FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Razorbacks women's track and field assistant coach Chris Johnson compared the UA Twilight meet to a speed training session, and his sprinters made sure they dominated the 100 meters Friday night at John McDonnell Field.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville took the top three spots in the 100 as sophomore Jada Baylark won in 11.40 seconds, junior Kiara Parker took second in 11.48 and Janeek Brown was third in 11.50.
"Our times weren't bad, but we're faster than that," Johnson said. "I feel good about it because I think we got better in some technical areas.
"We had a hard training week, so our times weren't going to be there. We were looking to train through this meet. We'll train again [today], and then we'll get ready for the conference meet."
The SEC Championships will be held next weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.
"This was a good meet for some of our guys to sharpen up for the SEC Championships," Arkansas men's Coach Chris Bucknam said of the Twilight meet. "We had some guys that needed to race."
The best race for the Razorbacks this week happened in Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday night when senior Jack Bruce ran an SEC-leading 13:28.57 in the 5,000 at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford. Bruce's time -- which is the third-fastest time in the NCAA and was 14th in a field loaded with professionals -- ranks as the seventh fastest in UA history.
"I'm really pleased with Jack's performance," Bucknam said. "That was a really hot race with a lot of pros in it. He knew it was going to go out really fast, and he wasn't overzealous. He ran his race and really came on strong at the end."
Former Razorback and longtime professional Wallace Spearmon Jr. won the 200 Friday night with Arkansas junior Obi Igbokwe taking second in 20.73. Razorbacks freshman Kristoffer Hari was fifth in 21.21, and junior Kevin Harris sixth in 21.35.
Marqueze Washington, also a former Razorback, won the 400 in 46.45. Arkansas senior Jamarco Stephen was third in 46.87, and freshman Hunter Woodhall fourth in 47.42.
Arkansas junior Erich Sullins won the hammer and threw 209 feet to break his own school record. He also finished third in the discus with a 158-1 throw.
Former Razorback Daina Harper, last year's SEC champion who is now running professionally, won the 400 in 51.71. Former Razorback Sparkle McKnight was second in 52.62.
Razorbacks sophomore Carina Viljoen competed at Stanford on Thursday night and ran 4:16.19 in the 1,500 to finish eighth.
Sports on 05/05/2018