Razorback Men open season No. 1 in the country
By: UA Sports Information
Updated: January 8, 2013
FAYETTEVILLE,
Ark.
- The University of Arkansas men's track and field team will begin its
2013 campaign as the No. 1 team in the country with Tuesday's preseason
release
by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
(USTFCCCA). The Razorbacks begin their season Friday with a dual meet
against preseason No. 3 Texas at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
"We're excited about this team and the hard work they've
put in," head coach Chris Bucknam said. "With 18 returning
All-Americans, we're coming off a great campaign last year so it's nice
to have that experience on the roster. In this week's practices after
the break, we can tell there's an urgency to get this indoor
season started but there's also some maturity with these guys. You can
see calmness and the confidence from our guys because they've been there
before but this is a brand new season so we'll see how it plays itself
out."
Arkansas' 2013 roster features 18 All-Americans--including
13 from last season--and four NCAA champions with Andrew Irwin in the
pole vault and 4x400-meter relay members Neil Braddy, Akheem Gauntlett
and Marek Niit. Gauntlett was also the national indoor runner-up at 200
meters last season.
Other returning national scorers are Caleb Cross in
the 60-meter hurdles, Kevin Lazas and Gunnar Nixon in the heptathlon and
the distance-medley relay team of Anthony Lieghio, Leoman Momoh,
Patrick Rono and Travis Southard. As a team, the Razorbacks were the
national runner-up in 2012.
Bucknam (distance) returns for his fifth season at
the helm of the Arkansas cross country and track and field program.
Assistant coaches Doug Case (sprints, hurdles, pole vault) and Travis
Geopfert (field events, multis) are in their fifth and fourth seasons at
Arkansas, respectively. Last season, the Razorbacks
began the year as the preseason No. 2 in the USTFCCCA poll.
The Southeastern Conference placed the largest number
of teams in the men's preseason top-25 projections with seven, including
four in the top 10. The first regular season ranking will be released
Jan. 22. Overall, the SEC leads the preseason Conference Index Top 10
with its seven teams and near 300-point lead
over the Pac-12 which has five teams in the rankings.
The
season-opening event starts Friday at 4 p.m.
(CT) at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. General admission
tickets for home meets are $5, while fans 17 years and younger are
admitted for free and University of Arkansas students get in free with
valid student ID.
Friday's competition is the first of 11 home meets--six
indoor and five outdoor--for the Razorbacks this season. Arkansas'
hosting duties will include the 2013 NCAA and SEC Indoor Track and Field
Championships. The indoor national meet will be contested March 8-9,
while the conference meet will take place Feb. 22-24.
For
more information regarding Razorback track
and field or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit
ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Fans can also keep up with Arkansas cross
country and track and field through the team's sport-specific
RazorbackTF Facebook and Twitter pages.
USTFCCCA Preseason Top 10
1. ARKANSAS
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Texas A&M
5. Oregon
6. Arizona State
7. Indiana
8. Minnesota
9. Arizona
10. LSU
