FAYETTEVILLE - College track and field’s folly becomes Arkansas track and field fans’ gain today.
The Razorbacks, the NCAA’s indoor and SEC indoor men’s champions last season who are ranked No. 3 in outdoor track this season, host No. 1 Florida, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Tulsa today at the Arkansas Invitational at John McDonnell Field.
The Razorbacks’ women’s team, ranked fifth outdoors, also hosts Florida, Central Florida, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Tulsa.
The Razorbacks men of Coach Chris Bucknam and Razorbacks women of Coach Lance Harter have assembled a remarkable collection of teams this weekend given that the Penn Relays and Drake Relays also will be run this weekend.
The men’s clash of Arkansas vs. Florida, second to Arkansas at both the SEC and NCAA indoor meets, makes this a compelling meet much like the Arkansas vs. Oregon dual meet last Saturday that Arkansas won while attracting 7,344 fans as part of the Oregon Relays.
“It should be a really good meet,” Bucknam said, noting SEC teams Florida, Texas A&M and Arkansas rank 1-2-3 nationally before the SEC Outdoor Championships on May 9-12 in Columbia, Mo. “This will be a pre-conference showdown for those who won’t be able to make it to Columbia. Just watching us compete against Florida is a reason to come to the meet.”
Customarily, Arkansas, Florida,Ohio State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State would compete at Penn or Drake.
However, the NCAA outdoor regional meet (now called NCAA West Preliminary) that Bucknam abhors - which retired Arkansas men’s coach John McDonnell and Harter argued vehemently against before the regionals were implemented - has been extended from a two-day meet to a three-day meet May 23-25 in Austin, Texas.
The NCAA West Preliminary is supposed to amount to Day 1 of the NCAA Outdoor Championships but the championship meet remains a four-day affair June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore.
The overload on their athletes, Bucknam said, has some coaches seeking lower-pressure venues this weekend rather than three days of competition at Penn and Drake.
“You can only go to the well so many times, and that’s our primary reason we are staying home,” Bucknam said. “We have got this beautiful outdoor track, and it’s [a] one-day meet we feel will make us better for the SEC and national championships with less travel and less wear and tear.”
Bucknam said competing at home instead of at Penn or Drake is accompanied with regret and options for future change.
“We’ll see how it plays out,” Bucknam said. “We consider the people at Penn and Drake to be friends of Arkansas track, but we are ultimately measured by the SEC and NCAA championships.”
Perhaps some day the voting blocs in the NCAA will erase the outdoor regional and allow their athletes room for both Penn and Drake and the fan-friendly dual meets that Bucknam and others are bringing back to college track.
Meanwhile, Arkansas fans can enjoy today much of the best of the best not competing in Philadelphia or Des Moines.
Sports, Pages 20 on 04/27/2013