No. 3 Women's @RazorbackTF Ready for Tyson Invite

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After sending a few student-athletes to the New Mexico Classic last weekend, the No. 3 Arkansas women’s track and field team will host some of the nation’s best at the Tyson Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center (Feb. 13-14). The Razorbacks will also be sending several student-athletes to Seattle to compete at the Husky Classic.

UP NEXT
After the Tyson Invitational, the Razorbacks will take a week off before heading to Lexington, Ky. for the 2015 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 27-28).

SEC NETWORK+ BROADCAST
Fans will be able to watch the Razorbacks in action during the Tyson Invite, as the second day of the competition (Saturday) will feature live streaming video on SEC Network+ and the WatchESPN App. Saturday’s coverage will begin at 12 p.m.

LAST INDOOR HOME MEET
This weekend will mark the final regular season indoor home meet of the season, as the Razorbacks prepare for the Southeastern Conference Championships February 27-28 in Lexington, Ky.

LAST TIME OUT | NEW MEXICO CLASSIC
In their last outing the Razorbacks competed at the 2015 New Mexico Classic at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M.

Arkansas was among 17 Division I universities that competed last weekend.

Senior Tamara Myers finished 17th in the 60 meter dash (7.60), but took second place in the long jump (6.21m/20-4.5). Sophomore Regine Williams finished the 60 meter dash in 7.75 to take 29th place and took 18th place in the 200 meter with her time of 24:31.

The pole vault quartet of senior Sandi Morris, juniors Ariel Voskamp and Megan Zimlich and freshman Desiree Freier all finished in the top 15. Zimlich and Voskamp each registered marks of 4.01m/13-1.75 and finished 10th and 14th, respectively. Freier took 8th place (4.16m/13-7.75), while Morris, in the first showdown with collegiate record holder Demi Payne of Stephen F. Austin, took second (4.56m/14-11.5).

USTFCCCA RANKINGS
On Monday (Feb. 9) the United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released its third regular season edition of the NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings and the Arkansas women’s track and field team checked in at No. 3 for the second consecutive week.

The USTFCCCA also released the third regular season NCAA Division I Regional Rankings and the Razorbacks kept their No. 1 spot in the South Central Region.

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.

Women’s Indoor Track & Field National Team Computer Rankings (Top 25)
1. Georgia
2. Florida
3. Arkansas
4. Texas A&M
5. Oregon
6. Texas
7. Kentucky
8. Providence
9. Stanford
10. Kansas State
11. Georgetown
12. Texas Tech
13. Florida State
14. Akron
15. Oklahoma State
16. Missouri
17. Southern California
18. Wisconsin
19. UCLA
20. Michigan
21. Maryland
22. Clemson
23. Auburn
24. Mississippi State
25. Southern Illinois

Women’s Indoor Track & Field Regional Rankings (Top 15) | South Central Region
1. Arkansas
2. Texas A&M
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Baylor
6. Texas State
7. Arkansas State
8 SMU
9. Lamar
10. Rice
11. Louisiana Tech
12. Stephen F. Austin
13. Sam Houston State
14. Houston
15. North Texas

BEST WEEK EVER
Senior Sandi Morris had an unprecedented week as she earned a trio of awards during the first week of February. The Greenville, S.C. native earned USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week (Feb. 3) and SEC Field Athlete of the Week (Feb. 3) and was also named to the 10-member February Watch list for The Bowerman Award (Feb. 5).

The senior earned the USTFCCCA and SEC honors for her record-breaking performance in the pole vault that helped lead Arkansas take the team title at the Razorback Invite at the Randal Tyson Track Center Jan 30-31. For the third time this season Morris gave the home fans a show in the pole vault. The senior won her third pole vault title at the Randal Tyson Track Center, her fourth overall on the season, with a mark of 15-3 to set a new personal-best and program record. The Greenville, S.C. native’s mark also gave her the No. 2 mark in college history and the best height not achieved at altitude.

The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation. In total, the winners from the award’s first four years have won two Olympic Medals, two World Championships and six World Championships medals. When considering finalists for the award, 13 individuals have earned a combined six Olympic medals, four World Championships and 17 World Championships medals.

HALL OF FAME
In recognition of his standout career, University of Arkansas women’s cross country and track and field head coach Lance Harter was inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Coaches Hall of Fame on Monday, Dec. 15.

Harter, in his 25th year as the Razorback women’s cross country and track and field head coach, was one of six members of the Class of 2014 inductees and was joined by Chris Daymont, Tom Donnelly, Joey Haines, Ed Nuttycombe and the late Johnny Thomas. The 2014 USTFCCCA Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place Monday, Dec. 15, at the organization’s annual convention in Phoenix.

Through his 25 year career at Arkansas, Harter has led the Razorbacks to 14 NCAA top-five finishes, including four national cross country runner-up performances, and 23 Southeastern Conference (SEC) team titles, including the most recent addition with the 2014 cross country title at Agri Park. Individually, Harter’s Razorback student-athletes have won 15 NCAA event titles and 134 conference event titles.

As a reflection of his Arkansas success on the national level, Harter has been named the USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year on three occasions and SEC Coach of the Year for each of his team’s 23 titles. The Razorbacks’ conference titles including 15 cross country, four indoor track and field and four outdoor track and field crowns. During the 2013-14 athletic season, Arkansas won two—cross country, outdoor track and field—of the three SEC legs.

Prior to his days in Fayetteville, Harter won 13 Division II national team titles at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo which still stands as the fifth-largest collection by a Division II coach in any sport. Individually, he guided his student-athletes to 30 national event titles in his time at Cal Poly-SLO.

In addition to numerous other national and regional coaching awards, Harter has previously been inducted into the Arkansas Hall of Honor, Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame and Cal Poly Hall of Fame. On the international level, Harter served as the assistant coach for Team USA at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and head coach of Team USA at the 1999 IAAF World Championship in Seville, Spain.

A LOOK BACK AT THE 2014 INDOOR SEASON
Head coach Lance Harter and his Razorbacks finished in sixth place at the 2014 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships. Following the national meet, Arkansas earned 19 All-American honors, highlighted by the national champion distance medley relay team of Grace Heymsfield, Chrishuna Williams, Stephanie Brown and Dominique Scott. The top-seeded distance medley relay team made Arkansas history by winning the first-ever distance-medley relay title for the Razorbacks in 11:05.83.

Arkansas took third at the 2014 SEC Indoor Championships, finishing with 93.5 points, behind first-place Florida (102) and Texas A&M in second (96.5). The third-place finished marked the seventh-consecutive year the Razorbacks have finished in the top three at the SEC Indoor Championships.

For the latest information on Arkansas women’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.