Arkansas qualifies eight for final day of NCAA Indoor Championship

Scoring opportunities resulted in nine more points for Arkansas on the second day of the NCAA Indoor Championships, led by a silver medal performance by the distance medley relay.

Meanwhile, the Razorbacks totaled eight qualifiers for Saturday’s final day. USC followed with four while three were attained by Oregon, Texas, BYU and LSU.

Currently, through eight scored finals, Arkansas is tied for ninth place with five other teams at 10 points each. Texas A&M leads with 26 while LSU and Georgia are tied at 23.

“We advanced really well across the board,” said women’s coach Lance Harter. “A couple of the finals didn’t go to perfection, but at a national championship that’s hard to dial in to. We had some nice scoring today in the distance medley, getting second to a BYU team that had to run its legs off to get ahead of us.

“In qualifying we had some pleasant surprises. We have a lot of opportunities tomorrow, and if we can cash in on those, I think we can earn a spot on the podium.”

Saturday’s women session begins at 5 p.m. with the triple jump while running events starts at 6 p.m.

Racing with a foursome of Lauren Gregory (3:20.01), Kethlin Campbell (52.69), Quinn Owen (2:07.43), and Krissy Gear (4:37.07) the Razorbacks clocked a time of 10:57.19, which matched the sixth best time in school history. BYU won the race in 10:52.96, the top collegiate time this season.

Another point was added to the team total in the pole vault with Bailee McCorkle placing eighth as she cleared a season best of 14-3 ½ (4.36) while Nastassja Campbell finished ninth at 13-11 ¾ (4.26).

G’Auna Edwards placed ninth in the long jump with a mark of 20-10 ½ (6.36), just an inch and a half out of eighth place. Tara Davis of Texas won the event with a collegiate record of 22-9 (6.93) to better career best leaps by Florida’s Claire Bryant (21-11 ¾) and Texas A&M’s Tyra Gittens (21-11), who claimed the high jump with a 6-2 ¾ (1.90) clearance.

A third ninth place finish for Arkansas came in the 5,000m with Katie Izzo, who clocked 15:58.38. SEC champion Joyce Kimeli of Auburn won the race in 15:48.98.

In qualifying races, Arkansas advanced three milers to the final. Gear won the first prelim in 4:40.92 to earn an automatic spot. Kennedy Thomson led three Razorbacks in the second prelim with a career best of 4:38.88 and Gracie Hyde (4:39.04) joined her in making the final.

Despite running a faster time than the previous heat, a 4:39.29 by Isabel Van Camp did not advance to the final on time.

Daszay Freeman produced a career best of 8.05 to win her prelim heat in the 60m hurdles. Her time equals No. 3 on the UA all-time list, matching Taliyah Brooks.

Two of four Razorbacks in the 400m prelims advanced to the final. Career best times for Rosey Effiong and Tiana Wilson resulted in marks of 51.82 (No. 4 UA) and 52.34 (No. 7 UA) as they placed third and eighth overall. Paris Peoples (52.78) and Morgan Burks-Magee (53.43) finished 11th and 15th.

Jada Baylark equaled the school record of 7.15 in the 60m prelims, placing third in her heat behind USC’s Twanisha Terry (7.09) and Oregon’s Kemba Nelson (7.13). Baylark equaled the time Kiara Parker set in 2019 in taking down Veronica Campbell’s mark of 7.20 established in 2004.

Shafiqua Maloney placed third in her heat of the 800 with a 2:04.50 to advance to the final, finishing behind BYU’s Claire Seymore (2:03.97) and Laurie Barton of Clemson (2:04.07).

Arkansas also had a pair racing in the 200m prelims as Baylark (23.27) and Jayla Hollis (23.65) were 10th and 13th overall.