NCAA West prelims start Wednesday for No. 1 Razorbacks

SACRAMENTO – No. 1 Arkansas set a record in terms of total entries for the 2023 NCAA Championships with 44. Starting on Wednesday the field of 48 in individual events at the NCAA West Preliminary rounds, hosted by Sacramento State, will start to be trimmed to 12 by Friday’s second rounds.

Also on Friday, the fields of 24 in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays will also be trimmed to 12 for the NCAA Championships that will be held in Austin from June 7-10.

A trio of Razorbacks already set to compete in the decathlon at the NCAA Championships include Yariel Soto Torrado, Marcus Weaver, and Daniel Spejcher.

Arkansas will have multiple entries in seven first round events on the track. Also contested on Wednesday are a pair of field events, the long jump and shot put, as well as the semifinal in the 10,000m.

Live results will be available here: https://tinyurl.com/ymykyrjc. A live stream of the track events begins at 8 p.m. (CT) through ESPN+: https://tinyurl.com/3fwz8mfb.

“It’s a lot of fun and when you come to the NCAA Championships you like to have a big group,” noted Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam. “So, we have a big group.

“It will have the feel of the SEC Championships with the number of athletes we have here, which is more than we were able to compete in the conference meet. It’s time to go to work.”

Of the 34 Razorbacks representing the 44 entries among 16 events for Arkansas, 15 entrants are seeded among the top 12 including the sprint relay entering the NCAA West Preliminary rounds.

Top seeds for Arkansas include collegiate leaders Ayden Owens-Delerme in the 400m hurdles, Wayne Pinnock in the long jump, and Jaydon Hibbert in the triple jump.

“We won’t separate anything from the elite guys to the guys who are kind of on the outside looking in and trying to be in the top 12,” said Bucknam. “Everything is equal.

“We can’t look at this meet lightly or take anything for granted. It’s going to be a lot of work no matter who you are. Our goal is to get as many qualifiers to Austin as possible so we can bring a big squad down there as well. We need to do the work and get after it.”

Winning three championship team titles this season, sweeping the SEC Indoor and Outdoor titles along with the NCAA Indoor championship, has the Razorbacks prepared for the next stage of advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

“The SEC Championship was a great effort by our guys,” stated Bucknam. “We have a mature group of athletes. They’ve been here before and been through this. We’re just looking forward to getting through this meet and to the last two rounds.”

NCAA West Preliminary Rounds | Arkansas Schedule (PT) with seed position

Wednesday, May 24

Friday, May 26