Hog Calls

SEC Indoors a battle of heavyweights

Arkansas women's track and field coach Lance Harter watches during the Arkansas Open Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015, at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.
Arkansas women's track and field coach Lance Harter watches during the Arkansas Open Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015, at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Going into the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday and Saturday in Lexington, Ky., Arkansas Coach Lance Harter's women's team is ranked No. 1 and Coach Chris Bucknam's men's team is ranked third.

Thus Harter's women are the hunted.

Though ranked No. 3, two spots behind top-ranked Florida, Bucknam's defending indoor champions always are the hunted at SEC meets just as the Razorbacks men were when John McDonnell coached them in cross country, indoor and outdoor track to 40 official national championships and 84 conference crowns.

By chance while interviewing Bucknam, I heard Bucknam apprise McDonnell of the SEC meet as the retired coach dropped by.

Not only is Florida ranked No. 1 nationally, but Texas A&M is No. 4, LSU is No. 6, Georgia is No. 7 and Alabama is No. 11.

"It's a three- or four-point meet with us, Florida and A&M," Bucknam said. "In my six years the conference has never been deeper."

McDonnell eyed the SEC's best-performance list, took a deep breath and concurred.

Harter loves being ranked No. 1 nationally but acknowledged it's not all fun.

"They have us No. 1, but of course No. 2 and 3 are Georgia and Florida and then A&M [No. 7] is right there as well," Harter said. "Four of the top seven are SEC, and they are all going to converge at Kentucky and duke it out."

PAT'S PAT ON THE BACK

Former Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson and former Arkansas All-Americans Sidney Moncrief and Corliss Williamson, all honored with banners bearing their names permanently hung in Walton Arena in halftime ceremonies during the Razorbacks' past three games there, aren't the only former Razorbacks players and coaches to be recently honored.

Pat Foster was honored last Saturday at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

Foster was inducted during halftime ceremonies into Lamar's Hall of Honor. The Emerson native previously had been inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in Little Rock and the UA's Razorbacks Sports Hall of Honor as a Razorbacks basketball player and baseball player and a basketball assistant under Lanny Van Eman and Eddie Sutton.

Foster's Arkansas ties were pivotal when it came to helping Sutton recruit and coach native sons Marvin Delph, Ron Brewer and Moncrief, whom Foster stood behind when Moncrief's banner was rolled from the Walton Arena rafters.

Foster was the head coach at Lamar from 1980-81 through 1985-86, then coached Houston and Nevada before retiring to Fayetteville.

As pointed out in a fine column by Port Arthur, Texas, columnist Bob West, who covered Foster at Lamar, Foster's six years at the school exceeded every Lamar coach's winning percentage before and since. Foster also coached Lamar teams that eliminated strong Missouri and Alabama teams from the NCAA Tournament. In 1986, West wrote, Foster's Cardinals "embarrassed" reigning national champion Villanova.

Lamar honored him accordingly.

"It was really nice," Foster said. "They rolled a banner down. I wasn't expecting a banner. I felt like Sidney Moncrief."

.

Sports on 02/25/2015

Upcoming Events