Razorbacks will host NCAA Regional for third straight year

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks will host NCAA Regional for third straight year

FAYETTEVILLE — The NCAA announced tonight that Arkansas will be one of the 16 regional site hosts for next weekend’s NCAA Regionals which are slated to begin Friday.

Fresh off their first 40-win regular season since 2010 and second 20-win conference season in school history, the Razorbacks will be making their 31st appearance overall in the NCAA Tournament and 16th in the last 17 years.

It is also the eighth time Fayetteville has been selected and is the first time Baum Stadium has been a regional host for three-straight years.

The Hogs (41-17), currently ranked No. 4 in the country, have not dropped out of the Top 20 for the entire season and finished the regular season with a 28-6 home record.

Over the last three seasons, Arkansas has won 17 of its last 18 weekend series dating back 2017 and is 23-12 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played at Baum-Walker Stadium.

Arkansas comes into the postseason with 41 victories and completed the 55-game regular-season schedule with a 40-15 overall record and a 20-10 record in SEC play.

It’s the fastest it has won 40 games since 1989 and the 20 conference wins remain only the second instance in school history that the Razorbacks have won 20 or more games in league play and first under coach Dave Van Horn.

Each regional field features four teams, playing a double-elimination format. The field of 64 will be announced on Monday at 11 a.m. in a show airing on ESPNU.

By virtue of being awarded a regional, all 16 host institutions have also been selected to the 64-team field.

The 16 regional sites, with host institutions and records are as follows:

• Athens, Georgia – Georgia (44-15)
• Atlanta, Georgia – Georgia Tech (41-17)
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana – LSU (37-24)
• Chapel Hill, North Carolina – North Carolina (42-17)
• Corvallis, Oregon – Oregon St. (36-18-1)
• Fayetteville, Arkansas – Arkansas (41-17)
• Greenville, North Carolina – East Carolina (43-15)
• Los Angeles, California – UCLA (47-8)
• Louisville, Kentucky – Louisville (43-15)
• Lubbock, Texas – Texas Tech (39-17)
• Morgantown, West Virginia – West Virginia (37-20)
• Nashville, Tennessee – Vanderbilt (49-10)
• Oxford, Mississippi – Ole Miss (37-25)
• Stanford, California – Stanford (41-11)
• Starkville, Mississippi – Mississippi St. (46-13)
• Stillwater, Oklahoma – Oklahoma St. (35-18)

Razorbacks lead everybody with 17 qualified for championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Razorbacks lead everybody with 17 qualified for championships

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Arkansas will have more ammo than any other team at the NCAA Championships in two weeks, earning a nation-best 17 entries to the final site in Austin, Texas, after wrapping up the West Prelims Saturday night at Hornet Stadium.

Arkansas will be represented in the 4×100-meter relay as the legs of Kiara Parker, Payton Chadwick, Janeek Brown, and Kethlin Campbell ran their way to a heat win and the second-best mark in the West clocking 43.46 to advance to Austin.

Arkansas made it 2-for-2 on relays as they qualified its 4×400-meter relay through to the final site as well. Paris Peoples, Kiara Parker, Morgan Burks-Magee, and Kethlin Campbell ran to the tune of 3:30.47 – the fourth-fastest time on the night.

An indoor All-American in the Mile, Carina Viljoen advances to the NCAA meet in the outdoor version of the race — the 1,500-meters. Viljoen finished second in her heat and eighth-overall running a time of 4:13.27 that stands as a lifetime-best and the No. 6 time in program history.

The Razorback duo of Janeek Brown and Payton Chadwick picked up two spots in the 100-meter hurdles posting the second and third-fastest marks in the quarterfinal. Brown earned her spot in a brisk 12.71 while Chadwick followed suit in 12.83.

The pair would return to qualify for the NCAA meet in the 200-meters later in the meet running times of 22.47 (No. 2 in program history) and 23.07, respectively.

Devin Clark, who already punched her ticket to the NCAA meet in the 3k-steeple, and Taylor Werner who earned a spot at the NCAA meet in the 10k, added the 5,000-meters to their schedules in two weeks as qualified for the final site.

Devin Clark earned her spot in the 5k final running 15:38.74 that stands as a lifetime-best for Clark and doubles as the No. 3 time in the program history.

Werner grabbed her spot running 15:44.63 while Carina Viljoen (16:24.66) and Sydney Brown (16:26.07) finished 31st and 32nd, respectively.

Arkansas qualifies 11 for NCAA Championships, sixth highest in nation

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas qualifies 11 for NCAA Championships, sixth highest in nation

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Arkansas wrapped up competition at the West Prelims on Saturday night by advancing 11 athletics to the 2019 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin.

Arkansas’ 11 entries to the national championships are tied for the sixth-most in the nation this season.

The Razorbacks locked-up a spot at the NCAA Championships in the 4×100-meter relay to open action on the track Saturday afternoon.

From the gun, it was Josh Oglesby out of the blocks who handed off to Rashad Boyd who passed to Tre’Bien Gilbert who carried the baton to Roy Ejiakuekwu capping the one-lap relay in 39.64 — the fifth-fastest in the West — to automatically qualify for the national meet in Austin, Texas.

Arkansas made it 2-for-2 on relays as it qualified its 4×400-meter relay through to the final site as well. John Winn, Hunter Woodhall, Travean Caldwell, and Rhayko Schwartz ran to the tune of 3:05.86 – the eighth-fastest time on the night.

A 2018 First-Team All-American in the 1,500-meters, Cameron Griffith will look to add another honor to his resume as he advanced to the NCAA Championships in the event earning his spot by way of an auto-Q finish.

Griffith ran 3:41.36 finishing third in his heat to earn a spot in the meet. Ethan Moehn who advanced to the quarterfinal, finished 18th in a personal-best time of 3:44.53.

True Freshman Rashad Boyd ran to a lifetime-best 20.78 in the 200-meters to advance to the NCAA meet. Boyd’s time is a lifetime-best and was the second-fastest time qualifier on the night in the quarterfinal.

Carl Elliot III fell two spots shy of advancing to the NCAA meet in the 110-meter hurdles. Elliot III ran 13.99 to finish 14th-overall.

Gilbert Boit, Matt Young, and Cameron Griffith gave valiant efforts in the 5,000-meters with Boit ultimately missing out on doubling at the NCAA meet (10k/5k) by one one-hundredth of a second (0.01).

Boit finished sixth in his heat missing an auto-Q position by one spot, trailing BYU’s Clayton Young (14:07.98) by a mere one one-hundredth of a second (0.01) finishing at 14:07.99.

Young finished 33rd in 14:20.32 while Griffith took 37th in 14:26.07.

Sam Kempka competed in the shot put, finishing 19th with a mark of 18.63m (61-1.50).

Musselman adds Lakers’ assistant as final piece to coaching staff

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Musselman adds Lakers’ assistant as final piece to coaching staff

FAYETTEVILLE — Clay Moser, who has three decades of experience in professional basketball, is Arkansas’ final assistant coach, Eric Musselman announced Saturday.

During several of his stops in the NBA and D-League, Moser and Musselman have been on the same staffs.

“Clay and I have worked together in the NBA, with the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, and in the NBA Development League with the Reno Bighorns and Los Angeles Defenders,” Musselman said. “We also worked together with the Dominican National Team.

“Clay is an incredible ‘X and O’ coach and has been at the forefront of basketball analytics. He loves player development and brings the NBA experience that our players look for and will soak up.”

Moser comes to Arkansas after spending seven-and-a-half years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

First, he was hired as a head advance NBA scout and ended his tenure as assistant coach/director of basketball strategy. While there, his last position was created for him and worked directly with the coaching and analytics staffs to integrate ideas and information between the departments.

“I can’t wait to get to Fayetteville and get started with Coach Muss and the great staff he has assembled,” Moser said. “This will be the sixth place Coach Muss and I have worked together. His worth ethic is infectious, and his personality makes it fun to come to work. With that, positive results typically follow.”

Moser’s affiliation with the Lakers began as associate head coach under Musselman with the D-Fenders, the NBA Developmental League franchise in Los Angeles.

He formerly served on USA Basketball’s Board of Directors and has been an advance scout for the Cleveland Cavaliers (2009-10), Orlando Magic (2007-08), Sacramento Kings (2006-07) and Golden State Warriors (2002-03).

His other NBA experience includes time as vice president of business development for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (2005-06), as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs 2005 Summer League Team and as a business consultant for the NBA (2005).

In 2010-11, Moser assisted on Musselman’s staff as associate head coach with the Reno Bighorns, helping lead the team to a Western Conference-best 34-16 record.

Prior to his time with the Bighorns, Moser was tabbed by the Houston Rockets to be head coach of their D-League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, going 21-29 with the Vipers during the 2008-09 campaign.

In addition to his Reno and Rio Grande Valley D-League experience, Moser has also worked for CBA teams that later would join the D-League; serving as an assistant coach, vice president and general manager with the Sioux Falls Skyforce (1989-94) and as CEO and general manager of the Idaho Stampede (1997-2001).

Moser, a 1987 graduate from Wisconsin-La Crosse, began his coaching career as an assistant at North Carolina State (1987-89).

Perico stays in striking distance on second day at NCAA

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Perico stays in striking distance on second day at NCAA

FAYETTEVILLE — Julian Perico got off to a slow start but grinded his way to a 3-over-par 75 Saturday in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship, played at Blessings Golf Club (par 72, 7,550 yards).

Perico, who was tied for sixth after an opening-round 71, stands in a tie for 23rd with a 36-hole, 2-over-par score of 146 (71-75). The individual leader after two rounds is Oklahoma State’s Austin Eckroat with a 6-under-par 138 (69-69).

OSU teammate Matthew Wolff is tied for second after tying the Blessing course record with a 66 in round two. Razorbacks Mason Overstreet and Tyson Reeder have also shot 66.

First-round leader Collin Morikawa is tied with Wolff for second as the pair is one stroke back with a 139.

The freshman is still in good position to make the cut after tomorrow’s third round, which would lead to two more rounds to make up the eight-stroke difference.

The team field will shrink from 30 to 15 and the top nine individuals not on those advancing teams will play 18 final holes on Monday.

After Monday’s round, an NCAA individual champion will be crowned the top eight teams that will advance to match play Tuesday will be determined.

Perico started his round with a double-bogey on the par-5, 10th hole. He dropped two more shots on holes 13 and 15. However, he posted back-to-back birdies on holes 16 and 17 to climb back to +2 for the day and +1 for the Championship.

Perico gave those two shots back on holes 18 and 1 but, after four straight pars, he had a birdie on hole 6 for the second straight day. He closed his day with pars on his final three holes.

Perico will tee off at 9:02 am off hole No. 10 for his third round on Sunday.

Hogs move six athletes to NCAA at West Prelims on Friday evening

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Hogs move six athletes to NCAA at West Prelims on Friday evening

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Arkansas advanced six through to the NCAA Championships on day two of the West Prelims at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University Friday night.

The Razorbacks will have a familiar trio at Mike A. Myers Stadium for the start of the women’s pole vault as Tori Hoggard, Lexi Jacobus and Desiree Freier all clinched spots to the championships clearing identical bars of 4.32m (14-2).

Rylee Robinson and Bailee McCorkle finished 29th and 32nd in the event each clearing 4.07m (13-4.25).

Kethlin Campbell will compete for an NCAA title as the sophomore clocked a time of 51.85 winning her heat to advance to the final site in Austin, Texas. Paris Peoples finished 14th in 52.83, and Morgan Burks-Magee took 18th in a season-best 52.99.

Kiara Parker will join Campbell in Austin as she advanced to the championships in the 100-meters. A USATF finalist from last year, Parker will have a shot at an NCAA title, punching her ticket with an auto-Q run of 11.34.

Tamara Kuykendall narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA meet in the 100-meters running a lifetime-best of 11.45 to finish 15th-overall.

Devin Clark will return to the NCAA Championships in the steeplechase earning her spot with a lifetime-best performance that stands as the No. 2 mark in program history.

Clark finished with a time of 9:48.35 that was almost a full second PR for the senior from Spring Branch, Texas.

Arguably the best 100-meter hurdles duo in the nation, Arkansas’ Janeek Brown and Payton Chadwick advanced to the quarterfinal turning in the No. 1 and No. 2 times from the first round along the way.

Chadwick clocked 12.80 tying her lifetime-best mark while Brown ran a smooth 12.89 with both advancing with an auto-Q finish.

The hurdle duo returned to the track for first-round action in the deuce (200-meters) and found similar results as both advanced to the quarterfinal running times of 22.81 (Brown) and 23.39 (Chadwick).

Arkansas has qualified eight total athletes through to the final site thus far and will look to add to that total tomorrow as the Razorbacks have an entry in every event on the track tomorrow night.

Three Razorbacks advance to NCAA’s on second day at prelims

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Three Razorbacks advance to NCAA’s on second day at prelims

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Arkansas advanced three more athletes to the NCAA Championships on Friday night at the West Prelims at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University.

Travean Caldwell had a breakthrough performance in the 400-meter hurdles, turning in a lifetime-best of 50.14 that is tied for the third-fastest performance in program history trailing only Sam Glover (49.08) and Kemar Mowatt program-leading mark of 48.49 from the 2017 World Championships.

Caldwell won his heat earning an auto-Q spot to the NCAA meet in Austin, Texas in two weeks. Nick Hilson was advanced on referee’s decision after a protest was upheld. That means 13 men will move on from the West Region to the Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas in the event.

Joining Caldwell and Hilson at the NCAA Championships will be Kris Hari and Roy Ejiakuekwu who grabbed spots at the national meet in the 100-meters. Both advanced to the final site by way of an auto-Q finish.

Ejiakuekwu posted a personal-best at 10.27 seconds while Hari grabbed his spot in the following heat besting Ejiakuekwu by one one-hundredth of a second (.01) tying his personal best, and Danish National Record, of 10.26 seconds.

Carl Elliot III was the lone Razorback to advance to the quarterfinal in the 110-meter hurdles, doing so with an auto-Q finish running 13.97. Tre’Bien Gilbert finished 27th in 14.10 while Shakiel Chattoo took 41st in 14.75.

True Freshman Rashad Boyd took the next step in qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 200-meters as he advanced to the quarterfinal running a lifetime-best of 20.80.

Hunter Woodhall ran in the quarterfinals of the 400-meters falling just short of moving on to Austin in the event. Woodhall took 17th with a time of 46.59 in the one-lap sprint.

Arkansas has qualified six total athletes through to the final site thus far and will look to add to that total tomorrow as the Razorbacks have an entry in every event on the track tomorrow as well as two in the field.

Perico has strong start on first day at NCAA Championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Perico has strong start on first day at NCAA Championships

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas freshman Julian Perico carded an opening-round, 1-under-par 71 and stands in a tie for sixth place after the first day of the 2019 NCAA Championship, played at Blessings Golf Club (par 72, 7,550 yards).

Cal’s Collin Morikawa is the first-round leader (5-under, 67). Three players are tied for second at -3, followed by Stanford’s Isaiah Salinda in fifth at -2 and six players, including Perico, tied for fifth at -1.

This was Perico’s 18th time to shoot in the par of better this season and his sixth time over his last eight rounds.

Perico played with two other individual qualifiers and the trio was in first place and tied for second heading into the 18th hole. Utah’s Kyler Dunkle had a par on the final hole and was the clubhouse leader with a 3-under-par 69.

Perico and Western Kentucky’s Billy Tom Sargent each had a bogey on the final hole and were tied for sixth with a 1-under-par 71 when they completed play.

“It is always disappointing bogey the last hole,” Perico said. “I don’t think I played my best but a 71 on this course is always good. I should be in good position after everyone is done today. Some of the best players in the country are here so being in contention after day one is good.”

Perico’s and his playing partners all led at various points during their round.

“How great was that,” said Arkansas coach Brad McMakin. “To have those three guys play a combined 5-under par – on this course – is phenomenal. It was fun to watch. They really fed off each other and the crowd following them.”

Perico got off to a hot start with birdies on holes 2, 3 and 6. He dropped a shot on hole 9 and fell to 1-under after a bogey on the par-3 15th.

Perico responded with a par on 14, a birdie on 15 and made two great runs at birdie on holes 16 and 17 before settling for par on both. He finished with a bogey on the par-4 18th to finish at 69.

“I was cruising a little when I got back to 2-under,” Perico said. “I only had two three putts and unfortunately one was on 18. My short game was sharp and I putted really good today. It just got sloppy at certain points. The way I played I should have shot lower.”

Perico, Sargent and Dunkle will tee off at 2:22 pm on Saturday and start on the 10th hole. Admission and parking are free to the 2019 NCAA Championship at Blessings Golf Club.

Van Horn, Goodheart, Noland after falling to Ole Miss on Friday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn, designated hitter Matt Goodheart and starting pitcher Connor Noland with the media after the Rebels won 3-2, eliminating the Hogs from the SEC Tournament.

Goodheart, pitching not enough to keep Hogs going in SEC Tournament

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Goodheart, pitching not enough to keep Hogs going in SEC Tournament

HOOVER, Ala. — A two-run home run by designated hitter Matt Goodheart coupled with a strong performance by the pitching staff wasn’t enough Friday afternoon as Ole Miss scored the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Arkansas, 3-2, and eliminate it from the SEC Tournament.

Much like the other games of the SEC Tournament, runs were hard to come by in Friday’s game between the Razorbacks and Rebels.

It was the third-straight game Arkansas totaled five hits and the 12th game of the tournament decided by two runs or less.

Goodheart, who had just one hit in eight at-bats in the previous two tournament games, broke out for a 2-for-3 game as the only Hog with a multi-hit performance.

He’s also the second Razorback with a multi-hit game in this week’s tournament as his fourth-inning home run was the only source of offense for the Hogs.

It was Goodheart’s third home run of the year and second in as many weeks, but it was only the third extra-base hit for Arkansas over the three games this week.

Pitching-wise, freshman Connor Noland, making his 16th start of the year was sharp, giving up just one run on two hits over five innings, while walking one and striking out two on 73 pitches.

It was Noland’s fifth outing of five or more innings was one of his more efficient as it was just his second start of five or more innings with two or less hits allowed.

Since his start at Vanderbilt (April 13), which was his shortest of the year, Noland has given up just six earned runs in 34.2 innings (7 outings) and leads the pitching staff with a 1.56 ERA, while holding opponents to just a .208 batting average.

Arkansas struggled to punch in runs Friday against Ole Miss. After taking the 2-0 lead in the fourth, the Hogs had the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth as Ole Miss started struggled with command and hit Martin with a pitch followed by a walk to Goodheart. Unfortunately, Dominic Fletcher popped out to left field, ending the threat.

The Razorbacks were 0-for-6 in the game with runners in scoring position and just 2-for-13 with runners on base. It was a tough tournament, offensively, as the offense managed just seven hits in 43 at-bats (.163) with runners on base.

Overall, the team hit .160 with just 15 hits and eight runs scored. On the flip side, the pitching was outstanding, allowing just nine earned runs over 25 innings and held opponents to just a .169 batting average.

After Noland was relieved at the start of the sixth inning, Kevin Kopps, Cody Scroggins and Kole Ramage did a great job out of the bullpen combining for two innings of no-hit ball with just two walks allowed.

Combined this week, that pitching combo had a 2.90 ERA and allowed five hits and four walks.

Zebulon Vermillion followed Ramage at the start of the eighth inning, but struggled to record just one out after walking the lead-off batter and then hitting another.

Junior Matt Cronin was called upon for the second time this week to try for the five-out save, but could not stop the first-pitch single by Thomas Dillard to tie the game.

That was followed by a sacrifice fly by Grae Kessinger to give Ole Miss the final lead of the game.

Up next

Arkansas will now wait to see where it lands in the NCAA Tournament field, which will be decided on Monday afternoon at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.

The regional host announcement will come Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.

???? Friday Halftime Pod — Featuring Matt Hobbs

Tye Richardson
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???? Friday Halftime Pod — Featuring Matt Hobbs

Phil & Tye hit on the Georgia game, plus Matt Hobbs joins the pod!

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