TAT: Razorbacks Back on Top

This article originally appeared in the March 11, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

The Arkansas men’s track and field team won the 20th NCAA Indoor National Championship in school history, and its first since 2006, Saturday.

Arkansas won three individual events and had 11 other athletes place in the top eight. They finished with 74 team points, 15 ahead of second-place Florida.

While this is the Razorbacks’ 41st overall national championship in indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country, it is their first since head coach Chris Bucknam replaced John McDonnell.

“It was a tough nut to crack,” Bucknam said. “I hope our alumni and Coach (McDonnell) are happy with what we’ve done. We look at all the national championship banners (hanging from) the ceiling and our number one goal was to make them proud and show them that we were back.”

The three individual titles came in the heptathlon, pole vault and 4×400-meter relay. The Hogs also picked up points in the 200, 400, 800, 3,000, 5,000, high jump, long jump and triple jump.

Leading the heptathlon through the first six events, junior Kevin Lazas needed a strong performance in the 1,000 run to hold on to the victory.

He finished the race with a time of 2 minutes, 49 seconds and collapsed at the finish line. That time gave him the final 776 points of his 6,175 total points, which was 10 ahead of Wisconsin junior Japheth Cato.

If Lazas finished just one second slower, his point total would have been one shy of Cato’s.

“I gave it all I had,” Lazas said. “I didn’t have anything left. I even fell at the finish line. I was hurting, so when the scores came up, I got a spark of energy and cheered for a little bit then just laid back down.”

In the pole vault, sophomore Andrew Irwin failed to clear 18-4 1/2 twice before clearing the bar on his final attempt. He defended his 2012 indoor title by clearing the bar at a height of 18-8 1/4, his personal best.

“It’s nerve wracking when it comes down to the third attempt,” Irwin said. “I don’t like going to those third attempts, but sometimes you have to.”

Friday, the Razorbacks were in fourth place with a lap and a half to go in the distance medley when junior Kemoy Campbell dropped the baton. They finished ninth in the race and didn’t earn any points.

When Campbell stepped onto the track Saturday, he only needed to finish third or better to clinch the championship for Arkansas. However, this was a long shot because he was seeded 15th out of the 16 runners.

He finished second with a time of 7:46.95.

“(Campbell) dug down and really got after it,” Bucknam said. “I think he indoctrinated himself as a true Hog. He knew we needed the points and he went out and got it done.”

Despite the outcome of the meet no longer being in question, Arkansas’ 4×400 relay team ended it with an exclamation point. They won the race and broke the NCAA record with a time of 3:03.50.

“It was the most intensity we’ve ever had,” said Anton Kokorin, the runner of the second leg of the relay team. “Knowing that we had it won before the race, we still wanted to go out and show that we were national champions in the 4×400.”

In the 200, seniors Akheem Gauntlett and Marek Niit finished fourth and seventh, respectively. Gauntlett had a time of 20.67 seconds, while Niit finished in 20.89 seconds.

Freshman Tomas Squella and sophomore Patrick Rono placed sixth and seventh in the 800, respectively. Squella ran a 1:49.20 and Rono ran a 1:50.84.

The Razorbacks also had two athletes place in the long jump, with junior Raymond Higgs finishing third and freshman Jarrion Lawson finishing fourth. They had distances of 26 1/4 and 26-0, respectively.

Arkansas’ other top finishers were senior Tarik Batchelor in the triple jump (53-11 1/4), senior Anton Kokorin in the 400 (46.09), junior Stanley Kebenei in the 5,000 (13:45.87) and junior Anthony May in the high jump (7-3 3/4). They finished third, fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively, in their events.

“To get this done, you need a special group of athletes,” Bucknam said. “I’m really proud of how these guys got it together. We followed the plan, and we came in here and got it done.”

Wisconsin (33 points), Texas A&M (30 points) and Texas Tech (28 points) rounded out the top five teams at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championship.