UA to host upcoming NCAA regional track, gymnastic championships

The University of Arkansas has been selected to host four NCAA postseason championships it was announced on Wednesday.

Arkansas will be home to a 2014 and 2016 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Regional, the 2015 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships and a 2017 NCAA Gymnastics Regional.

Since the Razorbacks entered the Southeastern Conference in 1992, Arkansas has hosted 81 SEC, regional and national competitions, including 26 in the last five years alone. In addition to the four championships announced on Wednesday, the University of Arkansas is already scheduled to host a 2014 NCAA Gymnastics Regional at Barnhill Arena, on April 5.

“We are pleased that the University of Arkansas has once again been recognized as one of the nation’s premiere hosts for NCAA championship events,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said in a statement. “Hosting championship events at the University of Arkansas is a source of pride for our program and for our university. It also provides our student-athletes the opportunity to compete for conference, regional and national championships in front of the Razorback fans at some of the nation’s top competition venues.”

A recent study estimated the annual economic impact of Razorback Athletics to be more than $153.6 million annually. The same study estimated the total economic impact of the program to exceed more than $1 billion in the next five years.