Razorbacks move into prime position for title at SEC Championships

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas remains in the hunt for a conference title following day two of the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at John McDonnell Field.

Arkansas qualified nine athletes through to tomorrow’s finals while the Razorbacks added 34.5-points through eight events scored.

Tori Hoggard, Lexi Jacobus, and Desiree Freier combined for 19-points in the pole vault as the trio finished 2-3-4 in the event. Hoggard and Jacobus cleared an identical 4.36m (14-3.50), but were separated by misses throughout the competition, while Freier’s fourth-place finish came following a clearance of 4.26m (13-11.75).

Janeek Brown (12.84Q) and Payton Chadwick (12.91Q) advanced to the final of the 100-meter hurdles, both earning the Auto-Q by finishing in the top three of their heats.

Brown finished as the second-fastest qualifier trailing LSU’s Tonea Marshall by one one-hundredth of a second (0.01).

Five of the eight finalists in the 1,500-meters will be Razorbacks as Lauren Gregory (4:18.79Q), Sydney Brown (4:20.69Q), Carina Viljoen (4:23.19Q), Maddy Reed (4:23.33Q), Meghan Underwood (4:25.84q), and Taylor Werner (4:28.14Q) all earned a chance to compete for the conference crown Saturday afternoon.

Brown’s time finished as a personal-best.

Kethlin Campbell advanced to the 400-meter final running 52.03 that stood as the fourth-fastest time from the preliminary round.

An SEC finalist at 100-meters last season, Kiara Parker will make her return as she advanced to this year’s final in 11.24 seconds. Parker’s time is the fastest qualifying mark heading into the finals.

Devin Clark is an SEC Champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after crossing the line in 9:55.86 Friday night. The senior from Spring Branch, Texas brought home 10-points for the Razorbacks and earned her first individual SEC title.

Rachel Nichwitz scored in the event for Arkansas as well running 10:29.41 for sixth-place.

Matching Nichwitz’s sixth-place finish was G’Auna Edwards who took sixth in the long jump with a best of 6.36m (20-10.50).

The Razorbacks are currently in second place with 34.5 points through eight events scored.

PLACE		WOMEN [8 out of 21 scored]	SCORE
1		Auburn	41
2		Arkansas	34.5
3		Missouri	33
4		Alabama	32
5		Florida	31
5		Texas A&M	31
7		Ole Miss	26.5
8		Tennessee	20.5
9		Georgia	18.5
10		Miss State	14
11		Kentucky	11
12		Vanderbilt	10
13		South Carolina	6
14		LSU	3

Arkansas will have at least one athlete in nine of the 13 events contested tomorrow afternoon.