No. 3 Razorbacks ready for challenge at NCAA Indoor

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Championship season on the Hill is a special time for the Razorback track and field program. This weekend the No. 3 Arkansas men’s team hosts the NCAA Indoor Championships inside Randal Tyson Track Center over three days, from Thursday, March 11, to Saturday, March 13.

“The thing that is important about this meet is there are no rankings,” noted UA men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “The 16 are in. We’ve seen the 16^th guy, the last guy in, score. That’s what our message to our guys is, it’s a clean slate. If you’re in this meet, you’re really good. Now let’s attack it and be enthusiastic about the possibilities and have some fun.

“It’s about racing and competing head-to-head. That is where we’ve done really well. A big part of our DNA is competing head-to-head. So, we’re looking forward to seeing what happens.”

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Competing at home throughout the indoor season, which included five regular season meets along with the SEC Championships, has delivered 18 entrants for the Razorbacks in 10 events at the national championship meet.

Arkansas faced a large portion of nationally ranked schools during the season and then defeated a handful of them for the SEC Indoor team title.

“We have 18 athletes in this meet, compared to the 27 we had in the SEC meet,” said Bucknam. “That’s a good number for this type of elite meet. Having 18 guys will make it feel like a great team atmosphere. We’ve been in this position before and it just feels right.

“It’s going to a great team race as we go through the three days. I’m just looking forward to our guys competing.”

Oregon enters the meet with a No. 1 ranking and plenty of high point potential with its distance medley relay, which ran an world-best this season in breaking its own collegiate record on the Tyson track, along with top seeds in the 60m, 800m, and mile, as well as the top two seeds in the 3,000m.

LSU, ranked No. 2, features the jumping ability of JuVaughn Harrison in the high jump and long jump, along with sprint and hurdle prowess while also having a sub-four miler in the field.

Arkansas opens the meet with three athletes in the heptathlon on Thursday along with a freshman thrower in the weight throw. Markus Ballengee, Etamar Bhastekar and Daniel Spejcher each have generated career best scores this season. Ruben Banks broke the UA record in the weight throw and is one of just two freshman who qualified in the field of 16 throwers.

Qualifying occupies the bulk of Friday’s competition, but the one racing final has four Razorbacks in the 5,000m while the other track final is the distance medley relay. The 5k crew is led by Amon Kemboi and includes Gilbert Boit, Jacob McLeod and Matt Young.

While the heptathlon continues with three events on the second day, the long jump final has Ryan Brown and John Baker representing Arkansas. Prelim races that include Razorbacks are the 800m (Kieran Taylor) and 60m hurdles (Phillip Lemonious, Tre’Bien Gilbert).

Saturday finals will include Bhastekar in the pole vault and qualifiers from the Friday prelims. In the 3,000m final, Kemboi and Boit race for Arkansas.

“It’s pretty amazing what we’ve accomplished this year considering all the lock-downs, protocol and just the maze of everything,” stated Bucknam. “To be at this point is very satisfying. My hats off to my staff, the University of Arkansas, officials, and everybody. They’ve done a great job with a great attitude. So, we’re thrilled that we’re at this point.”