Arkansas men’s track will put its new No. 1 ranking on the line this weekend, competing against some of the top competition in the nation when it hosts the Razorback Invitational Friday and Saturday.
The meet will feature many highly-ranked teams, including No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Florida State, No. 7 Stanford and No. 10 Arizona.
The meet also includes the No. 5 Texas team Arkansas beat in a dual meet Jan. 13.
“We’re really excited about this weekend,” Arkansas coach Chris Bucknam said. “We’ve got a great track meet coming up. It certainly is one of the best track meets in the country this year. Across the board Friday and Saturday it’s going to be a heck of a track meet.”
Bucknam’s team moved to No. 1 this week in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association — USTFCCCA.
This is the first No. 1 ranking for the men’s track team since Feb. 11, 2009. The Razorbacks were ranked second in the preseason, but moved up to after last week.
“We’ve got a long ways to go,” Bucknam said. “This is the tip of the iceberg of what can happen down the road. I’m very very pleased with where we’re at right now. There’s a lot of track and field left to play. There are a lot of great teams out there, we don’t know how it will end up, but obviously our goal is to be number one at the end of the indoor season, the outdoor season, and beyond.
“The target is always on our backs. It’s something that we’re used to. It’s OK with us. We don’t mind it.”
The meet will help prepare the Razorbacks for the Southeastern Conference championships in late February, a meet that will feature five other opponents in the current top 25. The SEC has the three top-ranked teams in the nation, with Arkansas, No. 2 Florida and No. 3 LSU.
“It’s our first big test, no question about that,” Bucknam said. “We’ll see how our freshmen respond, from that outstanding recruiting class. Some of our kids are running for their first time this weekend. We’ve got some work to do, so we’re not going to be at full strength in that regard, but everybody we have should be out competing.”
This weekend, Arkansas faces three other top-5 teams. The Longhorns took the Hogs down to the last event of their meet before the Razorbacks escaped with a narrow 89-81 victory.
“We’ve got 16 events, we’ll see how it all pans out,” Bucknam said. “Our sprinters are starting to come around. It’s going be exciting to watch every event and I’m not going to single one out. We’re looking to build as a team and watch as our young kids respond to this kind of competition.”
The meet will start Friday at 11 a.m. and will continue Saturday at 11 a.m. The event will be held at the Randal Tyson Track Center.