Arkansas women take the team lead at the NCAA championships

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) Alexis Weeks and Dominique Scott helped the Arkansas women make a big statement Thursday as the Razorbacks chase an NCAA outdoor track and field team title at Hayward Field.

Weeks won the pole vault at 14 feet, 9 inches after also taking the NCAA indoor title. The freshman cleared more heights than any other competitor. Louisiana-Lafayette's Morgann Leleux, the 2012 runner-up, and Miami's Alysha Newman tied for second at 14-1 1/4.

Scott, a senior, won the 10,000 meters in 32 minutes, 35.69 seconds. The runner-up in 2015, Scott pulled away from the field with about three laps remaining to win.

Those victories helped Arkansas to 26 first-day points. Texas A&M was second at 16 and Georgia third at 13.

Texas A&M's Maggie Malone set an NCAA record in the javelin with a fifth-round toss of 204-9, besting the mark of 202-10 by Indiana's Irina Kharun in 2004.

Mississippi's Raven Saunders added an NCAA outdoor shot put record to go with the collegiate indoor mark she set in February. The sophomore threw 63-5 on her fifth attempt, breaking the previous record of 62-3 3/4 set by Arizona's Meg Ritchie in 1983.

It was a second straight title for Saunders.

Georgia's Chanice Porter won the long jump on her final jump with a mark of 21-10 3/4. Alabama's Quanesha Burks, the defending outdoor and indoor champion, was second at 21-4 3/4.

DeAnna Price's only real competition in the hammer was herself. The Southern Illinois senior won her second straight title in the hammer throw at 234-8.

Any of Price's three fair throws would have won the competition. Kansas State's Sara Savatovic was second at 215-3.

Price bested her own meet record, set in 2015, by 2 inches.

Texas A&M's Lindon Victor won the decathlon with 8,379 points. Wisconsin's Zach Ziemek was runner-up in the two-day, 10-event competition at 8,700. Georgia's Maicel Uibo, the 2014 and 2015 national champion, was third with 8,294.

Ziemek led after Wednesday's first five events at 4,338. He and Victor swapped the lead in three straight events Thursday, with Victor going ahead for good in the javelin and only the 1,500 remaining.

Victor finished just behind Ziemek in the 1,500 to hold on for the title.

Oregon leads the men's standings after seven of 21 events with 19 points. Texas A&M was second at 18 and Arkansas third at 16.

The Oregon women's team championship chances took a hit when sophomore Hannah Cunliffe pulled up with an apparent leg injury in her 100 semifinal. The Pac-12 100 champion, Cunliffe was a big part of the Ducks' scoring possibilities.

Earlier in the day, Oregon was able to qualify for the 4x100 relay final without Cunliffe.

The heptathlon will be contested Friday and Saturday. The remaining men's finals will be held Friday and women's finals on Saturday.