Olympic gold medalist Julien Alfred headlines loaded Tyson Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE – Olympic 100m gold medalist Julien Alfred returns to the Randal Tyson Track Center for a second consecutive week to headline the Tyson Invitational which includes 50 schools represented this weekend.

Joining Alfred among the professional field are combined event athletes Anna Hall, the 2025 World Athletics champion in the heptathlon, and Arkansas alum Taliyah Brooks, twice a bronze medalist in 2025 in the World Indoor pentathlon and World Outdoor heptathlon.

Competing at the Wooo Pig Classic last Saturday, Alfred produced a pair of world leading times in the 60m with a 7.04 in the prelims and a 7.00 in the final.

Hall and Brooks are both scheduled to represent the United States at the World Athletics Indoor Championships held in Poland this March. For the Tyson Invitational, Hall is entered in the 60m hurdles and high jump while Brooks will contest the long jump.

“Taliyah Brooks and Anna Hall are both world medalists in the heptathlon,” noted Arkansas women’s head coach Chris Johnson. “It will be fun to see them compete. There will be a host of World Championship participants, Olympians and medalists.

“That’s what the Tyson Invitational brings and hopefully the fans can come out and realize you don’t get this opportunity much in any other sport. Track and field brings this type of notoriety to Northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville, and the Tyson Track Center.”

A portion of the meet will include events with World Athletics Silver status. They include the 60m, 400m, 60m hurdles, and long jump on Friday as well as the triple jump on Saturday.

Both days of the meet will stream on SEC Network +, starting at 5 p.m. (CT) on Friday and 2 p.m. (CT) on Saturday. Live results will be available through flashresults.com.

From updated USTFCCCA national rankings this week, the field competing at the Tyson Invitational will include No. 6 Arkansas, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 12 Nebraska, No. 13 Texas, No. 14 Kansas State, No. 15 Stanford, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Florida, No. 20 Penn State, No. 21 Minnesota, and No. 25 UCLA.

Notable Entrants | Championship events

“This week everybody will be in their respective events and we’re looking to get some seed times for the SEC meet and hopefully some qualifying times for the NCAA Championships,” stated Johnson.

“The Tyson Invitational has always been a special meet and our athletes look forward to it. It’s a culmination of a lot of great athletes competing at Arkansas. So, we’re always excited about the Tyson Invitational.”

Arkansas currently has a dozen marks among the top 16 for NCAA Indoor qualifying with another five athletes in range of the top 16.

In the 800m, the Razorbacks are the top event group nationally with a four-person average of 2:02.88 from the foursome of Sanu Jallow-Lockhart (2:01.55), Analisse Batista (2:03.18), Ainsley Erzen (2:03.36), and Makenna Herbst (2:03.41). Arkansas ranks ahead of Penn State (2:03.35), BYU (2:05.10), and Oklahoma State (2:05.16).

The Razorback trio of Jallow-Lockart, Erzen and Herbst will compete in the Championship division of the 800m along with Arkansas alum Shafiqua Maloney.

Arkansas Women | Current national ranking