FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas' men's and women's track and field teams will be on a fact-finding mission at the Vanderbilt Invitational this weekend as well as competing in the second meet of the indoor season.
Vanderbilt is hosting the SEC Championships Feb. 24-25 and the meet today and Saturday will provide the Razorbacks their first experience at the Commodores' indoor facility.
"We look forward to getting in there and seeing what it feels like and use it as somewhat of a rehearsal in anticipation of the SEC Championships," said Lance Harter, coach of Arkansas' No. 2-ranked women's team. "We want to get comfortable there."
Chris Bucknam, who coaches the No. 4 Razorbacks' mens' team, said there's always a "curiosity factor" competing at a facility for the first time.
"There's an advantage to getting on the runways and on the track in that facility to see what it's about, because we've got a big meet there that we're going to try to win at the end of February," Bucknam said. "Even find out where the bathrooms are, OK? Where do you warm up?
"We've got to figure out the logistics, so this is going to be a very, very important meet for us.
"Plus, we want to support a fellow SEC school and the investment Vanderbilt has made in a new facility."
The Razorbacks train and compete at home on a banked 200-meter track at the Randal Tyson Track Center while the Vanderbilt Recreation Center has a flat 300-meter track.
"The over-sized 300 track is traditionally faster because there are fewer turns to negotiate," Harter said. "We want to test that out."
Arkansas' teams also will get their first taste of SEC competition this weekend with Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt competing at the meet among the field of 18 teams that also includes Arizona and Georgia Tech.
The meet begins at 5 p.m. today and resumes at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.