Arkansas' Wilson holds her own on track

Arkansas' Tiana Wilson runs Saturday, April 24, 2021, in Fayetteville. (Photo by Robert Black, via University of Arkansas Athletics)

FAYETTEVILLE — The 100 meters was Tiana Wilson’s favorite race at Hamburg High School, where she set the state record running 11.72 seconds.

The 400 meters?

Wilson said she ran the longest sprints race a couple of times in high school, but didn’t think much about it.

Then when Wilson signed with the University of Arkansas, assistant coach Chris Johnson added the 400 to her events.

“At first I was like, ‘The 400?’ ” Wilson said. “But once I started lifting weights and realized how strong I am and ran it a few times and saw I was pretty good at it, I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to embrace it.’

“It took some time, but I got used to it. I knew I could be really good at it if I just put in the work.”

Wilson has gotten so good that going into the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which begin today in College Station, Texas, she ranks No. 3 nationally and leads the conference in the 400 with a best time of 51.21 seconds.

“But I wouldn’t classify Tiana as only a 400 runner,” Johnson said. “She’s a complete sprinter. She can do the 100, 200 and 400.”

Wilson, a sophomore, ranks seventh nationally and third in the conference in the 200 (23.07), and 25th nationally and seventh in the conference in the 100 (11.12). She’ll run the 400 and 200 at the SEC Championships as well as legs on the 400 and 1,600 relays.

Including preliminaries in the 400 and 200, Wilson could run up to six races Friday and Saturday. It’s a heavy workload in the nation’s best track and field conference, but Johnson is confident she can handle it.

“It’s the SECs, so nothing is given,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to earn it. But I think she’s worked hard all season and she’ll be able to get it done.”

Arkansas Coach Lance Harter also is confident in Wilson’s ability to score big points at the SEC meet.

“Whenever you talk about scoring in the sprints in the SEC, that’s a tall order,” Harter said. “But Tiana can hold her own, and she’s a great competitor.

“On the relays, you put the stick in her hand and she’ll run you down or hold you off.”

Wilson said she’s eager to compete in multiple events for the No. 2-ranked Razorbacks, who have won 19 of the last 20 SEC meets in cross country, indoor and outdoor track.

“The past championships that we’ve won motivate me to do my part to help us keep it going,” Wilson said. “I’m ready. I’ll do whatever it takes for us to win the championship again.”

Wilson ran under the radar at Hamburg. She said her only NCAA Division I scholarship offers were from Arkansas, the University of Central Arkansas and Memphis.

“One of the nicest, most complimentary things that I get is from other coaches seeing Tiana run and going, ‘Oh my God, where did she come from? What country is she from?’ ” Harter said. “I go, ‘She’s from southeastern Arkansas.’ They go, ‘Really? I never heard of her before.’ ”

Wilson cited former Razorbacks from small towns in Arkansas who have won NCAA or SEC titles — in some cases both — such as twins and pole vaulters Lexi Jacobus and Tori Hoggard (Cabot), Payton Chadwick (Springdale) in the hurdles and Kelsey Herman (Crossett) in the heptathlon as inspiration.

“They’re all from Arkansas and did some really big things here,” Wilson said. “I was like, ‘I can, too.’ ”

During the indoor season, Wilson finished sixth in the 60 and seventh in the 200 at the SEC Championships, and she was sixth in the 400 and ran on the third-place 1,600 relay at the NCAA Championships to help the Razorbacks sweep both team titles.

Wilson has piled up regular-season victories in all of her events in the outdoors season.

“She’s matured a lot,” Johnson said. “That freshman year and then having covid happen [and cancel the 2020 outdoor season] the middle of last year allowed her some time to grow up as an athlete and as a person. She’s done a fantastic job with it.”

Wilson, who is 5-11, said her height and long strides help her excel in the 400, which has become her favorite event. She also likes the time mentally that the 400 allows.

“With the 400, I feel like I’ve got a little more time to think, kind of strategize what I want to do compared to the 100, where you have to get out of the blocks hard and just go,” she said. “In the 400, there’s more time to decide where to make my move.”

Wilson also credited Johnson’s coaching and the confidence he’s instilled with helping her improve.

“There were times I did not believe in myself, and he always believed in me and told me I could be the best of the best if I put in the work,” Wilson said. “When I started seeing the results, it just made me want to work harder.

“Some days, I’d be like, ‘Why is he pushing me so hard?’ But he has really made me into the athlete I am today. I’m so thankful for him.”

Johnson said a lot of athletes don’t realize their potential until they’re pushed hard.

“Sometimes they don’t have enough confidence on their own,” he said. “You’ve got to keep pouring it into them so they can understand, ‘Hey, you know what? I can really be good.’ ”

Wilson is among the best athletes from Hamburg along with basketball player Scottie Pippen, who starred at the University of Central Arkansas and won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls between 1991-98, and Harry Kane, who pitched for the St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies from 1902-06.

“I take a lot of pride in being from Hamburg,” Wilson said. “I want to represent my hometown and make my family happy and my friends happy.”