Relays take victories at home meet

FAYETTEVILLE – The 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relays took home victories for the Arkansas Razorback women’s track and field team Saturday at the Razorback Spring Invitational at John McDonnell Field.

"We had a wild weather day with wind and rain but our kids battled through it well," head coach Lance Harter said. "We got the stick around in the relay events and we’re still shaking some rust off. Regina George had another great outing for us. She is really tough in every event she races. Brittany Hyter is continuing to improve in her hurdle races. I’m excited about the future of our young sprints crew."

Junior Edina Brooks, freshman Regina George, senior Karen Thomas and sophomore Whitney Jones opened the running events with a win in the 4×100-meter relay. The quartet combined for a time of 46.28.

The quartet of Thomas, Brooks, George and freshman Gwendolyn Flowers concluded the running events with a win in the 4×400-meter relay. They clocked an NCAA- and SEC-leading time of 3:37.94.

Arkansas finished 1-2-5-6 in the 400 meters. George won the event with a personal-best time of 53.94. She ranks No. 5 in the SEC (No. 1 among freshmen). Brooks was second in 55.36, Flowers was fifth in 57.19 and Thomas was sixth in 57.57.

George also finished second overall and first among collegians in the 200 meters. She clocked a 3.1 wind-aided time of 23.63. Brooks picked up a third place finish in the 200 meters with her time of 24.11 (3.1w).

Sophomore Brittany Hyter finished second in the 100-meter hurdles. She clocked a 2.5 wind-aided time of 13.97. Freshman Rachel Werner finished third in the 100 meters with a personal-best time of 12.27 (2.7w). She was also seventh in the 200 meters with a personal-best time of 24.79. Freshman Martine Borge finished second in the 800 meters. She clocked a time of 2:17.26.

Senior Katie Stripling won the pole vault with a height of 14-1.25. She led a 1-2-3 finish for Arkansas in the event. Sophomore Tina Sutej was second with a height of 13-9.25 and senior Janice Keppler was third with a clearance of 13-3.5. The trio ranks Nos. 1-2-3 in the SEC and Stripling clearance is tied for No. 1 in the NCAA.

In the long jump, junior Shantel Thompson was third with a leap of 19-0 (3.2w), freshman Caroline McCombs was sixth with a mark of 17-10.75 (2.5w) and freshman Makeba Alcide was 11th with a best of 17-0.75 (2.0w). Thompson also finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 40-6.

The Razorbacks will compete next at Texas Relays, Wed., March 31- Sat., April 3.

Download: RBack Spring Inv results.pdf