Razorbacks ready to defend national indoor title in Boston

BOSTON – Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam returns to his native Massachusetts for the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend with the No. 1 Razorbacks set on defending the national team title they claimed a year ago.

Arkansas totaled 63 points last season in Albuquerque, New Mexico, winning the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championship by 23 points over runner-up Georgia (40) with Florida (34) and Washington (31) completing the podium.

“In this meet first, second and third place are very important,” said Bucknam. “Getting 10, eight, or six points is big. We have a lot of entries and if you’re in a field of 16 you have a shot at scoring a lot of points.

“The big points are really what matter in this meet. So, we have to do everything we can to maximize our opportunities. There are 17 events and we’re not in 17 events. So, we have to really take advantage of the events we’re in and compete like crazy.”

The Razorbacks enter the meet with a leading 15 entries in 10 events, which includes collegiate leaders in Romaine Beckford in the high jump and Wayne Pinnock in the long jump.

Beckford swept the pair of NCAA high jump titles a year ago at South Florida while Pinnock won the 2022 NCAA Indoor long jump with Tennessee and finished fourth a year ago with the Razorbacks.

“They anchor the team and are big leaders for us,” Bucknam said. “They’re especially talented, but you have to go out there and prove it on that particular day. They have so far. We hope that we’ve prepared them and they’re right to go this weekend.”

Arkansas head coaches Chris Bucknam (men) and Chris Johnson (women) preview the NCAA Indoor Championships

Challengers in this year’s national meet include Texas Tech, who has been ranked No. 1 for a majority of the season, Northern Arizona, Florida, and Washington.

“You have to be dialed in and prepared for great effort,” said Bucknam. “If we do that then we can compete with anybody. There are five to six teams who could be within a couple of points of each other.

“Texas Tech is tough, we match up with them in a couple of areas in the 60m and 60m hurdles with Jordan Anthony and Tai Brown. Meanwhile, there will be some events where we will be sitting and watching to see what happens.

“There are some key areas where we match up with Florida in the 200m, long jump, and 4 x 400. The other match-up we have is with Northern Arizona, who is ranked third, and we face them in the 5,000m and distance medley relay.”

Arkansas will have four Razorbacks competing in the heptathlon and three racing in the 5,000m. The heptathlon group includes Yariel Soto Torrado, Jack Turner, Marcus Weaver, and Daniel Spejcher. They rank 5-6-9-10 heading into this competition. The distance crew includes Peter Maru, Kirami Yego, and Patrick Kiprop, who rank 7-10-15 in the 5,000m.

Returning Razorbacks from last year’s team title Lance Lang in the 200m and Rojé Stona in the shot put. Lance placed eighth a year ago in 200m while previously with Kentucky he finished fifth in 2022 and sixth in 2021. Stona placed 13th last season.

“We’re in a lot of final only events and I like that. Those events include the high jump, long jump, shot put, distance medley relay, 5,000m, and 4 x 400 relay. Those events are really telling since we’re in the final and we control our destiny.”

Maru has made quite in impression in his debut season with the Razorbacks. His season started with a 5,000m school record in Boston a month ago, finishing third in 13:17.86. Then he shared high-point honors at the SEC Indoor with a double victory in the 3,000m and 5,000m while setting meet records in each race.

“He’s a sleeper in that 5k, and there are so many good athletes in there that have a lot of experience,” noted Bucknam. “Peter’s the new guy on the block. So, you don’t know how people will react when they get into a situation like that. He seems ready to go, he seems sharp, and he’s a sleeper in that race to win.

“We’ll just have to see how it plays out and how it goes technically. It’s going to be a race that probably goes from slow to fast and you have to be ready when the time comes to drop the hammer.”

The Razorbacks are the defending champions in the 4 x 400m relay and placed seventh in the distance medley relay a year ago. Arkansas enters the NCAA Indoor with the third best 4 x 400m relay at 3:03.07 and the seventh best distance medley at 9:20.09.