Razorbacks get on board with strong javelin finish

Alabama took the top three spots in the men’s 10,000 meters Friday night as the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships opened in Knoxville, Tenn., but Arkansas Razorbacks Coach Chris Bucknam wasn’t complaining.

“Those Alabama guys also were the top three finishers at the SEC cross country championships — even though we won the team title,” Bucknam said. “So we’re not surprised the 10,000 here was a re-run of the cross country meet. We were shooting to score 10 points in the race, and we got ’em.”

The No. 8-ranked Razorbacks scored 10 points in the 10,000 with sophomore Gilbert Boit taking fifth (29:84.24), junior Austen Dalquist sixth (29:53.31), freshman Matt Young seventh (30:05.09) and freshman Ryan Murphy eighth (30:10.68).

“It’s very hot and humid here and that race was a tough grind,” Bucknam said. “But our guys did a great job.”

Through three of 21 finals completed for the men, Alabama leads with 30 points from the Crimson Tide’s 1-2-3 finish in the 10,000 from Vincent Kiprop (29:16.64), Alfred Chelanga (29:17.30) and Gilbert Kigen (29:19.20).

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville is fourth with 13 points.

Razorbacks redshirt junior Alex Springer threw 213 feet, 10 inches on his final attempt to move from 10th to a sixthplace finish and score three points that could prove to be big in the team title race. He came into the event ranked eighth in the SEC.

“That was big for Alex to

get sixth,” Bucknam said. “That was a really good effort by him. He’s worked hard for us for four years.

“We’ve talked about needing everybody to get in there and score, and that’s what Alex did.”

Razorbacks seniors Kemar Mowatt (51.03) and Larry Donald (51.18) advanced to the 400 hurdles final. Senior Kenzo Cotton and junior Obi Egbokwe both ran 20.52 in the 200 to advance to the final.

The Razorbacks have two of the top four spots through five events of the decathlon. Senior Gabe Moore is second with 4,104 points and senior Derek Jacobus is fourth with 3,979. Georgia senior Karl Saluri leads with 4,200 points.

Moore ran a personal-best 10.69 in the 100, long jumped 23-71/2’ high jumped 6-31/2, tossed the shotput 46-81/4 and ran 49.33 in the 400.

Jacobus ran 10.88 in the 100, long jumped 24-11/2, high jumped 6-3 1/4, tossed the shot a personal-best 42-61/4 and ran 50.20 in the 400.

“Overall, it was a good first day for us,” Bucknam said. “We’ve just got to keep grinding.”

Jada Baylark, a sophomore from Little Rock Parkview, ran 22.96 to advance to the final in the 200 for Arkansas’ No. 4 women’s team.

The UA women didn’t score in the 10,000 as senior Regan Hime finished 11th.

The women have completed two of 21 finals with Missouri and Ole Miss tied for first with 15 points. Alabama is third with 11 points followed by Tennessee (10) and Mississippi State (8).

Arkansas, which is going for its 13th consecutive women’s title in cross country and indoor and outdoor track, didn’t score Friday night.

The meet will continue through Sunday night. The SEC Network will have a live telecast starting at 5 p.m. Sunday.