FAYETTEVILLE -- Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, Omar McLeod knew nothing of the Arkansas-Texas rivalry.
Now he knows all about it.
ARKANSAS-TEXAS DUAL TRACK AND FIELD MEET
WHEN 6 p.m. .
WHERE Randal Tyson Track Center, Fayetteville
WHO Men: No. 3 Arkansas vs No. 8 Texas. Women: No. 7 Arkansas vs No. 5 Texas.
TICKETS $5 general admission for adults. Free admission for 17 and under. Season tickets for all UA regular-season home meets indoors and outdoors $40. Does not include NCAA Indoor Championships.
SCORING FORMAT 5-3-2-1 with teams receiving points for two finishes in each event
MESSING WITH TEXAS
Arkansas’ men’s team has won its dual meet against Texas for five consecutive years. Here are the year-by-year results. All meets have been in Fayetteville.
2010 Arkansas 88, Texas 81
2011 Arkansas 97, Texas 72
2012 Arkansas 89, Texas 81
2013 Arkansas 85, Texas 78
2014 Arkansas 102, Texas 68
NOTE The Arkansas and Texas women’s teams competed in a dual meet for the first time last year, when the Razorbacks won 91-63.
McLeod, a sophomore sprinter and hurdler for the Razorbacks, experienced the rivalry first-hand last year when he won the 60-meter hurdles and 200 meters to help Arkansas beat Texas 102-68 in the teams' dual meet.
"I found out the schools don't like each other," said McLeod, the NCAA champion in the 60-meter hurdles last year. "I know how special it is for Arkansas to beat Texas, and I'm going to try to keep my best to keep it going where Arkansas wins again."
The Razorbacks are 5-0 against the Longhorns since the teams began holding dual meets in Fayetteville in 2010.
Arkansas will try to make it six in a row tonight when the No. 3 Razorbacks go against No. 8 Texas at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center.
Arkansas' and Texas' women's teams joined the dual meet last year -- when the Razorbacks won 91-63 for a sweep -- and will compete tonight. Texas is ranked No. 5 and Arkansas is No. 7.
Lance Harter, in his 25th year as Arkansas' coach, competed against Texas in the Southwest Conference his first year with the Razorbacks before they moved to the SEC.
"Any time any of our sports has competition with Texas, it brings out a lot of excitement for everybody," Harter said. "Texas is always on our radar."
The meet begins at 6 p.m. with the women's pole vault and concludes at 9:15 with the men's and women's 1,600-meter relays.
"I hope people appreciate the short program and that you're going to see some great track and field events with world-class athletes and national-class athletes in one meet," Arkansas men's Coach Chris Bucknam said. "We're always glad to win the meet, but we don't take it for granted or underestimate Texas at all, that's for sure.
"We see it as a historic rivalry, and we're grateful that Texas recognizes that as well. Our great tradition, our great facility and our mutual respect attracts them to keep coming back."
McLeod is one of three NCAA champions competing for the Razorbacks along with senior pole vault Andrew Irwin and junior long jumper Jarrion Lawson.
Distance runners going for the Razorbacks include Stanley Kebenei, Kemoy Campbell and Gabe Gonzalez.
Irwin, from Mount Ida, opened the season by vaulting 18-1 last weekend, which earned him SEC field event athlete of the week honors.
"We don't get the opportunity very often to go against another team head-to-head, and doing it against Texas makes it even better," Irwin said. "It's fun to see who's got what."
The women's pole vault should be a highlight event, featuring Arkansas All-Americans Sandi Morris and Ariel Voskamp and freshman Desiree Freier -- the national high school record-holder from Justin, Texas.
The scoring format is 5-3-2-1, but each team gets points for only two finishes per event, which is designed to keep it a tight race to the end.
Bucknam has brought back scoring at regular-season meets to boost fan interest and fire up the athletes.
"It's old school," Bucknam said. "It's like a wrestling match or a boxing match.
"We're really able to see how our guys compete. It tells a great story for us about what our team is going to be like this year."
Sports on 01/16/2015