Arkansas men seek SEC title return
The Arkansas Razorbacks men’s track and field team is full-bore at regaining the Southeastern Conference Outdoor title they won in 2016 but Texas A&M won a year ago.
Both the SEC men’s and women’s meets run today through Sunday at the University of Tennessee’s Tom Black Track in Knoxville.
Today and Saturday’s portion are available via internet video streaming via SEC Network+. Sunday’s events will be televised on the SEC Network (Resort Channel 79) at 5 p.m.
Coach Chris Bucknam and his No. 8 Razorbacks especially thirst for the outdoor title after Alabama denied them a third consecutive SEC Indoor title in March by three points.
“We were pretty irritated with what happened indoors,” Bucknam said. “So we are not redshirting anybody outdoors that’s not healthy and ready to go. It’s all hands on deck.”
Especially since Derek Jacobus, the decathlete-heptathlete originally redshirting so he could have a 2019 outdoor decathlon season to follow his lone remaining indoor heptathlon season next winter. Jacobus voluntarily shed his outdoor redshirt to compete at the decathlon in Knoxville.
“He called us up yesterday,” Bucknam said Tuesday. “He said, ‘Coach, I know the meet is really going to be tight. I’m willing to give my redshirt up to compete.’ So, we pulled the redshirt to have him compete in the decathlon. He felt ‘I’m ready to go and why sit out? Let’s do this!’”
Jacobus scored five team points placing fourth in last year’s SEC Outdoor decathlon.
Noting “every point counts” off the the indoor loss to Alabama, Bucknam was encouraged that the shot put, hammer throw and javelin, seldom prime events for the Hogs, might peak net 3-6 points given last weekend’s personal bests by shot-putter Jeff Rogers, hammer thrower Erich Sullins and javelin thrower Alex Springer put them on the cusp of top eight SEC finishes, which get two points for seventh and one for eighth.
Of course it takes a big scoring base to make those fringe points team-winning points.
Missing Razorbacks include
13.79 110-meter hurdler Shakiel Chattoo, still not confident he’s over a hamstring injury after pulling up at Twilight; Jah-Nhai Perinchief, a 7-5 high jumper and 53-plus triple jumper; Alex George, a former SEC cross country champion,;and All-American quarter-miler, Rhayko Schwartz.
Bucknam said he believes the base is still there with Arkansas nationally No. 1 in the country in the 4x100-meter relay and fifth in the 4x400, while twotime NCAA Indoor 200-meter All-American and SEC Indoor 60-meter dash champ Kenzo Cotton ranks eighth in the 100-meter dash and Kemar Mowatt ranks third in the
400-meter hurdles.
Jack Bruce ranks 11th and third in the SEC 1500 and
5000, respectively, while Cameron Griffith, the SEC Indoor
3,000-meter champion, also doubles in the 1,500 and 5,000. All-American sprinter Obi Igbokwe doubles in the 200 and
400 and both relays.
It’s a strong group, but about every SEC team has one.
Nationally, SEC men’s teams Florida, Alabama, Texas A&M and Georgia rank first, third, fifth and sixth with LSU and Kentucky 12th and 13th behind
Arkansas’ eighth.
“We’re nationally ranked eighth,” Bucknam said. “There are four other (SEC) schools ahead of us. So, it’s going to be daunting task.”
Winning the 2014 SEC Outdoor started 12 consecutive SEC championships in outdoor track, cross country and indoor track for Arkansas’ women, who are without several of their top athletes.
“Maybe it’s No. 13 working against us,” said women’s head coach Lance Harter. “We’re probably leaving 50 or 60 points at home. Anytime you can score 100, you’re going to win it, so I think right now we’re in that 70, 80 type of format, which last year was second place.”
It’s a loaded SEC field of nationally No.1 LSU, No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Georgia, the NCAA Indoor champion, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 9 Florida.
“Out of the five teams that could contend we are one of those five, but it would take a lot,” Harter said. “But a lot of our young ones, they don’t know better. They think it’s another conference title and who orders the rings?”