Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Former champions highlight UA meet
FAYETTEVILLE — Former Arkansas national champions Omar McLeod, Andrew Irwin and Sandi Morris will be among the track and field professionals competing along with a loaded field of collegians this weekend at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville.
The meet will be held to- day and Saturday at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
McLeod, a native of Jamaica, won three NCAA individual hurdles titles and ran a leg on the Razorbacks’ national championships 400-meter relay team in two seasons at Arkansas before turning pro last summer.
Irwin, from Mount Ida, was a two-time NCAA pole vault champion while Morris won one national pole vault title.
The long jump will feature two NCAA champions with Arkansas senior Jarrion Lawson and former Florida star Marquis Dendy.
“There will be some world-leading performances coming out of this meet,” Arkansas men’s Coach Chris Bucknam said. “Along with the pros, we’ve got college teams coming from everywhere.”
Athletes from more than 30 colleges will compete, with the visiting teams including Florida, Texas, Southern California, Florida State, LSU and Texas A&M.
All-American sprinter Taylor Ellis-Watson will lead Arkansas’ No. 1-ranked women’s team and run in the 400 meters and on the 1,600 relay.
“We’re going to see a level of competition that’s extraordinary,” Arkansas women’s Coach Lance Harter said. “When you bring the pros in, it elevates the expectations for everybody.”
Morris, who finished second at the USA Outdoor Championships in 2014 and 2015, cleared a personal-best 15-9 at a meet in Joplin, Mo., last weekend.
“Sandi is obviously ready to compete at a high level,” Harter said. “It’s going to be great having her back on her home runway.”
While Arkansas’ sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers will be at the Tyson Invitational, the distance runners will compete in Seattle for the women and Ames, Iowa, for the men because of strong fields at those meets.
Arkansas will host the SEC Championships on Feb. 26-27, adding to the significance of how the Razorbacks perform this weekend to hit or improve on national-qualifying marks and set their roster for the conference meet.
“This is one of those weekends that can help define your season,” Bucknam said. “It will really go a long way in telling us where our team is at and has has a lot of SEC and national championship implications.”
SEC teams are limited to 27 athletes for the conference meet.
“It defies logic why if we’re a team sport you’re allowed to only have 27 athletes at the indoor conference championship, especially when there are 17 events,” Bucknam said. “That number has never made sense and it’s unfortunate we’re going to have some pretty good athletes that are unable participate on our home track because of that.”