Henry Kiner earns bronze in NCAA long jump

EUGENE – A bronze medal performance by Henry Kiner in the long jump earned Arkansas six team points on the first day of the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field.

Marcus Weaver is currently fifth in the decathlon with 4,090 points and the Razorbacks advanced both relays to Friday finals along with Jordan Anthony in the 100m and 200m as well as Tyrice Taylor and Rivaldo Marshall in the 800m.

Kiner opened with a leading mark of 26-0.25 (7.93) in the first round. Then a pair of wind-aided marks in the same round by Malcolm Clemsons of Florida (26-4.5w | 8.04) and Oklahoma State’s Blair Anderson (26-3.75w | 8.02) claimed the top two positions.

Improving to 26-1.5 (7.96) in the fourth round improved Kiner’s hold on the bronze medal position. Freshman Uroy Ryan placed ninth with a mark of 25-6 (7.77), finishing 1.25 of an inch behind the final scoring position. Juriad Hughes, another freshman and the third Razorback in the long jump, placed 18th with a mark of 24-3.75 (7.41).

Taylor set a career best of 1:45.23 to produce the leading time in the 800m. He moves to No. 3 on the UA all-time list. Marshall finished second in his section with a 1:47.14.

Anthony posted times of 10.06 and 20.01 to reach the final in both sprints. Connor Washington ran 10.23 and didn’t advance to the final. Seven of the nine finalists in the 100m are from the SEC with Auburn, LSU and Tennessee advancing two each.

Anthony anchored the 4 x 100m relay to a season best of 38.51 in reaching the final. The time ranks No. 3 on the UA all-time list. The first three legs included Washington, Tevijon Williams and Kevin Bello.

Weaver was stationed in 21st place after the 100m (11.23) and long jump (22-10.5 | 6.97). Then he won the shot put (50-8.75 | 15.46) and high jump (6-9.5 | 2.07), moving to seventh and third place overall as he picked up 818 and 868 points from the two events. He finished with a 50.06 in the 400m and dropped to fifth overall.

Finishing the first day with the 4 x 400m relay, Arkansas produced the best time of 3:02.53 with a foursome of TJ Tomlyanovich (46.35), Steven McElroy (45.17), Jonah Vigil (45.63), and Jaden Smith (45.38). USC had the next best time of 3:02.76 with Texas A&M third at 3:03.09.

Reuben Reina posted a time of 3:43.32 in the 1,500m, placing ninth overall, but slower automatic times advanced from the previous section. Davis Helmerich ran 3:54.92 in the first section. Racing in the 10,000m final, Timothy Chesondin placed 19 with a time of 29:26.37.