Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
UA track makes it look easy. It is not.
FAYETTEVILLE — About all more difficult than the Arkansas Razorbacks men and women achieving conference track championships in the nation’s by far toughest track league is conveying how difficult they were to achieve.
The late John McDonnell — retired in 2008 with 84 Southwest Conference and SEC cross country, indoor and track championships — glared when a well-meaning track banquet emcee ho-hummed “Arkansas just won another SEC track championship.”
That McDonnell’s men made conference crowns routine — and even 40 national championships seem routine — was a compliment but deserved more.
Ditto the 31 SEC championships, including the last five SEC Indoor crowns with the latest last Friday and Saturday at Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Track Center, plus two NCAA Indoor Championships that men’s Coach Chris Bucknam’s regime has achieved and the 45 SEC championships with seven national championships won by retired women’s Coach Lance Harter’s regime.
Now Chris Johnson, the women’s sprints coach so instrumental in contributing to Harter’s championships, head coached his own SEC Women’s Indoor crown won last Friday and Saturday.
It appeared easy, the women’s 131-80 victory over runner-up Florida, and the men’s 163-106 over runner-up Florida. Neither was.
Those are the same Gators that, though outpointed by champion Arkansas at last year’s men’s and women’s SEC and NCAA Indoor, won last spring’s NCAA men and women’s Outdoor and the SEC women’s Outdoor.
In Friday night’s long jump, Arkansas’ Wayne Pinnock (27-2) finished first with Razorback Jack Turner seventh totaling 12 team points.
Three Gators placed second, third and fourth for an event-leading 19 long jump points.
“Those guys [Florida] are right in our wheelhouse all the time,” Bucknam said.
However, Florida’s wheelhouse included only one heptathlete, fourth-placer Oliver Thorner’s five points. Arkansas field events coach Travis Geopfert hyped the heptathlon for 28 points with Yariel Soto Torrado, Marcus Weaver, Daniel Spejcher and Gabriel Emmanuel finishing first through third and fifth, respectively.
Led by Romaine Beckford’s winning 7-4 1/2 leap, Arkansas scored 20 high jump points and unveiled distance superstar Peter Maru winning the 5,000 and 3,000 meters in meet records 13:31.11 and 7:47.26. With Roje Stona’s third in the shot to placing third, fifth and sixth in the 60-meter hurdles, Arkansas’ men scored in all but one event entered.
Johnson’s women, starting with Sydney Thorvaldson’s meet record time of 15:42.5 winning Friday’s 5,000, also scored in 14 of 15 events entered. They were especially spectacular in the 400 meters. Collegiate leader Amber Anning (50.43), Nickisha Pryce and Kaylyn Brown (both 50.83 personal records) and Rosey Effiong (51.00) placed first through fourth with Joanne Reid (52.83) seventh for 31 points.
In an excruciating two-day 400 and 200 double, Effiong, Pryce and Anning placed a second, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 200.
From McDonnell on, all Arkansas track coaches take pride in fielding a complete track program rather than specializing in just one area.
Certainly both teams performed a total display for the home folk last weekend.
Next they defend their NCAA Indoor Championships on March 8-9 in Boston.