Razorback Track and Field Teams Ready for 2014 Season

 

Razorback track and field men

FAYETTEVILLE – The Razorback track and field teams open the 2014 season Friday, January 10 as the Razorbacks host the Arkansas Invitational at Randal Tyson Track Center. Field events begin at 11 a.m., while running events are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. The men enter the season as the reigning indoor National Champions, wrapping up the 2013 season as the top-ranked team in the country.

Head Coach Chris Bucknam enters his sixth season, after earning his first National Championship with the 2013 team and leading the Razorbacks to their second Southeastern Conference Triple Crown with Bucknam at the helm. In total, Bucknam has led the Razorbacks to 11 SEC titles.

The Razorbacks return 13 All-Americans including defending NCAA heptathlon champion, Kevin Lazas, who set the school record last season with his 6,175 point performance. The team also returns Neil Braddy off the national champion 4×400 relay team who set the NCAA record with a time of 3:03.50. Andrew Irwin also returns for the 2014 season, after a standout performance in 2013. After sweeping the SEC indoor and outdoor pole vault titles last season, Irwin wrapped up the season with an NCAA indoor title with a program-best 18-8.25.

This fall, the No. 9 men’s cross country team was named SEC Champions for the fourth-consecutive year and took home the title from the 2013 South Central Regional Championships. The strong talent in Kemoy Campbell and Stanley Kebenei was showcased, leading the Razorbacks to their 33rd NCAA Regional Championship with 34 points. Kebenei ran to All-America honors and Bucknam’s second individual title in his sixth season with the Razorbacks.

Arkansas will host seven home meets – four indoor and three outdoor – in addition to playing host for the 2014 Outdoor NCAA West Preliminary May 29-31. Home indoor meets will be held at Randal Tyson Track Center and outdoor meets will take place at the newly resurfaced John McDonnell Field.

Friday’s Arkansas Invitational will mark the first meet of the season, followed by the Arkansas vs. Texas Dual on January 18. The Razorback Team Invitational will take place January 31-February 1, and the regular season will wrap up with the Tyson Invitational February 14-15. The Championship season begins with the SEC Championships in College Station, TX in which the Razorbacks will seek their third consecutive title.  Following the SEC Championships, Arkansas looks to compete for its second-consecutive indoor NCAA Title in Albuquerque, N.M.

The outdoor season will begin Wednesday, March 26 with the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. The first home meet will take place Saturday, April 5 as the Razorbacks host the Arkansas Invitational followed by the John McDonnell Invitational April 11-12. The Razorbacks will hit the road for the remainder of the month before returning home for the Arkansas Twilight on Friday, May 2.

The team will go for another conference title at the SEC Championships May 15-18. The NCAA West Preliminary will be held May 29-31 at John McDonnell Field as the Razorbacks will compete for a shot at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Razorback Track and Field Teams Ready for 2014 Season womenThe University of Arkansas women’s track and field team is gearing up for the 2014 season, after wrapping up the 2013 season at a No. 3 national ranking.

The Razorbacks earned their fourth Southeastern Conference indoor title in the spring and return many members of the SEC Championship team this season. In the fall, Arkansas picked up its 15th cross country SEC Championship, and clinched an NCAA Championship berth with a South Central Regional title.

The Razorbacks graduated leading seniors Makeba Alcide and Regina George, but the 2013 SEC Champions return a strong group from last season’s team. The 2014 squad will be led by key All-Americans, Stephanie Brown, Grace Heymsfield, Tamara MyersChrishuna Williams and Keri Wood.

Head Coach Lance Harter looks for middle distance and distance events to be one of the strengths of the 2014 season, returning an award-winning group of runners. Returners Brown, Heymsfield and Wood are joined by cross country All-American Dominique Scott as the Razorbacks provide a competitive edge in mid-distance and distance events this season with All-SEC returners.

Williams is a returning quarter of the National Champion 4×400 meter relay team that set the Arkansas school record with a finishing time of 3:29.60 at the SEC Championships. The field events will be highlights by Myers who returns this season as triple jump All-American, following a personal best and fourth-place finish at the SEC Championships with a mark of 20-2.5.

Friday’s Arkansas Invitational will mark the first meet of the season, followed by the Arkansas vs. Texas Dual on January 18. The Razorback Team Invitational will take place January 31-February 1, and regular season will wrap up with the Tyson Invitational February 14-15. Following the SEC Championships, Arkansas looks to compete for its second-consecutive indoor NCAA Title.

The women will spend some time on the road during the indoor season, traveling to the Armory Collegiate Invitational, the Husky Invite and the Kentucky Invite.

The outdoor season will begin Friday, March 21 at the Disney Invitational in Orlando, Fla. followed by the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. The Stanford Invite and Jim Click Shootout will lead up to the first home meet on Saturday, April 5 as the Razorbacks host the Arkansas Invitational. Arkansas will host the John McDonnell Invite April 11-12 before heading back on the road for the remainder of April. The Arkansas Twilight on May 2 will be the final home event before post-season action.

The team will compete for another conference title at the SEC Championships May 15-18. Arkansas will play host to the NCAA West Preliminary May 29-31 at John McDonnell Field as the Razorbacks will compete for a shot at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.

In December the University of Arkansas was selected to host four NCAA championship events. Arkansas will be home to a 2014 and 2016 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Regional, the 2015 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships and a 2017 NCAA Gymnastics Regional.

The University of Arkansas has earned a national reputation for hosting championship events. Since the Razorbacks entered the Southeastern Conference in 1992, Arkansas has hosted 81 SEC, regional and national competitions, including 26 in the last five years alone. In addition to the four championships announced on Wednesday, the University of Arkansas is already scheduled to host a 2014 NCAA Gymnastics Regional at Barnhill Arena, on April 5.

“We are pleased that the University of Arkansas has once again been recognized as one of the nation’s premiere hosts for NCAA championship events,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. “Hosting championship events at the University of Arkansas is a source of pride for our program and for our university. It also provides our student-athletes the opportunity to compete for conference, regional and national championships in front of the Razorback fans at some of the nation’s top competition venues.”

A recent study estimated the annual economic impact of Razorback Athletics to be more than $153.6 million annually. The same study estimated the total economic impact of the program to exceed more than $1 billion in the next five years.

“In addition to the more than 200 regular season athletic events we host on campus each year, NCAA events add to the tremendous economic impact Razorback Athletics is already having on our region,” Long said. “Thousands of student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans come to Northwest Arkansas, to fill hotels and support local businesses. It is also an opportunity to showcase the University of Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas while providing participants and spectators a memorable and rewarding championship experience.”

Arkansas will host the 2014 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Regionals on Nov. 14, 2014 at the Razorbacks’ home course at AGRI Park. The 2016 NCAA Regionals are set for Nov. 11, 2016 and will also be held at AGRI Park. The regionals will mark the third and fourth times, the University of Arkansas has hosted an NCAA Cross Country regional at AGRI Park with the previous events coming in 2007 and 2012.

The Randal Tyson Track Center will host the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships for the 12th time in 2015. Since the facility’s opening in 2000, Arkansas has hosted the event 11 times, including nine straight seasons and 11 of the last 13 championships. The Randal Tyson Center, home to the fastest indoor track in the world, will host the 2015 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Championships, March 13-14, 2015.

Barnhill Arena, on the University of Arkansas campus, has quickly become a familiar stop on the way to the NCAA Gymnastics Championship. For the fifth time in its history, Arkansas will host a NCAA Gymnastics Regional on April 1, 2017. Barnhill Arena served as a home site for regionals in 2006, 2009 and 2012 and is already scheduled to host again in 2014 (April 5). The first three times the Razorbacks have hosted, they have advanced to the NCAA Championship. In two of those years, 2009 and 2011, Arkansas reached the NCAA Super Six.

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