Hog Calls

Arkansas track athletes getting their due

Arkansas sophomore Jarrion Lawson, left, receives the baton from freshman Eric Hawkins at the first exchange of the 400-meter relay during the third day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field West Preliminary Meet at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville.
Arkansas sophomore Jarrion Lawson, left, receives the baton from freshman Eric Hawkins at the first exchange of the 400-meter relay during the third day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field West Preliminary Meet at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- If this were an Olympic or world track and field championship year, Arkansas Razorbacks Jarrion Lawson and Sandi Morris would be representing the United States in front of the world and adding to honors they have already established before the plaza project is completed in the fall just outside John McDonnell Field.

Named for retired coach John McDonnell, Arkansas' 40-time national championship men's track and field/cross country coach, John McDonnell Field houses the outdoor track for Coach Chris Bucknam's men's team and Coach Lance Harter's women's team.

The area just outside the track on the corner of Razorback Road and Meadow Avenue will feature a 24-hour-a-day viewing area that is available to fans. It will include an 8-foot statue of McDonnell and plaques and exhibits honoring the All-American and all-conference exploits of the school's men's and women's teams, plus those Razorbacks who went on to become international stars at the Olympic Games and world championships.

Lawson, of Texarkana, Texas, was the 2014 NCAA Indoor long jump champion as a sophomore last March in Albuquerque, N.M., but two long fouls and one poor jump in May at the NCAA West Outdoor Preliminary Meet kept him out of the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Lawson bounced back in June when he soared 26 feet, 8 1/4 inches to finish second at the USA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

A top-three USA National Outdoor or Olympic Trials finish would net a world championship team berth in 2015 or a U.S. Olympic berth in 2016. This summer, it earns Lawson a feel-good finish to what had been an outstanding indoor and outdoor season until the disastrous West Preliminary meet at McDonnell Field, when he was too cautious needing when it came to making a mark on his third jump.

Lawson still advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a sprinter on the 400- and 1,600-meter relays. His outdoor All-American dreams ended when Omar McLeod, Arkansas' Olympic-caliber freshman from Jamaica and the 2014 NCAA Indoor 60-meter hurdles champion, pulled up lame with an injury during the NCAA Outdoors meet in Eugene, Ore.

Now Lawson, McLeod and senior-to-be Andrew Irwin of Mount Ida, the Razorbacks' two-time NCAA Indoor pole vault champion who was injured throughout 2014, are refreshed for the remainder of the summer.

photo

Sandi Morris celebrates after clearing the bar at 14 feet, 11 inches at the women's pole vault at the U.S. outdoor track and field championships in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, June 27, 2014. Morris finished in second place. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Morris, who was fourth in the pole vault at the NCAA women's outdoor meet, sailed over the Olympic standard while clearing 14-11 for second place in Sacramento. She will compete in a meet in Canada this summer, then rest before going into the indoor season off some hard training.

By the time Arkansas' SEC cross country teams compete this autumn, expect that beleaguered plaza workers will fall even further behind while trying to keep up the commitment that honors the Razorbacks' runners and jumpers.

At least what the workers build should show up even in the shadow of McDonnell's statue.

"We have got such an unbelievable location between Razorback Stadium and Bud Walton Arena," Bucknam said. "To be able to have this outdoor plaza/museum, people can not only get their picture made with Coach Mac but look at the accomplishments of all of our great track and field athletes, both men and women."

Sports on 07/23/2014

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