FAYETTEVILLE – A pair of meet records in the discus and shot put were bettered by Razorbacks Ralford Mullings and Rojé Stona on Friday at the John McDonnell Invitational. Mullings won the discus with a throw of 199 feet, 2 inches, while Stona set a career best of 65 feet, 10.5 inches in the shot put.
“Mullings did a great job getting six throws in,” stated Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “He’s a perfectionist, and I knew he wanted more, but it wasn’t great conditions for the discus this morning without a lot of lift with the wind.
“We had a big throw from Stona in the shot put. Last week he had the fifth best discus throw in collegiate history, then he turns around and throws the shot put this week with another career best.”
Throwing early in the morning, Ralford Mullings set a meet record in winning the discus with his opening throw of 199-2 (60.72) to finish ahead of two Kansas throwers and top the field by nine-plus feet. Mullings bettered the meet record of 194-1 (59.16) set in 2010 by Mason Finley of Kansas.
Finishing fourth with his first discus throw of the season was Razorback Jordan West, who reached a distance of 172-10 (52.69) to move to No. 10 on the UA all-time list.
Stona bettered the meet record of 64-2.5 (19.57) set by Oklahoma’s Kevin Bookout in 2007 on his first-round mark of 64-8.75 (19.73). An improvement in round two measured 65-3.25 (19.89). Then in round five Stona added seven more inches to his winning distance with a 65-10.5 (20.08).
On the UA all-time list Stona moves to No. 3 in becoming only the third Razorback to surpass 20 meters. After competing in the discus, West finished third in the shot put with a mark of 62-3.75 (18.99) as Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell placed second at 65-6.75 (19.98).
“John Newell, our throws coach, is a phenomenal coach and he’s got those guys dialed in,” noted Bucknam. “We’re just excited about that part of our program.”