Rachel Glenn breaks Arkansas high jump record at Tyson Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE, Ar. (arkansasrazorbacks.com) – The second day of the Tyson Invitational saw Rachel Glenn win the Invitational high jump with a UA record height of 6 feet, 2.75 inches (1.90) to add half an inch to the previous school record set by Makeba Alcide from 2013.

Arkansas freshman Shawnti Jackson produced the second fastest indoor second-leg relay split by an American with a 50.52 carry as the Razorbacks produced a winning time of 3:28.55 to cap the second day of the Tyson Invitational.

Glenn had an indoor career best of 6-2 (1.88) and holds an outdoor best of 6-4 (1.93). She attempted 6-4 at the Randal Tyson Track Center after defeating the field at the 6-2.75 height. A pair of athletes – Jenna Rogers of Nebraska and South Dakota’s Daniella Anglin – finished second and third with a clearance of 5-11.25 (1.81).

“I’m always trying to exceed my expectations, so they are not exceeded right now,” noted Glenn. “It’s a cool start, because I’ve been having some rough practices with some self-doubt since I haven’t jumped in a whole year.

“I have the height at 6-4, there are just some technical things I need to work on in practice. It definitely takes a lot of patience. A lot of times I do have to work on being patient. I’m super hyper and super everywhere. My coach is telling me you need to be patient over the bar and let it ride out.”

Glenn opened with a pair of attempts at 5-9.25 (1.76), then made 5-11.25 (1.81) on one try. A third attempt was needed to get over 6-1.25 (1.90) while 6-2.75 was navigated on a second attempt. Razorback Sydney Billington tied for fourth place with LSU’s Morgan Smalls as each cleared 5-9.25.

Jackson was stationed in third place when she received the relay baton from Ashanti Denton (53.86), Jackson chased down Alexis Holmes (51.90) who was on the professional Hurdle Mechanic relay. As Holmes handed off to Anna Cockrell, the lead was slim over the Razorbacks (1:44.13 to 1:44.38).

“It was great, I love running against Alexis,” stated Jackson. “I’ve seen her run at Worlds, so it was really cool to at least run with her. Being able to get my team from third to second and almost equal first was great. I was just happy to be out there.

“I knew I probably ran pretty fast, but I shocked myself with that split. It means a lot to be on the relay. At Arkansas we have numerous amounts of athletes who ran at the World Champions on the team right now. To be amongst one of them and be on the 4 x 400 with them it’s an honor.”

Sanu Jallow split 52.42 on the third leg while Cockrell turned in a 52.12. Moving to the final leg a dropped baton hampered Hurdle Mechanic while Joanne Reid supplied Arkansas a 51.76 anchor for the victory.

The Razorbacks time ranks No. 10 on the UA all-time list. Finishing behind Arkansas from another section were LSU (3:33.77), Kansas (3:33.90), and South Dakota (3:34.54).

For Jackson, her split equals teammate Reid as the second best collegiate second leg in history. Reid produced her 50.52 last March as the Razorback set a world best of 3:21.75 in breaking the indoor and outdoor collegiate records while winning the NCAA Indoor.

On the world all-time indoor list of relay splits, Jackson is the equal No. 4 performer with the equal No. 5 performance. Early this indoor season Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler split 50.21 on second leg at the Razorback Invitational.

Second leg | World all-time list

50.12Olga Kotlyarova (Russia)200450.21Aaliyah Butler (Georgia|US)202450.30Svetlana Goncharenko (Russia)199950.40   … Kotlyarova200650.52Joanne Reid (Arkansas|Jamaica)202350.52Shawnti Jackson (Arkansas|US)202450.60Nicola Sanders (Great Britain)200750.68Alexis Holmes (US)202450.69Kennedy Simon (Texas|US)202350.72Abby Steiner (Kentucky|US)202250.74Rhasidat Adeleke (Texas|Ireland)2023

Arkansas | Indoor relay splits

49.19Britton Wilson4202349.83   Wilson4202250.32Taylor Ellis-Watson4201650.45   Ellis-Watson4201550.51   Ellis-Watson4201650.52Joanne Reid2202350.52Shawnti Jackson2202450.56Regina George4201350.57Rosey Effiong3202350.59   Wilson3202350.60Shafiqua Maloney3202250.60   Wilson42022

Earlier in the meet Jallow improved her career best in the 800m with a 2:01.77, which ranks second all-time at Arkansas behind the school record of 2:01.22 set by Shafiqua Maloney in 2021.

“I was happy with my time, but I was more excited to see Shafiqua win with that time,” said Jallow. “To see what she is able to do is an eye opener. Wow, that is the person I train with and I’m able to do that on my own level as well.

“I was excited with my time. It’s not what I had envisioned, but I’m not really going to for a time this year. I’m running to have fun, and get better with each race.”

Maloney broke her St. Vincent and the Grenadines national record in winning the race in a meet record of 1:58.69. Maloney bettered the Paris Olympic standard of 1:59.30 as she broke the 23-year-old meet record of 2:01.00 set by Jearl Miles-Clark in 2001. Malony also came within stride of the Tyson facility record of 1:58.40 set by Texas A&M’s Athing Mu in 2021.

“Finally,” stated Maloney, who had a previous indoor best of 2:01.22 and has clocked 1:59.94 outdoors. “Words cannot describe, honestly. Everybody around me has been telling me it’s there and to see it come to fruition is amazing.

“I’m just happy to get the Olympic standard out of the way and finally execute a race my coach was happy with. The work never stops, now I have to continue to train hard to make sure I can do what I just did even better outdoors. It’s a lot less pressure knowing I have the standard and don’t have to travel to a million and one meets trying to get it. It’s very relieving, yes.”

Following Maloney and Jallow in the race were a slew of career best times by current Razorbacks and an alum.

Alum Stephanie Brokow (née Brown) finished third in a career indoor best of 2:02.05 while Arkansas sophomore Ainsley Erzen clocked 2:02.46 in fourth place, moving to No. 5 on the UA all-time list. Razorback junior Tiana LoStracco finished sixth with a 2:04.22 that ranks No. 9.

Chachi Gonzales, a sophomore, improved to 2:06.49 in placing ninth overall. Alum Logan Jolly placed 10th overall in 2:06.60 while a PR of 2:07.50 was established by Analisse Batista, who placed 14th overall.

Racing in the mile later in the day, Gonzales led the Razorbacks with a runner-up time of 4:38.46 to improve her career best. Alum Katie McClune (4:40.04), LoStracco (4:41.71), and alum Claire McClune (4:45.96) followed in third, fourth, and fifth place. Career best times were generated by Mackenzie Rogers (4:48.46) and Ainsley Erzen (4:51.64).

After a fast Friday in the 400m, Arkansas sprinters returned to race over 200m today. The Razorbacks swept the top three places with career best times from Kaylyn Brown (23.01), Glenn (23.04), and Nickisha Pryce (23.08) as they moved to positions No. 9, No. 11, and No. 14 on the UA all-time list.

The Invitational pole vault was claimed by post-collegian Emily Grove with a 14-6.25 (4.43) clearance. Razorbacks Marin Chamberlin and Hannah Estes tied for sixth place as each cleared 13-6.5 (4.43).