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Boit stays undefeated in league, Hogs in second place at SEC Indoor meet

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas currently sits in second place with 26-points, trailing Alabama by six-points, as the Razorbacks captured an SEC title and qualified the most of any other team through to finals on day one of the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships at Randal Tyson Friday night.

“I liked the fight our guys are showing,” said coach Chris Bucknam. “This is going to be a tough battle all the way to the end, we can’t let go of the rope. We got some qualifiers in for tomorrow, I’m really pleased with Boit’s run and the points we captured in the 5,000-meters and the DMR. Those were all positive points, and we’re in the mix,” Bucknam finished.

Gilbert Boit highlighted opening day action for the Razorbacks as he remained undefeated in SEC action. Boit, who captured the SEC Individual Championship last fall, settled in early right up from with the Alabama trio of Gilbert Kigen, Vincent Kiprop, and Noel Rotich and kept pace lap by lap waiting for his moment to strike.

That moment came with 400-meters to go as the pack took off in a straight sprint to the finish line. Alabama’s Kigen held the lead coming off the final turn but Boit kicked it in and legged it out over the final 50-meters running through the line to take the title by three one-hundredths of a second over the Crimson competitor to earn his second individual SEC Championship and remain undefeated on the season.

Arkansas also brought home points with sixth and seventh-place finishes by Austen Dalquist (14:16.02) and Matt Young (14:19.00) to make it a solid 15-points in the event for the Razorbacks.

Laquan Nairn scored points for the Razorbacks with a sixth-place finish in the long jump with a season-best performance of 7.67m (25-2). Nairn will return tomorrow in the triple jump.

The men’s Distance Medley Relay turned in a silver medal performance running 9:48.67 trailing only Ole Miss.

Gabe Moore and Derek Jacobus wrapped up day one of the heptathlon with scores of 3,329 and 3,115-pts., respectively.

Moore recorded marks of 7.05 (60-meters), 7.18m/23-6.75 (long jump), 15.07m/49-5.50 (shot put), and 2.10m/6-7 (high jump), while Jacobus finished with marks of 7.01 – a lifetime-best – 6.93m/22-9, 13.23m/43-5, and 1.95m/6-4.75.

The duo will close out the event tomorrow as they compete in the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and the 1,000-meters.

Cameron Griffith and Ethan Moehn grabbed auto-Q spots into tomorrow’s Mile final with their first and third-place finishes in their prelim heat running 4:12.77 and 4:13.19.

Jalen Brown and Hunter Woodhall advanced to tomorrow’s final in the 400-meters, recording the seventh and eighth-fastest times from prelims.

Carl Elliot III will back into the blocks tomorrow afternoon in the 60-meter hurdles as he punches his ticket with a time of 7.81 that ties his personal-best in the event and is No. 5 in program history.

Kieran Taylor earned a spot in tomorrow’s 800-meter final with his time of 1:49.29 that is a lifetime-best and the fourth-fastest from prelims.

Roy Ejiakuekwu punched his ticket to the 200-meter final running 20.86 in the prelims – the sixth-fastest on the day.

Arkansas will return to Randal Tyson for day two of the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships tomorrow morning starting at 10:45 a.m.

Arkansas puts up another 196-plus score, but falls to LSU on Friday night

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas posted its third score of 196 or higher in four meets with a 196.375 against No. 5 LSU, but fell to the Tigers 197.125-196.375 inside Barnhill Arena on Friday night.

First Rotation: LSU Bars: 49.225, Arkansas Vault: 49.175

Arkansas once again eclipsed the 49 mark on vault posting a 49.175. The Razorbacks were led by freshman Kennedy Hambrick, who scored a 9.900 in the fourth position. The score was followed by a 9.825 from senior Sydney McGlone and a 9.875 from fellow freshman Amanda Elswick.

Second Rotation: LSU Vault: 49.300, Arkansas Bars: 48.625

Junior Jessica Yamzon led the rotation off with a 9.775 that was followed up with a 9.750 from sophomore Sophia Carter. Sophomore Sarah Shaffer led the rotation with a 9.875, but Arkansas was forced to count a low score in the rotation as the Tigers took a 98.525-97.800 lead heading to the third rotation.

Second Rotation: LSU Floor: 49.300, Arkansas Beam: 49.225

Arkansas got off to a quick start in its third rotation, posting three consecutive scores of 9.800 or higher before Carter recording a season-high tying 9.900 in the fourth position. Yamzon led off the rotation with a 9.800, as Hambrick and Elswick each posted 9.850’s to lead off the rotation.

Fourth Rotation: LSU Beam: 49.375, Arkansas Floor: 49.350

Arkansas proved strong on the floor once again as all five scores recorded scores of 9.825 or higher. Yamzon led off the rotation with a 9.800, that was followed up with a pair of 9.850’s from Hambrick and Elswick. In the fourth position, McGlone recorded a 9.875. Carter once again showed that the floor was her showcase event, posting a career high-tying 9.950.

Razorbacks sit in second after first day at SEC Championships on Friday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — No. 1 Arkansas currently sits in second place with 30-points, trailing Alabama by five-points, capturing three SEC titles on day one of the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships at Randal Tyson on Friday night.

“It was a great day,” said coach Lance Harter. “The key to today was to advance as many people to the final as possible, and we were way above and beyond our expectations… and the finals that we were a part of tonight we got three 10’s. Cumulatively we couldn’t have asked for any more than we got today. Tomorrow is an opportunity to cash in, and I think with the momentum that was created today, there’s no reason it should slow down.”

Redshirt-Senior Kelsey Herman got things going for Arkansas as she competed in the women’s pentathlon. Herman opened the competition with a lifetime-best in the 60-meter hurdles clocking 8.29 scoring 1,064-pts.

She followed up with marks of 1.73m (5-8) in the high jump, 12.31m (40-4.75) in the shot put, 6.10m (20-0.25) in the long jump and 2:20.81 in the 800-meters to finish with a total score of 4,330-pts – a lifetime-best – and a gold medal in the event.

Herman is the fifth Razorback to win the pentathlon and second in a row following last year’s SEC and NCAA Champion Taliyah Brooks.

Taylor Werner is an SEC Champion! The junior absolutely ran away from the field in the 5,000-meters running 16:18.39 that was a full 10 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. This is the second SEC title at 5,000-meters for Werner pairing with her title from her freshman campaign in 2017.

“I was ecstatic for Taylor [Werner] for a couple reasons. She followed the race plan until the middle of the race when I told her ‘take off let’s get going’. Once she got going I told her to run as controlled as possible and make it as effortless as possible. She walked away from the field and walked away from the race with a lot of confidence and reconfirmation that she’s 100% healthy and back to her old self after having the back procedure last summer,” said Harter.

The women’s Distance Medley Relay struck gold for Arkansas once again. The relay of Devin Clark, Paris Peoples, Meghan Underwood, and Carina Viljoen went the distance for the Razorbacks turning in a time of 11:21.98 – six seconds ahead of second-place Florida.

While the three SEC titles highlighted action on Day one for the Hogs, Arkansas set themselves up for even more success tomorrow afternoon with how they competed in preliminary action on the track Friday afternoon.

Three Razorbacks will toe the line in tomorrow’s Mile final as Lauren Gregory, Carina Viljoen, and Maddy Reed turned in the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 times on the day during prelims. Gregory, the 2017 SEC Cross Country Freshman of the Year, is competing in her first SEC Indoor Championships and is the favorite to capture the title tomorrow afternoon as she holds the top-time from prelims of 4:46.87.

Kiara Parker, Janeek Brown, and Jada Baylark will represent the Cardinal and White in the final of the 60-meters with Parker’s time leading the bunch. Parker ran 7.24 trailing only LSU’s Korteni Johnson who ran 7.19 in preliminary action. Brown (7.27) and Baylark (7.28) qualified as the fifth and sixth-fastest from prelims.

Arkansas advanced three to the 400-meter final led by Kethlin Campbell’s lifetime-best in the event at 52.82 that bested her performance of 52.99 last week at the Arkansas Qualifier and tied Chrishuna Williams for the ninth-best performance in program history. Campbell will be joined by Morgan Burks-Magee and Sydney Hammit who ran a personal-best as well crossing the line in 53.15.

Payton Chadwick and Brown stepped on the track for the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles and left with tickets to the finals in the event running the No.1 and No. 2 times on the day at 7.98 and 8.00, respectively.

Alex Byrnes is headed back to the SEC Indoor final in the 800-meters as she ran 2:07.37 to grab one of the two non-auto qualifying spots. Byrnes enters the final with the sixth-fastest time from prelims.

Chadwick and Parker, who punched their tickets in the 60-hurdles and 60-flat, returned to the track in the 200-meter prelims nabbing two more scoring opportunities for Arkansas as they ran times of 23.03 and 23.13, respectively, with Parker’s mark being a lifetime-best. Chadwick’s time was the second-fastest on the night while Parker’s mark finished as the fifth-best from prelims.

“Some people looked at us outdoors (last year), and after winning indoors we just looked like a shadow of ourselves in some respects, but we weren’t that far out of a title,” said Harter.

“We just had some key injuries and I was not going to pull the redshirts of the kids we had on ice at the last minute. We had to deal with what we were capable of but we kind of had a smile on our face of ‘wait till you see our indoor/outdoor team.’ I think our veterans are doing what we thought they were capable of, but some young ones followed them and are following the model that was set before them, and if we can continue to nurture that after our senior’s graduate we’ll have another class regenerate,” Harter finished.

Arkansas will return to Randal Tyson for day two of the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships tomorrow morning starting at 10:45 a.m.

Razorbacks set five personal bests on fourth day at SEC Championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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ATHENS, Ga. — In the fourth day of the SEC Championships, Arkansas swimming and diving set five personal bests and sent four swimmers to the finals.

In the 200 yard butterfly, senior Cris Roberts earned a 41st place finish with a time of 2:05. 96. Senior Marlena Pigliacampi set a personal best time (1:57.51) on her way to a 16th place finish. Her time earned her an NCAA ‘B’ cut and allowed her to advance to the B-finals, where earned a 15th place overall finish (1:58.70).

The second event of the day was the 100 yard backstroke, with three swimmers representing the Razorbacks. Molly Moore set a personal best time of 55.34 for a 44th place. Andrea Sansores also set a personal best, taking 35th place with a time of 54.67 while Kobie Melton earned a 33rd place finish with a time of 54.38.

The final individual swimming event of the day was the 100 yard breaststroke, with three swimmers advancing to the finals. Emma Garfield earned a 35th place finish with a season-best time of 1:03.31. Annah Carney set a personal best (1:01.91) to tie for 22nd place and advanced to the C-finals, where she finished in 24th place (1:02.21).

Sydney Angell also advanced to the C-finals after finishing the preliminary round in 20th place (1:01.83). In the finals, she earned a 23rd place finish with a time of 1:01.93. Vanessa Herrmann earned an NCAA ‘B’ cut with a personal-best time of 1:00.73 to advance to the B-finals, where she took 14th place (1:00.67).

Maha Amer and Carline Welch both competed in the final diving event of the championships, with Welch taking 27th place with a score of 155.90 and Amer taking 15th place with 223.95 points.

The 400 yard medley relay team was led by an all-freshman group, with Sansores, Herrmann, Melton, and Moore earning a 10th place finish with a time of 3:38.18.

“Today was tough for many reasons,” coach Neil Harper said. “But Sydney, Marlena, and Annah provided us with senior leadership and earned swims in the finals. As our lone freshman, Vanessa stepped and also performed beautifully in the finals.

“The future of our program was entrusted to our medley relay quartet and I think they performed very well and gained valuable experience for the future. We are in a battle with some other teams and need some great performances in the morning to set up a successful last finals session.”

After four days of competition, the Hogs sit in eighth place with 420 points. The final day of the SEC Championships will begin tomorrow, with the preliminary round beginning with the 200 yard backstroke at 10 a.m.

Anderson: Jones’ is ‘a first-year player … that’s what you call it’

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas coach Mike Anderson, when asked about inconsistency from Mason Jones, said he was a young player plus previewing Saturday’s matchup with Texas A&M.

???? Friday Halftime Pod — featuring former Omahog Carson Shaddy

Tye Richardson
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???? Friday Halftime Pod — featuring former Omahog Carson Shaddy

Phil Elson & Tye Richardson discuss updates with Arkansas football, the USC win, plus former Omahog Carson Shaddy joins the pod!

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

Tye Richardson
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Friday

John, Tommy, & Nick discuss the USC win, take calls on Mike Anderson, where Arkansas ranks in the SEC and more!

Cronin saves day for Razorbacks in first game against USC, retiring four straight

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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LOS ANGELES — Matt Cronin didn’t have such a good outing against Eastern Illiniois last weekend, but made up for it in the first game of the series against USC as Arkansas held on for a 6-3 win.

The Razorbacks never trailed in the game as Casey Martin got things started with a three-run double in the second inning for a 3-0 lead.

With a pair of runs in the third and a solo run in the fourth, the Hogs ran through pitchers Cody Scroggins, who started before yielding to Patrick Wicklander, who proceeded to let the three baserunners he inherited cross.

Cole Ramage then got in some work, followed by Zebulon Vermillion before Cronin finished it by getting the last four outs of the game, all on strikeouts.

Arkansas will try to win the series Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 8 p.m. Isaiah Campbell will start on the mound for the Razorbacks.

You can hear the game on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.

 

 

Razorbacks have four players score double figures, but rally at Georgia falls short

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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ATHENS, Ga. — Arkansas had four players in double figures and had a big run late in the game, but it wasn’t enough in a 93-83 loss to Georgia on Thursday.

Kiara Williams scored in double figures for the second consecutive game but the Razorbacks (16-11, 5-8 SEC) couldn’t counter Georgia’s (16-10, 7-6 SEC) early momentum and strong foul line shooting in the final frame.

Chelsea Dungee paced Arkansas with 18 points followed by 17 points from Alexis Tolefree. Williams had a season-best 15 points and added a team-best seven rebounds. A’Tyanna Gaulden tallied 12 points in 16 minutes of work for her third game of the season in double digits.

The pace of the game favored the Razorbacks early and the teams played through 12 lead changes and five ties in the first 20 minutes. Georgia, however, managed a late second quarter and early third frame run that put the Bulldogs up by 16 points around the five-minute mark of the second half.

Georgia then went cold offensively as Dungee and Gaulden heated up. Arkansas strung together a 9-0 run closing the gap to single digits, 59-52, forcing a Bulldog timeout.

Arkansas trimmed the Bulldog lead to four points twice in the fourth quarter and was as close as five points in the final minute. The Razorbacks had to foul as the clock wound down and Georgia was solid from the line going 9-for-14 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.

Notes

• Arkansas Starters: Alexis Tolefree, Malica Monk, Kiara Williams, Jailyn Mason, Chelsea Dungee

• There were 12 lead changes and five tie scores in the first half.

• Georgia led by 12 in the 2Q but Arkansas closed the gap to seven at the break — 45-38.

• Arkansas had five 3-point field goals in the first half and finished with seven in the game.

• Alexis Tolefree scored 17 points and was in double figures for the 13th time this year.

• Junior Kiara Williams has scored in double figures in eight games this year. Williams had a season-high 15 points.

• Chelsea Dungee finished with 18 points and has scored in double figures in 24 of 27 games.

• A’Tyanna Gaulden had 12 points for her third double-digit game of the year.

• Four players scored in double figures. It is the first game since Vanderbilt (1-13-19) that four Razorbacks have been in double digits.

Up Next 

The Razorbacks return home for back-to-back home contests. They host Ole Miss on Sunday for Senior Day and welcome Missouri in the final regular season home game on Thursday.

Arkansas travels to Texas A&M March 3 as the regular season comes to a close.

Hogs’ Hopkins sets second individual record on SEC Championships’ third day

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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ATHENS, Ga. — Junior Anna Hopkin set her second individual record of the SEC Championships on day three of the meet, her 13th record-breaking performance of the season.

The Razorbacks opened the meet with the 400 yard IM, with two swimmers setting a personal best time and one setting a season-best time. Emma Garfield earned a 40th place finish with a time of 4:23.98, setting a season-best time.

Vanessa Herrmann set a personal best (4:16.72) to earn a 25th place finish and qualify as first alternate. Peyton Palsha also set a personal best, earning a 12th place finish (4:10.70) and advancing to the B-finals where she took fifth in her heat and 13th overall with a time of 4:10.36.

In the 100 yard butterfly, three swimmers set personal best times and two set season-best times. Brittney Pike set a personal best (57.40) to finish in 48th place while Cris Roberts set a season-best time of 56.40 to earn a 41st place finish.

Andrea Sansores tied for 39th place with a personal best time of 56.05 and Marlena Pigliacampi set a season-best time of 54.23 to tie for a 27th place finish.

Kobie Melton set a personal best time of 53.06 to finish in 16th place and advance to the B-finals where she finished in 14th place overall (52.91). Her finals time was just 0.30 seconds from tying the school record.

The final event of the day was the 200 yard freestyle, where Alyssa Lemon set a personal best (1:49.68) to earn a 47th place finish while Kenedy Thaman set a season-best (1:49.54) to finish in 46th place.

Kiera Michailoff-Russell earned a 42nd place finish and set a personal best with a time of 1:49.20. Hopkin earned an eighth-place finish (1:45.78) to advance to the A-finals to finish in sixth-place and set a school record with a time of 1:44.56.

“The team is really performing well and we had a lot of personal bests today. Peyton, Kobie, and Anna all excelled tonight in the finals and went faster. Anna’s school record was a fantastic performance and provided us all good momentum for tomorrow’s preliminaries,” coach Neil Harper said.

After three days of the SEC Championships, the Hogs sit in seventh place with 346 points. Arkansas will return to the pool tomorrow for the fourth of five days at the meet, opening competition at 9 a.m. with the 200-yard butterfly.

Storms has career night in Razorbacks’ home-opening win over Redhawks

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Autumn Storms was nothing less than hot for Arkansas on a cool evening, tossing a career-high 13 strikeouts in a 7-1 victory over Southeast Missouri State.

The home-opener win included a five-run fourth inning highlighted by back-to-back home runs by senior Haydi Bugarin and sophomore Nicole Duncan.

The Razorbacks had a narrow one-run lead through two innings, after sophomore Kayla Green floated a sacrifice fly back to the right-field warning track, giving sophomore Hannah McEwen the opportunity to score from third.

SEMO (7-4) would respond with a run of its own in the top of the third inning after a Razorback error would put runners on the corners. Redhawk Mykaela Arrellanes scored on the next hit, giving SEMO its only run of the game.

Coming into tonight’s game, the Redhawks owned the best batting average of those teams participating in the Razorback Invitational (.333 batting average), but the Arkansas defense held them to only four hits and a .180 performance at the plate in the Razorbacks’ victory.

The Hogs’ offense exploded in the fourth inning, and with two outs on the board, Bugarin would spark the rally that would score five runs on four hits. Bugarin’s home run over the left-field wall and into the parking lot is the ninth of her career and second of the season.

Duncan followed in similar fashion, blasting the first pitch over the right-field fence into the Bogle Park outfield berm. It is the first for Duncan in the cardinal and white.

The back-to-back home runs bring Arkansas’s total to nine on the season, coming from seven different Hogs.

Sophomore transfer Danielle Gibson finished the night 3-for-4 at the plate, including a fourth-inning double that scored Sydney Parr who had reached on a SEMO error earlier that inning.

Senior Katie Warrick earned a four-pitch walk to load the bases full of Hogs and the Redhawks would call for a defensive change in the circle. Starting pitcher Haley Thogmartin would walk away with the loss, her second of the season, after allowing six runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings.

Now with the bases loaded, the Razorbacks scored two more, as senior Ashley Diaz and Green reached on consecutive bases-loaded walks.

Arkansas scored its final run on another hit by Gibson in the fifth inning. The single to left field combined with the quick feet of Parr gave Parr the time she needed to cross the plate from second.

Storms’ 13 strike outs are not only a career high, but also a game high for the Razorbacks this season. Through 35 innings in the circle, Storms has given up only two runs, three walks and has struck out 40 batters.

Up Next

The Hogs will return to Bogle Park on Friday for day two of the Razorback Invitational. Arkansas will face SEMO again at 4:45 p.m. and then SIU-Edwardsville at 7 p.m.

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