Pentathlon Points Propel No. 4 Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Friday’s action at the 2016 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championship featured several strong Razorback performances that promise to make for an exciting day two. The No. 4 Arkansas women’s track and field team kicked off their first day of the conference indoor championship at the Randal Tyson Track Center with the pentathlon.

Multi events crew Taliyah Brooks, Leigha Brown, Alex Gochenour and Payton Stumbaugh collected the first points of the weekend for the Razorbacks for their efforts in the pentathlon.

Brooks led the way finishing second overall with a score of 4,376 points. A member of the 2015 SEC All-Freshman team Brooks placed inside the top three in the 60-meter hurdles, high jump and long jump. She secured her silver medal with a fourth place finish in the 800-meter run.

All-American multis Brown and Gochenour added a combined nine points to the team total while Oklahoma transfer Stumbaugh earned a spot in the top eight in her SEC pentathlon debut.

Arkansas capped the night securing four points off the heels of Devin Clark and Regan Ward in the 3000-meter run. A freshman, Clark led the Razorbacks earning three points with a sixth place finish and a time of 9:28.14. Ward also scored crossing the finish line to finish eighth overall.

SEC DAY TWO QUALIFIERS

200 Meters

Seven-time All-American Taylor Ellis-Watson ran the best indoor 200-meter race of her career crossing the finish line in 22.99 to gain automatic entry into tomorrow’s finals. The competition marked the first instance Ellis-Watson secured a time under 23 seconds in the indoor 200-meter run.

400 Meters

Arkansas picked up two more day two qualifiers in Daina Harper and Ellis-Watson who ran the sixth and seventh best time of the day in the 400-meter dash respectively. Ellis-Watson heads into the 400 finals with the best time in the SEC this year with 52.18. The Philadelphia, Pa. native has the second best performance in the NCAA at 400 meters this season.

Mile

Oregon transfer and All-American miler Nikki Hiltz posted the best time of the day (4:42.74) out of section two of the mile to advance through to Saturday’s finals. One of three Razorback qualifiers for tomorrow’s mile final, Hiltz will be joined by 2015 NCAA DMR champions Therese Haiss and Jessica Kamilos who both clocked sub-4:45 times to earn a chance to score.

60-Meter Hurdles

Following a successful outing in the pentathlon Stumbaugh returned to the track later in the day to compete in the open 60-meter hurdles race. The Northwest Arkansas native ran the sixth best time of the day with 8.23 to secure a place in tomorrow’s final section of the event.

VAULTS, DISTANCE AND MORE…

Along with the qualifiers from day one, the Razorbacks’ final day of the 2016 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships will feature performances in the 5,000-meter run, 4×400-meter relay, distance medley relay and the pole vault. Arkansas’ relays both rank inside the top 10 nationally while freshmen Lexi and Tori Weeks have NCAA top five performances this season.

2016 SEC Indoor Championship Day One Results
Randal Tyson Track Center
Fayetteville, Ark.

200 Meters Prelim
Taylor Ellis-Watson – 22.99q

400 Meters Prelim
Daina Harper – 53.04q
Taylor Ellis-Watson – 53.12q
Monisa Dobbins – 54.75
Brianna Swinton – 54.81

800 Meters Prelim
Annika Sisson – 2:11.14
Kailee Sawyer – 2:11.71
Ceara Watson – 2:13.47

Mile
Nikki Hiltz – 4:42.74q
Therese Haiss – 4:44.53q
Jessica Kamilos – 4:44.03q

3,000 Meters Finals
Devin Clark (6) – 9:28.14
Regan Ward (8) – 9:29.53
Sydney Brown (11) – 9:39.96
Valerie Reina (23) – 10:23.59

60 Meter Hurdles
Payton Stumbaugh – 8.23q
Taliyah Brooks – 8.33

Shot Put
Micah Dennis (11) – 13.62m/44-8.25

Pentathlon
Taliyah Brooks (2) – 4,376 points – 60mH: 8.25, HJ: 1.78m/5-10, SP: 11.80m/38-8.75, LJ: 6.09m/19-11.75, 800m: 2:19.91
Leigha Brown (4) – 4,207 points – 60mH: 8.54, HJ: 1.72m/5-7.75, SP: 12.73m/41-9.25, LJ: 5.56m/18-3, 800m: 2:14.91
Alex Gochenour (5) – 4,171 points – 60mH: 8.39, HJ: 1.72m/5-7.75, SP: 12.78m/41-11.25, LJ: 5.98m/19-7.50, 800m: 2:29.81
Payton Stumbaugh (8) – 4,116 points – 60mH: 8.16, HJ: 1.72m/5-7.75, SP: 11.35m/37-3, LJ: 5.88m/19-3.50, 800m: 2:28.41
Kelsey Herman (9) – 3,945 points – 60mH: 8.33, HJ: 1.81m/5-11.25, SP: 9.76m/32-0.25, LJ: 5.57m/18-3.25, 800m: 2:32.24

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES (through 4 of 17 events)
1. Georgia (25)
2. Arkansas (22)
3. Tennessee (18)
4. Alabama (15)
5. Auburn (13)
6. Florida (12)
T7. Mississippi State (11)
T7. Kentucky (11)
9. Ole Miss (10)
10. Vanderbilt (8)
11. Texas A&M (7)
12. Missouri (4)

2016 SEC Indoor Championship Day Two
Randal Tyson Track Center
Fayetteville, Ark.

3:10 p.m. – 60mH Finals – Payton Stumbaugh
3:50 p.m. – Mile – Therese Haiss, Nikki Hiltz, Jessica Kamilos
4:10 p.m. – 400m – Taylor Ellis-Watson, Daina Harper
4:30 p.m. – Pole Vault – Ariel LaChance, Rylee Robinson, Ariel Voskamp, Lexi Weeks, Tori Weeks, Megan Zimlich
5:15 p.m. – 800m – Kailee Sawyer
5:35 p.m. – 200m – Taylor Ellis-Watson
5:45 p.m. – 5,000m – Sydney Brown, Jessica Kamilos, Valerie Reina, Regan Ward, Aubree Worden
6:40 p.m. – DMR – Arkansas A
7:10 p.m. – 4x400m – Arkansas A

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.