FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas men’s track and field Coach Chris Bucknam doesn’t want his team to overdo it at the SEC Indoor Championships, even though the Razorbacks might have to.
The Razorbacks, the top ranked team in the nation, will try to win their third SEC indoor title in Bucknam’s four years when the SEC Indoor Championships begin today at Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky. Arkansas’ fourth ranked women’s team, which was runner-up a year ago, will try to knock off No. 2 LSU, the defending champion.
Two years ago, Bucknam’s Razorbacks held off Florida 123-119 for the conference title but saw the Gators win the national championships two weeks later. Arkansas finished fifth, and Bucknam partially attributed that to fatigue after exerting so much to win the conference title.
The second-ranked Gators, the two-time reigning national champions, appear to be Arkansas’ chief foe again this year. Florida defeated Arkansas 148-136.5 a year ago at the SEC meet.
Bucknam said that the key to this meet was doing enough to win but still having enough “in the tank” to contend at nationals, which will be March 9-10.
“It’s like a grilling a steak.You can leave it on the grill too long,” Bucknam said. “You over sharpen a knife, it gets dull. Those are the types of things we talk about with our team.”
Bucknam said, however, that Florida and No. 4 LSU might not give the Razorbacks a chance to pace themselves.
“We might not have that option,” Bucknam said. “This meet is a blessing and a curse. That’s the balance we have to strike. That’s going to be tough.”
Bucknam said Arkansas should be strong in the middle distance races such as the 800 meters and the mile, where the Razorbacks will have multiple entries. Nationally, the Razorbacks also have the best heptathlete in Gunnar Nixon, the best 1,600 relay team and three of the top four 400 runners.
Bucknam said Arkansas will have numerous head to-head competitions with LSU and Florida athletes, so the Razorbacks will have a chance to deal the contenders some setbacks.
“Whenever we have a matchup with Florida or LSU, we’re going to have to win that matchup,” Bucknam said. “It’s hard to pinpoint one or two events.”
The wild cards are the standout individuals at the noncontending schools who might chip away at the top three’s points in various events.
“There are individuals in every event from every university that are going to be a player, and it will all vitally affect the team score,” Bucknam said. “We have to be at our very best.”
The Razorbacks women’s team has several potential big point scorers in pole vaulter Tina Sutej, sprinter Regina George and middle distance runner Stephanie Brown. The women’s team also will rely on a bevy of freshmen, including three who will run their first 5,000 at the SEC meet.
“We’re going to count on a lot of young people, especially in the distances, to score,” Harter said. “Usually when you have young people with no experience, that’s not a combination you pray for.
“It’s going to be really interesting.”
SEC Indoors at a glance
WHEN Today-Sunday
WHERE Nutter Field House, Lexington, Ky.
TOP TEAMS Men: No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Florida, No. 4 LSU; Women: No. 2 LSU, No. 4 Arkansas, No. 6 Florida, No. 8 Tennessee
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS Men: Florida; Women: LSU
TELEVISION Tape-delayed broadcast 4 p.m. March 11 on ESPNU
INTERNET ESPN3 from 1-6:30 p.m. Saturday and 12:25-4 p.m. Sunday
Sports, Pages 24 on 02/24/2012