NCAA Championships Next for No. 3 Razorbacks Women’s Track

Courtesy University of Arkansas Athletics Department

FAYETTEVILLE – The No. 3 University of Arkansas women’s track and field team closes out its indoor season this weekend by hosting the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships. The two-day national meet will be contested March 8-9 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. Action in the women’s competition begins Friday at 12:30 p.m. (CT) and continues Saturday at 11:45 a.m. with the start of the pentathlon. 

Womens Track

“Obviously, we’re really excited about hosting the NCAA Championships,” head coach Lance Harter said. “We have a great facility, great officials and we’re looking forward to the fans turning out to support both the men’s and women’s teams. We pretty much have the lineup we expected to go into the meet and battle with our peers, and we look forward to that battle.”

The 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships will be streamed live by ESPN3.com Friday beginning at 5:25 p.m. (CT) and Saturday beginning at 5:50 p.m. Early portions of the meet not covered by ESPN3 will be streamed at NCAA.com and ArkansasRazorbacks.com, beginning with the start of competition each day. A tape-delay broadcast of the national meet will air March 17 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. 

With Monday’s announcement of the 2013 national qualifiers, Arkansas will have nine entries at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Razorbacks will be represented by six individuals and two relays with scoring opportunities in eight events. The team’s nine entries at the national meet are tied for the ninth-highest total in the country. 

Three of the Razorbacks’ nine NCAA qualifiers are national leaders in their respective events with Makeba Alcide, Regina George and the team’s 4×400-meter relay. Alcide broke the collegiate record in the pentathlon at the SEC Championships with her winning total of 4,569 points. George became the ninth-fastest collegiate runner at 400 meters with her time of 51.40 at the conference meet. Arkansas’ 4×400-meter relay enters the meet with an NCAA-best time of 3:29.60, also posted at the SEC Championships.

Alcide will also compete in the high jump. In addition to its three national leaders, Arkansas will also be represented by Sparkle McKnight at 400 meters, Ivanique Kemp in the 60-meter hurdles, Sandi Morris in the pole vault, Tamara Myers in the triple jump and in the distance-medley relay. The Razorbacks are one of just three teams in the women’s competition to qualify in both 4×400-meter and distance-medley relay events. 

In its program history, Arkansas has nine top-10 finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships, including last year’s fifth-place showing in Nampa, Idaho. The program-best finish came back in 2000 with a third-place team result. The Razorbacks have nine indoor national champions. Most recently, former Arkansas standout Tina Sutej won back-to-back NCAA pole vault titles in 2011 and 2012.

Based on entries into the national meet, Arkansas regained its spot at No. 3 in the March 5 release of the USTFCCCA national poll. The Razorbacks have reached as high as the No. 2 ranking this season. Arkansas is one of seven SEC teams ranked this week, along with top-ranked LSU, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 8 Georgia, No. 11 Florida, No. 15 South Carolina and No. 20 Kentucky.

This weekend marks the 11th national indoor hosting duties for Arkansas (2000-08, 2010). For tickets, visit the Razorback Ticket Center on Razorback Road by Baum Stadium, log on to the online ticket center at ArkansasRazorbacks.com or call 800-982-HOGS (4647). Keep up with Arkansas cross country and track and field with the team’s RazorbackTF Facebook and Twitter pages.

2013 NCAA Championships Entries

400 Meters

1. Regina George – 51.40

11. Sparkle McKnight – 52.77

 

60m Hurdles

13. Ivanique Kemp – 8.18

 

4x400m Relay

1. Williams/McKnight/Flowers/George – 3:29.60

 

Distance-Medley Relay

11. Heymsfield/George/Borge/Scott – 11:04.93

 

High Jump

4. Makeba Alcide – 1.89m/6-2.25

 

Pole Vault

4. Sandi Morris – 4.43m/14-6.25

 

Triple Jump

9. Tamara Myers – 13.06m/42-10.25

 

Pentathlon

1. Makeba Alcide – 4,569 points

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