UA's Marshall, Letebele earn pair of SEC weekly honors

FAYETTEVILLE – Razorbacks Rivaldo Marshall and Karabo Letebele earned SEC weekly honors as Runner of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively, based on performances by each during the Arkansas Qualifier.

Marshall broke a 25-year-old Razorback record in the 800m with a 1:45.62 winning performance. He also bettered the Jamaican national record, becoming the third Jamaican to break the mark in a span of a week, which included his teammate Tyrice Taylor.

Letebele, a 19-year-old freshman from South Africa, claimed the 60m final at the Arkansas Qualifier in a meet record of 6.55 seconds that promptly moved him to No. 3 on the UA all-time list behind Jordan Anthony (6.47) and current Razorback Jelani Watkins (6.52).

Taylor won the 800m in 1:46.11 at the Tyson Invitational to top the previous Jamaican national record of 1:46.61 set in 2023. Then Navasky Anderson ran 1:46.10 in France to break the mark. A day later Marshall lowered the record to 1:45.62 in becoming the first Jamaican to run sub 1:46 indoors. Over the weekend, Anderson reclaimed the national record with a 1:44.75 in placing fourth at a meet held in Torun, Poland.

The winning performance by Marshall at the Arkansas Qualifier featured the past two NCAA Indoor 800m champions. Marshall, who claimed the 2024 title while at Iowa, finished ahead of Oregon’s Matthew Erickson (1:45.93), the 2025 NCAA Indoor winner.

Letebele’s 6.55 is the top mark by a freshman this season which ranks eighth among collegians and sixth best in the SEC.

The previous Arkansas Qualifier meet record of 6.56 was set in 2024 by Mario Burke of Barbados. Following a 6.61 in the prelim, Letebele set an indoor career best of 6.55 to defeat Benjamin Azamati (6.59) and Maximilian Thomas (6.60) in the final. Letebele’s previous indoor best was 6.59 while he has run 6.53 at altitude in an outdoor 60m.