FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas backed up its NCAA-leading rank with a strong showing on the opening day of the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at John McDonnell Field on Thursday night.
Janeek Brown and Payton Chadwick provided the highlights for Arkansas in the prelims of the 200-meters as the dynamic duo punched their tickets to the final running 22.96 and 23.11, respectively.
Brown, who has recorded the SEC’s fastest-time this season at 22.67, flat out ran away from the competition in heat three to win by over half a second (0.57).
Chadwick finished third in her heat crossing the line a mere nineteen one-hundredths (.19) of a second off the heat leader Kianna Gray of Kentucky (22.92Q).
In the prelims of the 800 meters, Alex Byrnes battled to a 16th-place finish running 2:12.81 in the two-lap race.
J’Alyiea Smith was the first one out in the prelims of the 400-meter hurdles, taking 10th in the event with a time of 1:00.74, missing out on advancing by a little over half a second (0.55).
Arkansas returns to action tomorrow with competition getting underway starting at 4:30 p.m. with the women’s long jump.
Team scores through two scored events
| PLACE | WOMEN [2 out of 21 scored] | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Auburn | 16 |
| 2 |  |
Florida | 11 |
| 2 |  |
Missouri | 11 |
| 4 |  |
Ole Miss | 10 |
| 4 |  |
Texas A&M | 10 |
| 6 |  |
Georgia | 6 |
| 7 |  |
Miss State | 5 |
| 7 |  |
South Carolina | 5 |
| 9 |  |
Alabama | 4 |
| – |  |
Kentucky | 0 |
| – |  |
LSU | 0 |
| – |  |
Tennessee | 0 |
| – |  |
Vanderbilt | 0 |
