FAYETTEVILLE – Racing to a school record time of 3 minutes, 3.18 seconds in the 4x400 relay capped the second day of the Tyson Invitational as the Razorbacks broke a mark established in 1985.
Another highlight came in the 800m as Kieran Taylor won the race in a career best of 1:47.12, which is No. 5 on the Arkansas all-time list, while four other teammates also set career best times with the Razorbacks finishing 1-2-4-5-9.
An Arkansas relay foursome of Jeremy Farr (47.48), Brandon Battle (45.23), Ayden Owens (45.46), and James Benson II (45.01) placed third behind Florida (3:02.09 world leader) and Iowa (3:02.40, No. 5 school all-time) in becoming the No. 7 school on the all-time collegiate list.
“The 4x400 was just incredible,” stated Arkansas associate head coach Doug Case. “Broke a school record from 1985 with a 3:03. Really proud of those guys and the way they competed and ran.
“We were confident Ayden would run a really good leg for us, but I didn’t think he would split 45 low. He really showed up and is a great competitor. We just had a good day, it was fun.”
The previous Razorback best on a 200m-banked track was a then collegiate record of 3:03.50 set at the 2013 NCAA Championships. The current Hogs also bettered an all-conditions mark of 3:03.34 set on an oversized track at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1985 which was anchored by Roddie Haley.
“That’s huge to break a record that old, and we knew if had all our top guys in the relay we would run a fast time,” said Benson. “It’s unbelievable. It was a great race with Florida, Iowa and Tennessee running great times. This was the first time we ran with this group of guys, so to compete with teams like that is huge.
“Being the anchor leg means the world to me. I dealt with some injuries coming into the indoor season, so the fact that everyone still has that trust in me based on what I did in October is huge. Just knowing that I got a chance to help my team.”
Other squads in the relay included Tennessee (3:04.65), Alabama (3:05.75), Arizona State (3:05.99), and Florida State (3:08.15). Another Arkansas relay squad placed eighth with a 3:08.82 and included a quartet of Rhayko Schwartz (48.17), Connor Washington (46.30), Phillip Anderson (47.66), and James Milholen (46.69).
“Before that 4x400, I told the guys this is a race you try to win,” said Case. “Everybody is going to run fast, so you just try to win this thing. It’s just about competing at your highest level, and they did a great job. I was really proud of them.”
Taylor produced a collegiate-leading time with his victory but was surpassed the same day by a 1:46.93 from Jonathan Jones of Texas at the Clemson Tiger Paw meet. Splits for Taylor included 24.92, 26.37 [51.29], 27.55 [1:18.84], and 28.28 as he improved his previous best of 1:48.32.
“The day started out really good, that 800m really opened things up and we felt that momentum flow,” said Case. “This is the meet when our season starts getting into championship mode. We were trying to run fast this weekend. Those 800 guys did a great job and our top two should be among the top 10 in the NCAA and we had four guys under 1:50.”
Leroy Russell followed in 1:47.89, which ranks No. 11 on the UA all-time list, as runner-up. Tennessee’s Alex Kay finished third in 1:49.02. Razorbacks Ricardo Banks (1:49.08) and Jadon Bartholomew (1:49.22) placed fourth and fifth from separate heats. Banks won his section while Bartholomew was fourth in the same heat with Taylor and Banks. Ethan Carney added a fifth career best for the Hogs with a 1:50.74 that placed him ninth.
Prior to the relay, Washington established a career best of 21.03 in the 200m to finish fifth. Very little space separated the top five times in the event. Florida’s Jacory Patterson won in 20.91 and was followed by Emmanuel Bynum of Tennessee (20.95), Dorian Camel of LSU (21.00), and Florida’s Ryan Willis (21.01).
Razorback freshman Ben Shearer just missed a sub-4 mile in placing third with a career best of 4:00.18 to better his high school indoor best of 4:19.05 as well as his outdoor best of 4:07.40. Missouri’s Martin Prodanov won in 3:58.72 while Nebraska’s Dais Malebana finished second in 3:59.88. Luke George was runner-up in another section with a 4:12.15 to place eighth overall.
Rhett Nelson cleared 16-8.75 (5.10) to finish fourth in the pole vault. Princeton’s Sondre Guttormsen cleared 19-1 (5.82) for the victory as he improved his Norwegian record.
Jah-Nhai Perinchief, who trains in Fayetteville, produced a world-leading mark in the triple jump with a leap of 55-5.75 (16.91) while LSU’s Sean Dixon-Bodie finished as the top collegian with a 53-10.5 (16.42). John Baker placed seventh with a mark of 50-2 (15.29).