Razorbacks eager to challenge for NCAA Outdoor Championship

EUGENE, Oregon – For the second consecutive year the Arkansas Razorbacks enter the NCAA Championships ranked No. 1 with men’s events beginning Wednesday at Hayward Field.

Last season the Razorbacks finished second to Florida (57-53) by four points for the national team title. Arkansas returns 23 points from last year’s meet among four individuals and a relay. In addition, the Razorbacks have 12 points returning from a pair of transfers.

“When I look back at last year, I thought we had a hell of a meet,” noted Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “We just came up a few points short to a great program. I feel like, year in and year out, we get our guys ready to compete for the final two meets – the SEC meet and NCAA Championships.

“It wounded us to place second last year and again during the NCAA Indoor this year. We’re in it to fight. Every championship we compete in we have a shot at winning. That’s what it’s all about. Coming into this weekend it’s the same thing.”

Five SEC schools rank among the top 10 teams nationally heading into the national championships. They include No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Texas A&M, and No. 9 LSU.

Over the past 10 seasons, Arkansas has produced five top four finishes at the NCAA Outdoor meet. The Razorbacks were runner-up in 2016 and 2023, finished third in 2013 and 2015, and were fourth in 2017.

Placing fourth or better in team scoring for Arkansas would complete a trio of top four finishes this season in cross country (4th), indoor track (2nd) and outdoor track. It would mark the 13th time achieved by the Razorbacks and the first time accomplished since Oregon in 2015-16.

Returning national champions include Phillip Lemonious in the 110m hurdles, Romaine Beckford in the high jump, and Wayne Pinnock, the 2022 NCAA champion, who finished as silver medalist in 2023 to teammate Carey McLeod.

Arkansas also enters the NCAA Championships as the 2024 world leader in the 4 x 400m relay with a school record of 2:59.03 from the SEC Championships. Previously, the Razorbacks have finished as NCAA Outdoor silver medalist in the 4 x 400m relay on three occasions – 2000, 2013, and 2017.

A pair of SEC combined event champions start off the action for Arkansas in the decathlon on Wednesday. Jack Turner, the 2024 SEC decathlon winner, finished seventh at the 2023 NCAA decathlon while with UTSA. Yariel Soto Torrado, who claimed the 2024 SEC heptathlon title, placed sixth in the 2023 NCAA decathlon.

Lemonious, who won the 2023 NCAA title in 13.24, is joined by teammate Elijah Morris in the 110m hurdles. Lemonious races in the first heat of the 110m hurdles along with SEC champion in Auburn freshman Ja’Kobe Tharp (13.18) and USC’s Johnny Brackins, the Pac-12 champ who has a season best of 13.44.

Morris, with a season best of 13.52, is in the second semifinal heat with Nebraska’s Darius Luff, the 2024 Big 10 champion at 13.25.

Beckford, who swept NCAA high jump titles in 2023 with South Florida, is undefeated as a Razorback through eight competitions, having swept SEC indoor and outdoor titles and defended his NCAA Indoor title.

Pinnock sports a windy best of 27-8.25 (8.44) from the LSU Invitational this season along with a wind-legal best of 26-6.5 (8.09) from his third consecutive SEC title. Brackins of USC is the current collegiate leader with a wind-legal 26-9 (8.15) from the NCAA West meet.

Pinnock finished second a year ago in the NCAA Outdoor meet with a 26-9 effort and claimed the 2022 NCAA title with a mark of 26-3 (8.00).

The other final contested on the first day of the NCAA Championships is the 10,000m, an event with a pair of Razorbacks in Patrick Kiprop and Kirami Yego. Kiprop finished eighth a year ago.

Lance Lang has a pair of individual semifinal races in the 100m and 200m, one of eight among 24 sprinters to advance in both events.

For the third consecutive race Lang will be in the same 100m heat with a pair of Houston sprinters in Louie Hinchliffe and Shaun Maswanganyi. At 200m, Lang (19.99w) is in lane 7 with the second best time among that semifinal heat behind a 19.95 for Alabama State’s Jamarion Stubbs.

A pair of Razorbacks in the 400m semifinal include James Benson II and TJ Tomlyanovich, who will race in the same heat, in lanes 3 and 9, along with three other SEC sprinters. Benson ranks sixth among collegians this season with a 44.85 from the SEC meet while Tomlyanovich improved to 45.27 and ranks 13th among collegians.

Capping the first day with the 4 x 400m relay semifinal, Arkansas races in lane 7 of the second heat along with Texas A&M in lane 6.

NCAA Championships | Razorback Schedule

Wednesday | June 5

Decathlon | Jack Turner, Yariel Soto Torrado 

Thursday | June 6

Decathlon | Jack Turner, Yariel Soto Torrado 

Friday | June 7