Razorbacks post impressive victories amid inclement weather at LSU Invitational

BATON ROUGE – Handling adverse weather at the LSU Invitational on Saturday, the No. 3 Razorbacks produced some key victories as they prepared for a return visit to Bernie Moore Stadium in two weeks for the SEC Championships.

Ackera Nugent registered the first impressive win, clocking 12.52 in the 100m hurdles to defeat LSU’s Alia Armstrong, the defending NCAA champion, who finished second in 12.56.

While Nugent has a career best of 12.45, her 12.52 ranks No. 2 on the Arkansas all-time list.

Racing in another section, Madison Langley-Walker set a career best of 13.21, improving upon her 13.37. She was second in the section and 10th overall. Teammate Daszay Freeman finished fourth in the second section and placed 12th overall with a 13.42.

NCAA Indoor champion Amanda Fassold led a 1-2-3-4-6 finish for the Razorbacks in the pole vault under wet and cool conditions. Fassold cleared 13-10.5 (4.23) for the win and missed on attempts at 14-5.25 (4.40).

Kaitlyn Banas and Bailee McCorkle both made 13-4.5 (4.08) in placing second and third. Similar heights of 12-10.75 (3.93) had Mackenzie Hayward tying for fourth place and Marin Chamberlin finishing sixth.

Rosey Effiong won the 200m in a career best of 22.87 (1.5 wind) over Georgia’s Kenondra Davis (22.89) and Shamier Little (23.02). Effiong moves to No. 5 on the UA all-time list in improving on her previous best of 22.91 set this season.

In another 200m section, Arkansas alum Jada Baylark and current Razorback Ariane Linton posted the same time of 23.31 in finishing second and third. Overall, they finished eighth and ninth.

Earlier in the meet Effiong posted a 51.31 as the top collegian in the field and runner-up to Little’s 50.61 in the 400m while Florida’s Talitha Diggs finished third in 51.51.

The Razorbacks depth in the 400m included placing eight among the top 14 times overall, with six finishing among the top 10. The group included Paris Peoples (52.01), Amber Anning (52.30), Nickisha Pryce (52.31), MeKenze Kelley (53.31), and Aaliyah Pyatt (53.37).

Britton Wilson won the 400m hurdles in 55.76 as she ran away from the field. Georgia’s Dominique Mustin (57.53) and Gabrielle Matthews of Ole Miss (57.79) were second and third. Langley-Walker placed sixth in 59.53.

Arkansas alum Shafiqua Maloney clocked 2:03.22 to win the 800m over Florida’s Vanessa Watson (2:05.33) along with LSU’s tandem of Cindy Bourdier (2:05.61) and Lorena Rangei Batres (2:06.28). Razorback freshman Chachi Gonzales placed eighth in 2:12.07.

In the 4 x 100m relay, Arkansas won section 2 and placed fourth overall with a 43.59. Georgia won the event with a 42.94 over Ole Miss (43.53) and LSU (43.56). The Razorback foursome included Nugent, Linton, Kelley, and Effiong.

The high jump moved indoors, and Sydney Billington placed third with a clearance of 5-9.75 (1.77).