No. 3 Arkansas eager to reclaim SEC Outdoor title

BATON ROUGE – Arkansas enters the SEC Outdoor Championships as the No. 3 team in the nation and holds the top position in conference rankings. Florida, who stopped the Razorbacks consecutive SEC streak of 10 victories in last year’s conference outdoor meet, ranks No. 2 in the nation along with the conference rankings.

Last year in Oxford, Mississippi, the difference between the two programs was just four points with the Gators halting the Arkansas streak of SEC wins over cross country, indoor, and outdoor seasons.

“Obviously, we’re motivated to keep the winning streak going,” stated Arkansas women’s head coach Lance Harter, who won his 44 SEC team title during the SEC Indoors. “Seven of the top 10 teams in the nation on the women’s side are from the SEC. We’re thick in a battle and our kids are excited about it.

“There was a real tough challenge to figure out our 30 that we would declare. We have some individuals who will go onto the NCAA preliminaries that couldn’t make the 30-person roster for the SEC meet.”

LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium will serve as host for the three-day SEC meet, starting Thursday and concluding on Sunday. Coverage of the SEC Championships will be available through the SEC Network + on Thursday (noon & 5:30 p.m. CT), Friday (11:30 a.m. & 5 p.m.), and Saturday (2 p.m.). Saturday’s final session will air on SEC Network (5 p.m.).

Live results will be available here: https://live.deltatiming.com/meets/20380.

“Florida is ranked No. 2 in the nation, and we presently are No. 3,” noted Harter. “The conference meet is a little bit of a different animal, because of the depth you need in scoring points. I think it will be a dual again with us and Florida. They stopped our streak of SEC titles last year, beating us by four points.”

Returning SEC Outdoor champions include double winner Britton Wilson in the 400m and 400m hurdles as well as pole vaulter Amanda Fassold.

Medalist missing from a year ago include Lauren Gregory, who placed second in the 1,500m and third in the 5,000m, and Isabel Van Camp, a bronze medalist in the 10,000m who also finished fourth in the 5,000m.

Fassold won her first SEC title last May, clearing 14-9 for the victory, as the Razorbacks totaled 18 points from a 1-4-6 finish. This year she claimed the SEC Indoor title and then went on to win the NCAA Indoor title as well.

Wilson produced an historic double with her times of 50.05 and 53.75 each ranking No. 6 on the collegiate all-time list in the 400m and 400m hurdles, respectively. Then she simply supplied a 48.60 anchor leg on a bronze medal 4 x 400 relay.

In becoming the first female to achieve that double victory in conference history Wilson was also the first to accomplish since it was first done in 1966 on the men’s side by David Akins of Auburn.

Wilson enters the SEC meet as the collegiate record holder in the 400m with a 49.51 from this season and the collegiate leader in the 400m hurdles with her 53.23 ranking No. 3 on the all-time collegiate list.

The collegiate record in the 400m hurdles was set by Kentucky’s Sydney McLaughlin at the 2018 SEC Championships with a time of 52.75. The SEC meet record in the 400m is 49.85 set by Texas A&M’s Athing Mu in 2021.

Another double threat for Arkansas is Ackera Nugent in the 100m and 100m hurdle, who sports best times of 11.12 and 12.52 this season. Nugent ranks second in the 100m hurdles and seventh in the 100m among collegians with wind-legal marks in 2023.

The SEC 100m hurdle field includes collegiate record holder Masai Russell of Kentucky, who clocked 12.36, along with defending champion Alia Armstrong of LSU, who posted a 12.56 as runner-up to Nugent recently in the LSU Invitational.

Madison Langley-Walker, who as set career best times of 13.13w (13.21 wind legal) and 56.74, is entered in both hurdle races. She ranks sixth in the 400m hurdles and 10th in the 100m hurdles.

“Ackera Nugent is in 100m, 100m hurdles and 4 x 100,” said Harter. “Britton Wilson will run the 400m and 400m hurdles and is in the pool for the 4 x 400, which will be a wait-and-see moment. The one who will cover the most territory is Sydney Thorvaldson, who will run the 10,000m and is also entered in the 5,000m.

“We’re going to do everything we can to win this meet, but at the same time keep our weapons as safe as possible to ultimately get them ready in two weeks for the first two rounds of the NCAA Championships.”

Thorvaldson placed fifth in the SEC 10,000m last year and finished 11th in the 5,000m. Heading into the conference meet, Thorvaldson ranks second in the 5,000m with a 15:41.58 and is fourth in the 10,000m with a 33:03.36.

The Razorbacks rank 1-2 in the 3,000m steeplechase with combo of Laura Taborda and Gracie Hyde.

Depth in a couple of events also provide the Razorbacks with scoring potential. In the pole vault, Arkansas ranks 1-3-4-=8 while in the 400m the order is 1-4-5-7-8-10-11 among the SEC.

National Rankings

1. Texas, 2. Florida, 3. Arkansas, 4. Oregon, 5. USC, 6. LSU, 7. Texas A&M, 8. Georgia, 9. Kentucky, 10. Ole Miss

SEC Rankings

1. Arkansas, 2. Florida, 3. Ole Miss, 4. Georgia, 5. Texas A&M, 6. LSU, 7. Kentucky, 8. Missouri, 9. Alabama, 10. Auburn

SEC Outdoor | Arkansas Entries