The No. 1-ranked University of Arkansas men’s track and field team took some hits at the NCAA Outdoor Championships that opened Wednesday night at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Razorbacks redshirt junior Wayne Pinnock earned his seventh All-American honor, but had to settle for a fifth-place finish in the long jump after being favored to win.
Pinnock, seeking his fourth NCAA title after winning twice indoors in 2022 and this year and outdoors in 2022, placed fifth with a best jump of 26 feet, 2 1/4 inches on his third attempt and scored four points.
It was the first time Pinnock, who was taped on the hamstring of his leg, finished lower than fourth in an NCAA competition.
Southern California sophomore Chrstyn John Stevenson won the long jump, with a personal best of 26-11 3/4, which is a leading college breathless mark this season.
Arkansas suffered further setbacks in the 10,000 meters and 110 meters hurdles.
Junior Patrick Kiprop was running second in the 10,000 for the Razorbacks with less than three laps left when he tripped and fell after another runner made contact with him from behind.
Kiprop rose and managed to finish eighth in 28 minutes, 14.81 seconds and score a point for the Hogs.
Habtom Samuel, a freshman from New Mexico, was also among several runners who fell to the track, but he made an incredible recovery and won the race in 28:07.82.
Kirami Yego, a Razorbacks senior who was not among the runners who fell, finished 10th in 28:17.53.
Arkansas senior Phillip Lemonious, last year’s NCAA champion in the 110 hurdles, failed to make the finals.
Lemonious got off to a slow start and finished last in his heat and 13th overall out of 24 entrants in 13.78.
Arkansas senior Elijah Morris also participated in the 110 hurdles, but was disqualified in the second heat for a false start.
With five of 21 finals completed on Wednesday, Southern Cal leads the men’s team standings with 19 points. Arkansas is tied for 18th with five points.
Arkansas seniors Jack Turner and Yariel Soto Torrado are both in scoring position in the decathlon in five events.
Turner moved up to fifth place with 4,114 points after running 47.62 in the 400, the second-fastest time. He ran 10.78 in the 100, had the third best long jump at 24-2 1/4, had a best effort of 42-9 1/2 in the shot put and high jump 6-2 1/4 .
Soto Torrado is sixth with 4,090 points after running the 400 in 48.32. He ran the 100 meters in 10.80, long jump 23-8, had a best effort of 44-1 1/2 in the shot put and high jump 6-3 1/2.
Leo Neugebauer, a senior from Texas, leads the decathlon with 4,685 points.
Arkansas advanced in the 1,600 relay with sophomore TJ Tomlyanovich, senior James Benson, junior Connor Washington and sophomore Steven McElroy running 3:01.56 to take second place in their series behind Texas A&M, which ran 3:01.17.
Senior Lance Lang usually runs second in the Razorbacks’ relay, but he was replaced by Washington and Benson moved from anchor to the second leg.
Before the relay, Lang advanced in both the 100 and 200. He ran 10.22 in the 100 and 20.31 in the 200.
Benson and Tomlyanovich failed to advance to the 400 final. Benson ran 45.78 and Tomlyanovich 46.33 to place 11th and 20th, respectively, in the semifinals.
Arkansas still has a chance to win an individual title on Friday with senior Romaine Beckford in the high jump. Beckford won the high jump at the NCAA indoor meet this year and swept national indoor and outdoor titles last year when she was in South Florida.
The competition for the No. 1-ranked Arkansas women’s team begins Thursday. The Razorbacks will be led by the 400 team of Amber Anning, Nickisha Pryce, Kaylyn Brown and Rosey Effiong, the same quartet in the 1,600 relay, and Rachel Glenn in the 400 hurdles.
Television coverage of Thursday’s events will begin at 7:30 pm central time on KeynoteUSA2.
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