Tag: Lance Harter

Arkansas track and field wins Program of the Year in Harter’s final season

The best track-and-field team in the country is once again Arkansas.

Lance Harter’s retirement becomes official at the end of the month. His last meet as head coach of the Arkansas women’s track-and-field team was earlier this month.

And with an NCAA Championship during the indoor season in 2022-23 and a top-three finish at the outdoor championships earlier this month, Harter was able to add one final trophy to the case Tuesday as Arkansas won the NCAA Division I Program of the Year Award from the United States Coaching Association.

It was the second straight year the Razorbacks won the honor. With a total of 25 points across the indoor, outdoor and cross-country seasons, Arkansas finished ahead of Oregon (29.5 points) and Texas (34) in the top three. The Hogs finished 21st in Cross Country in the fall.

Arkansas has finished within the top of the award each of the last 10 seasons.

Alabama and Notre Dame finished fourth and fifth.

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Hogs collect SEC honors for men’s and women’s track teams

The Arkansas track and field program continues to add to its prestige, adding multiple SEC outdoor honors to the trophy case.  

The Arkansas track and field program continues to add to its prestige. Both the men’s and women’s teams received multiple SEC outdoor honors to add to the trophy case.

On Wednesday, the conference office revealed the men’s team garnered five SEC Outdoor awards, which the league coaches voted on. Chris Bucknam was named Coach of the Year, and Jaydon Hibbert received two awards for Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman Field Athlete of the Year.

Ben Shearer was recognized as co-Freshman Runner of the Year.

Over his 15-year tenure with the Razorbacks, Bucknam has been named SEC Coach of the Year an impressive 30 times. His latest accolade came during the outdoor season, bringing his total to eight, in addition to 10 in cross country and 12 during the indoor season.

Britton Wilson has been awarded SEC Runner of the Year on the women’s side, and Lance Harter, the Razorback head coach, has been named SEC Coach of the Year.

This marks Harter’s 46th overall SEC Coach of the Year honor and 10th accolade during the outdoors season in his final season as head coach with Arkansas. He has also received the honor 22 times in cross country and 14 times during the indoor season.

Wilson is the second Arkansas athlete with two SEC Outdoor Runner of the Year honors. Dominique Scott claimed the honor in 2015 and shared the accolade in 2016.

Iconic Arkansas track coach calling it a career

Lance Harter is stepping away from the program in June 2023, with assistant coach Chris Johnson named head coach-in-waiting.

Lance Harter has been a staple of the Arkansas women’s track and field program for over three decades.

On Tuesday, the cross country and track head coach he announced he would retire in June 2023, giving Hunter Yurachek plenty of advance notice.

Longtime assistant Chris Johnson will take over the program effective July 1, 2023.

Harter had just recently won the SEC title, and is leaving the program in great hands with Johnson.

Johnson is in his 11th season with the Arkansas program, earning three National Assistant Coach of the Year honors that also accompany a dozen regional coaching honors.

Hall of fame credentials

Harter was inducted into the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame on December 15, 2014, at the organization’s convention in Phoenix. He is also a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor, Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame and Cal Poly Hall of Fame. In November of 2020, Harter was selected to the 2021 induction class of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.