FAYETTEVILLE -- Fully covering in roughly 500 words the University of Arkansas' track and field success last week compares to fully covering Rosie O'Donnell with Beyonce's bikini.
It just can't be done.
Last week at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., Coach Lance Harter's Razorbacks won the Arkansas women's first-ever collegiate team outdoor national championship.
This outdoor title and the 2015 NCAA indoor championship that Harter's Razorbacks won in Fayetteville are the only national team championships for the entire Arkansas women's program formerly known as Lady Razorbacks.
Arkansas senior Dominique Scott won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in her forever final Razorbacks races, while freshman Lexi Weeks of Cabot won the pole vault. Scott and Weeks accounted for 30 points of Arkansas' 72-62 triumph over runner-up Oregon, the NCAA Outdoor host and the NCAA women's indoor champion last March in Birmingham, Ala.
Obviously, Scott and Weeks didn't do it alone. Seconding Scott and Weeks' motions with the second-places from senior Taylor Ellis-Watson in the 400-meter dash and anchoring the 1,600 relay and senior Jessica Kamilos in the steeplechase were Arkansas huge as were other scoring contributions.
"It was just one after another," Harter said. "It was a total team effort. I am so proud of every point we were able to score."
Nor did senior Jarrion Lawson do it alone for Coach Chris Bucknam's runners-up Razorbacks, even as Lawson stands alone above every NCAA men's outdoor meet since Jesse Owens in 1935 and 1936. Owens personally scored 40 points in both the 1935 and 1936 meets for Ohio State.
Next to Owens, the 28.75 points that Mike Conley scored in the long and triple jumps, the 200-meter dash and on the 400 relay helping John McDonnell's 1985 Razorbacks win their first outdoor national championship were the most individually scored at the NCAA men's outdoor.
No longer. Senior Lawson scored 31.5 in Eugene. Lawson joined Owens as the only same NCAA outdoor meet triple winner of the long jump and 100- and 200-meter dashes (Owens won the long jump, 100- and 200-yard dashes, plus the 220-yard hurdles). Lawson added 1.5 points on Arkansas' third-place 400 relay.
"That was epic," Bucknam said.
But other Hogs like Frankline Tonui's personal best 8:30.67 for second in the steeple two days after shattering his personal best in the prelim, were "epic," too.
The nationally No. 5 Razorbacks, even with NCAA indoor triple jump champion Clive Pullen off qualifying rhythm and three-event All-American sprinter Marqueze Washington sidelined upon reinjuring his back, came within six, 62-56 of champion Florida.
"We put 56 points on the board," Bucknam said. "That wins a lot of meets. We had a hell of a meet."
Given each program won SEC cross country-indoor-outdoor triple crowns and have an NCAA indoor runner-up and NCAA outdoor national championship for the women and NCAA indoor and outdoor runner-ups for the men, Arkansas tracked a hell of a year.
Sports on 06/13/2016