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Razorbacks third in close team chase for title at Razorback Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE — A tight team battle and some stand-out Arkansas performances highlighted the second day of the Razorback Invitational at the Tyson Indoor Track.

A crowd of 1,766 saw a team competition which included the five nationally ranked programs separated by only nine points.

The No. 15 Razorbacks were third in team scoring as they produced another pair of individual runner-up finishes while the 4×400 relay placed third.

“It’s good that it’s tight again for us in team scoring situations,” said Arkansas men’s coach Chris Bucknam. “Last year was a rough year for us, just being out of the mix in all of the meets we were in. But I’m really pleased from fall track all the way to our first real test since we got back to school and started the indoor season.

“We competed for the win. We are happy with a lot of personal bests and great competitive efforts by our guys. There was some load management going on with a bunch of our guys since we have another month before the SEC Championships.

“Right now, it’s all about handling that competitive anxiety and hardening the shell mentally that way. We took a big step forward in that regard.”

Carl Elliott III earned runner-up honors in the 60m hurdles with a career best time of 7.76 seconds, edging out LSU’s Damion Thomas, who also ran 7.76, while the Tigers’ Eric Edwards won in 7.66.

Razorback Tre’Bien Gilbert also produced a personal best of 7.79 in placing fifth.

Elliott and Gilbert move to positions No. 4 and No. 5 on the Arkansas all-time list in the hurdles.

“I’m very happy for the hurdlers,” noted Bucknam. “They did a great job and had some personal-best times.”

Cameron Griffith raced to a second-place finish in mile, clocking 4:02.19 behind Oregon’s Cooper Teare (4:00.21) with Oklahoma State’s Juan Diego Castro (4:03.25) third.

The Razorback 4×400 relay team ran 3:09.16 for third place and the squad consisted of Travean Caldwell (48.15), Jeremy Farr (46.25), James Milholen (47.31) and Nick Hilson (47.46). Texas won the race in 3:07.85, securing the team title with 79 points, while Florida was second in 3:08.07 with Oregon fourth at 3:11.35.

Arkansas placed third in team scoring with 73 points behind No. 4 Texas and No. 17 Oregon (73) while No. 7 Florida (72) finished fourth and No. 2 LSU (70) was sixth.

Four Razorbacks placed 5-6-7-8 in the Invitational 400m with a crew that included Farr (47.21), Hunter Woodhall (47.44), Milholen (47.86) and Lesley Mahlakoane (47.93).

Over 3,000m the Arkansas tandem of Emmanuel Cheboson and Matt Young placed fifth and sixth while Gilbert Boit served as the pacer in the early stages of the race.

Cheboson ran 8:02.84 while Young finished in 8:03.05.

After his 1,200m carry on the distance medley relay, Kieran Taylor raced at 800m and posted a 1:50.99 for fifth.

Kristoffer Hari, of Denmark, equaled his national record in the prelims of the 60m with a 6.65, but did not race in the final. Roman Turner finished seventh in the final in 6.82.

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.

Chaney’s 11 rebounds big difference for Hogs’ big road win at Alabama

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Mason Jones and Jimmy Whitt, Jr., combined for 56 points and will get the biggest headlines, but Reggie Chaney made a difference in an 82-78 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night.

Chaney’s effort was eye-catching because he got more rebounds (11) than points (8).

“We’ve kind of been waiting on that,” Eric Musselman said later. “That’s a big job inside that we need somebody to step up and he did that tonight.”

Chaney had five offensive rebounds and six defensive boards.

“Reggie was phenomenal,” Musselman said.

After a loss to South Carolina at Bud Walton Arena on Wednesday night, the Razorbacks came out of the gate on the road and promptly got down 12-0.

At that point a lot of fans were probably throwing their hands up in disgust. Then the Crimson Tide started turning the ball over and the Hogs didn’t give up.

“It was not an easy week,” Musselman said. “We kind of had to fight through some adversity, but a really really gutty performance by our guys.”

For a team that was never going to dominate a game with rebounding, the win over Alabama worked out because the Hogs won the turnover battle and scored 27 points off the Tide’s 17.

“When you look at turnover points, 27 is a huge number,” Musselman said.

In the second half, though, Arkansas took a lead on a 3-pointer by Jalen Harris with 2:34 to play at 74-69 and from there it was a matter of hitting enough free throws under Musselman’s bleed-the-clock style near the end.

Jones led all scorers with 30 points and Whitt added 26.

“We played with great pace, scoring 46 points,” Musselman said of the second half. “We just did a phenomenal job of getting defensive stops when we needed to. You know, it’s never easy to win on the road.”

The Hogs, now 16-5 on the season and 4-4 in the SEC, come back home with a big test against 17th-ranked Auburn on Tuesday night.

The game will tip-off at 6 p.m. and you can hear the game online at HitThatLine.com and on the radio at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

Razorbacks upset Baylor on Saturday afternoon in first of two matches

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas upset fifth-ranked Baylor on Saturday afternoon at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center, 4-3, for the best win over a ranked squad since the Hogs downed No. 7 Texas A&M in 2016.

It’s also the first top-five win for Arkansas in recorded history since 2003.

After dropping the doubles point, Arkansas secured four singles wins to pickup the upset victory.

Josh Howard-Tripp clinched the upset win in his first singles match of the spring. After breezing through the first set, 6-3, Howard-Tripp dropped the next nine sets and found himself trailing 0-3 in the third set.

The junior fought back and earned the clincher in the tiebreak.

Freshman Melvin Manuel made quick work of Rahul Dhokia at the No. 5 spot as he won in straight-sets, 6-3, 6-1.

The rookie now has two singles wins in a Razorback uniform and is 3-1 in doubles play with Jose Dominguez Alonso.

Nico Rousset tied the two teams up at 2-2 with another two-setter over Finn Bass on court four. Junior Alex Reco now holds a perfect record in singles play with a comeback win, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, over Matias Soto.

The Razorbacks will follow up today’s upset win with another match against Omaha tonight. First serve is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Free pizza and Pepsi products will be available.

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.

Listen, watch Razorbacks’ road matchup with Crimson Tide today

Who: Arkansas Razorback (15-5, 3-4 SEC) at Alabama Crimson Tide (12-8, 4-3 SEC)
What: Razorbacks have won five straight in the series with Alabama
When: Saturday, Feb. 1,  5 p.m. with pregame starting at 4:30 p.m.
Where: Tuscaloosa, Ala. – Coleman Coliseum
• TV: SEC Network (Kevin Fitzgerald and Dane Bradshaw)
• Watch the ESPN-SEC Network online CLICK HERE
Radio: ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home (Chuck Barrett and Matt Zimmerman)
• Online: You can listen to the game at HitThatLine.com CLICK HERE

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will play three of its next four games on the road, starting with the game at Alabama today.

Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home in addition to online at HitThatLine.com CLICK HERE.

Against Alabama

• This will be the 63rd meeting between Arkansas and Alabama. The Razorbacks own a 34-28 advantage in the series, including a 28-24 cushion in games since Arkansas joined the SEC.

• The Razorbacks have won five straight in the series and 6-of-the-last-7. However, the Crimson Tide owns a 20-7 advantage in games played in Tuscaloosa.

Last year:

• Daniel Gafford, who had a double-double in the first half and finished with 29 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Razorbacks to an 82-70 win over Alabama in the teams’ 2018-19 regular-season finale.

• Isaiah Joe finished with 15 points, had a career-high six steals and tied a career-high with six rebounds.

• The game was tight throughout the first half. The largest lead was five points by Arkansas, 36-31, which was the halftime score. Overall, the first half featured six ties and second lead changes.

• The Crimson Tide got as close as seven points (56-49) with 7:45 left to play. Desi Sill answered with a 3-pointer to go up 10. Alabama hung around until Joe sank two free throws and converted a 4-point play to put the game out of reach.

Jones takes over as SEC’s scoring leader

• Mason Jones scored an SEC career-high 34 points — and added a career-high 12 rebounds — on Wednesday versus South Carolina to push him to the top of the SEC scoring list at 19.2 ppg.

• Arkansas has never had a player lead the SEC in scoring at season’s end.

• Jones also leads the team in rebounding, assists and steals. In fact, he is THE ONLY PLAYER IN THE SEC to rank among the top 20 in scoring (1st) and rebounds (14th) while ranking among the top 12 in steals (5th) and assists (11th).

Arkansas has best scoring trio in the SEC

Arkansas is the only team in the SEC to feature:

• Two players in the league’s top 5 for scoring for the season
• Jones (1st / 19.2) and Isaiah Joe (5th / 16.8)
• Three players in the league’s top 18 for scoring for the season with Jones (1st / 19.2), Joe (5th / 16.8) and Jimmy Whitt Jr. (10th / 14.9)

In SEC games, Arkansas is the only team in the league to feature:

• Three players in the league’s top 10 for scoring with Jones (4th / 18.3), Whitt (8th / 16.6), Joe (10th / 15.7)

Taking care of the ball in SEC play

• Since SEC play began, Arkansas has taken care of the ball and shared the ball better than the non-conference season. The Hogs have 73 assists and a league-low 51 turnovers in league play.

• In SEC play, Arkansas leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2).

• In SEC play, Arkansas is the only team to average single-digit turnovers (9.6/gm) while forcing the 2nd most turnovers (14.7/gm).

• In SEC play, Arkansas leads the league in turnover margin (+5.1). The next closest is Missouri at +2.0.

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.

Hambrick leads Gymbacks past Missouri; first SEC win on road since ’17

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sophomore Kennedy Hambrick led the Arkansas gymnastics team to its first road SEC win since Feb. 2017.

With an all-around score of 39.275, Hambrick scored team-highs on the bars, vault, and floor – tying her career-high 9.925 on the floor to help lead Arkansas to the victory.

Hambrick’s all-around score earned her the all-around title, her first of the 2020 season and second of her career. Freshman Kiara Gianfagna and senior Jessica Yamzon also competed all-around, finishing third and fourth among those competitors.

Rotation 1 | Bars
Hambrick scored a team-high 9.800 for Arkansas in the five slot, executing her jaegar to immediate overshoot beautifully. The Razorbacks finished the first rotation with a 48.850, trailing Missouri after their 49.175 performance on the vault.

Rotation 2 | Vault
A strong vault performance from Hambrick anchored the Razorbacks again as Arkansas closed out the second rotation with a team score of 48.800. A couple of Missouri miscues would give the Gymbacks the lead midway through the meet, 97.650-97.350.

Rotation 3 | Floor
Arkansas shined on the floor as usual and Hambrick continued her successful night as she flaunted her power and nailed her roundoff back-handspring double-pike last pass. Hambrick tied her career high with a 9.925 on the floor and Arkansas pushed their lead to 147.050 – 145.700 with a 49.400 in the event. Redshirt-freshman Bailey Lovett scored a 9.900, making it her third routine of 9.900 or better this season.

Rotation 4 | Beam
Junior Sophia Carter had a great night on the beam for the Gymbacks, setting a season-high with a score of 9.925 on the apparatus and taking home the beam title. Carter’s back handspring layout step-out wowed the judges and helped Arkansas to its 48.975 team score and 196.025 all-around. The beam title is the first for Carter in 2020, but the eighth of her career.

Up Next | Friday vs. Georgia at Barnhill Arena at 7 p.m.

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.

Career-best long jump gets runner-up spot for Nairn at Razorback Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE — A career-best long jump of 26-0¾ (7.94) earned runner-up honors for Laquan Nairn during the first day of the Razorback Invitational while the Arkansas distance medley relay placed third with a time of 9:40.15.

Nairn only attempted a pair of jumps since he will return to contest the triple jump on Saturday as he finished in second place behind a 26-6 ½ (8.09) effort by LSU’s Rayvon Grey.

The opening round jump of 26-0 ¾ by Nairn improved his previous indoor best of 25-10 (7.87) set in 2018.

“I was really pleased with Laquan in the long jump,” said Arkansas men’s coach Chris Bucknam. “He put a big one out there early and is going to triple jump tomorrow, so he limited his attempts today. I’m just really, really happy for him in watching him start to put everything together.”

The Razorback distance medley relay included a foursome that was racing together for the first time.

A 9:40.15 effort was produced by Kieran Taylor (2:57.32), Jalen Brown (46.04), Hunter Woodhall (1:50.61) and Cameron Griffith (4:06.18).

They finished behind Oregon’s record run as well as a 9:36.16 by Texas, while defeating Florida (9:44.97) and Stanford (9:47.05).

“I think we have a really good team,” said Bucknam. “It’s just going to take some time to develop. We still have potential to qualify in this event and be among the 12 teams who will race in national championships.

“That was Cameron’s first race on the anchor, it was Hunter’s first race at 800m really, and he’s only done that in practice and produced a 1:50, which was outstanding. Jalen gave us a great leg with a 46 flat and KT at the front did a good job running his first 1,200m.”

A crowd of 1,488 at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center was treated to a collegiate record as Oregon clocked 9:24.52 to break the previous mark of 9:25.97 set by Texas in this same venue in 2008.

“Hats off to Oregon, what a great run they had,” noted Bucknam. “To be out in front and to run that fast by yourselves shows not only a lot of talent, but a lot of guts. I’m glad they ran that well, since we wanted fast times. Unfortunately, it made everyone else look slow.”

Through the first day of the heptathlon, Markus Ballengee led an Arkansas foursome in the event scoring 3,022 points and is currently in ninth place among a field of 21.

The other three Razorbacks in the heptathlon included Daniel Spejcher (2,890), Etamar Bhastekar (2,825) and Tyler Brendel (2,715).

Arkansas alum Andrew Erwin cleared 18-1 (5.51) in an Olympic development pole vault.

Action in the Razorback Invitational continues on Saturday, starting at 10:40 a.m. with the continuation of the heptathlon.

Featured events in the 1-4 p.m. time frame will be shown on SEC Network+.

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.

Razorbacks’ medley relay team posts second fastest time in school history

FAYETTEVILLE — A time of 10:57.08 placed Arkansas second in the women’s distance medley relay to highlight the first day of the Razorback Invitational in front of 1,488 in at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center.

The Razorback foursome of Carina Viljoen (3:22.85), Morgan Burks-Magee (51.90), Krissy Gear (2:05.68) and Katie Izzo (4:36.65) held the runner-up position throughout the race finishing behind Stanford’s 10:55.89. Behind Arkansas were Florida (11:04.00), Texas (11:04.31) and Oregon (11:15.82).

“It was special because we knew the race could set up to be a qualifier for nationals with the caliber of Stanford, Oregon, Texas and Florida,” said Arkansas women’s coach Lance Harter. “We led off with Carina to try to save her for tomorrow in the mile. She ran fantastic with a 3:22 split. Our quarter-miler had a huge breakthrough, Morgan Burks-Magee just did a great job of getting us close in an attack mode.

“Krissy Gear has so much fire, she’s not going to be denied and worked her way up to keep us close with Stanford. A 2:05 is a huge PR for her. Anchoring with Katie Izzo, she’s going to give you everything she’s got, and she was running against a pure 1,500m runner. A 4:36 split is her PR and Izzo is a warrior when a baton is in her hand, in fact she is a warrior any time she’s on the track.”

Bailee McCorkle produced a career best of 14-0 (4.27) as runner-up in the pole vault to a 14-4 (4.37) performance by Georgia’s Kayla Smith.

McCorkle moves to No. 10 performer on the Arkansas all-time indoor list.

In the pentathlon, G’Auna Edwards totaled a career best of 4,004 points to place fifth among a field of 18 entrants. She bettered her previous best score of 3,840 from 2018 as the hurdles and long jump provided the catalyst for the improved tally.

“It was good, but I feel I could have run a little harder in the hurdles,” said Edwards. “But it’s hard for me to run without the competition. So, I need to get that right. I could have gone further in the long jump on my second attempt, it’s just about execution.

“It’s a pretty positive score right now, it’s not the best I can do, but I need to get stronger in the 800m and put some points up there.”

Edwards established an early lead over the field with a quick clocking of 8.36 seconds in the 60m hurdles for 1,048 points.

A 5-7¾ (1.72) high jump earned 879 points, then she added 530 points from a 32-10 ¼ (10.01) in the shot put.

A leading long jump leap of 20-9 ¼ (6.33) picked up 953 points, moving Edwards into second place just 39 points behind Lauren Taubert of Kansas State (3,449).

Then Edwards finished her first multi as a Razorback with a 2:38.19 in the 800m to score 594 more points.

Taubert won the pentathlon with a collegiate leading 4,352 points over a 4,204 for Georgia’s Anna Hall and 4,142 by Oregon’s Mathilde Rey. Edwards currently ranks sixth in the nation this season.

Arkansas alum Sandi Morris cleared 15-5 ½ (4.71) to claim an Olympic development pole vault competition which included Megan Clark (14-3 ¼) and Daylis Caballero Vega (14-3 ¼).

Action in the Razorback Invitational continues on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. with the 3,000 meters. Featured events in the 1-4 p.m. time frame will be shown on SEC Network+.

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.

Oklahoma State drops Razorbacks in Friday evening dual match

STILLWATER, Okla. — Arkansas dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 16 Oklahoma State on Friday evening at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

Doubles

The doubles point went in favor of the Cowgirls as they posted wins on courts one and two.

Arkansas’ second court combo of Martina Zerulo and Jackie Carr fell to Bunyawi Thamchaiwat and Lenka Stara, 6-3.

On court three, Laura Rijkers and Thea Rice defeated Dariya Detkovskaya and Alana Wolfberg, 6-3, setting up a final bout on the first court.

The doubles point would not go easy as the No. 34th-ranked pair Lauren Alter and Tatum Rice fought back to make it 5-6.

Despite a strong comeback bid, the Razorback duo fell to No. 17 Lisa Rioux and Ayumi Miyamoto, 7-5.

Singles

The Razorbacks came out strong in singles but couldn’t close the sets as the Cowgirls posted opening-set victories in five of the six courts.

Kelly Keller was the only one to put the Razorbacks on the board with a 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7) victory in the No. 5 spot.

Courts four and one were the first to fall Friday evening as Wolfberg knocked off Alter, 6-2, 6-1. From the No.1 position, Zerulo suffered a setback as she was downed by No. 29 Thamchaiwat, 6-0, 6-1.

Carr was next to fall at the No. 3 position as No. 92 Miyamoto notched a 6-1, 6-3 victory. With just one more point needed for Oklahoma State to clinch it, No. 16 Rioux defeated Tatum Rice 6-0, 7-5.

Next time out

Arkansas will be back on the court facing Wichita State in the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex on Sunday at 11 a.m.

Singles competition
1. No. 29 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (OSU) def. No. 122 Martina Zerulo (ARK) 6-0, 6-1
2. No. 16 Lisa Marie Rioux (OSU) def. Tatum Rice (ARK) 6-0, 7-5
3. No. 92 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. No. 109 Jackie Carr (ARK) 6-1, 6-3
4. Alana Wolfberg (OSU) def. Lauren Alter (ARK) 6-2, 6-1
5. Kelly Keller (ARK) def. Dariya Detkovskaya (OSU) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
6. Lenka Stara (OSU) def. Laura Rijkers (ARK) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. No. 17 Lisa Marie Rioux/Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. No. 34 Lauren Alter/Tatum Rice (ARK) 7-5
2. Bunyawi Thamchaiwat/Lenka Stara (OSU) def. Martina Zerulo/Jackie Carr (ARK) 6-3
3. Laura Rijkers/Thea Rice (ARK) def. Dariya Detkovskaya/Alana Wolfberg (OSU) 6-3

Match Notes:
Arkansas Razorbacks 2-1
Oklahoma State 5-1; National ranking No. 16
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (4,1,3,2,6,5)

Information from Razorback Sports Communications is included in this story.

‘Tired’ Razorbacks drop dual meet to Kansas ahead of SEC

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Arkansas, admittedly tired after focusing on SEC meet, took a 178-118 loss to Kansas at the Robinson Natatorium Saturday morning.

Top Hogs

The team posted a total of 20 podium finishes, including five first-place finishes from swimmers Anna Hopkin, Peyton Palsha and the 400 free relay (3:26.85) foursome of Maddie London, Hopkin, Alyssa Lemon and Sarah Dalton Chambliss.

Hopkin had a fabulous day in the pool picking up three first-place finishes, a podium finish and an NCAA ‘B’ cut.

In the 50 free, the senior claimed first with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 22.76, outracing Kansas’ Autumn Looney by over two seconds. She then went on to win the 100 free, touching the wall at 49.77.

Palsha was the first Razorback to win an event, sweeping the 1,000 free (10:06.94). Lexi Ljunggren trailed right behind, finishing the event at 10:10.32.

Both distance swimmers later recorded first and second place in the 500 free, with Palsha getting a final time of 4:55.58 and Ljunggren finishing with a mark of 4:57.10.

Sophomore Vanessa Herrman had two podium finishes, taking second in the 100 breast (1:03.78) and third in the 200 IM (2:08.78). Molly Moore, Andrea Sansores, Kobie Melton and Emma Hultquist were the other Razorbacks to take podium finishes.

Estilla Mosena recorded a second-place finish in the 3- (273.68) and 1-meter (289.58). Freshman Josie Matalone combined for a score of 219.23 on the 1-meter and 253.28 on the 3-meter with both scores earning her a third-place finish.

 Quotables

“Our team is tired from focusing and working hard this week for the SEC Championships. Kansas swam faster and dived better than we did today. Our focus continues to be the SEC Championships, which are still more than two weeks away. We already have five swimmers that have already made NCAAs, so hard work and fatigue are all they need to be dealing with right now. I am proud of the team for staying positive and focused. The days for the Hogs to shine are coming, and I am excited and confident.”

— Arkansas coach Neil Harper

Noland on adapting to not playing football, getting more consistent velocity

Razorbacks pitcher Connor Noland talked Friday about missing the competitiveness of football, but focusing on baseball has allowed him to increase the velocity on his pitches.

Martin ‘excited’ for season to start, confident in Noland, Wicklander on mound

Arkansas shortstop Casey Martin talked Friday about being confident about starting pitchers Connor Noland and Patrick Wicklander and how he’s excited to get his third year rolling.