Jan. 27, 2012

Complete Results

TUCSON - Two school record and two more NCAA qualifiers highlighted day one of competition for the University of Arizona Wildcat No. 10 men's and No. 12 women's track and field teams at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. on Friday. The two-day meet is being held at the University of Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center and will resume at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday.

Junior Brigetta Barrett improved her nation-leading mark in the high jump, setting the school and the Randal Tyson Track Center record, clearing 6-5.5 (1.97m), just short of the collegiate record of 6-6.

"Brigetta (Barrett) breaking the record was awesome; she knew she was ready to jump well," head coach Fred Harvey said. "Her whole preparation coming in here, she was on cloud nine the whole time and ready to go. With things going the way they did, and Nick Ross jumping really well, that fired her up and she was ready to get it done."

Junior Nick Ross started competition in his first-ever collegiate heptathlon. After four events, he sits in fourth place with 3,267 points. Ross had marks of 7.27 in the 60-meter dash, 23-6 (7.16m) in the long jump and 38-9 (11.81m) in the shot put. In the final event of the day, the high jump, Ross qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, clearing 7-4.25 (2.24m) and tying the world record, set by Kansas State's Scott Sellers on Dec. 7, 2007. He'll finish the seven-event competition with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meters on Saturday.

In the women's pentathlon, senior Liana Fuentes earned a bronze finish with 3,777 points. She had marks of 8.96 in the 60-meter hurdles, 5-4.5 in the high jump, 41-7.25 in the shot put, 17-11 in the long jump and 2:30.87 in the 800 meters. Fuentes set personal bests in the high jump, shot put and long jump. Sophomore Amber Passalaqua finished fifth with 3,682 points. She had marks of 9.09 in the 60-meter hurdles, 5-5.75 in the high jump, 33-3 in the shot put, 18-2.25 in the long jump and 2:27.62 in the 800 meters.

In the shot put, junior Julie Labonté automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships, winning the competition with a personal-best throw of 59-1.25 (18.01m), currently the second-best mark in the country. Labonté also re-set her own Arizona school record in the event, replacing her previous best of 57-9 (17.80m).

Also in the shot put, junior Taylor Freeman finished in fourth with a personal-best throw of 52-3.75 (15.94m). Sophomore Bozidar Antunovic earned a fourth-place finish, throwing a personal-best mark of 60-8.5 (18.5m). Junior Edgar Rivera-Morales won the men's high jump competition, clearing 7-1 (2.16m).

In the women's 60-meter dash, sophomores Tamara Pridgett and Germe Poston qualified for Saturday's semifinals. Pridgett clocked a time of 7.58, good for seventh. Poston finished in 14th place with a time of 7.78. In the men's 60-meter dash, junior Chris McSwain had a time of 6.86, good for 12th place and a spot in the semifinals on Saturday.

"I am very excited about Tamara Pridgett making it to the semifinals in 60 meters," said Harvey. "I really believe she can make it to the final in the 60-meter dash, which would be huge for her. Overall, we had a really good day. The highs are very high, like Julie Labonté's mark in the shot put. The one thing really being overlooked is Nick Ross' high jump in the heptathlon. He jumped 7-4.25 in the heptathlon and that is still one of the top marks in the country."