Six athletes from the Arkansas Razorbacks advanced to the next round of their events on the first day of the USATF Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene. Arkansas alum Taliyah Brooks ended the first day of the heptathlon in second place, while Marcus Weaver is currently 10th in the decathlon.
Krissy Gear and Logan Jolly both qualified for Saturday’s 3,000m steeplechase final after competing in separate preliminary heats. Gear finished fifth in her heat with a time of 9:30.75, and Jolly placed sixth in her heat with a time of 9:38.68, advancing on time as the 13th overall qualifier.
Brooks accumulated 3,898 points through four events in the heptathlon and trails Anna Hall, who leads with 4,097 points. Allie Jones sits third with 3,662 points. Brooks started strong by running a 13.02 (-0.6 wind) in the 100m hurdles for the second fastest time behind Michelle Atherley’s 12.95 and ahead of Hall’s 13.12, earning her 1,121 points.
In high jump competition, Brooks cleared 5-11.25 (1.81 meters) for another 991 points while Hall took over the lead by clearing 6-2.75 (1.90 meters), which earned her an event-best score of 1,106 points. Brooks then threw a shot put distance of 45-11 (14 meters) for an additional 794 points.
She concluded day one by running a wind-aided time of 23.88 seconds (1.4 wind) in the 200m dash for another 992 points; Hall won that event with a time of 23.56 seconds while Jones matched Brooks’ mark.
NCAA champion Jordan Anthony and incoming Razorback Dapriest Hogans each ran from lane nine during their respective heats in the men’s 100m preliminaries and moved on to semifinals—Anthony clocked a legal-wind-aided time of 10.14 seconds to finish third in his heat and tenth overall; Hogans ran into a -1 wind at finished fifth with a time of 10.26 seconds to place twenty-first overall.
In women’s sprints action, Jada Mowatt advanced to semifinals after finishing second in her heat with an effort of 11.11 (-1.5 wind), ranking thirteenth overall among qualifiers.
Nikki Hiltz won her preliminary heat in the women’s1500m run with a time of 4:05.99—the fifth best qualifying mark heading into Saturday’s final.
Reuben Reina posted a mark of 3:37.37 in men’s1500m prelims while Austen Dalquist finished his race at 3:39.73; however neither athlete advanced as it required at least 3:34:64 to qualify based on times from other competitors.
Marcus Weaver closed out his first day competing across five decathlon disciplines totaling 3,954 points—good enough for tenth place so far—beginning with an opening run at 11:35 seconds (784 pts) over100 meters followed by jumps measuring22-1¼(6·75 m/755 pts). His shot put throw reached46-6¼(14·18 m/739 pts). In high jump he cleared6-9¾(2·08 m/878 pts), before ending day one running50·37from lane one over400 meters (798 pts).
“Six Razorbacks advance at USATF Championships,” said Arkansas representatives regarding Thursday’s performances.
