FAYETTEVILLE — Following its ascent back into the national top-five earlier this week fifth-ranked Arkansas will finish out its regular season hosting the Arkansas Qualifier and sending a distance medley relay team to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to compete at the UCS Invitational, both taking place Friday, Feb. 16.
Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 16, 5 p.m.
Venue: Randal Tyson Track Center
Tickets: $5 for Adults, 17 and under free
Important Links: Meet Schedule | Live Results | SEC+ (5 p.m. CT)
Arkansas impressed last weekend at the Tyson Invitational and Husky Classic picking up NCAA top-10 new or improved marks in the 60-meter dash, 200, 400, 3K and 5K.
Junior Obi Igbokwe and Kenzo Cotton rank inside the top-10 in two events apiece, Igbokwe at No 3 in the 400 and No. 8 in the 200, while Cotton sits at No. 4 in the 60 and No. 9 in the 200.
The 16-best performers in each event (top-12 for relays) qualify for the national meet. Following a declaration and acceptance process athletes below the top-16 can move up if a better performer opts out.
“We had a great meet last weekend, had a lot of good things happen, we got a lot of national qualifiers in,” coach Chris Bucknam said. “We just want to build off of that. This is kind of a last chance qualifying situation before we head into our championships season — the last one at our home facility.
“There are a couple places in the country where distance medley relays are going, one’s a Notre Dame and one’s at Winston-Salem, we’re going to Winston-Salem. We’ll be up against the likes of Georgetown, Virginia, Ole Miss, ourselves, Iowa State, so it should be a hot race.”
| NCAA Top-16 Marks by Razorbacks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Rank | Athlete | Year | Mark/Time |
| 60m | 4 | Kenzo Cotton | Sr | 6.59 |
| 200m | 8 | Obi Igbokwe | Jr | 20.78 |
| 9 | Kenzo Cotton | Sr | 20.79 | |
| 13 | Roy Ejiakuekwu | Jr | 20.89 | |
| 400m | 3 | Obi Igbokwe | Jr | 45.38 |
| 3,000m | 5 | Cameron Griffith | So | 7:49.78 |
| 5,000m | 10 | Jack Bruce | Sr | 13:43.34 |
| 60mH | 15 | Shakiel Chattoo | Jr | 7.79 |
| 4x400m Relay | 8 | Schwartz, Igbokwe, Stephen, Mowatt | 3:05.66 | |
| Long Jump | 7 | Laquan Nairn | So | 7.87m/25-10 |
| Heptathlon | 6 | Gabe Moore | Jr | 5,777 points |
Events to Watch:
• 3 p.m. | High Jump Invitational
Featured Razorback: Jah-Nhai Perinchief (PR: 2.17m/7-1 1/4)
• 4 p.m. / 6:30 p.m. | Long Jump / Triple Jump
Featured Razorback: Laquan Nairn (PR: 7.87m/25-10 / 15.65m/51-4)
• 5:35 p.m. | 400 Meters
Featured Razorback: Rhayko Schwartz (PR: 46.37)
• 7 p.m. | 200 Meters
Featured Razorback: Obi Igbokwe (PR: 20.78)
• 7:53 p.m. | 4-x-400 Meter Relay
Featured Razorback: Arkansas (PR: 3:05.66)
In addition to the fifth-ranked Razorbacks, No. 4 Southern California will also have a presence at the meet, in search of improved performances ahead of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships.
Additional teams competing in Fayetteville this weekend includes: Arkansas Baptist, Central Missouri, Emporia State, Friends, Harding, Kansas, Northern Iowa, Oklahoma Christian, Oklahoma State, Southern Indiana, Southern Nazarene, Tennessee Tech, Tulsa and Wyoming.
Racing at the UCS Invitational, Arkansas’ distance medley relay team will include Jack Bruce, Cameron Griffith, Ethan Moehn and John Winn.
Bruce and Moehn return from last year’s team that finished second at the meet with 9:37.78 to qualify for the NCAA indoor championships.
