FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012 – MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACT: Zach Lawson (zlawson@uark.edu)

 

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Distance crew heads to Stanford Invitational

 

            FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 6 University of Arkansas women’s track and field team heads to Palo Alto, Calif., this weekend to compete at the 38^th running of the Stanford Invitational. Competition at Cobb Track & Angell Field begins Friday, April 6 and runs through Saturday, April 7. The Razorbacks’ middle-distance and distance crews will be on display at the west coast event.

            “We’ll have our distance group going full force this weekend,” head coach Lance Harter said. “The Stanford Invitational is that summit competition that everybody goes to so we’re going to see the best of the best and go head-to-head this coming weekend.”

            The Razorbacks’ scheduled entries are Stephanie Brown in the 400 meters; Martine Borge, Kristen Gillespie, Samantha Learch and Jillian Rosen in the 800 meters; Learch, Diane Robison and Keri Wood in the 1,500 meters; Gillespie, Kaitlin Flattmann and Dominique Scott in the 5,000 meters; and Cali George, Grace Heymsfield and Shannon Klenke in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

            Including the Razorbacks, the women’s field at the Stanford Invitational is scheduled to feature nine top-25 teams. Arkansas will be joined by No. 4 USC, No. 9 Kansas, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 14 Arizona, No. 17 Baylor, host and No. 20 Stanford, No. 22 Florida State and No. 24 BYU. The Razorbacks will be the only team from the Southeastern Conference competing at Stanford.

            “With the format we use for regional qualifying, it’s amazing how many fast times and qualifiers come from the Stanford Invitational,” Harter said. “There are a lot of great meets after this weekend to get those times, but for some reason, (Stanford) is a place where if you don’t run fast, you’ll be run over.”

            Arkansas dropped on spot in the April 3 release of the USTFCCCA national poll. This week, the Razorbacks are No. 6 and remain the second-highest ranked team in the SEC. Overall, the conference has six teams in the top 25 with Arkansas, LSU, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn.

Meet coverage, including race broadcast sand interviews, of the Stanford Invitational will be available at Flotrack.org. For more information regarding Razorback track and field or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

 

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