Williams earns SEC award

FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas Razorback junior Shelise Williams, a member of the women’s track and field team, has earned a weekly honor from the Southeastern Conference, it was announced on Tuesday.

Williams is the SEC Runner of the Week. She ran the second leg of the 4×400-meter relay and the 400-meter leg on the distance medley relay at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational this weekend. She was a member of two relay teams that set school records in less than 24 hours.

"Shelise has made such strides in her racing this season," head coach Lance Harter said. "She has really matured in her training and it’s showing in the way she races. We had great performances by both our relay teams this weekend and (associate head coach) Lonnie Greene is doing a great job with our young group of sprinters, led by Shelise Williams."

Williams split 52.2 as the 400-meter second leg of the distance medley relay on Friday and 52.02 as the second leg of the 4×400-meter relay on Saturday.

The DMR quartet combined for a time of 11:06.56 to finish fourth. The time is an Arkansas school record, ranks No. 5 in the NCAA and No. 2 in the SEC. The DMR quartet broke the school record of 11:09.09 set by Aneita Denton, Tominque Boatright, Paige Farrell and Erica Sigmont in 2005 at the Armory Track Center.

The quartet combined for a time of 3:33.18 to win the championship 4×400-meter relay. The time is the Arkansas school record, the NCAA and SEC leader and an improved NCAA provisional-qualifying time. Their time was also just off the NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 3:33. The 4×400-meter quartet broke the school record of 3:33.67 set by Boatright, Jessica Cousins, Sasha Rolle and Farrell in 2006 at the Iowa State Last Chance.

Williams also holds an open 400-meter best of 52.72 that ranks No. 2 in the NCAA, No. 1 in the SEC and is the No. 2 time is Arkansas school history.

The Razorbacks will compete next when they host the Tyson Invitational, Fri-Sat., Feb. 12-13.