Stumbaugh-Chadwick has stunning showing in indoor return

FAYETTEVILLE — No. 2 Arkansas opened its season in phenomenal fashion on Friday evening at the Randal Tyson Track Center in front of a crowd of 1,353 Razorback fans.

Arkansas picked up five event titles throughout the day, with event victories in the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, high jump, pole vault and long jump.

“Looking forward our future appears to be very positive considering we only ran about 75 percent of our team,” head coach Lance Harter said. “We have a lot of major players that will open up in the weeks to come but whenever you can have a breakthrough like Payton Stumbaugh-Chadwick did with her lifetime PR in the long jump and in the hurdles you’re on the right track.

“Taliyah Brooks had a great day opening up close to her PR in the high jump and running a great 60. Tori [Hoggard] took care of business with a 14-foot jump in the vault. We just had a great showing by our veterans tonight.”

Springdale native Payton Stumbaugh-Chadwick headlined the home opener capturing a pair of event titles with victories in the 60-meter hurdles and the long jump.

The indoor bout was the first for the multi since the 2016 season, having sat out last year due to injury.

Opening the day with the long jump, Stumbaugh-Chadwick leapt to a PR of 6.28m/20-7¼ on her first jump, eclipsing her previous best by one foot. She went on to improve upon her best, finishing the event in first place with 6.30m/20-8, which ranks her as the fifth-best long jumper in program history.

The All-American pentathlete wrapped up her individual events, dominating her competition in the 60 hurdles, placing first with a season best of 8.18.

“Overall, I feel really great,” Stumbaugh-Chadwick said. “I executed all of the little things. Training has been really great all fall. I took this fall as a time to get better and get faster. I accomplished that tonight and that was just the beginning.”

New Generation
Freshmen Morgan Burks-Magee and Joy Ripslinger raced to top-five finishes in the 400 and 600-meter dashes, respectively.

Competing for the first time as Razorbacks, Burks-Magee and Ripslinger were the top collegiate finishers in their events, bested only by professional runners.

Additional Notable Performances
Sophomore Carina Viljoen finished as the runner-up in the 1,000-meter run, off a PR-performance of 2 minutes, 47.24 seconds.

Viljoen’s time was a seven-second improvement of her previous best. Another sophomore shined for the Hogs as 2017 SEC indoor 5,000-meter champion Taylor Werner opened her second year as a Razorback with a personal best in the mile of 4:41.31.

Werner finished well ahead of her collegiate competitors, second only to unattached runner Maggie Montoya.

“Carina ran a huge PR in the 1,000 and Taylor opened up strong in the mile,” Harter said. “A newcomer in Joy ran a fantastic time in the 600. We’re just excited for what is to come.”

Event Winners
• 60 Meters: Jada Baylark, 7.37
• 60 Meter Hurdles: Payton Stumbaugh-Chadwick, 8.18
• High Jump: Taliyah Brooks, 1.80m/5-10 3/4
• Pole Vault: Tori Hoggard, 4.29m/14-0 3/4
• Long Jump: Payton Stumbaugh-Chadwick, 6.30m/20-8

Arkansas will hit the road next week, traveling to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Simmons-Harvey Quadrangular hosted by the University of Michigan, Saturday, Jan. 20.

Arkansas Invitational
January 12, 2018
Randal Tyson Track Center (Fayetteville, Ark.)

60 Meters
1. Jada Baylark – 7.37
4. Kiara Parker – 7.45
6. Taliyah Brooks – 7.53
9. Tamara Kuykendall – 7.69
20. Kayla Carter – 7.97

200 Meters
2. Jada Baylark – 23.93
5. Kiara Parker – 24.42
Tamara Kuykendall – 24.64
8. Janeek Brown – 24.72
9. Kayla Carter – 25.84
24. Jessica Dolezal – 27.11

400 Meters
4. Morgan Burks-Magee – 54.58
5. Sydney Hammit – 56.65
7. Sydney Davis – 57.81
16. Jessica Dolezal – 1:02.73

600 Meters
3. Joy Ripslinger – 1:32.36
6. Ruth Wiggins – 1:36.91
7. Emily Jeacock – 1:38.44

1,000 Meters
2. Carina Viljoen – 2:47.24

Mile
2. Taylor Werner – 4:41.31
4. Sydney Brown – 4:53.63
7. Maddy Reed – 4:57.22
8. Ashton Endsley – 4:57.59
18. Rachel Nichwitz – 5:12.00
19. Greta Taylor – 5:12.06
29. Grace Taylor – 5:19.66
32. Alex Ritchey – 5:21.89
38. Tess Iler – 5:32.25
41. Kristen Larkan – 5:34.95

60m Hurdles
1. Payton Stumbaugh-Chadwick – 8.18
3. Kelsey Herman – 8.56

4x400m Relay
2. Arkansas A – Burks-Magee, Stumbaugh-Chadwick, Hammit, Baylark – 3:39.86
3. Arkansas B – Davis, Ripslinger, Parker, Jeacock – 3:50.59

High Jump
1. Taliyah Brooks – 1.80m/5-10¾
4. Kelsey Herman – 1.65m/5-5
5. Carmen Sitz – 1.65m/5-5

Pole Vault
1. Tori Hoggard – 4.29m/14-0¾¼
7. Morgan Hartsell – 3.84m/12-7¼
10. Elly Ramos Mata – 3.69m/12-1¼
14. Rylee Robinson – 3.49m/11-5¼
19. Madeline Telford – 3.29m/10-9½

Long Jump
1. Payton Stumbaugh-Chadwick – 6.30m/20-8