.01 of a second.

SEC mile champion Reuben Reina, who shared the SEC high point honor with 20 points, will race in the second section of the mile prelim. Reina equaled the Arkansas school record of 3:55.40 in the mile that was set in 1978 by Niall O’Shaughnessy and then broke it by a second and a half with a 3:53.95 performance.

The distance duo of Yaseen Abdalla and Patrick Kiprop will race in the 5,000m on Friday. They have each held the Arkansas school record a couple of times this indoor season. Abdalla currently holds the record with a 13:09.99 performance while Kiprop claimed it briefly with a 13:11.67 effort.

Abdalla, who ranks No. 8 on the all-time collegiate list, is seeded second behind a 13:04.29 by New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel while Kiprop is seeded fifth.

Abdalla also qualified in Saturday’s 3,000m where he broke the Arkansas school record with a 7:34.17 performance to better the 7:38.59 previous UA record set by Alistair Cragg in 2004.

The 3,000m time by Abdalla is seeded third behind a pair of runners from North Carolina in Ethan Strand (7:30.15) and Parker Wolfe (7:30.23) as they rank 1-2-3 on the collegiate all-time list.

Additional Razorback jumpers in the meet include Henry Kiner and Uroy Ryan in the long jump along with Apalos Edwards in the triple jump, where he is seeded fourth with a season best of 54-6 (16.61). Ryan, one of two freshmen in the field, ranks 10th with Kiner 15th in the long jump.

With the meet concluding Saturday evening with the 4 x 400m relay, the Razorbacks are in lane 4 among four teams in the final section. The rest of the teams include USC (lane 3), Texas A&M (5) and Florida (6).

A 3:02.21 by Texas A&M is the world leader for 2025 with Florida next best at 3:02.80 followed by Arkansas with a 3:03.51 and USC at 3:03.57 to represent the four fastest times posted this season.

Following are point projections for the NCAA Indoor Championships by DyeStat and FloTrack. DyeStat predicted where individuals and relays will finish while FloTrack based its projections on how individuals and relays rank on the entry list for the meet.