BY Joy Ekema-Agbaw October 5, 2017

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Dubbed the John McDonnell Program of the Year last season the Arkansas men’s track and field team looks to follow up their solid 2017 outing with an exceptional 2018 campaign set to tackle a loaded schedule, featuring eight home competitions.

Among those eight Fayetteville-based meets, the Razorbacks plan to introduce a new event, the National Relay Championships, scheduled for April 27-28 at John McDonnell Field.

“We are really excited about our home schedule this season,” head coach Chris Bucknam said. “We think we have the two best regular season meets in the country in 2018 right here in Fayetteville.”

“We have added a new meet to our outdoor schedule this year that we think will be a game-changer for the presentation of college track and field. The National Relay Championships bring together national contending teams from all five power conferences for a team-scored relays competition. We are thankful for all the coaches who are bringing their teams to Arkansas. We are planning a condensed two hour relays only format on Saturday that will be the most exciting, fan friendly college track meet ever.”

National Relay Championships 
With 16 of the most-respected track and field programs from around the country journeying to Northwest Arkansas for the newly minted relays meet, the National Relay Championships is set to become the premier collegiate relay competition in the nation.

Modeled after the flourishing, biennial IAAF World Relays, the National Relay Championships aims to invoke a spirited rivalry among the most competitive and historical college programs in track and field in advance of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Power Five Teams (16):
SEC (4): Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee,
ACC (3): Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech
Big 10 (3): Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Big 12 (5): Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas
PAC 12 (1): Stanford