FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas men's and women's track teams made it a clean sweep at the Razorback Invitational, with the men squeaking out a victory by a half-point and the women breezing home with a 27-point victory over a strong field.
Arkansas' third-ranked men's team finished with 85.5 points Saturday to edge No. 2 Florida (85), No. 4 Texas A&M (84) and No. 9 LSU (81.5) in the two-day meet at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center.
"Everyone is kind of tinkering with their events and trying to get everything in place to peak at the right time, but we definitely wanted to win the meet," said Chris Bucknam, Arkansas' men's coach. "It's a shot across the bows of those guys. You look at us, Florida, LSU and Texas A&M and those are going to be the teams to beat in the SEC meet and in nationals. Just look how close it was."
Arkansas' Omar McLeod won the 60-meter hurdles in 7.73 seconds and the Hogs picked up big points in the 800 meters as Ryan Thomas took second (1:49.20) and Patrick Rono was third (1:49.35). Clive Pullen was second in the triple jump (51 feet, 5 3/4 inches).
"It takes steady points and competition and racing all through the day," Bucknam said. "I like the way we competed today."
Arkansas' fifth-ranked women's team posted an impressive victory with 111 points to easily outdistance runner-up Florida (84), ranked No. 1 nationally, and LSU (81).
"Florida did not run all their best and we kept some out too, but there was still some great competition here today," said Lance Harter, Arkansas' women's coach. "I think the big thing was how many personal bests we had today. That's a great sign that we are getting better, and hopefully we will peak at the right time at the SEC meet and nationals.
Taylor Ellis-Watson won the 400 meters for Arkansas in 52.14 seconds, Tamara Myers was second in the triple jump (43-11 3/4), Chrishuna Williams was second in the 800 meters (2:05.00) and Diane Robison took third in the 3,000 meters (9:12.08)
Williams' points in the 800 were particularly encouraging for Harter since it was her first time to run the event.
"She has been mostly a 400-meter runner, and we tried her in the 800 in the relays a couple of times and she had some nice times," Harter said. "This was her first time in the open 800, and she did a great job. That's going to be top two or three in the country."
Williams was edged out by former Razorback Stephanie Brown, an elite pro athlete running for Nike. Brown won in 2:04.17.
Robison's third-place finish in the 3,000 was backed up by Jessica Kamilos' fifth-place finish (9:24.43) and Shannon Klenke's sixth-place finish (9:29.94).
Sports on 02/01/2015