Razorbacks Advance Both Relays, Griffith to NCAA Final

AUSTIN, Texas – Both Arkansas relays and Cameron Griffith advanced to the finals, while Erich Sullins and Gilbert Boit competed in finals on day one of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the Campus of The University of Texas.

Gabe Moore officially kicked off the competition for the Razorbacks as he stepped to the track for the first time in roughly a month to compete in day one of the decathlon. Moore advanced to the NCAA Championships with a season’s best mark of 7,661-pts. in a runner-up finish at the 2019 Texas Relays.

The senior from Freeport, Fla. recorded marks of 10.99 (100-meters), 7.01m/23-0 (long jump), 14.73m/48-4 (shot put), 1.93m/6-3.50 (high jump), and a run of 49.45 in the 400-meters to end with a day one total of 4,023-pts. for fifth-place through five events. Moore will continue day two of the decathlon tomorrow afternoon starting at 1 p.m. CT.

The second competitor on the day was Erich Sullins who competed in the final in the men’s hammer throw. Sullins who entered the meet as the school record holder sporting a lifetime-best of 67.85m (222-7), finished with a days best of 65.47m (214-9) for 21st-place earning Honorable Mention All-American honors in the event.

Gilbert Boit earned Second-Team All-American honors for his performance in the 10,000-meters. Boit finished ninth in the 10K running a time of 29:32.03.

Cameron Griffith advanced to the final of the 1,500-meters running 3:44.62 to advance to the NCAA final for a second-straight season following last year’s All-American finish in the event. Griffith was the fastest non-auto qualifier on the day.

Josh Oglesby, Kris Hari, Tre’Bien Gilbert, and Roy Ejiakuekwu carried the baton to the tune of 38.90, earning an auto-Q spot to the final with a second-place finish in heat two. Arkansas’ time was the sixth-fastest in the semifinal and a season-best performance.

Sticking with the relays, Arkansas advanced the 4×400-meter relay to the final following a protest in the event that saw Western Kentucky get DQ’d. John Winn, Hunter Woodhall, Jalen Brown, and Rhayko Schwartz ran 3:04.65 finishing third in heat two.

Over the last three years, Arkansas is the only men’s program to advance a sprint and mile relay to the final at the NCAA Championships.

Kris Hari and Roy Ejiakuekwu posted lifetime-bests in the semifinal of the 100-meters. Hari finished at 10.08 (+2.6), a time that would have tied for the third-best performance in program history had it been wind legal. Ejiakuekwu posted a lifetime-best of 10.24 that finishes as the No. 10 time in program history bumping Hari’s time of 10.26 from earlier this season. The duo finished 12th and 20th, respectively.

Travean Caldwell ran a spectacular time of 49.75 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles – the No. 3 performance in program history – narrowly missing the final to finish with the seventh-fastest time but the first one out. Nick Hilson posted a lifetime-best of 50.42 in the semifinals to finish 11th-overall. Hilson’s mark is the ninth-fastest in Arkansas history. Caldwell’s time was the second-fastest non-qualifying time in NCAA history trailing Washington State’s CJ Allen who ran 49.44 in 2017 and missed the final.

Rashad Boyd ran in the prelims of the 200-meters finishing 22nd overall running 21.31.

Arkansas will return for the Finals on Friday afternoon at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

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