UA men jumping into mix

Batchelor’s leap boosts Hogs to 2nd

— If newfound responsibility weighed heavily on Tarik Batchelor’s shoulders, it was difficult to tell.

Batchelor won the men’s long jump to highlight No. 5 Arkansas’ first full day at the SEC Indoor Championships on Saturday at the Tyson Track Center. It was Batchelor’sfirst major meet as the Razorbacks’ top jumper after he spent the past two years as a complement to former Arkansas national champion Alain Bailey.

The Razorbacks had 39 points through five events, trailing No. 1 Florida by two, while No. 2 LSU was third with 30 points. The No. 4 Arkansas women were in third place with 25 points, trailing No. 6 Tennessee’s36 and No. 2 LSU’s 29.

Both Arkansas teams did well scoring and setting up opportunities in today’s finals. The men advanced 12 qualifiers, as did the women.

“We needed those big cats to come through for us,” Arkansas men’s Coach Chris Bucknam said. “Tarik did a fantastic job. Tarik set the tone for those guys.”

Batchelor said he understood how important it was he perform well not only as one of the team’s leaders but because the long jump was one of the first scoring events of the meet.

Batchelor jumped farther than 26 feet on his first three jumps, with his winning jump going 26-5 3/4. Batchelor was second as a sophomore and fourth as a freshman.

“I wasn’t under pressure; it was more of a responsibility,” Batchelor said. “The team looks to me to lead. It was important for me to get this win. It gives the team a boost, and on day two, we need that boost.”

Freshman Kevin Lazas followed with a second-place finish in the heptathlon with 5,674 points, one point shy of an automatic national qualifier. Teammates Terry Prentice and Matt Kirbos finished fourth and seventh for 15 total points in the event.

Arkansas picked up 12 points when its runners finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the 3,000-meter run.

The Arkansas women picked up points from long jumper Shantel Thompson and Whitney Jones, who finished second and third, respectively, to earn 14 points. Miranda Walker earned five more points with a fourthplace finish in the 3,000.

The women set themselves up for even morepoints in today’s finals, most notably in the 400 meters, an event Arkansas expects to dominate.

That was the case in Saturday’s preliminaries when Razorbacks posted three of the four fastest times, led by junior Shelise Williams’ 52.10 seconds. That time is the fastest in the nation this year.

“That 52.10 looked so smooth and effortless,” Arkansas women’s Coach Lance Harter said.

Williams insisted she didn’t exert too much effort in the preliminary.

“I’m good, I’m fresh, I’m stronger and I’m faster,” said Williams, the event’s defending champion. “I have more in me. I wouldn’t say 52-anything is easy, but it was kind of easy.”

Williams will be joined intoday’s final by Regina George and Jones, both of whom ran sub-53 times. Those fast times, especially Williams,’ was a not-so-subtle announcement to the competition.

“It was a little message,” Williams said. “This is my track, and I’m the defending champion. You want it, you’re going to have to take it from me.”

The expectation is the women’s race will come down to Arkansas and LSU. Both teams did what they needed to do to make that a distinct possibility, while the Lady Volunteers, team champions in 2005, 2007 and 2009, are still dangerous.

“LSU is alive and well; so are we,” Harter said. “We got the kids we wanted into the finals. Now they’ve got to cash in and score well.”

Sports, Pages 23 on 02/27/2011

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