Jan. 28, 2012
Complete Results 
TUCSON - Another school record and two more NCAA qualifiers highlighted the second and final day 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 Saturday. The two-day meet was held at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
Sophomore Lawi Lalang set the Arizona school record with a win the mile and a time of 3:55.09. The previous record of 3:57.3 was set by John Quade in South Bend, Ind. on Feb. 6, 1988. Lalang's time of 3.55.09 is currently the best time in the world for the 2012 season and just missed the collegiate record by .09 seconds, giving him the third-best collegiate mile time ever. He automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in March.
"That was nice school record; we were focused on breaking the collegiate record but I'm very happy about the school record," distance coach James Li said. "He ran the last half of the race by himself, which I think is the reason he missed it. He lost concentration for a bit but overall it was a great race by him, a huge personal best and he beat some really good runners."
Senior Stephen Sambu also punched his ticket for the NCAA Indoor Championships, running the 3,000 meters in 7:51.59, good for third place in Saturday's competition. All-American senior Abdi Hassan earned a sixth-place finish in the 800-meter invite, clocking a 1:49.31. In the women's 3,000 meters, sophomore Elvin Kibet took third place, clocking a personal-best time of 9:15.93. Junior Jen Bergman had a time of 9:23.19, good for seventh in the race and a personal best.
Junior Nick Ross earned an 11th-place finish in the heptathlon with 5,269 points, which places him on the school's all-time top-10 list. On Friday, Ross' heptathlon high jump mark of 7-4.25 (2.24m) tied the world record, set by Kansas State's Scott Sellers on Dec. 7, 2007. He ended the competition with a time of 8.57 in the 60-meter hurdles, cleared 12-5.5 (3.80m) in the pole vault and ran the 1,000 meters in 3:07.03.
In the women's open mile, freshman Nicci Corbin won her first collegiate race with a time of 4:51.16. Senior Dahlys Marshall took eighth place in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 8.60. Sophomore Tamara Pridgett made it to the 60-meter dash finals, finishing in eighth with a time of 7.65. In the women's 400 meters, sophomore Shapri Romero also finished in eighth, posting a time of 55.10. In the women's 4x400-meter relay, the quartet of Romero (55.27), senior Echos Blevins (53.91), junior Shale' Garland (55.75) and junior Ariel Coleman (55.78) took third place with a time of 3:40.71.
"We had a great day today; Lawi Lalang and Stephen Sambu were big highlights today," head coach Fred Harvey. "The young ladies in the distances were awesome. Elvin Kibet and Jen Bergman both had personal bests in the 3,000 meters. In the women's mile, Nicci Corbin had a huge personal best, which was great for her. I am really proud of the distance girls. They did really well and have stepped up and done a great job since Christmas break. I was really excited for Tamara Pridgett making the finals in a big meet. She was a little dinged up but stayed focused into the final and performed very well."
