Arkansas jumps and combined event coach Travis Geopfert is one of the most successful coaches at the NCAA level.  In four years at Arkansas he has guided two national champions, six SEC titlists, five SEC runner-ups, 17 first-team All-Americans and five second-team All-Americans.  Add in the six years at Northern Iowa he was coached an Olympian, four NCAA individual national champions, 51 first-team All-Americans, 86 NCAA qualifiers, 59 conference champions and 107 all-conference performers.  Last year at the NCAA meet his jupers scored in 3 of 4 events for 18 of the team's 46.5 points (third overall).  At the SEC meet his jumpers scored 37.5 of 152.5 points that led to an SEC victory.   He was willing to share the status of his athletes coming into the SEC indoor meet

I've been very pleased with all of our jumpers to this point in the season. They come from diverse backgrounds but are truly fun to work with and great teammates. At this point it's about scoring points for the team in the championship season. They are all phenomenal competitors and ready to do what they do best....compete!

Our high jumpers all looked very good at the Tyson invite at home two weeks ago. Anthony May jumped a season best of 7-3 with great looks at 7-4.5". Redshirt freshmen Kenny Legassey made 6-11 and passed to 7-3. (for the second meet in a row) With 3 great attempts. Noah Kittelson made 7-1 and Dwayne Golbek narrowly missed the 7-1 bar.  They all know the SEC meet is loaded with talent and they just need to go get after it. These guys are excited to contribute team points and they know the HJ is an important event for us. 

In the long jump Raymond Higgs may be the most competitive person I've ever been around. He is the true definition of a competitor. He is really paying attention to the details this year and has done a great job cleaning up his sprint mechanics. Right now it's a matter of getting his approach dialed in and "letting" things happen.  He's truly fun to coach because when the lights are on we know he's going to bring his best. I've also been extremely pleased with Jarrion Lawson this year. He's dedicated himself to becoming a great sprinter and that is really paying off in the long jump. We've changed his way of starting his approach this year and it's working very well. Like many jumpers he fouled some big jumps at the Tyson Invite but it really raised his confidence to know the pieces are in place. The long jump is 90% approach and that's what we've been working on. He's a phenomenal athlete. We just have to get him in the right place at the right time and let him do his thing. It's fun to coach him as he's really starting to get it figured out. 

As for the triple jump Anthony May has really come into his own there. We've worked a lot in his speed and backed up his approach. He's more fit, stronger and faster than he's ever been. He's a great guy with a great attitude. He's a terrific jumper all around. He has the ability to do all three jumps at an SEC and NCAA level but for now we are going to focus on the HJ and TJ.  Young Clive Pullen is a tremendous freshmen talent from Jamaica and tied for the best NCAA TJ by a frosh this year. He's extremely coachable and wants to be great. For being so young he's mature beyond his years. He understands there are sacrifices to be good and he's willing to put the time and effort in. Training for the TJ this time of season can be challenging as the timing is different going from boards to flat track, back to boards. Our guys have embraced that challenge and know at the end of the day it's all about going out there and competing. 

In the pole vault Andrew Irwin is back!! He has a minor hernia surgery at the beginning of the indoor season but has battled through it. That guy just knows how to vault. We talked about "if he can run, he can vault".  He's just that good. Coach Case works primarily with our vaulters and has done a great job with him. He humped 18-4.5 from 14 steps at Tyson. It wasn't without drama as it took him 3 attempts to clear his opening height. Once he got it dialed in though it was fun to watch. He's a special talent with tremendous ability and the whole team is thrilled he's back in the mix for us. 

Our jumpers at Arkansas push each other, feed off each other and want to win. They are tremendous competitors and know that success breeds success. They understand you must focus on the process and the results will come.  They've done that and look forward to competing in one of the best track and field meets in the world at the SEC Championships.