SEC Indoor accolades for Katie Izzo, Lance Harter

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Indoor conference honors for the 2021 season, announced by the league office Wednesday, included Razorback distance runner Katie Izzo selected as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Arkansas women’s head coach Lance Harter named SEC Coach of the Year.

Izzo, a double silver medalist in the 3,000m and 5,000m at the conference meet, led the team with 16 points as the No. 1 Razorbacks totaled 141 points and won a seventh consecutive SEC Indoor championship by 60 points. Izzo bettered the previous meet record in both races.

In his 31^st season at Arkansas, Harter collected his 41^st overall SEC Coach of the Year honor and his 12^th accolade for the indoor season. He has received the honor 21 times in cross country and eight times during the outdoor season.

The Razorbacks totaled 11 medalists in claiming an 11^th SEC Indoor title with two gold, four silver, and five bronze medals, while 25 of the 26 UA entries contributed points to the team victory. Arkansas scored in each of the 13 events they entered among the 17 contested indoors.

A senior from Seal Beach, California, Izzo has a 4.0 grade point average in her graduate studies. In 2020, she was named SEC Indoor Runner of the Year after claiming a pair of gold medals in the 3,000m and 5,000m.

Izzo is the fifth Razorback to claim the award during the indoor season since 2015, the first year it was presented. Previous UA recipients of the Scholar-Athlete honor include Sandi Morris (2015), Taylor Ellis-Watson (2016), Tori Weeks (2017), and Taylor Werner (2019).

This indoor season Izzo has produced a collegiate-leading time of 15:36.22 in the 5,000m, set in winning the event at the Razorback Invitational. It served as the world-leading time for most of the indoor season, until this past weekend. She also set a career best of 4:34.39 in the mile and a season best of 8:56.55 in the 3,000m.

This weekend top ranked Arkansas defends its 2019 national team title as the Razorbacks host the NCAA Indoor Championships, which were canceled last season due to the coronavirus pandemic. Events at the Randal Tyson Track Center will take place Thursday through Saturday, March 11-14, and live streams will be available each day through ESPN3 and the ESPN app.

2021 SEC Indoor Track and Field Awards | Women

2021 SEC INDOOR | ARKANSAS

First Team All-SEC

Morgan Burks-Magee

Kethlin Campbell

Rosey Effiong

Krissy Gear

Shafiqua Maloney

Second Team All-SEC

Jada Baylark

G’Auna Edwards

Daszay Freeman

Lauren Gregory

Katie Izzo

Logan Morris

Quinn Owen

Isabel Van Camp