Pair of school records move Razorbacks to No. 5

NEW ORLEANS – Impressive performances over the weekend, which included a pair of school records, elevated the Razorbacks to No. 5 in the USTFCCCA national rating index, marking the highest position for Arkansas this indoor season, moving up from No. 12 last week.

North Carolina A&T moved back into the No. 1 position while Georgia is now No. 2 with Texas, last week’s No. 1, dropping to the No. 3 slot. The rest of the top 10 includes Texas Tech, Arkansas, Iowa, Oregon, Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee.

While five SEC schools occupy the top 10 of the national rating index there is an additional five conference schools among the top 30 this week with Alabama (13), Ole Miss (16), LSU (20), Texas A&M (26), and Missouri (30).

While a pair of school records in the 5,000m and 4×400 relay highlighted the weekend, the Razorbacks depth in various events was on display as well in the 400m and 800m during the Tyson Invitational, along with the pair of distance events contested in the Husky Classic.

The Razorbacks continue to dominate the conference rating index with a score of 461.93, followed by Kentucky (283.59), Ole Miss (268.17), Alabama (265.59), Tennessee (235.94), and Georgia (232.07).

In event squad ratings, with the top four marks in each event are computed, Arkansas ranks third in the 60 hurdles and long jump. They are also fourth in the 800 and fifth in the 400 and 5,000m.

While Amon Kemboi (13:26.44) broke the 5,000m school record of 13:28.93 set by Alistair Cragg in 2003, Notre Dame’s Yared Nuguse (7:38.13) broke the 3,000m collegiate record of 7:38.59 set by Cragg in 2004 this weekend as well.

Arkansas’ 4×400 relay unit broke the fourth oldest indoor record in school annals as a 3:03.18 topped the 3:03.34 set in 1985 by the foursome of Bill DuPont, Fred Cleary, Charles Moss, and Roddie Haley.

Racing at altitude (2,107m) as well as on an oversized track (352y unbanked) on March 2 in Flagstaff, Arizona, the ’85 Razorbacks were runner-up to SMU (3:02.95) in the race. The combined effect of altitude, an oversized track, and top-level relay teams produced the eight fastest collegiate indoor times ever recorded to that date.

In comparison, a week later in the NCAA Championships held in Syracuse on a 200m unbanked facility, SMU won the final in 3:08.50, then the ninth fastest time on the U.S. all-time list and fifth on the collegiate all-time list. Arkansas finished runner-up in 3:08.74 with the same foursome, switching Moss to second leg and Cleary to third.

The Razorbacks host the Arkansas Qualifier on Friday, February 18, and then head into postseason with the SEC Championships (College State, Texas) on Feb. 25-26 and the NCAA Championships (Birmingham, Alabama) on March 11-12.

Oldest Razorback Indoor Records