FAYETTEVILLE — Tiana Wilson, a University of Arkansas junior sprinter from Hamburg, won three races to lead the No. 1-ranked Razorbacks to a dominating performance Friday in the Arkansas Qualifier at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Wilson won the 60 meters in 7.34 seconds, won the 200 in 23.29, then ran the leadoff leg in the 1,600 relay in 53.27 as Arkansas won in 3:33.44 with Jada Baylark, Jayla Hollis and Rosey Effiong also on the team.
“Tiana’s kind of like our secret weapon from Arkansas,” Razorbacks women’s Coach Lance Harter said. “She is just really starting to come into her own. She’s running with more authority and more confidence.
“It’s amazing what Chris Johnson [Arkansas’ sprints coach] can do with these kids. She’s from a little tiny town, and had very little background, and she’s just coming on like gangbusters.”
The Razorbacks won the team title with 167 points to nearly double Kansas State, which took second with 84. Missouri was third with 42 points followed by Arizona (33), Washington State (29), Kansas (27), UCLA (25), Vanderbilt (14), Arizona State (11) and Utah (2).
Arkansas’ No. 2-ranked men’s team also won with 83 points followed by Missouri (76), Kansas (49), Kansas State (49), Arizona (48), Arizona State (45), Washington State (38 1/2) and UCLA (25 1/2).
“Even with different kinds of lineups and every weekend being a little bit different in the regular season, it’s still important for us when we’re keeping score to win,” Razorbacks men’s Coach Chris Bucknam said. “So we’re happy that we beat a lot of schools. It kind of shows the versatility of our team. It was a good day for us.”
Arkansas junior Paris Peoples, who last week ran the nation’s leading time in the 400, won the 800 in a personal-best 2:09.08.
“That just reconfirms Paris is really, really strong,” Harter said. “That gives her a lot of confidence.”
The Razorbacks took the top four spots in the mile, with senior Kennedy Thomson winning in 4:39.17, junior Gracie Hyde second in 4:41.80, senior Abby Gray third in 4:43.24 and junior Quinn Owen fourth in 4:47.08.
Arkansas sophomore Daszay Freeman won the 60 hurdles in 8.20. Junior Yoveinny Mota was third in 8.24, which Harter said set a national record for her native Venezuela.
The Razorbacks took the top six spots in the 200 with Effiong second (23.30), Baylark third (23.42), Hollis fourth (23.75), Morgan Burks-Magee fifth (23.78) and Kethlin Campbell sixth (23.78).
Baylark, a junior from Little Rock Parkview, took second in the 60 in 7.40.
Arkansas took the top two spots in the pole vault with Bailee McCorkle, a junior from Greenwood, winning with a clearance of 14-2 1/2 and sophomore Nastassja Campbell second at 14-2 1/2. Both cleared the same height, but McCorkle won based on having fewer misses. Junior G’Auna Edwards went 20-5 3/4 to take second in the long jump.
Phillip Lemonious — a sophomore transfer from Barton County (Kan.) Community College, where he won the national junior college title last year — made his Arkansas debut and won the 60 hurdles in 7.15.
“I’m proud of the kid, because he was on deck for three weeks,” Bucknam said. “He just had a lot of paperwork issues and finally the NCAA cleared him.”
Arkansas also got victories from senior Amon Kemboi in the 3,000 (7:52.70) and senior Kristoffer Hari in the 60 (6.77).
The Razorbacks won the 1,600 relay with Rhayko Schwartz, Jalen Brown, Jadon Bartholomew and James Milholen running 3:03.87.
Arkansas senior Etamar Bhastekar cleared 17-7 to take second in the pole vault, and freshman Adam Clark was second in the high jump at 6-6 3/4.