Arkansas hosts the Wooo Pig Classic on Friday, another team scored event that features a collection of top track and field talent from around the country. The Razorbacks play host to Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Southern California, and Texas inside the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Shawn Price January 19, 2021
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Surpassing 25 feet to win the long jump event by six inches garnered SEC Freshman of the Week honors for Razorback Johnathan Baker.
Baker won the event at the Arkansas Invitational with a mark of 25-0 ¾ (7.64) in his Razorback debut to defeat Oklahoma’s Rayvon Allen (24-6 ½). Baker currently ranks second on the world U20 list in 2021 while having the top mark by a freshman and is third best among collegians.
The winning leap for Baker came in round two and he followed with marks of 24-8 ¼ (7.52) and 24-5 ¾ (7.46) in rounds three and four. Those secondary marks also topped the field until Allen improved to 24-6 ½ in the final stanza.
Oklahoma finished as team runner-up with 104 points, followed by Arkansas State (95) and Central Arkansas (54).
In seeing the Razorbacks compete for the first time in over 10 months, Arkansas head coach Chris Buckman was satisfied with the performance.
“It was huge getting back into competition,” said Bucknam. “Even the week leading up to this was different. I was pleased with some of the performances we had.
“It was a very good meet for us. Anytime you win a meet that’s great. We’ve got a longways to go, but certainly we jumped into the deep end and everything is good.”
A spirited race among the Razorbacks occurred in the 1,000m as Amon Kemboi delivered a winning time of 2:23.49 with Kieran Taylor runner-up in 2:23.98, the fifth and sixth best times ever among marks in the Arkansas Invitational.
Shawn Price January 14, 2021
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Starting the 2021 indoor season on Saturday with the Arkansas Invitational, the Razorbacks will host Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Harding, Oklahoma, UA-Pine Bluff and UA-Little Rock in a scored meet inside Randal Tyson Track Center.
It will mark the first indoor track and field competition for Arkansas since winning the SEC Indoor championship last February, a span of 322 days.
“It’s a baby step for us,” said Razorback men’s head coach Chris Bucknam, in his 13
th season at Arkansas. “We have been training in the fall, trying to have a normal fall training period for our non-distance runners.