RAZORBACK INVITATIONAL

Small gains add up large for Arkansas men's team

Arkansas runner Carlton Orange and Robert Heppenstall from Wake Forest battle for position off the starting line as they begin the men's 800 meter run Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017, at the Razorback Invitational track meet at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. Orange finished 3rd with a time of 1:47.78.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas men's track and field team had difficulty winning events Saturday, so the Razorbacks did the next best thing.

Arkansas compiled points in a number of events to capture the Razorback Invitational team title in the Randal Tyson Track Center. The Razorbacks finished the meet with 99.5 points to 85 for second-place Texas A&M, followed by Florida with 72 and Georgia with 67.

at Randal Tyson Track Center, Fayetteville

Men

Team Scores 1. Arkansas 99.5; 2. Texas A&M 85; 3. Florida 72; 4. Georgia 67; 5. LSU 48.5; 6. Ole Miss 47; 7. Southern Cal 41; 8. Tennessee 38; 9. South Carolina 34; 10. Oklahoma State 29; 11. Auburn 26; 12. Mississippi State 10; 13. (tie) Wake Forest and Missouri 8.

60 1. Kendal Williams, Georgia, 6.65; 2. Kenzo Cotton, Arkansas, 6.66; 3. Mustaqeem Williams, Tennessee, 6.67; 4 Raheem Chambers, Auburn, 6.68; 5. Roy Ejiakuekwu, Arkansas, 6.71; 6. Ryan Clark, Florida, 6.76; 7. Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, LSU, 6.79

400 1 Michael Cherry, LSU, 45.91; 2. Kunle Fasasi, Florida, 46.02; 3. Mylik Kerley, Texas A&M, 46.09; 4. Obi Igbokwe, Arkansas, 46.40; 5. Kahmari Montgomery, Missouri, 46.57; 6. Ricky Morgan Jr., USC, 46.82; 7. Eric Janise, Arkansas, 47.25; 8. Ari Cogdell, Tennessee, 47.35.

800 1. Andres Arroyo, Florida, 1:47.25; 2. Robert Heppenstall, Wake Forest, 1:47.63; 3. Carlton Orange, Arkansas, 1:47.78; 4. Robert Ford, USC, 1:48.09; 5. Blair Henderson, LSU, 1:49.00; 6. Tre’Tez Kinnaird, Oklahoma State, 1:56.27.

Mile 1. Sean Tobin, Ole Miss, 4:00.09; 2. Jack Bruce, Arkansas, 4:02.87; 3. Wesley Curles, Auburn, 4:03.38; 4. Ethan Moehn, Arkansas, 4:05.44; 5. Trevor Gilley, Ole Miss, 4:05.72.

3,000 1. MJ Erb, Ole Miss, 7:54.77; 2. Joshua Thompson, Oklahoma State, 8:04.94; 3. Craig Nowak, Oklahoma State, 8:05.87; 4. Andrew Ronoh, Arkansas, 8:06.76; 5. Kyle Levermore, Arkansas, 8:09.51; 6. Frankline Tonui, Arkansas, 8:09.92; 7. Jack Guyton, Florida, 8:14.71; 8. Hassan Abdi, Oklahoma State, 8:19.45.

60 Hurdles 1. Marquis Morris, USC, 7.73; 2. Davon Anderson, Arkansas, 7.80; 3. Isaiah Moore, South Carolina, 7.83; 4. Welington Zaza, Auburn, 7.89; 5. Xavier Coakley, Auburn, 7.90; 6. Keane Bland, LSU, 8.02; 7. Larry Donald, Arkansas, 8.11; 8. Willie Reed, Miss. State, 8.12

1,600 relay 1. Texas A&M, 3:02.52; 2. Tennessee, 3:06.30; 3. LSU, 3:07.02; 4. Florida, 3:07.11; 5. Miss. State 3:08.06; 6. Arkansas, 3:09.28; 7. Georgia, 3:10.71.

Shot Put 1. Denzel Comenentia, Georgia, 62-3¼; 2. Josh Awotunde, South Carolina, 60-10; 3. Nicholas Ponzio, USC, 60-0¼; 4. Eric Favors, South Carolina, 59-7½ 5. Matthew Katnik, USC, 59-3; 6. Brian Williams, Ole Miss, 59-2¾; 7. Jeff Bartlett, Texas A&M, 56-0; 8. Jeff Rogers, Arkansas, 55-10¼.

Triple Jump 1. KeAndre Bates, Florida, 54-8; 2. Clayton Brown, Florida, 51-5½; 3. Jeffrey Prothro, Texas A&M, 51-0; 4. Dominic Smallwood, USC, 50-6¾; 5. Mark Rubalcaba, Auburn, 50-2¾; 6. Michael Wamer, South Carolina, 49-11; 7. Romain Bourreau, Miss. State, 48-9; 8. Da’Quan Bellard, LSU, 48-9

Heptathlon 1. Devon Williams, Georgia, 5881; 2. Lindon Victor, Texas A&M, 5805; 3. Karl Saluri, Georgia, 5796; 4. Derek Jacobus, Arkansas, 5588; 5. Gabe Moore, Arkansas, 5512; 6. Brad Culp, Arkansas, 5392; 7. Lane Austell, Arkansas, 5369; 8. Markus Leemet, South Carolina, 5274.

Women

Team scores 1. LSU 84.33; 2. Southern Cal 80; 3. Arkansas 75; 4. Texas A&M 72.33; 5. Georgia 59; 6. Florida 46; 7. Ole Miss 45; 8. Auburn 34.33; 9. South Carolina 28; 10. Oklahoma State 27; 11. (tie) Tennessee and Mississippi State 20; 13. Missouri 17; 14. Wake Forest 6.

60 1. Mikiah Brisco, LSU, 7.19; 2. Kortnei Johnson, LSU, 7.29; 3. Ky Westbrook, USC, 7.30; 4. Shania Collins, Tennessee, 7.35; 5. Kiara Parker, Arkansas, 7.41; 6. Aaliyah Brown, Texas A&M, 7.43; 7. Rushell Harvey, LSU, 7.47; 8. Destinee Brown, USC, 7.49.

400 1. Sharrika Barnett, Florida, 52.07; 2. Amalie Iuel, USC, 52.85; 3. Daina Harper, Arkansas, 53.37; 4. Aliyah Abrams, South Carolina, 53.68; 5. Lenysse Dyer, Tennessee, 54.50; 6. Sashel Brown, Auburn, 54.79; 7. Briyahna Desrosiers, Texas A&M, 54.98; 8. Valerie Thames, Missouri, 55.99.

800 1. Jazmine Fray, Texas A&M, 2:04.76; 2. Ruby Stauber, LSU, 2:05.00; 3. Katie Willard, Texas A&M, 2:05.04; 4. Chelsea Jarvis, Oklahoma State, 2:07.79; 5. Savannah Camacho, Oklahoma State, 2:08.41; 6. Mikaela Smith, USC, 2:08.54; 7. Damajahnee Birch, Arkansas, 2:08.70; 8. Kaylee Dodd, Oklahoma State, 2:11.36.

Mile 1. Karissa Schweizer, Missouri, 4:35.61; 2. Morgan Schuetz, LSU, 4:40.89; 3. Kathryn Lazarchick, Wake Forest, 4:44.82; 4. Maddy Reed, Arkansas, 4:48.07; 5. Emily Stevens, Auburn, 4:49.36; 6. Jessica Drop, Georgia; 4:50.93; 7. Shelby Brown, Ole Miss, 4:51.32; 8. Sydney Brown, Arkansas, 4:54.32.

3,000 1. Veronica Eder, Auburn,9:19.91; 2. Regan Ward, Arkansas, 9:20.84; 3. Taylor Tubbs, Florida, 9:21.36, 4. Mary Alex England, Ole Miss, 9:30.82; 5. Molly Sughroue, Oklahoma State, 9:31.20; 6. Abby Gray, Arkansas, 9:36.81; 7. Hannah Brookover, Florida, 9:38.62; 8. Michelle Magnani, Oklahoma State, 9:39.60.

60 Hurdles 1. Anna Cockrell, USC, 8.15; 2. Jasmyne Graham, USC, 8.22; 3. Tonea Marshall, LSU, 8.23; 4. Tiffany Flynn, Miss. State, 8.23; 5. Taranisha Taylor, South Carolina, 8.40; 6. Brittley Humphrey, LSU, 8.41; 7. Ryann McEnany, Florida, 8.45; 8. Leah Lott, Miss. State, 8.47.

1,600 Relay 1. USC, 3:30.66; 2. South Carolina, 3:32.77; 3. LSU, 3:33.25; 4. Arkansas, 3:33.39; 5. Texas A&M, 3:34.95; 6. Tennessee, 3:36.46; 7. Missouri, 3:43.45.

Shot Put 1. Raven Saunders, Ole Miss, 60-7¼; 2. Nickolette Dunbar, LSU, 52-0½; 3. Janeah Stewart, Ole Miss, 51-8½; 4. Stamatia Scarvelis, Tennessee, 49-0¾; 5. Celine Markert, Texas A&M, 48-10; 6. Gabi Jacobs, Missouri, 47-7¾; 7. Katie Kehl, Oklahoma State, 46-2; 8. Ieva Zarankaite, Oklahoma State, 45-8.

Triple Jump 1. Yanis David, Florida, 44-4; 2. Marshay Ryan, Auburn, 43-1½; 3. Natasha Dicks, South Carolina, 42-11; 4. Aliyah Johnson, Georgia, 42-6¾; 5. Asa Garcia, Florida, 42-0¾; 6. Ebony Luster, Florida, 41-11¼; 7. Lajarvia Brown, Texas A&M, 41-4¼; 8. Jakayla Hand, Auburn, 41-1¾.

"We're a team program, and that's how we operate," Arkansas Coach Chris Bucknam said. "Our wins will come. We're in a heavy training stage right now. Historically, this isn't a breakout meet. It's usually in a couple of weeks as we approach the SEC meet, and that's how we're set up to put this season together.

"Time will tell. You'll see a few more wins before the season's over. We have some talented kids. We're young, very young, and that's one reason why you didn't see a lot of wins."

The Razorbacks picked up 12 points from Andrew Ronoh, Kyle Levermore and Frankline Tonui with a 3-4-5 finish in the 3,000 meters, then grabbed 10 more when Davon Anderson and Larry Donald took second and seventh in the 60 hurdles. Kenzo Cotton and Roy Ejiakuekwu added 12 more with a second- and fifth-place finish in the 60 meters.

Derek Jacobus, Gabe Moore, Brad Culp and Lane Austell finished fourth through seventh, respectively, in the heptathlon. That gave the Razorbacks the points to move into the lead, then Jack Bruce and Ethan Moehn added 13 points with their second and fourth finish, respectively, in the mile.

"It was a combined effort, with everybody helping out," Bucknam said. "We like to be able to win a couple of different ways. You didn't see our conference lineup, even though it was a pre-SEC championship.

"We didn't show all our cards. We have a few more we can play."

The short-handed Arkansas women's team fell short, settling for third place. With several athletes held out for various reasons, the Razorbacks scored 75 points as LSU took first with 84.3 points and Southern Cal had 80.

"Whenever you bring 11 of the SEC schools together, then add USC and Oklahoma State, those firsts are hard to come by," Arkansas Coach Lance Harter said. "Then you put in the perspective that we didn't load our events ... we came in with about 80 percent of our firepower.

"I'm really pleased with what we were able to accomplish with that group. I'm not sure why we keep team scores because it's not relevant. We're not running all the NCAA events, and this is way too early in the second to keep up scores."

Arkansas had 44 of its points after Friday's events and grabbed 11 more when Regan Ward took second and Abby Gray finished sixth in the 3,000. The Razorbacks' 1,600 relay team finished fourth in 3 minutes, 33.39 seconds, while Maddy Reed had fourth in the mile (4:44.82). Kiara Parker had fifth in the 60 (7.41).

The Arkansas women distance runners will compete next week in the Armory Invitational in New York. The men return to action Feb. 10-11 when they split up for two meets -- the Tyson Invitational and the Iowa State Classic.

Sports on 01/29/2017