THE DOMINATION

The Hogs repeated last year’s perfect score of 15 but this time against SEC competition. Brian Baker and the Hogs filed the first 6 positions. Baker set a new course record of. 24:17 and was followed home by. Graham Hood, Bruton, Henry, Hanley and David Welsh. The Hogs won their 5th NCAA cross country title in 8 years in Tucson. Niall Bruton finished an excellent runner up, Baker 3rd and Hood 7th and the Hogs won by 62 points.

Indoors, the Razorbacks produced 6 SEC individual titles as they won their first SEC track title. Erick Walder set a new meet record in the long jump with a leap of 26’0”. Jimmy French set a new school record of 20.77 in the 200m. At the national meet, Walder excelled once more as he became only the third ever to win both the long snd triple jumps at an indoor championship. Hood was runner up in the mile, Brian Wellman was 3rd in the triple jump.

The Razorbacks didn’t disappoint at the outdoor SEC championships. Walder had a monstrous 28’ 1” in the long jump. Hood ran a fast 1:45.9 in the 800m. The Hogs took 2nd through 8th in the 5,000m. Scoring a whopping 29 points as they beat Tennessee by nearly 50 points.

The Hogs seized the opportunity at the NCAA to complete their second NCAA Triple Crown. Jumps again led the way with Walder wining the long jump, Wellman and Gary Johnson went 1 and 2 in the triple jump. Hanley and Welsh went 2 and 3 in the 10,000m. Points were also earned by Ray Doakes, Hood, Morin, Baker and Bruton.

The Hogs won their 20th conference cross country title. Jason Bunston, Niall Bruton and Mike Morin crossed the finish line together. Appropriately enough the local boy Morin got the victory. Teddy Mitchell was 5th and Brian Baker 7th as the Hogs scored 18 points to runner up Tennessee’s 75. They were at their most lethal at the NCAA Championships, winning with 31 points, the lowest team score since 1956. BYU were over 100 points back with 153. The Hogs had Bunston and Bruton in the top 3. Teddy Mitchell was top 10 with his 8th placing. Baker and Morin completed the scoring with top 25 finishes. The title was the 4th consecutive national title for the cross country Hogs.

The jumpers were in great form early in the indoor season. Erick Walder went 56’2” in the triple jump. and Ray Doakes cleared 7’5”in the high jump. Vincent Henderson set a new school record in the 55m of 6.23. Bruton won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose games in 3:58.71. Chris Phillips ran 7.21, the fastest time in the country for the 55m hurdles. Bunston set a new school record in the 5,000m 13:47.74 and Jerome Romaine jumped 55’3.25” in the triple jump.

At the SEC indoors the Hogs won 8 individual events. Led by Doakes who jumped an SEC indoor record of 7’7.25” and SEC all time records by Walder 56’2” in the triple jump and Bunston’s 7:56.7- 3,000m, the Hogs won by almost 70 points over Tennessee. The Razorbacks had 14 qualifiers at the NCAA meet and established themselves as the most dominant indoor squad ever. They scored the most points ever within 94 points snd captured 6 individual titles. Walder won his third straight long and triple jump double with marks of 27’8’ and 56’6.75”. Bruton repeated as mile champion Bunston won the 3,000m. Calvin Davis was also a repeat winner in the 400m. The distance medley relay of Bruton, David, Baker and Graham Hood were victorious and set a world record.

The outdoors was another bonanza for the Razorbacks. Erick Walder broke Carl Lewis’s collegiate record in the long jump with a leap of 28’8.25” becoming the 5th all time long jumper in the world.

The SEC outdoor championships were held in Fayetteville. Arkansas amassed 223 points, a record team total. It was their 9th straight team title since entering the SEC. The 78 point margin of victory over Tennessee was the 3rd largest ever. The Hogs had eight individual winners, Bunston 5,000m, Doakes high jump, Hood 1,500m, Mitchell 10,000m, Walder long jump and Romaine triple jump. Next the Hogs turned to the NCAA meet and captured their 3rd straight NCAA triple crown. The Hogs had 5 individual NCAA champions, Walder, long and triple jumps, Hood 1,500m, Baker 5,000m and Mitchell 10,000.

The Hogs suffered two losses during the regular season. They were beaten into second in the OSU Jamboree by hosts OSU. They finished 4th in their home meet, the Chile Pepper XC Festival. Godfrey Siamusiye was a bright spot. Wining both races. The Hogs recovered from the poor start to win both the SEC and NCAA meets. Siamusiye won the SEC and NCAA individual titles. The Hogs won their 8th National Cross Country title and 25th overall title. Ryan Wilson was second man in both championships finishing. 5th at nationals and 4th in the conference. Also scoring were Phillip Price, Sean Kaley and Matt Kerr.

The indoor season marked the end of the NCAA indoor streak at 12, losing the NCAA title to George Mason by 10 points and the end of the SEC indoor streak at 14, losing to Tennessee by 9 points. There were some sterling performances however. Ryan Wilson won the high point scorer award for his victories in the SEC mile and 3,000m. The other individual winner was Godfrey Siamusiye in the 5,000m. Wilson won the 3,000m at the national meet and Siamusiye was second in the 5,000. Robert Howard won the triple jump.

The Hogs rebounded outdoors. At the SEC, they pushed Tennessee back to the runners up position. Godfrey Siamusiye did most of the heavy lifting; he scored 30 points, winning all three distance events for the second consecutive year. Jason Bunston was runner up in the 1,500m and runner up to Siamusiye in two events, 5,000m and 10,000m. Seneca Lassiter won the 800m. Wilson won the 1,500m. Harry Jones won the 110m Hurdles. Robert Howard won the triple jump and was 2nd in the long jump. Matt Hemingway was 2nd in the high jump.

The Razorbacks turned the tables on George Mason at the outdoor meet. Siamusiye and Bunston starred again. Siamusiye led Bunston to 1st and 2nd place finishes in the 10,000m and 2nd and 3rd places in the 5,000m, yielding 32 points from the 2 events. Howard won the Triple Jump with a mark of 56’1.75” and was 4th in the long jump. Hemingway was second in the high jump with a height of 7’5”. This was the 5th consecutive NCAA outdoor Team Title for the Hogs.

In the SEC cross country. Championship, Ryan Wilson won handily as the Hogs filled positions 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 and scored 19 points. The Hogs were prepared for nationals but, in one of the closest finishes ever, Stanford Squeaked past the Hogs for a three point team victory. Ryan Wilson was 5th, Sean Kaley 9th, Mike Power 12th, Phillip Price 15th and Murray link was 37th. Imagine scoring 58 points and not winning

As expected Robert Howard played a major role in the Hogs in both NCAA team titles but it was Arkansas’s depth that allowed the razorbacks to take home the trophy at the indoor nationals. Howard won both the broad jumps at the meet, the triple jump with a seriously injured achilles. Kenny Evans became the first Razorback freshman to win a field event national title in his first try with a jump of 7’5”. Teammate Kevin Dotson was runner up to Evans. There were other impressive performances, Sean Kaley was second in the 5,000m, Seneca Lassiter was third in the mile and Matt Kerr was third in the 3,000m.

In the SEC indoor championships, the Razorbacks set a meet record with 181 points, second place LSU had a mere 77. Matt Kerr was the meet high points scorer with a victory in the mile, second in the 3,000 and a leg on the wining DMR. He led the Hogs to a 1st, 2nd, and 4th finish in the mile. Sean Kaley led Adam Dailey, Andrew Begley and Alan Dunleavy to a 1,2,3 and 5 placing in the 5,000m. Lassiter won the 800m and ran a leg on the DMR. Gordon Sasser was a stunning 2nd in the pole vault. Robert Howard won the triple jump but, oddly, finished 2nd in the long jump

Outdoor was more Hog domination. At the SEC, both Howard and Lassiter were double champions, the two broad jumps for Howard and the 800m and 1,500m for Lassiter. As expected the Hogs got excellent results from the distance crew. Power, Ryan Travis and Kerr went 2, 4 and 5 behind Lassiter in the 1,500m. Power and Kerr doubled with wins in the 5,000m and steeplechase. Sean Kaley won the 10,000 and was runner up in the 5,000. Evans was on top in the high ump with 7’4.5”. D’Marcus scored in both hurdles, highlighted by the silver medal position in the 400. The Hogs scored 183 points to 135.5 for LSU.

It took seven years from the first title in 1985 and in Buffalo, NY, the Razorbacks won their seventh straight title. As usual, Howard played a massive role. He became the first athlete to repeat in the long and triple jumps since our own Mike Conley. A decade earlier. Lassiter edged a victory in the 1,500m and Kerr led from the gun to the win in the Steeplechase. Evans finished 4th in the high jump, Power was third in the 5,000m. Trevor Rush was 6th in the 200m. The Hogs defeated Stanford 58.5 points to 51 to compensate for the even narrower loss to the cardinal in cross country nationals.

After finishing second at the 1998 NCAA championship, the Razorbacks were determined to return home with the title. Arkansas never would have believed the title would come so easily. It figured to be another shootout with Stanford, but the Hogs ran away with the victory. They set an NCAA record in the process. With three Razorbacks finishing in the top 10, the squad won by 127 points, the widest margin victory in an NCAA Championships, eclipsing the record of the 1993 Hogs who won by 122 points. The Hogs scored 58 points compared to runner up Wisconsin with 18. Mike Power led the Hogs with a 2nd place finish, Andrew Begley was 7th, James Karanu was 10th, Murray Link 24th, and Adam Daley 39th.

Indoors the Hogs won their 35th national championship by scoring 46.5 points of their 69.5 points in the field events. They came into the championship after scoring 168 points in the SEC indoors. 14 Razorbacks qualified in 16 events at nationals. During the first day of competition, they tallied 39.5 points 11.5 lead over Florida. Marcus Clavelle scored 6 points with third in the shot putt, Melvin Lister won the long jump with 26‘8.5“ on day one and Kenny Evans was second in the high jump with the personal best of 7‘7“. The DMR finished third. Ryan Travis and Murray Link finished 4th and 7th in the mile. The triple jump and then 3,000 m remained. The Hogs had 4 point lead over Stanford heading into the 3,000m, James, Karanu and Sharif Karie against four Stanford athletes. Karie set a personal best finished third and Karanu, who had run on the DMR finished fifth keep the Hogs in first place. Lister’s second individual title in the triple jump sealed the 35th National title.

The Hogs qualified 18 athletes for the NCAA championships outdoors in Durham North Carolina. After a disappointing first day the Hogs were in sixth place having suffered multiple minor setbacks. Daniel Lincoln was tripped in the Steeplechase qualifying round. The 4 x 100 relay team finished sixth. Lister was a surprising fourth in the long jump. His 6 points were the only points of the day. In the second day of competition, setbacks continued. Adam Daley was tripped with five laps to go in the 10,000 and almost fell. Clavelle failed to qualify for the finals in the shot putt. The Razorbacks began to improve slightly and qualified 6 individual athletes for day two, The biggest thrill of the night was the 4 x 400 meter relay breaking their previous collegiate best time of the year with 3:02.02 and finishing 2nd. When D’Marcus brown finished fifth in the 110 m yards hurdles, the Stanford lead had been cut to a mere six points. It would all come down to the 5,000m. The Hogs were represented by two athletes. Karie had just competed in the 1,500m and was exhausted. Link ran an admirable 3rd but the Stafford crew scored 18 points to seal the victory and deny the Hogs an NCAA Triple Crown.