Sun Devils achieve program record and elevate to No. 10 school in collegiate indoor history to edge Florida in 3:02.78; Maloney ascends to No. 2 in world this year, Jackson splits 50.52 on 3:28.55 women’s 4x400 for Razorbacks, with Glenn clearing Arkansas indoor-best 6-2.75 (1.90m) in high jump 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos courtesy of Arkansas and Florida

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – During a weekend that produced several of the top performances in Arkansas program history, along with a world-leading men’s 4x400-meter relay by Arizona State, it was a significant breakthrough by a former Razorbacks’ standout that secured the spotlight Saturday at the Tyson Invitational.

Shafiqua Maloney, an adidas professional athlete representing Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, ran a lifetime-best 1 minute, 58.69 seconds to win the women’s 800 meters at Randal Tyson Track Center, elevating to the No. 2 competitor in the world this year.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Maloney, who ran 1:59.94 in August at the Ed Murphey Classic in Nashville, Tenn., entered Saturday’s race with a 2:01.22 indoor-best performance from the 2021 NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships in Arkansas.

Maloney also finished third in the 2021 Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in 2:03.12, the race in which former Texas A&M standout Athing Mu achieved the collegiate record by clocking 1:58.40.

Maloney led a trio of Arkansas standouts to personal-best performances, with Texas A&M transfer Sanu Jallow placing second in 2:01.77, sophomore Ainsley Erzen finishing fourth in 2:02.46 and Bradley transfer Tiana LoStracco securing sixth in 2:04.22.

Jallow elevated to No. 2 in program history behind only Maloney, with Erzen ascending to fifth all-time for the Razorbacks and LoStracco improving to ninth for Arkansas.

Following a victory Friday in the men’s 400 meters, Justin Robinson led off the 4x400 for the Sun Devils, who clocked a program-record 3:02.73 to edge Florida in 3:02.78.

Gamali Felix, Kaleb Simpson and Jayden Davis followed Robinson’s 45.82 leadoff split to help Arizona State ascend to the No. 10 all-time collegiate indoor program.

Simpson was also second overall in the men’s 200 in 20.81 seconds after winning the final section, with LSU junior Da’Marcus Fleming emerging victorious in his race in 20.74.

Jevaughn Powell anchored Florida with a 44.99 split, helping the Gators run sub-3:03 for the seventh time indoors in school history, second all-time among collegiate programs behind Texas A&M with nine performances.

Arkansas capped its weekend by winning the women’s 4x400 in 3:28.55, with freshman Shawnti Jackson producing a 50.52-second split on the second leg.

Jackson matched Razorbacks’ teammate Joanne Reid for the second-fastest split on the second leg in collegiate indoor history, trailing only Georgia’s Aaliyah Butler, who achieved a 50.21 second leg Jan. 27 at the Razorback Invitational at Randal Tyson Track Center.

Reid split 50.52 as part of the world all-time best 3:21.75 produced by Arkansas last year at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.

Jackson ranks No. 2 among American indoor competitors all-time on the second leg, trailing only Butler, and matched Jamaican athlete Reid for No. 4 on the second leg in global indoor history.

Rachel Glenn, a South Carolina transfer, eclipsed the Arkansas indoor program record in the women’s high jump with a 6-2.75 (1.90m) clearance on her second attempt, surpassing the 2013 effort of 6-2.25 (1.89m) by Makeba Alcide.

Jenna Rogers of Nebraska and South Dakota’s Daniella Anglin, both juniors, each cleared 5-11.25 (1.81m).

Glenn, who ran a lifetime-best 8.14 in the 60-meter hurdles prelims Friday and clocked 8.19 to secure sixth in the final, added a personal-best 23.04 to finish second in the 200-meter final behind freshman teammate Kaylyn Brown prevailing in 23.01.

Brown had finished second Friday in the 400 in a personal-best 51.49.

Iowa junior Rivaldo Marshall, representing Jamaica, elevated among the top six collegiate competitors this season in the invitational 800 with a personal-best 1:46.86 to edge Iowa State’s Finley McLear, a Miami (Ohio) transfer, finishing second in 1:46.97.

Iowa also had freshman Daniela Wamokpego, a French competitor, match her indoor personal-best in the triple jump with a sixth-round effort of 43-5.25 (13.24m).

Arianna Fisher, a former All-American at Missouri, was second with a sixth-round performance of 43-0.25 (13.11m).

Fairleigh Dickinson’s Salif Mane, the runner-up last year at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships, won the men’s triple jump with an opening-round mark of 54-2 (16.51m).

Florida’s Sean Dixon-Bodie placed runner-up with a second-round effort of 52-8.75 (16.07m).

Arkansas standout Romaine Beckford, a Jamaican competitor and the reigning NCAA Division 1 indoor and outdoor high jump champion, cleared 7-3 (2.21m) on his first opportunity to edge Oklahoma graduate Vernon Turner and Kansas junior Devin Loudermilk, who needed two and three attempts, respectively, to achieve the same height in the men’s invitational section.

Florida sophomore Alida Van Daalen, a Dutch standout, won the women’s shot put with a fifth-round performance of 59-5 (18.11m).

KeAyla Dove from North Texas placed second with a fifth-round effort of 58-1.25 (17.71m). Dove and Van Daalen are two of the five collegiate competitors to surpass the 18-meter barrier this season.

Kevin Shubert, a Nebraska senior, triumphed in the men’s shot put with a third-round mark of 64-1.75 (19.55m). LSU senior John Meyer placed second at 61-4.75 (18.71m).  

Emily Grove, a Nike professional athlete, triumphed in the women’s invitational pole vault with a second-attempt clearance at 14-6.25 (4.43m).

Four competitors all cleared 13-10.50 (4.23m), including Kansas freshman Mason Meinershagen and South Dakota teammates Marleen Mulla and Cassidy Mooneyhan. Madi Wulfekotter, third place last year for Central Missouri at both the NCAA Division 2 indoor and outdoor finals, also cleared 13-10.50.

Iowa State’s Silas Winders, a transfer from Southern Indiana, won the men’s mile in 3:59.88.

Nebraska freshman Berlyn Schutz prevailed in the women’s mile in a personal-best 4:37.45 after being paced through the first 1,000 meters by Maloney.