No. 1 Razorbacks Take on LSU, Texas A&M

Courtesy UofA Athletics Department

FAYETTEVILLE – The No. 1 University of Arkansas men’s track and field team travels to College Station, Texas, this weekend for the Texas A&M Triangular. The Razorbacks will compete Saturday against fourth-ranked Texas A&M and No. 10 LSU. The scored tri-meet event is slated for an 11 a.m. (CT) start at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium at the McFerrin Athletic Center.

“This is a good meet for us right now,” head coach Chris Bucknam said. “It gets us on the road into a different facility. We jump right in to the mix, there’s no question about that. Texas has an awfully good team with some great athletes. Now we go down to College Station for a tri-meet with Texas A&M and LSU. We’re about five weeks away from the SEC meet so it’ll be good to get down there and get a taste of great competition.”

The Razorbacks enter the meet off a season-opening dual win over No. 3 Texas in Fayetteville. Along with eight career-best performances, Arkansas had nine event wins and a winning score of 85-78 over the Longhorns. The head-to-head victory was the Razorbacks’ fourth since the indoor series began in 2010.

On the heels of their respective performances in the season opener, junior Raymond Higgs and freshman Cale Wallace were recognized by the Southeastern Conference. Higgs was named the SEC Co-Field Athlete of the Week after an NCAA-leading mark of 7.95m/26-1 in the long jump. Wallace earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for his runner-up result in the mile. Both Razorbacks are scheduled to compete at Texas A&M.

Heading into this weekend, Arkansas owns five top-five national marks with Higgs in the long jump (No. 1, 7.95m/26-1), Wallace in the mile (No. 4, 4:08.63), senior Caleb Cross in the 60-meter hurdles (No. 5, 7.79), senior Akheem Gauntlett at 200 meters (No. 4, 20.84) and freshman Jarrion Lawson in the long jump (7.63m/25-0.5).

Saturday’s meet will be scored on a 7-5-4-3-2-1 scale in individual events and a 7-5-4 scale in the relay events. Only two individual entries and one relay entry per school will score. Field and running events will begin concurrently. The men’s field events will begin with the high jump, long jump and weight throw. The first running event will be the mile.

Fans can follow along with the Texas A&M Triangular with a free video stream, live results and interactive blog. Following this weekend’s meet, Arkansas returns to its home facility Jan. 25-26 for the Razorback Team Invitational. The two-day competition is scheduled to feature seven teams ranked in the USTFCCCA preseason projections poll. 

For more information regarding Razorback track and field or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Fans can also keep up with Arkansas cross country and track and field through the team’s sport-specific RazorbackTF Facebook and Twitter pages.