Arkansas women dominate the field
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas women’s track and field Coach Lance Harter thought the team race at the SEC Indoor Championships would be tight, but his Razorbacks had a different idea and rolled to their second consecutive indoor title.
Arkansas freshman Lexi Weeks won the pole vault and senior Taylor Ellis-Watson claimed the 400 meters, but they had plenty of help Saturday to pile up 110 points and easily outdistance second-place
LSU with 67 at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
“When we came in this afternoon, we thought this was
going to be a 10-point meet and if we had a hiccup it was going to go either way,” Harter said. “The good news was it started off with Payton [Stumbaugh] getting third in the hurdles and that momentum just kept building.”
Harter acknowledged the sixth consecutive SEC title for the women, counting cross country, outdoor and indoor track. But this year’s title was a team effort, Harter said.
“What I keep telling the kids is ‘Make sure you cherish these because they are hard to come by,’ ” Harter said. “Yeah, we’ve got [six] in a row now. But they have to understand each and every one of them is a separate battle, and just never take them for granted.
“I think that once the momentum started with the first event with the multis, that was just such a positive flow. Once the ball got really rolling, it almost snowballed. And thank God it was in our favor. Hopefully, we carry that same momentum to the national meet.”
Ellis-Watson ran a blistering 51.84 to win the 400, charging to the front and cruising home in her heat. She also took fourth in the 200.
The 400 “went exactly as I planned, get to the break first and just hold on,” Ellis-Watson said. “I knew Shamier [Little] was going to be behind me. Now I know what to expect for nationals. I am really excited to get those 10 point for us.”
Harter said a key point in the day was the mile, when the Razorbacks went 2-3-6 for 17 points. Senior Jessica Kamilos went out hard and got third, while teammate Therese Haiss charged late to take second.
“I had us down for 10 and we scored 17,” Harter said. “The mile was really where things started clicking. That was a huge breakthrough for Therese. And Jessica was sick last night and barely qualified.”
Haiss was also part of Arkansas’ winning distance medley relay team, which was anchored by freshman Devin Clark.
“We let a little freshman anchor for the first time who said she can’t kick, but she just outkicked the SEC champ in the 800,” Harter said. “So when that ball gets going, it just keeps going in our favor.”
Weeks, the top-ranked vaulter going into the event, sailed through the competition to win with a clearance of 14 feet, 81/4 inches. She missed three times at 15-11/2, a quarter of an inch better than her personal best. The freshman admitted to some nerves at her first SEC meet, but kept them under control. Her twin sister, Tori, took third and teammate Megan Zimlich was fourth to give the Razorbacks 21 points.