Track and field competes with top-tier opponents at Razorback Invitational

The Southeastern Conference – consistently one of the strongest conferences in collegiate track and field – lived up to its reputation at the Razorback Invitational this weekend.

The UCLA track and field team finished seventh overall on the men’s side and 12th for the women’s team, despite sending more than 30 competitors to challenge the schools from the South. Arkansas, the host school, came out in full form and won the men’s meet by 17 points and the women’s meet by more than 25.

Despite an average performance by the team as a whole, a handful of individuals had strong showings this weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Continuing his winning streak from the Lumberjack Invitational in Arizona, thrower Nicholas Scarvelis tallied 10 of the men’s 41.5 points, as the senior captured first place in shot put, beating out University of Georgia’s Ashinia Miller by more than a foot.

“The mindset was to keep the momentum going,” Scarvelis said. “I knew I was in pretty good shape coming off the PR a couple of weeks ago, so I was glad I was able to come out and respond to Ashinia’s big throw and win the meet.”

Joining him in the shot put was redshirt freshman Dotun Ogundeji and returning sophomore Braheme Days, along with Scarvelis’ sister, redshirt freshman Stamatia Scarvelis.

“It’s nice to see a bit of the older guys like Braheme, Torie, and myself doing well, but it’s nice to see the young guys coming along,” Nicholas Scarvelis said. “Dotun’s just about ready to go over 60 feet – that should happen any meet now – and it’s good to see my sister walking in with the spin technique for a good start to the year.”

Days and Ogundeji took sixth and seventh in the shot put, respectively, while Stamatia placed eighth to follow redshirt junior Torie Owers, who captured fifth for the Bruins.

Continuing their success from the Lumberjack Invitational on Jan. 16, junior high jumpers Sage Stone and Cody Crampton took third and fifth, each jumping 6 feet, 10.25 inches. For Stone, this was his first time in Arkansas, making the trip extra special for the sophomore.

“I had a lot of fun,” Stone said. “Cody’s a great teacher and got a bit more experience than me since he’s a junior. He’s jumped right around 7-feet-2 or 7-feet-3 as his best jump, so it’s awesome to have a teammate like that to feed off of in meets.”

Rounding out the field events for the Bruins, junior long jumper/sprinter Austin Hazel achieved a season best in the long jump, placing 12th with a jump of 24 feet, 0.75 inches, along with senior Faith Anumba placing fourth in the triple jump and sophomore Jessie Maduka grabbing 13th in the long jump.

The highlight of the sprint crew was none other than true freshman Rai Benjamin – again. In his second collegiate meet, Benjamin captured third place in the 200-meter dash and ran the 400-meter leg for the distance medley team, which placed sixth.

“I liked the competition,” Benjamin said. “That’s the type of environment I want to perform well in. I’m running the 400 for the first time next week in Nebraska, so I’m looking forward to putting in a good time.”

Other notable finishers for the Bruins include graduate transfer Kim Mackay who placed 10th in the 800-meter dash, freshman Greta Wagner who placed seventh in the pole vault and sophomore hurdler Misana Viltz, who took home fifth place in the 60-meter hurdles. Senior Nick Hartle also took home fifth place in the 800-meter dash.

The Bruins will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, next week to compete in the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational. The meet will run Friday and Saturday.