SEC Indoor honors for Sydney Thorvaldson, Lance Harter

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A pair of accolades earned by the Razorbacks among 2022 SEC Indoor honors announced by the league office included Arkansas distance runner Sydney Thorvaldson being named Freshman Runner of the Year while Razorback women’s head coach Lance Harter earned Coach of the Year.

In his 32nd season at Arkansas, Harter garnered his 44th overall SEC Coach of the Year honor and his 13th accolade for the indoor season. Harter has also received the honor 22 times in cross country and eight times during the outdoor season.

Scoring 127.5 points enabled the No. 2 Razorbacks to win the league title by 30.5 points over No. 1 Florida in claiming an eighth consecutive SEC Indoor team championship.

Arkansas had five individual winners plus a relay victory in the 4×400 with a collegiate record performance. In total, the Razorbacks had 11 medalists as they scored in 13 of the 15 events they contested.

Thorvaldson, from Rawlins, Wyoming, finished as the top true freshman in both the 3,000m and 5,000m during the SEC Indoor meet, placing fifth in the 5,000m with a career best of 16:00.14 and seventh in the 3,000m with a career best of 9:07.95.

Among the UA all-time indoor list, Thorvaldson moved to No. 9 in the 5,000m, ahead of Dominique Scott (16:00.73), and No. 11 in the 3,000m. She scored six points between the two events as Arkansas totaled 31 from those two races.

Overall, distance events totaled 58 points for the Razorbacks in the conference meet. There were 22 points from the 3,000m, 19 in the mile, nine from the 5,000m and another eight as runner-up in the distance medley relay.

A national Gatorade Cross Country Athlete of the Year in high school, Thorvaldson’s first indoor season with the Razorbacks also included a season best of 4:46.95 in the mile. An indoor debut in the 5,000m produced a time of 16:07.80 prior to her time in the conference meet.

In the 3,000m, Thorvaldson started with a 9:30.86 in December, then improved to 9:24.97 halfway through the indoor season. The conference time bettered her high school best of 9:09.70.

Thorvaldson becomes the fifth Razorback to earn the SEC Freshman Runner of the Year for the indoor season since 2000, joining Stacie Manuel (2003), Regina George (2010), Taylor Werner (2017), and Lauren Gregory (2019).

This weekend the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, held Friday and Saturday in the Birmingham CrossPlex.

2022 Women’s SEC Indoor Track & Field Awards