Razorbacks sweep SEC Championships

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas indoor track teams swept the Southeastern Conference Championships, which took place last weekend at Randal Tyson Track Center.

Winning conference titles is a tradition for the Razorbacks and No. 3 Arkansas totaled 163 points in claiming a fifth consecutive SEC Indoor Championship.

The margin of victory totaled 57 points over Florida (106) with Texas A&M third (71) as Arkansas scored in 16 of the 17 events contested.

Razorback points came in bunches on Saturday, notably with 28 points in the heptathlon off a 1-2-3-5 finish. There were 17 points in the high jump, which included a six-way tie for third place with a pair of Razorbacks in that mix. An additional 19 points were added in the 3,000-meter run after getting 21 in the 5,000-meter run the previous evening.

Sprints and hurdles combined for 35 points with a victory in the 1,600-meter relay leading the charge in setting the third fastest time in Arkansas history with a 3:03.07.

Yariel Soto Torrado won the heptathlon with a season best score of 6,017 points to lead the Razorback crew. Marcus Weaver set a career best 5,970 as runner-up while a career best of 5,965 earned a bronze medal for Daniel Spejcher in his fifth SEC Indoor competition.

Newcomer Gabriel Emmanuel contested his first collegiate heptathlon, scoring 5,600 points to finish fifth.

Soto Torrado is third on the UA all-time list with a 6,047 score. Weaver moves to No. 7 while Spejcher is now No. 8. On the collegiate list for NCAA Indoor, the Razorbacks rank 5-6-9-10 with Jack Turner’s 6,000 points in the No. 7 position. The top 16 individuals qualify for the meet.

Romaine Beckford won the high jump with a clearance of 7-4.5 and then raised to the bar to 7-7 in an attempt to break the Jamaica national record. Behind him there was a six-way tie at 6-11 which included teammates Kason O’Riley and Andrew Hughes combining for seven points.

Peter Maru shared high-point honors in the meet with 20 points. He set another meet record in winning the 3,000-meter run with a time of 7:47.26 that clipped the 7:47.34 established by Razorback Amon Kemboi in 2022.

Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop, running in a separate section, finished fourth and fifth overall with times of 7:53.23 and 7:53.72.

Arkansas initially finished second in the 1,600-meter relay to a 3:02.62 by Alabama with a 44.75 anchor leg from Chris Robinson. A disqualification for the Tide moved the Razorbacks into first place.

The Arkansas foursome included T.J. Tomlyanovich (46.55), Lance Lang (45.53), William Spencer (45.91), and Steven McElroy (45.08). Texas A&M placed second in 3:03.62 with Florida third at 3:03.87.

Bronze medalist for the Razorbacks included Rojé Stona in the shot put where his effort of 65-5 was only bettered by career best marks from winner Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan (66-10.5) and runnerup Dylan Targgart of South Carolina (657).

Stona, who finished third a year ago, led the field through three rounds with a 6411.5 effort.

Tai Brown clocked 7.73 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles for a bronze medal while teammates Brevin Sims (7.8 seconds) and William Spencer (7.82) placed fifth and sixth to score 13 points.

Ben Shearer collected a second bronze medal on the weekend as his 4:01.27 placed third in the mile. Reuben Reina finished ninth in 4:04.25.

Jordan Anthony and Lance Lang each finished fourth in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes, with times of 6.64 seconds and 20.58 seconds, respectively. Steven McElroy finished seventh in the 400-meter dash after a collision at 200-meter dash halted his progress. He finished in 1:06.1 to pick up a pair of team points.

Georgia’s Christopher Morales-Williams of Canada won the 400-meter dash title in a world record of 44.49 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 44.57 set by Kerron Clement at the same facility in 2005. He also bettered the world best of 44.52 set by USC’s Michael Norman in College Station that wasn’t ratified.

Fifth place performances for Arkansas included Riley Wells in the 800-meter (1:49.05) as well as Apalos Edwards in the triple jump (52-3.25).

As for the women, the No. 1 Razorbacks won a 10th consecutive SEC Indoor Championship, and they christened coach Chris Johnson with his first conference title.

Arkansas totaled 131 points in claiming a 14th SEC Indoor championship in program history as they scored in 14 of the 15 events they contested. Florida followed in team scoring with 80 points while Louisiana State University finished third at 68.5 points.

The signature event for the Razorbacks on Saturday was the 400-meter dash as Arkansas accumulated 31 team points off a 1-2-3-4-7 finish. Collegiate leader Amber Anning lowered her nationally leading time to a time of 50.43 seconds in winning the event, which moves to No. 2 on the British all-time list as well as the UA all-time list.

Among collegians, Anning became the No. 6 performer with the No. 6 performance all-time.

Nickisha Pryce and freshman Kaylyn Brown both posted career best times of 50.83 seconds in finishing second and third. The pair were separated 0.002 of second (50.821 to 50.823) running in different sections. They share the No. 4 position on UA all-time list while Pryce improves her No. 2 position on the Jamaica all-time list behind the 50.79 national record.

Rosey Effiong ran 51 seconds in fourth while Joanne Reid finished seventh in 52.83.

Arkansas came into the meet ranked 1-2-5-6 nationally, and leave the meet ranked 1-2-3-4 heading into NCAA Indoors.

The same group tallied 17 points in the 20-meter dash off a 2-4-5 finish from Effiong, Pryce, and Anning. A career-best time of 22.51 seconds for Effiong moves her to No. 2 on the UA all-time list behind the 22.43 school record by Veronica Campbell.

The Arkansas tracksters who qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships will head to Boston for the two-day event next Friday and Saturday.

Those track athletes that did not qualify for nationals will begin the 2024 outdoor season March 29 at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.