FAYETTEVILLE — Surely typos marred last week’s 2023 first U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25 Indoor Track poll.
Arkansas Women’s Coach Lance Harter’s reigning SEC Indoor champions, the 2021 national Indoor champions and fourth at the 2022 NCAA Indoor, only ranked 11th.
Chris Bucknam’s reigning SEC Indoor champion men, seventh at last year’s NCAA Indoor, were omitted entirely. The slights perturbed neither coach.
Harter explained. The first indoor poll issues after the season’s early January start, minus previous year considerations.
The Razorbacks opened hosting their Jan. 13-14 Arkansas Invitational, then trained a week before last weekend’s two-day Razorback Invitational at their Randal Tyson Indoor Track.
Post Saturday’s meet, Harter remarked, “We will go up and so will the men.”
Bucknam added, “We should start getting ranked. This is just the start.”
That happened Monday when the women were ranked No. 1 and the men were ranked No. 3.
Polls matter naught. Defending their SEC Indoor Championships Feb. 24-25 in Fayetteville and quests at the NCAA Indoor Championships March 10-11 in Albuquerque, N.M., matters all.
“I asked the team last week,” Bucknam said, "be the best end-of-January team that we’ve ever had. I think we’ve approached that.”
Both teams excelled throughout a 14-team meet, including coast to coast some of the Power 5's best.
“Overall, phenomenal,” Harter said. “We had a great meet.”
Bucknam remarked, “We showed great progress from two weeks ago. We’re probably in our B-range right now. I think we can be an A-team. We just have more work to do.”
Both teams started well in their Arkansas Invitational. It just didn’t all reflect in the polls. For Harter’s women, Britton Wilson set a collegiate record 1:25.16 in the 600-meter dash.
For Bucknam’s men, Chris Bailey, the senior transfer via Tennessee, and James Benson ran all-time top-10 collegiate times in the 600 and 300. Neither event runs at the NCAA meet, so they could be ignored in the polls.
They can’t ignore Bailey on Saturday setting a Razorbacks record/best-in-the-2023 world 45.09-second 400 meters for sprints coach Doug Case.
“Just the tip of the iceberg,” Bucknam said. “I think his best was a 46.02 last year after three years at Tennessee. Coach Case has done a marvelous job with him.”
Benson (hamstring) and Wilson (virus) did not compete last weekend, yet the Hogs excelled. Bucknam said his Hogs will debut horizontal jumpers at this weekend’s New Mexico Invitational.
Arkansas’ women’s 1,600-meter relay minus Wilson clocked a winning 3:26.40 over elite foursomes from Florida, Texas A&M, Southern California and LSU.
All-American Lauren Gregory debuted taking the baton eighth to a 4:29 anchor mile second in Friday’s distance medley relay, then Saturday ran a victoriously open mile personal record 4:31.88.
All-American vaulter Amanda Fassold season debuted victoriously clearing 14-7 1-4.
Via Baylor, transfer Ackera Nugent victoriously clocked a 7.88 60-meter hurdles.
“Ackera broke the school record and we’ve had some good hurdlers,” Harter said. “She’s pretty special.”
Both these Arkansas teams could be, too.