No. 3 Men's @RazorbackTF Set To Host Arkansas Open
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The reigning SEC Indoor Track Champions and No. 3 Arkansas men’s track and field team will host the Arkansas Open at the Randal Tyson Track Center (Feb. 21). The Razorbacks will also be sending several distance runners to South Bend, Ind. to compete at Notre Dame’s Alex Wilson Invite.
UP NEXT
After this weekend, the Razorbacks will travel to Lexington, Ky. for the 2015 SEC Indoor Championships (Feb. 27-28).
SEC NETWORK+ BROADCAST
Fans will be able to watch the Razorbacks in action during the Arkansas Open, as Saturday’s action will feature live streaming video on SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN App. Coverage will begin at 12 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT | TYSON INVITE & HUSKY CLASSIC
In their last outing the No. 3 Razorbacks competed at the 2015 Tyson Invite and Husky Classic (Seattle, Wash.).
Sophomore Omar McLeod ran 7.65 in the 60 meter hurdle prelims, followed up that performance with a 7.60 in the semifinals and decided to sit out the finals. Junior Jarrion Lawson took first in the long jump invitational with a mark of 26-4.25, which is the best in the SEC so far this season.
Day two of competition was highlighted by a record-setting performance by senior Andrew Irwin. Irwin put on a show for the home crowd and broke the school record, which he owned, with his mark of 18-10.25 (5.75m) to take second place.
At the Husky Classic in Seattle, Kemoy Campbell (7:48.13), Stanley Kebenei (7:49.74) and Alex George (8:08.41) finished first, fourth and 23rd, respectively, in the 3,000m. Kebenei and George set new personal-bests with their times.
USTFCCCA RANKINGS
On Monday (Feb. 16) the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its fourth regular season edition of the NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings and the Arkansas men’s track and field team checked in at No. 3 for the fourth consecutive week.
The USTFCCCA also released the fourth regular season NCAA Division I Regional Rankings and the Razorbacks took the No. 2 spot in the South Central Region for the second week in a row.
The national team rankings are compiled by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national team race. Rankings points do not equate with NCAA Championships team points. Preseason rankings included marks from 2014, and the National Team Computer Rankings will continue to do so through the third regular-season edition.
Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
1. Florida
2. Oregon
3. Arkansas
4. Texas A&M
5. Texas
6. LSU
7. Georgia
8. Penn State
9. Oklahoma State
10. Virginia Tech
11. Alabama
12. Tennessee
13. Texas Tech
14. Akron
15. Wisconsin
16. Kansas State
17. Baylor
18. Nebraska
19. Iowa State
20. Southern California
21. TCU
22. Florida State
23. Illinois
24. South Carolina
25. Washington
dropped out: No. 10 Stanford, No. 11 Villanova, No. 20 Purdue, No. 22 Houston, No. 23 Michigan State, No. 24 BYU, No. 25 Kennesaw State
Men’s Indoor Track & Field Regional Rankings (Top 15) | South Central Region
1. Texas A&M
2. Arkansas
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Houston
6. Baylor
7. Texas State
8. TCU
9. Arkansas State
10. Sam Houston State
11. Stephen F. Austin
12. Southeastern Louisiana
13. UT Arlington
14. UTSA
15. Lamar
TRACK & FIELD NEWS INDOOR DUAL MEET CHAMPS
The No. 3 Arkansas men’s track and field team garnered recognition for their efforts this season as they won the Track & Field Newsindoor dual meet national title. The final collegiate indoor dual meet rankings of 2015 were compiled by Jesse Squire for Track and Field News.
To be considered for a ranking, a team must compete in one or more dual meets (defined as a scored meet between 4 or fewer teams) during the indoor season. Ranking criteria include win/loss record, strength and depth of schedule, and quality and breadth of marks. The rankings reward teams that take dual meet competition seriously.
Arkansas won the T&FN indoor dual meet national title for the second consecutive season. Head coach Chris Bucknam and his well-rounded Razorbacks narrowly topped SEC rival Texas A&M.
This, however, is just the halfway point in the collegiate season. The big prize, the overall indoor/outdoor dual meet championship, is still up for grabs. The preseason outdoor rankings will be released on March 19.
SEC WEEKLY HONOR
Two-time NCAA pole vault champion Andrew Irwin was named Southeastern Conference Field Athlete of the Week by the league on Jan. 13. That marked the fifth time in his career that Irwin has earned a SEC weekly honor (2 – indoor; 3 – outdoor).
The senior turned in a strong showing in his opening pole vault competition of the 2015 season at the Arkansas Invitational (Friday, Jan. 9). Irwin captured the pole vault event with a winning mark of 18-1, which currently ranks as the second-best men’s pole vault mark in the nation this season.
BY INVITE ONLY
The USA Track & Field (USATF) and the US Olympic Committee (USOC) invited Arkansas men’s track and field assistant coach Travis Geopfert and junior Jarrion Lawson to participate in a Jumps Initiative Camp at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. In early December 2014.
The USATF Jumps Initiative was designed to help top collegiate horizontal jumps athletes and coaches by identifying physical, biomechanical, and technical components that are related to performance outcomes and injury prevention.
The USATF and the USOC hope that the information received from this camp will help with training design for the 2015 season, plus introduce student-athletes to the range of USATF and USOC sport science resources that will be available to them as a post-collegian.
Lawson’s stellar 2014 indoor/outdoor track season helped him get the invite. He finished 2nd at the Outdoor USA National Championships and won the 2014 NCAA Indoor title after dominating the field with a world-leading 27-6.5 jump, a huge final leap that took him a foot further than his competitors. With his mark, Lawson ranks No. 4 all-time in NCAA history and No. 7 in all-time U.S. history. Lawson’s jump just missed the NCAA Championship meet record of 8.48 set by the legendary Carl Lewis in 1981.
SOLID RECRUITING
Arkansas, the 2013 national champion, is looking to reclaim its spot atop the Division I indoor track & field mountain. The Razorback recruiting class for this season was ranked seventh in the country by Track & Field News.
This is the sixth recruiting class for Bucknam and his staff. The last three signing Arkansas track and field signing classes have ranked inside the top 10 in the nation.
The initial wave of future Razorbacks includes Stephen Mugeche (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs HS), Laquan Nairn (Nassau, Bahamas/St. Johns College HS), Carlton Orange Jr. (Memphis, Tenn./Memphis University HS), Brendon Rivera (Edinburg, Texas/Robert Vela HS), Frankline Tonui (Nakuru, Kenya/Iowa Central Community College) and Joshua Washington Jr. (Woodbridge, Va./Richard Bland College).
A LOOK BACK AT THE 2014 INDOOR SEASON
Head coach Chris Bucknam and his team took the SEC Championship last season, marking the third-consecutive indoor title for the program, and finished second at the 2014 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. The Razorbacks scored 54 points over the two-day national meet, just eight points behind Oregon and 18 points ahead of third-place Florida.
The Razorbacks earned 19 All-American honors last season, highlighted by a pair of national champions in Jarrion Lawson (long jump) and 2014 SEC Freshman Runner of the Year Omar McLeod (60-meter hurdles). Lawson’s NCAA-leading jump of 27-6.5 took down his previous personal record of 26-2.75 (set at the 2014 Tyson Invitational). With his mark, Lawson ranks No. 4 all-time in NCAA history and No. 7 in all-time U.S. history. Lawson’s jump just missed the NCAA Championship meet record of 8.48 set by the legendary Carl Lewis in 1981. He currently ranks No. 2 all-time in Arkansas history. McLeod recorded a top-finishing time of 7.58 in the 60-meter hurdles for the title in his first-ever NCAA Championship. McLeod’s time followed an NCAA-leading performance in the prelims (a school-best 7.57).
At the SEC Indoor Championships, the Razorbacks scored 121 points, earning three individual titles (high jump – Anthony May; long jump – Raymond Higgs; 5000m – Solomon Haile). Arkansas also had five events earn a silver medal (60m hurdles, pole vault, long jump, triple jump and 5000m).
For the latest information on Arkansas men’s track and field, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.
Fayetteville, the “Track Capital of the World”, will be at the center of the track and field universe on the weekend of March 13-14 as the Razorbacks will host the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center, the home of the “Fastest Indoor Track in the World”. Since the facility’s opening in 2000, Arkansas and the Randal Tyson Track Center have hosted the event 11 times, including nine straight seasons and 11 of the last 13 championships.
A two-day, all-session ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships is $40 for reserved seating and $30 for general admission adult ticket.
Season tickets and NCAA all-session passes are available online at HERE, by contacting the Razorback Athletics Ticket Center via phone at (800) 982-HOGS or in person at the Razorback Athletics Ticket Center, located just east of Baum Stadium at 1295 S. Razorback Rd. in Fayetteville.
