Arkansas @ the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Women-1st;Men-2nd

[hawgwash]

There's a protest in the 4x400.

[Cornfed Pig]

Please be PEDs in the Gatorade

[arkansastrack]

Lawson finished 6th by himself. Outstanding performance by him. He just needed a little more support in the field events and distance races.

[Piglywigly]

2nd place is nice, but you have to love this:

29.  Arkansas State   8 points

35.  Texas                 6 points   

[JHicks3636]

Lawson finished 6th by himself. Outstanding performance by him. He just needed a little more support in the field events and distance races.

Amazing performance

[3kgthog]

So, in which dark corner of the storage shed do we place all our 2nd place trophies? I've truly always wondered. I figure with all the 1st place trophies from years gone by we've got limited space.

[arkansastrack]

So, in which dark corner of the storage shed do we place all our 2nd place trophies? I've truly always wondered. I figure with all the 1st place trophies from years gone by we've got limited space.

In the past they literally served as doorstops in the track offices. For about a year we had a national championship trophy sitting in the floor by the secretary's desk.

[arkansastrack]

Amazing performance

Definitely one of the all time great performances but definitely not #1 at Arkansas. That would go to Mike Conley in 1985. First Triple Crown and Outdoor championship and the incredible story and marks he had in that meet are legendary.

I wish for Lawson more than anyone else that we had picked up some points along the way so that his performance would have resulted in the win.

[JHicks3636]

Lost in the shuffle was the 1-2-3-5-6-7 team finish by SEC teams.

[kodiakisland]

Definitely one of the all time great performances but definitely not #1 at Arkansas. That would go to Mike Conley in 1985. First Triple Crown and Outdoor championship and the incredible story and marks he had in that meet are legendary.

I wish for Lawson more than anyone else that we had picked up some points along the way so that his performance would have resulted in the win.

Still, to do something that only Jesse Ownes did is pretty special.  Hard to believe how hard that feat is to accomplish.  Even Carl Lewis couldn't do it in the NCAAs.  I know it really does vary from year to year what the competition is like in each event, but he is in rare company.  Another Arkansas legend.

[HardingHog]

2nd place is nice, but you have to love this:

29.  Arkansas State   8 points

35.  Texas                 6 points   

This is incredible. Don't get me wrong, I love to see Texas fail as much as the next guy, but how do they finish this poorly? They're in a state with some of the best high school track runners in the country, yet they finish 35th? Anyone with more track knowledge know why this is?

[hobhog]

Lost in the shuffle was the 1-2-3-5-6-7 team finish by SEC teams.

[JHicks3636]

This is incredible. Don't get me wrong, I love to see Texas fail as much as the next guy, but how do they finish this poorly? They're in a state with some of the best high school track runners in the country, yet they finish 35th? Anyone with more track knowledge know why this is?

They didn't want to show-up the football team?

[Hou-Hog]

How is the incoming recruiting class ranked?

[JHicks3636]

The women's champion will be crowned later tonight. The first of the final three heptathlon events begin at 1:30. We have 4 performers in it and 2 of them are in scoring position. I am concerned about Brooks pulling up in the 200 last night. I have not seen anything about her in the media this morning. The final three regular field events begin at 5:00. No one from Arkansas is in those field events. Running events begin at 5:32 but we have no one running until 5:54 when the 3000 steeplechase runs.

[HognitiveDissonance]

This is incredible. Don't get me wrong, I love to see Texas fail as much as the next guy, but how do they finish this poorly? They're in a state with some of the best high school track runners in the country, yet they finish 35th? Anyone with more track knowledge know why this is?

Agreed.
Texas struggling in almost anything is unfathomable and points to incredible mismanagement of the athletic program, which begins with the admins and which coaches they hire. It always starts at the top and works down.

[HognitiveDissonance]

I don't know whether to feel elated or depressed.
Lawson, what an incredible performance. Going back to Jesse Owens days? Unbelievable.
The depressing part, even with a one-for-the-ages performance like that from a rock star and we still can't win. It really makes you wonder if it will ever happen again. 2005 was the last one.

We know that to win NCAAs you need elite athletes at their events scoring big points, and we had that this year, but still couldn't get it done. The SECs are totally different where we can throw a bunch of bodies and rack up points. The NCAAs require you to have a Conley, Walder, Tyson Gay, Lawson type of scorers.

[arkansastrack]

Well Lawson did break Conley's modern day points record.  At least statistically, it is the greatest individual performance of all time. 

Statistically yes it is but Conley's performance is the all time greatest when you look at the bigger picture. At the 1985 outdoor meet he stepped up in the 200 and got 2nd with Spearmon out with injury. He won the LJ with a jump of 27-2. He was in the 4x100m relay which got 7th and wanted to anchor the 4x400 but wasnt allowed to by Coach Mac. On the final day he was leading in the TJ until the last round when he was passed up. The temperature on the track that day was 115 in the middle of the afternoon and he was cramping up at that point he put his shoes back on and went out and set the collegiate record, American record, and #3 jump all time in the world to win the TJ and clinch our first Outdoor title and NCAA Triple Crown.

So while Lawson's performance was worth more points and legendary in its own right I would still put Conley's performance as the greatest at Arkansas due to the impact it had on winning the championship as well as the impact it had on the program as a whole.

[arkansastrack]

I don't know whether to feel elated or depressed.
Lawson, what an incredible performance. Going back to Jesse Owens days? Unbelievable.
The depressing part, even with a one-for-the-ages performance like that from a rock star and we still can't win. It really makes you wonder if it will ever happen again. 2005 was the last one.

We know that to win NCAAs you need elite athletes at their events scoring big points, and we had that this year, but still couldn't get it done. The SECs are totally different where we can throw a bunch of bodies and rack up points. The NCAAs require you to have a Conley, Walder, Tyson Gay, Lawson type of scorers.

We really had an elite athlete this year and not multiple athletes. The field events (minus Lawson) laid an egg and we should be scoring more than 14 points in the distance races. Gone are the days of having several distance guys doubling which IMO has been a big part of the problem the past few years.

Remember that each coach does their own events and has nothing to do with the other events. Coach Case is earning his paycheck and more and Coach Geopferdt has earned his paycheck more often than not. Coach Bucknam however has not been earning his paycheck with the distance runners for the past few years. Until we get back to 25-30pt range in the distance events then we won't win another national title.

[JHicks3636]

The best article I saw on Lawson's performance pointed out that if he had competed as the University of Lawson, his 31.5 points would have placed him 5th in the team standings. By losing his points Arkansas would have finished 7th with 24.5 points. A lot of points to replace next year.

[HognitiveDissonance]

We really had an elite athlete this year and not multiple athletes. The field events (minus Lawson) laid an egg and we should be scoring more than 14 points in the distance races. Gone are the days of having several distance guys doubling which IMO has been a big part of the problem the past few years.

Remember that each coach does their own events and has nothing to do with the other events. Coach Case is earning his paycheck and more and Coach Geopferdt has earned his paycheck more often than not. Coach Bucknam however has not been earning his paycheck with the distance runners for the past few years. Until we get back to 25-30pt range in the distance events then we won't win another national title.

I wouldn't argue against that i.e. having more distance guys who can double. What could it hurt at this point?
Jumpers have seemed to have good in recent years. That tradition has carried on.
It seemed the problem in recent years was having guys who would do ok...always finish Top 10...but lacking the firepower to really get it done.
This year we finally had a real star in the mold of Conley and other greats in the past and the missing piece seemed to have been there. I would say Pullen's lack of scoring was the killer, but that may not be fair as a guy scored six points in a race that was unexpected. Those 'washouts' always seem to happen.

[JHicks3636]

Anyone who can shed any light on Pullen? Just a bad day, hurt, whatever? I won't fault him because things happen and he did bring home the Indoor Championship in his event.

[GuvHog]

I wouldn't argue against that i.e. having more distance guys who can double. What could it hurt at this point?
Jumpers have seemed to have good in recent years. That tradition has carried on.
It seemed the problem in recent years was having guys who would do ok...always finish Top 10...but lacking the firepower to really get it done.
This year we finally had a real star in the mold of Conley and other greats in the past and the missing piece seemed to have been there. I would say Pullen's lack of scoring was the killer, but that may not be fair as a guy scored six points in a race that was unexpected. Those 'washouts' always seem to happen.

Not having a team in the 4x400 relay was the killer. If the Hogs had finished at least 3rd in that event the team would be the National Champions.

[JHicks3636]

As I expected, Brooks withdrew from competition in the heptathlon. This is a setback for the women.

[Pig in the Pokey]

Lost in the shuffle was the 1-2-3-5-6-7 team finish by SEC teams.

makes that SEC Title look pretty salty.

[JHicks3636]

The heptathlon long jump is in the books and after 5 of 7 events, Arkansas is 4-6-9 with Brooks withdrawing. Next up in the event is the javelin starting at 2:45 CDT.

[Piglywigly]

To bad about Brooks.  At least she got to contribute with her 3rd place finish in the long jump.
She most likely would have finished 4th in the Hep.  So that would have been 5 points.
But the good news about having others in the event is that they will all move up a place because she is out.
So if Gochenour and Stumbaugh (and maybe even Brown) can score, they'll get another point because Brooks is out.
So it should really only end up costing us 2 or 3 points.

[JHicks3636]

All Arkansas women were in the first flight of the javelin. They went 1-2-5 in the flight. What that does to the overall cannot be determined until the second flight throws. I'll  update after that flight concludes. The second flight will contain the higher rated throwers.

[JHicks3636]

Arkansas is 4-6-12 after 6 events in the hep. Doubtful that Brown will be able to score in the event. Gochenour probably cannot move up and Stumbaugh might be able to move up 1 place although she could also lose a spot with the present standings. The final event, the 800 meters starts at 7:13 CDT so it will be on ESPN.

[JHicks3636]

In the 3000 steeplechase, Kamilos finished 2nd for 8 points and our freshman Clark finished 5th for 4 points. A big 12 points in the event for the Hogs.

[Piglywigly]

AMERICAN JUNIOR RECORD for Devin Clark to finish 5th in 9:49.25

She is going to be very good.  Great run for the little girl from Neosho Mo also.  Or as Dwight Stone says 'No-show'.

[JHicks3636]

Two more races will run without an Arkansas entry. We next have a runner in the 400 meters that starts at 6:32 CDT.

[JHicks3636]

Taylor Ellis-Watson takes 2nd place in the 400 meters for 8 points. She loses to Courtney Okolo of Texas who is world class in this event. She has the 2nd best time in the world this year.

[JHicks3636]

Now three more races without Razorbacks before the last two races where we have runners in both.

[TebowHater]

Oregon just picked up 10 more. 6 point lead for hogs.

Remaining Events:

1. 400M Hurdles (Hogs = 0; Ducks = 0)
2. 200M (Hogs = 0; Oregon = 2) *Oregon qualifed #1 and #2 ... +18 points for Oregon if they hold that for finals.
3. 5000m (Hogs = 1; Oregon = 1) *Dom Scott for Hogs ... hopefully +10
4. 4x400 (Hogs = 1; Oregon = 0) *Qualified 2nd...+8

So, hopefully we cancel each other out from here on and win by 6...

[JHicks3636]

Oregon just picked up 10 more. 6 point lead for hogs.

Remaining Events:

1. 400M Hurdles (Hogs = 0; Ducks = 0)
2. 200M (Hogs = 0; Oregon = 2)
3. 5000m (Hogs = 1; Oregon = 1)
4. 4x400 (Hoges = 1; Oregon = 0)

Plus we should have points in the heptathlon which will conclude in about 30 minutes or less. I expect Oregon to temporarily lead after the 200.

[TebowHater]

Plus we should have points in the heptathlon which will conclude in about 30 minutes or less. I expect Oregon to temporarily lead after the 200.

Great point! We are looking to pick up 4th (5) and 6th (3) place points there depending on that 800

[JHicks3636]

Oregon gets 18 points in the 200 for points and will take what should be a short lived 12 point lead on the Hogs.

[JHicks3636]

The heptathlon 800 will run now and we will see where we are after that. Oregon can score  points only in the 5000 where we should be favored.

[83grad]

Oregon has 1 runner in 5k

[JHicks3636]

Oregon has 1 runner in 5k

Yeah, caught myself and changed it

[TebowHater]

nm

[TebowHater]

Oregon's 5K athlete best time is 16:00, which is 22nd in country. Hopefully she won't be a contender.

[JHicks3636]

Gochenor takes 4th place and Stumbaugh takes 6th place in the Heptathlon for 8 combined points to cut the Oregon lead to 4.

[TebowHater]

We need Dominique to do her thing (she has best time in country). If that doesn't work out, we can't drop the baton in 4x400.

[JHicks3636]

Georgia finishing strongly as well

[TebowHater]

Georgia finishing strongly as well

They have for sure. They are done, though. No more runners. Can't pass us.

[runninhog]

We have to score big in the last two. Dom should win the 5K. Go Hogs!

[TebowHater]

We have to score big in the last two. Dom should win the 5K. Go Hogs!

If she wins 5K it is over. In fact, she only has to get top 4. (Assuming the Oregon girl doesn't obliterate her PR)

[Piglywigly]

Unless the Oregon runner manages to score.