BATON ROUGE, La. — Arkansas’ men’s track and field team capped its weekend in Baton Rouge, picking up a pair of pinwheels at the first annual SEC Relays on Saturday afternoon.
Arkansas’ 4-x-200-meter relay team of Roy Ejiakuekwu, Obi Igbokwe, Josh Washington and Kenzo Cotton were the first to earn a pinwheel, capturing the event title with a program record-breaking time of 1 minute, 20.74 seconds.
Arkansas sprint legends Fred Cleary, Roddie Haley, Mike Conley and Wallace Spearmon Sr. (1:20.93) set the previous record in 1985.
The Razorbacks were quick to secure a second pinwheel thanks to Jack Bruce, John Winn, Carlton Orange and Alex George in the DMR. George anchored the team to victory, holding off a late surge by Texas A&M’s Jon Bishop, to claim first-place honors.
Additional Notable Performances
Prior to their 4-x-200 gold-medal meriting performance Ejiakuekwu, Igbokwe, Washington and Cotton raced to second place in the 4-x-100 (38.95) as one of only two squads to run under 39 seconds in the event.
Igbokwe returned to the track for a third time as a member of Arkansas’ 4-x-400 relay. The sophomore sprinter along with Jamarco Stephen, Rhayko Schwartz and Eric Janise posted a seasons’ best of 3:04.20, which moved them up to No. 6 in the NCAA West region.
Redshirt freshman Brendon Rivera jumped to a collegiate PR of 2.11m/6-11, placing fourth in the high jump. The mark qualifies Rivera for the NCAA West preliminary round as one of the top-30 best high jumpers in the region.
The Razorbacks will be back in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Friday, May 5, hosting the Arkansas Twilight. The meet will be the final regular season competition for the Hogs before they open up the postseason in Columbia, South Carolina at the SEC Championships on May 11-13.
SEC Relays
4-x-100 Meter Relay: 2. Ejiakuekwu, Igbokwe, Washington, Cotton – 38.95
4-x-200 Meter Relay: 1. Ejiakuekwu, Igbokwe, Washington, Cotton – 1:20.74
Distance Medley Relay: 1. Bruce, Winn, Orange, George – 9:48.93
4-x-400 Meter Relay: 3. Stephen, Schwartz, Janise, Igbokwe – 3:04.20
High Jump: 2. Ken LeGassey – 2.11m/6-11, 4. Brendon Rivera – 2.11m/6-11
Triple Jump: 2. Clive Pullen – 15.97m/52-4 3/4
Shot Put: 8. Jeff Rogers – 16.83m/55-2¾, 10. Sam Kempka – 15.86m/52-0½
Hammer Throw: 11. Erich Sullins – 58.40m/191-7
