The Arkansas women’s reign as national indoor champions came to an end Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala.
The Razorbacks, who had won two consecutive team titles at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, finished fourth with 40 points. Florida had three individual champions and scored 68 points to run away with its first indoor team title since 1992.
Texas finished second in the the women’s standings with 56 points, and Kentucky was third with 44.
“Texas and Kentucky and ourselves figured out pretty quickly this is going to be an uphill battle,” Arkansas coach Lance Harter said of Florida’s performance. “The idea that we’re always in the conversation is what makes us feel really good about the consistency factor. If we’re always in those types of roles, I’m a happy camper.”
The Razorbacks closed the night with a win in the 1,600-meter relay. The team of Rosey Effiong, Jayla Hollis, Shafiqua Maloney and Britton Wilson finished in 3:27.23, more than three seconds off their collegiate-record time set last month at the SEC championship meet.
Wilson ran her 400-meter split in 50.61 seconds. She took the baton in second place, but passed Kentucky’s Alexis Holmes with less than 100 meters remaining.
Maloney ran the third leg in 51.47 to make up ground on Kentucky and Texas A&M. Maloney collided with Texas A&M’s Kennedy Wade around the final turn, causing Wade to fall down.
“(Maloney) didn’t have a great 800 race, to her standard,” Harter said. “I think (sprints coach) Chris Johnson said when he discussed the composition of the mile relay, ‘Are you ready to come back and redeem yourself?'
"Boy, she did. She ran an unbelievable race.”
Arkansas became the first women’s team to win the 1,600 relay and distance medley relay at the same NCAA indoor meet. The Razorbacks’ DMR team of Isabel Van Camp, Paris Peoples, Krissy Gear and Logan Jolly won Friday.
“Those (races) are kind of extremes in our business,” Harter said. “We’re elated that we were able to get those types of victories.”
The 1,600 relay was the second event of the night for Wilson and Maloney, who each contributed three points to the team score with sixth-place finishes in the 400 and 800, respectively. Wilson ran the 400 in 51.52 and Maloney ran the 800 in 2:05.59.
Wilson ran the third-fastest qualifying time in the 400 on Friday, and Maloney, who had the second-fastest time in the 800 this year, narrowly qualified for the finals.
“When you talk about the top 16 kids in their respective event, and they’re separated by hundredths or thousandths (of seconds), you have to have absolute perfection and you can get displaced very quickly,” Harter said. “In the sprints, I think we had some good, solid performances, but we didn’t have huge breakthroughs.”
Harter called Wilson, a transfer from Tennessee, a “bright star” for the Razorbacks in the future.
“It’s just amazing her instincts and the amount of improvement from when she transferred here to what she’s done now,” Harter said. “It’s maybe one of the most spectacular improvements we’ve seen in a long, long time.”
Oklahoma State’s Taylor Roe held off a late charge by North Carolina State’s Katelyn Tuohy and Arkansas’ Lauren Gregory to win the 3,000 in 8:58.95. Gregory finished third in 8:59.50 to score six points.
Gregory also contributed five points to the team total Friday with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000.
“Lauren Gregory is a consummate competitor,” Harter said.
The Razorbacks will turn their attention to the outdoor season, which is scheduled to begin with the Texas Relays on March 23. Arkansas is scheduled to host three outdoor meets, including the NCAA West Preliminaries in May.
“I think we’re actually a better outdoor team than we are an indoor team,” Harter said, “so that excites us as far as emphasis on how we philosophically address track and field. Indoor is a precursor to get you ready for outdoor.”