FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012 – MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACT: Zach Lawson (zlawson@uark.edu)

 

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

No. 4 Arkansas in Lexington for SECs

 

            FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After a weekend off, the No. 4 University of Arkansas women’s track and field taem returns to action this weekend for the 2012 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships. The conference meet will be contested Feb. 24-26 at the Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky. Competition begins Friday at 1:30 p.m. (CT) with the start of the pentathlon.

            “One of the highlights every year is competing at the conference meet,” head coach Lance Harter said. “With the SEC meet, we’re heading right into the fire. It never fails. You have four teams ranked in the top eight so we’re going to have our hands full. It’s going to be a battle.”

            The SEC Indoor Championships will air as part of a 90-minute show on ESPNU on Sunday, March, 11 at 4 p.m. The meet will also be streamed live via ESPN3.com on Saturday from 1:05-6:30 p.m. and Sunday from 12:25-4 p.m. Kentucky will stream live the portions of the meet not covered by ESPN3.

            Under Harter, Arkansas has won three SEC indoor team titles since joining the league in 1991-92. The Razorbacks won SEC indoor crowns in 2000, 2001 and 2003 and have been the runner-up on five occasions, including last year in Fayetteville. The team’s 2001 victory came in Lexington. In 2011, Arkansas finished second with 118 points and three event titles with Shelise Williams at 400 meters, Tina Sutej in the pole vault and the 4x400-meter relay.

            The Razorback women have won 47 SEC indoor event titles since joining the conference and have had at least one event champion in all but one year (2007) in that span. The team won a program-best five SEC event titles in 2000 and has had a champion in 11 of the 16 events contested. Sutej, Gwendolyn Flowers, Regina George and Whitney Jones are current Razorbacks with SEC titles.

            In this week’s release of the USTFCCCA national poll, Arkansas is the No. 4-ranked team in the country. The Razorbacks have now been ranked fourth for three consecutive weeks after beginning the season at No. 3. Arkansas is one of five teams from the SEC ranked this week, including four inside the top eight. Joining the Razorbacks are No. 2 LSU, No. 6 Florida, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 22 South Carolina.

            Through the first six weeks of the indoor season, Arkansas has posted several top-10 marks on the SEC performance list. The Razorbacks have three top-ranked event performers with the distance-medley relay, Sutej in the pole vault and Makeba Alcide in the pentathlon.

            In addition to the video streams, weekend coverage of the 2012 SEC Indoor Championships will include live results and an interactive blog. For more information regarding Razorback track and field or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

 

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