NCAA Accepted Entries | NCAA Meet Schedule
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 3 Arkansas women’s track and field team will have 13 opportunities to score next weekend in College Station, Texas, at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships. The Razorbacks are in the hunt for the program’s third national title.
Previous Qualifier Numbers (NCAA Finish, Final Score)
• 2016 – 12 (Second, 50 points)
• 2015 – 15 (First, 63 points)
• 2014 – 13 (Sixth, 30 points)
• 2013 – 9 (Fourth, 42.5 points)
• 2012 – 10 (Fifth, 25 points)
One Event, Multiple Entries
While Arkansas only has entries in eight of a possible 17 events, the Razorbacks plan on making the most of what they have, registering two or more scoring chances in the mile, pole vault and pentathlon. Middle-distance duo Nikki Hiltz and Therese Haiss will take on the mile ranked 11th and 15th, respectively. Both All-American contributors in the past, Hiltz and Haiss have the potential to shake up the top-seeded rankings with their willingness to dig deep and push the pace early in the race.
The pole vault should also produce significant points for Arkansas as Lexi Weeks, Tori Weeks and Desiree Freier head into the meet at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6, respectively. Arkansas’ vault trio all have lifetime bests over 14-7 – the Weeks sisters are the only two collegians this season over 15 feet. Lexi Weeks looks to defend her 2016 national title which she claimed with an indoor PR and NCAA meet-record vault of 4.63m/15-2 1/4. She currently has a 2017 best of 4.60m/15-1 from the Arkansas Qualifier.
Multi-talented Razorback Taliyah Brooks will lead the pentathlon charge joined by Leigha Brown and Kelsey Herman. 2016 saw Arkansas’ multis earn the program a spot in collegiate history as the only school to ever have three combined events athletes place in the top-eight at the national meet. 2017 looks to be no different as Brooks, Brown and Herman head to College Station as the second, third and fifth-best pentathlon performers in the country. Brown and Herman have both achieved marked improvements in all five events since last year, while Brooks’ current season best from the SEC Indoor Championship was just seven points shy of her PR – a tremendous feat given it was her 2017 debut in the event. Brooks will also look to pick up points for the Razorbacks as a qualifier in the long jump.
The Senior and The Freshman
Individually on the track, senior leader Daina Harper will be Arkansas’ lone representative in the sprints as the fourth-best quarter-miler in the country. On the flip side, freshman Taylor Werner will be in the hunt for her second All-America distinction, racing in the 3,000 as the Razorbacks’ only entry in the distance events.
Arkansas also qualified its distance medley relay and 4-x-400-meter relay teams, both of which rank among the top-10 best in the country.
The Razorbacks will open competition at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championship on Friday, March 10 with Hiltz and Haiss in the mile semifinal at 5:30 p.m. CT. The indoor season will conclude on Saturday, March 11, following the end of the 4-x-400-meter relay final scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Arkansas Qualifiers
400 Meters – 4. Daina Harper, 51.77
Mile – 11. Nikki Hiltz, 4:35.10 | 15. Therese Haiss, 4:37.27
3,000 Meters – 11. Taylor Werner, 9:06.04
4-x-400-Meter Relay – 10. Watson, Birch, Swinton, Harper, 3:32.27
DMR – 5. Haiss, Harper, Birch, Hiltz, 10:57.93
Pole Vault – 1. Lexi Weeks, 4.60m/15-1 | 2. Tori Weeks, 4.57m-15-0 | 6. Desiree Freier, 4.35m/14-3 1/4
Long Jump – 9. Taliyah Brooks, 6.44m/21-1 1/2
Pentathlon – 2. Taliyah Brooks, 4,460 | 3. Leigha Brown, 4,379 | 5. Kelsey Herman, 4,278
For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.