Razorbacks add pair to program in fall national signing period

FAYETTEVILLE – Two athletes have signed a national letter of intent with the Arkansas track and field program during the fall signing period. The duo includes Andrew Stone of the Cayman Islands and Julian Carter II from Marion, Arkansas.

A 6-4, 17-year-old, Stone recently transitioned to track and field from basketball and blossomed rather quickly in the past two years. He will graduate this fall from John Gray High School in George Town, Cayman Islands, and join Arkansas for the 2024 indoor season.

Carter, who will join the Razorbacks next fall, competes in the 400m and 800m where he collected a trio of Arkansas 5A State medals in 2023. He earned a gold medal as the anchor leg of the 4 x 400m relay, claimed a silver medal in the 400m, and collected bronze in the 800m.

Stone ranks third on the 2023 world under-18 long jump list and is among the top 25 in the high jump with career best marks of 25-6.75 (7.79) in the long jump and 6-9.5 (2.07) in the high jump.

In the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games U18 long jump, Stone captured the gold medal with a meet record of 25-3.25 (7.70). He also finished as runner-up in both the high jump and long jump at the NACAC U18 Championships this past summer.

Claiming consecutive long jump titles at the CARIFTA Games the past two years, Stone became the second Cayman Islands jumper to accomplish a double victory in the meet since Kareem Streete-Thompson, who claimed three U17 titles (1987-1989) and set the U20 record of 26-0.75 (7.94) in 1990.

Streete-Thompson, who swept NCAA long jump titles in 1995 with Rice University, holds the Cayman Islands national record of 28-3.75 (8.63) from 1994.

A career best of 48.32 for Carter came in winning the 400m at the Paul Hoffman-Hurricane Relays. Carter finished as runner-up in the 800m at the Arkansas Meet of Champions with a then best of 1:51.53. He improved his career best to 1:51.34 in placing sixth at RunningLane Track Championships.

Indoors, Carter produced a pair of career best times to win the 800m (1:54.21) and finished fifth in the 400m (48.68) at adidas Track Nationals. Carter also competed in the 400m and 800m outdoors at the New Balance Nationals and AAU Junior Olympic Games in the summer of 2023 with the Memphis Mustangs Club.