Six Wins Lead No. 4 Arkansas in Season Opener

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The 2019 outdoor season is in full swing following Saturday’s Arkansas Spring Invitational at John McDonnell Field Saturday afternoon.

In a steady downpour that lasted all afternoon, Arkansas pieced together 33 top-10 finishes, including six event winners.

Payton Brown led the way in the women’s 1,500-meters with a first-place finish running 4:53.35 followed by teammate Greta Taylor who finished third at 4:56.96. Brown’s time was a lifetime-best in the event.

G’Auna Edwards recorded a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles running a season-best 14.04.

Kethlin Campbell stepped to the track for the first of her two appearances on the day, running 11.51 for a first-place finish in the 100-meters. Campbell led a group of sprinters who recorded wind-aided personal-best marks as the Razorbacks finished first, second, third, and fourth as Payton Chadwick (11.57), Morgan Burks-Magee (11.65), and Tiana Wilson (11.70) followed Campbell across the line. Had the wind been legal, Campbell’s time would have landed at No. 8 on the All-Time Top-10 list in program history but the reading of +2.6 was over the allowable 2.0 meters per second.

Freshman Josie Carson made her Razorback outdoor debut with a second-place finish in the 800-meters running a personal-best 2:17.43.

Sydney Hammit paced the field as she won the 400-meters in 53.92 with Arkansas placing seven athletes in the top-10. Paris Peoples (54.24), Alex Byrnes (55.10), Sydney Davis (55.61), Shafiqua Maloney (55.80), Kayla Carter (57.82), and Tamara Kuykendall (58.68) followed suit in second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth place, respectively.

J’Alyiea Smith took third-place in the 400-meter hurdles with a lifetime-best 1:03.32.

It was a Razorback sweep in the women’s pole vault led by Rylee Robinson’s clearance of 4.13m (13-6.50). Bailee McCorkle 3.95m (12-11.50), and Morgan Hartsell 3.80m (12-5.50) followed Robinson. Women’s pole vault was contested indoors at Randal Tyson due to the weather.

Campbell made it 2-for-2 in the sprints, winning the 200-meters in a lifetime-best 23.37. Campbell’s time is good for No. 8 on the all-time top-10 list. Following Campbell were Janeek Brown (23.53), Burks-Magee (23.84), Wilson (24.24), and Davis (25.37) in second, third, fourth, and ninth-place.

Quinn Owen (2:11.80), Meghan Underwood (2:12.29) turned in second and third-place finishes in the Invitational 800-meters.

Maddy Reed (4:29.06), and Sydney Brown (4:29.98) went 1-2 in the Invitational section of the 1,500-meters to close out the action on the track.

In the field, Ellyot Belote recorded a sixth-place finish in the javelin with a best of 35.10m (115-2). Riley Hoogerwerf finished 11th with a best of 30.02m (98-6).

Hoogerwerf returned to post a seventh-place finish in the discus, finishing with a best of 36.67m (120-3).

Arkansas will return to action next week in Austin, Texas as the Razorbacks compete in the 92nd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.