Arkansas junior Ayden Owens, the Puerto Rican national record holder as well as an NCAA Division 1 All-American in the indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss being part of the Razorbacks' all-time best program-best 3:03.18 in the 4x400-meter relay Feb. 12 at the Tyson Invitational at Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, elevating Arkansas to the No. 7 school in collegiate indoor history. Owens speaks about running his first 400 of the season and teaming with Jeremy Farr, Brandon Battle and James Benson II on the 4x400, in addition to producing a personal-best 7.81 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. He also looks forward to pole vaulting Feb. 18 at the Arkansas Qualifier, the Razorbacks' final regular-season home competition before the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 25-26 at Texas A&M, and his pursuit of clearing 16 feet (4.88m) for the first time in his career. Owens reflects on producing the second-highest score in the indoor heptathlon in collegiate history Jan. 28-29 at the Razorback Invitational by accumulating 6,272 points, which also elevated him to the No. 25 all-time global competitor, including second in the world this year behind Swiss national record holder Simon Ehammer at 6,285 points. He explains the potential room for improvement in the next month, including the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships on March 11-12 at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., and his collaboration with Razorbacks multi-events coach Travis Goepfert. Owens also analyzes the depth of the Arkansas multi-events group, including Etamar Bhastekar, Daniel Spejcher and Noah Swaby, and how they want to eclipse Georgia's nine-year reign as conference champions in the indoor heptathlon. He shares the journey from North Allegheny High in Pennsylvania to competing at USC and Michigan, before arriving at Arkansas. Owens also explains how significant it is for him to represent Puerto Rico in international competition, and the possibility of competing at World Indoors on March 18-20 in Belgrade, Serbia, but also the potential to represent his country in July at the World Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. He speaks about the motivation gained from Olympic 100-meter hurdles gold medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, as well as 400-meter hurdles Olympic and World Championship medalist Javier Culson. Owens talks about focusing on entrepreneurship and the opportunities to explore branding and marketing options through the Name, Image and Likeness platform available to student-athletes, in addition to the potential for Arkansas to contend for a third consecutive SEC men's indoor team title, as well as the Razorbacks' first men's national championship since 2013.