With the outdoor regular season approaching completion Arkansas’ men’s track and field team will have the opportunity to directly assess the strengths of several league rivals this weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at the SEC Relays.
The meet will feature seven teams from the national top-25, including top-ranked Texas A&M as well as: No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 LSU, No. 15 Arkansas, No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 21 Tennessee.
Date/Time: Friday, April 28, 5:30 p.m. CT | Saturday, April 29, 12:02 a.m. CT
Venue: Bernie Moore Track Stadium
Important Links: Meet Schedule | Start Lists | Live Results
What’s At Stake
Currently ranked as the No. 2-best 4-x-100-meter relay team in the NCAA West region, the Razorbacks will place more emphasis on securing an improved time in the 4-x-400-meter relay. Arkansas has yet to race its ace team this outdoor season, which would most likely feature All-American quarter-milers Obi Igbokwe and Eric Janise. Other possible additions to the quartet include Kemar Mowatt, Rhayko Schwartz and Jamarco Stephen.
Relays For The Win
Seven relays will be contested at Bernie Moore Track Stadium, all of which will be scored using the traditional track and field points scale (First = 10 points, second = 8 points, third = 6 points, fourth = 5 points, fifth = 4 points, sixth = 3 points, seventh = 2 points and eight = 1 point). The weekend will open with the sprint medley relay (200, 200, 400, 800) as well as the 4-x-800 on Friday evening and close with the 4-x-100, 4-x-200, shuttle hurdle, distance medley relay (1,200, 400, 800, 1,600) and 4-x-400 on Saturday afternoon.
Non-Relay Events To Watch
The high jump and long jump both promise to be exciting events, which will feature All Americans Ken LeGassey and Andreas Trajkovski up against some of the conferences’ most explosive talents. Jamaican Olympian Clive Pullen will look to get an improved mark in the triple jump on Saturday at 1:15 p.m.
Head Coach Chris Bucknam Sounds Off
Goals heading into the weekend: “Have a good meet. We want to do some more [NCAA] qualifying. We’ll have several individual competitors in the field events, steeplechase and 400 hurdles, those events in which we’d like a few more improved performances. But the main emphasis will be on the seven team-scored relays that we will be competing in.”
On the Relays: “We feel as though we’ve got some pretty good relays put together. Our 4-x-100 is outstanding. I think our 4-x-200 is great as well. Our distance medley relay team should be pretty solid with Jack Bruce along with Alex George, two athletes that a ranked near the top nationally in their individual events. We haven’t run a 4-x-800 in a while so we’re excited to see what transpires there as well.”
