No. 1 Razorbacks ready to defend SEC Indoor team title at home

FAYETTEVILLE – No. 1 Arkansas hosts the SEC Indoor Championships this weekend as the Razorbacks seek to claim a 10th consecutive team title, along with the initial conference championship for Chris Johnson in his first year as head coach.

The top ranked team over the past four weeks, Arkansas has a very talented squad contending for the SEC Indoor title and plenty of depth in various events. A year ago the Razorbacks captured its 13th SEC Indoor championship, which moved Arkansas ahead of the 12 indoor titles claimed by LSU.

“This is what we look forward to, year in and year out, ” stated Johnson. “Being in the SEC is pressure and understanding what it means to win a SEC title is an additional pressure. Our teams change from season to season, but each group doesn’t want to be the one to lose.

“So, we try to keep the consecutive streak going. We take great pride in doing that. It’s an added pressure for this team to keep the streak going.

Four schools – Florida, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M – have finished runner-up to Arkansas over the past nine years, with Florida the most frequent with four second place efforts followed by three for LSU.

This marks the first time since 2010-11 that the Razorbacks have hosted the SEC Indoor Championships in consecutive seasons.

“Being at home adds an extra level of comfort, the facility is nice and the track is fast,” noted Johnson. “The energy in the building when everybody comes in from the conference it livens up the building. The kids are excited, not just from competing at home, but defending the conference championship from last year.

“They know what it means to win a conference championship at home and the pressures of doing that as well. We’re fortunate in having the ability to host at home quite a bit. This conference meet is going to be fantastic. Hopefully our fans will come out and support us, giving us that extra boost that we might need.”

Arkansas’ quality and depth is best displayed in the 400m, an event in which five Razorback sprinters scored 21 points last season with a 2-4-5-6-8 finish.

Amber Anning led the crew with a time of 50.68, which broke the UA record at the time. Additional returning scorers include Rosey Effiong (4th), Joanne Reid (5th), and Nickisha Pryce (6th).

Four Razorback sprinters currently rank 1-2-5-6 in the nation with Anning topping the collegiate list with a career best of 50.56, which ranks third on the UA all-time list behind Britton Wilson’s collegiate record of 49.48 as well as a 50.54 by Effiong. The Arkansas trio ranks 1-9-10 on the collegiate all-time list.

Pryce ran 51.04 this season, which ranks second among collegians, while Kaylyn Brown posted a 51.49 that is fifth best and a 51.58 by Effiong ranks sixth. The sprinters ranked third and fourth reside in the SEC as well with South Carolina’s JaMeesia Ford (51.33) and Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler (51.34).

The 400m sprint crew has also produced a world-leading time in the 4 x 400m relay with a 3:25.59 performance from the quartet of Effiong, Anning, Pryce, and Sanu Jallow. The Razorbacks have also recorded times of 3:28.55 and 3:28.79, which rank fourth and fifth best this season.

The 3:28.55 effort included Ashanti Denton, Shawnti Jackson, Jallow and Reid while the 3:28.79 included Effiong, Rachel Glenn, Pryce and Jackson.

In the 200m, SEC sprinters occupy five of the top six places nationally led by Ford’s 22.36 and followed by Anning’s British national record of 22.60. Jackson ranks fifth with a 22.77 while the trio of Brown (23.01), Effiong (23.02), Glenn (23.02), and Pryce (23.08) rank 7-8-9-11 in the conference. Jackson’s 7.18 in the 60m ranks third in the SEC and seventh nationally.

Glenn, the 2021 NCAA Outdoor high jump champion at 6-4 (1.93) while at South Carolina, has a season best of 6-2.75 (1.90) that broke the Arkansas school record and ranks her equal third in the nation as well as second in the SEC behind collegiate leader Lamara Distin of Texas A&M (6-5.5|1.97).

The long jump features four jumpers who have surpassed 21 feet this indoor season in Florida’s Claire Bryant (21-8.25|6.61), Texas A&M’s Jonair Thomas (21-6.25|6.56), Razorback Nia Robinson (21-4.25|6.51), and LSU’s Morgan Smalls (21-0|6.40).

The effort by Robinson, who transferred from South Florida, moved her to No. 2 on the UA all-time list, just a couple inches behind the UA record held by Taliyah Brooks.

Arkansas has three vaulters – Amanda Fassold, Marin Chamberlin, and Hannah Estes – who have cleared 13-10.5 (4.23) this season and rank equal fourth in the conference. Last season Fassold claimed SEC and NCAA Indoor titles while Chamberlin finished seventh at SEC Indoor.

Points from the pole vault have been consistent over the years in the conference meet. Last season the total reached 23 points off a 1-3-4-7 effort while in 2022 the crew scored 21.5 off a 1-3-5-7 tally.

Destiny Huven, a Big 10 Indoor silver medalist in the 60m hurdles and a Big 10 champion outdoors in the 100m hurdles while at Wisconsin, faces a stern test in the SEC Indoor where her season best of 8.07 ranks fifth in the league. Huven ranks No. 7 on the UA all-time list and holds a career best of 8.05.

An All-American in cross country last fall, Sydney Thorvaldson headlines the Razorback distance squad. A career best of 15:43.64 ranks third on the UA all-time list and is fourth best in the SEC.

A career best of 9:07.35 by Mia Cochran in the 3,000m ranks fourth in the SEC with Thorvaldson fifth with a 9:12.50 and Laura Taborda eighth best at 9:19.86.

In the middle distance events, Arkansas ranks 2-3-7 in the conference at 800m with Sanu Jallow (2:01.77), Ainsley Erzen (2:02.46) and Tiana LoStracco (2:04.22). All three are on the UA all-time list at positions 2-5-9. A trio of Razorback milers rank 3-4-7 in the SEC with Cochran (4:34.70), LoStracco (4:34.81), and Mary Ellen Eudaly (4:36.36).