Razorbacks win 5th consecutive SEC Indoor title, 27th overall

FAYETTEVILLE – Winning conference titles is a tradition for the Razorbacks and No. 3 Arkansas totaled 163 points in claiming a fifth consecutive SEC Indoor Championship at the Randal Tyson Track Center in front of 2,379 fans.

The margin of victory totaled 57 points over Florida (106) with Texas A&M third (71) as Arkansas scored in 16 of the 17 events contested.

“It’s just fun, because there was a Razorback in every race and every event,” noted Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “This league is so tough, and it’s great for our home crowd. I thought it was a great entertaining meet.

“When you’re at home and hosting a major championship like this, you want to make it entertaining and our guys did a good job.”

Razorback points came in bunches on Saturday, notably with 28 points in the heptathlon off a 1-2-3-5 finish. There were 17 points in the high jump, which included a six-way tie for third place with a pair of Razorbacks in that mix. An additional 19 points were added in the 3,000m after getting 21 in the 5,000m the previous evening.

Sprints and hurdles combined for 35 points with a victory in the 4 x 400m relay leading the charge in setting the third fastest time in Arkansas history with a 3:03.07.

Yariel Soto Torrado won the heptathlon with a season best score of 6,017 points to lead the Razorback crew. Marcus Weaver set a career best 5,970 as runner-up while a career best of 5,965 earned a bronze medal for Daniel Spejcher in his fifth SEC Indoor competition.

Newcomer Gabriel Emmanuel contested his first collegiate heptathlon, scoring 5,600 points to finish fifth.

Soto Torrado is third on the UA all-time list with a 6,047 score. Weaver moves to No. 7 while Spejcher is now No. 8. On the collegiate list for NCAA Indoor, the Razorbacks rank 5-=6-9-10 with Jack Turner’s 6,000 points in the No. 7 position. The top 16 individuals qualify for the meet.

Romaine Beckford won the high jump with a clearance of 7-4.5 (2.25) and then raised to the bar to 7-7 (2.31) in an attempt to break the Jamaica national record. Behind him there was a six-way tie at 6-11 (2.11) which included teammates Kason O’Riley and Andrew Hughes combining for seven points.

Peter Maru shared high-point honors in the meet with 20 points. He set another meet record in winning the 3,000m with a time of 7:47.26 that clipped the 7:47.34 established by Razorback Amon Kemboi in 2022.

Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop, running in a separate section, finished fourth and fifth overall with times of 7:53.23 and 7:53.72.

Arkansas initially finished second in the 4 x 400m relay to a 3:02.62 by Alabama with a 44.75 anchor leg from Chris Robinson. A disqualification for the Tide moved the Razorbacks into first place.

The Arkansas foursome included TJ Tomlyanovich (46.55), Lance Lang (45.53), William Spencer (45.91), and Steven McElroy (45.08). Texas A&M placed second in 3:03.62 with Florida third at 3:03.87.

Bronze medalist for the Razorbacks included Rojé Stona in the shot put where his effort of 65-5 (19.94) was only bettered by career best marks from winner Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan (66-10.5|20.38) and runner-up Dylan Targgart of South Carolina (65-7|19.99).

Stona, who finished third a year ago, led the field through three rounds with a 64-11.5 (19.80) effort.

Tai Brown clocked 7.73 in the 60m hurdles for a bronze medal while teammates Brevin Sims (7.80) and William Spencer (7.82) placed fifth and sixth to score 13 points.

Ben Shearer collected a second bronze medal on the weekend as his 4:01.27 placed third in the mile. Reuben Reina finished ninth in 4:04.25.

Jordan Anthony and Lance Lang each finished fourth in the 60m and 200m, with times of 6.64 and 20.58. Steven McElroy finished seventh in the 400m after a collision at 200m halted his progress. He finished in 1:06.10 to pick up a pair of team points.

Georgia’s Christopher Morales-Williams of Canada won the 400m title in a world record of 44.49, breaking the previous mark of 44.57 set by Kerron Clement at the same facility in 2005. He also bettered the world best of 44.52 set by USC’s Michael Norman in College Station that wasn’t ratified.

Fifth place performances for Arkansas included Riley Wells in the 800m (1:49.05) as well as Apalos Edwards in the triple jump (52-3.25|15.93).