No. 8 Razorbacks ready to advance through NCAA West Preliminary

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – No. 8 Arkansas makes a return visit to Texas A&M for the NCAA West Preliminary rounds this week as the first two rounds of the NCAA Championships is held at E.B. Cushing Stadium on Wednesday and Friday with the top 12 finishers in each event advancing to Eugene.

“We have 27 entries this weekend along with two in the decathlon in Eugene, so we have 29 scoring opportunities while competing in 15 of the 21 events,” said Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam.

“We also have both of our relays in. So, it feels good to go down as a team. It feels like the conference meet to us. That’s an advantage and a good situation for us to have a team atmosphere.”

Live streaming will be available through the ESPN app with the following links.

Live results will be available through this link: https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/OutdoorRegionals/2021/West/index.htm

The Razorbacks recently won the SEC Championship at the Texas A&M venue to complete a conference triple crown for 2020-21 season.

Arkansas was the lone Division I school to complete a men’s and women’s conference triple crown this season. Only two other schools achieved the feat this past year in Division I, the Charlotte men in Conference USA as well as the Arkansas State women in the Sun Belt.

This marked the third time the Razorbacks men and women accomplished a conference triple crown in the same season. The first occurred in 1999-2000 and then again in 2015-16.

Including Arkansas, the West region features seven programs who are among the top 10 teams in the recent USTFCCCA national rating index. No. 2 Oregon leads the group, and the Ducks are followed by No. 3 BYU, No. 4 USC, No. 5 Texas, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 10 Houston, No. 13 Iowa State, No. 14 Iowa, No. 18 Arizona State, and No. 20 Arizona.

Arkansas is one of just three schools, and the only program in the NCAA West, to have qualified both relays each year of the current format. There is one round of each relay in the preliminary round where the top three teams in each of the three heats advance to Oregon along with the next three fastest times.

The Razorbacks race in the second heat of the 4×100 from lane nine. The top four seeded teams in the heat include Texas A&M (38.79), Baylor (39.11), UCLA (39.29), and Arkansas (39.56).

In the 4×400, the Razorbacks are in lane two of the third heat where the top four seeded teams include Texas A&M (3:01.73), Oklahoma (3:03.68), Arkansas (3:04.96), and UTEP (3:05.84).

The longer distance races will have one race in the NCAA West. The 10,000m will have one race of 48 entrants with the top 12 advancing. In the 5,000m there are two heats with the top five from each heat, plus the next two fastest times, advancing. Three heats of the 3,000m steeplechase will have the top three in each heat, plus the next three fastest times advancing.

“There’s no holding back in these races in the preliminary rounds or going into any cruise mode for distance races at 5,000m, 10,000m and steeple,” noted Bucknam. “We are going be to running for our dear lives in these races. It’s unbelievably competitive.

“You also see the effects of a covid year and the fact that there is a lot of talent that has stayed in the mix this year. It’s going to be a tough road to hoe. Our kids have done it all year and come through.”

NCAA West Preliminary Round – Arkansas Schedule

Wednesday – Men