South Central Region honors for Chris Bucknam, Travis Geopfert, Peter Maru

FAYETTEVILLE – South Central Region honors for the indoor track and field season included accolades for Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam, Razorback assistant coach Travis Geopfert, and freshman distance runner Peter Maru.

The Razorbacks claimed a fifth consecutive SEC Indoor team title under Bucknam, winning the 2024 SEC Indoor by 57 points. In scoring 163 points for the league title, the Razorbacks produced five individual and one relay gold medalist.

As the NCAA Indoor runner-up team, Arkansas had a pair national champions in Romaine Beckford (high jump) and Wayne Pinnock (long jump). The Razorbacks totaled a leading 20 All-America honors, 14 of which were first-team honors.

Beckford and Pinnock were among the event group coached by Geopfert, which also included NCAA Indoor silver medalist Rojé Stona (shot put). Geopfert qualified seven athletes in four events for the NCAA Indoor meet. They totaled 29 of 41 NCAA points towards an Arkansas runner-up team finish.

In the SEC Indoor Championships, Geopfert’s crew scored 72 of 163 points, which included 28 points from a 1-2-3-5 finish in the heptathlon. Postseason honors included John Scott Kendricks earning SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year.

Maru produced an impressive debut season racing on an indoor track. Starting off with an Arkansas school record in a 5,000m race at Boston University, Maru’s time of 13:17.86 bettered the previous record of 13:24.32 held by current teammate Patrick Kiprop.

Competing in the SEC Indoor Championships, Maru shared high-point honors with 20 points from meet record victories in the 3,000m and 5,000m.

Maru posted a victory in the 5,000m first, with his 13:31.11 effort breaking a 20-year-old meet record set by Razorback Alistair Cragg (13:42.95). In the 3,000m, racing in the first of two sections, Maru posted a time of 7:47.26 to break the meet record 7:47.34 set in 2022 by Razorback Amon Kemboi.

Maru completed his first indoor season placing fifth in the NCAA Indoor 5,000m with a time of 13:30.51 to earn a first-team All-America honor.

Region award winners were determined by a vote of USTFCCCA member coaches following the conclusion of the 2024 NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships at the TRACK at New Balance in Boston. Performances from both the NCAA Championships and the regular season were considered.