Arkansas women’s golfers Maria Fassi, Dylan Kim and Kaylee Benton talked with the media about going to New York, playing in NCAA regional draw in Washington.
Former Olympic gold medalist named Razorbacks’ gymnastics coach
FAYETTEVILLE — Olympic gold medalist and UCLA assistant Jordyn Wieber has been named Arkansas’ head women’s gymnastics coach Wednesday.
Wieber replaces Mark Cook, who announced his retirement as head coach, earlier this month, after 17 seasons at Arkansas.
Wieber is a familiar name in the gymnastics community after a prolific career as a competitor, including earning a gold medal as part of Team USA in the 2012 Olympics.
Since finishing her competitive career, Wieber has served as an assistant for legendary UCLA coach Valorie Kondos Field, helping lead the Bruins to the 2018 NCAA Championship.
Beyond the gym, Wieber has served as an outspoken advocate for victims of child sexual abuse. Wieber has used the platform of gymnastics to encourage and inspire generations of young girls and others around the nation.
“The journey of Jordyn Wieber is truly extraordinary,” athletics director Hunter Yurachek said. “As one of the world’s elite gymnasts and an assistant at one of the top collegiate programs in the country, she has already experienced more than many of us will in a lifetime.
“She has a maturity beyond her years and her experiences at the highest level of gymnastics will be a tremendous asset to the young women in our program. Jordyn has a great energy and passion, is an accomplished communicator and a demonstrated leader.
“It was clear from the beginning of this process, that Jordyn had a definitive plan to take our program to an elite level and wanted to be the head coach at the University of Arkansas.
“For the past 17 years, Mark Cook built the Razorback gymnastics program from the ground up. I am confident that Jordyn will not only build on that foundation but will also serve as a recognizable face for our program and for the sport of gymnastics.”
Wieber recently wrapped up her third season as a volunteer assistant coach at UCLA and her sixth with the program, assisting the team in a variety of roles during her first three years in Westwood following her Olympic career.
Wieber coached the Bruins on floor exercise, an event in which UCLA finished the 2018 and 2019 regular seasons ranked No. 1 in the nation.
In 2019, the Bruins recorded scores of 49.5 or better in 11 of 14 meets, averaging a national-best 49.604 on floor. UCLA hit a season-high 49.825 on March 16, which ranks No. 3 all-time in school history, behind five scores of 9.925 or better in that meet, including two perfect 10s.
The floor squad also posted marks of 49.775 (March 23) and 49.750 (Feb. 16) over the course of the year, as four Bruins earned regular season All-America honors in the event – Katelyn Ohashi, Kyla Ross, Gracie Kramer and Felicia Hano.
The 2018 Bruins scored 49.4 or higher in 11 meets and 49.6 or higher in three meets, including a national season-high of 49.775 set Feb. 25. She and her fellow UCLA coaches were named the 2018 West Region Assistant Coaches of the Year, as they helped lead the Bruins to Pac-12, NCAA regional and NCAA national titles.
“I am honored to be joining the Razorback Family as the head gymnastics coach at the University of Arkansas,” Wieber said. “Throughout my life, gymnastics has provided me some extraordinary opportunities, from traveling the world and competing for my country at the Olympics to coaching alongside one of the legends of our sport at UCLA. Those experiences have been invaluable to my growth personally and professionally while also preparing me for this role. I am appreciative to Hunter Yurachek for affording me the opportunity to lead a nationally recognized gymnastics program within the Southeastern Conference. I am excited about the future of Razorback Gymnastics and am looking forward to working together with our student-athletes to compete at the highest level of collegiate gymnastics.”
At the NCAA Championships on April 19-20, Wieber coached Ross to the individual floor title with a score of 9.950, the program’s second in as many years after Ohashi took home the crown in 2018.
After winning their semifinal session with a 197.650 (49.6125 in the floor), UCLA finished third overall in the finals.
Wieber, who has been a vocal advocate for safe sport, has won several awards in the past year, including the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs, the Rising Star Award by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and the Giant Steps A Hero Among Us Award.
A member of the “Fierce Five” United States squad that won team gold at the 2012 Olympics, Wieber was a two-time U.S. all-around champion (2011 and 2012) and the 2011 World all-around champion.
Her illustrious elite career included three medals (all-around and team gold, beam bronze) at the 2011 World Championships, four U.S. senior national titles (all-around, bars and floor in 2011 and all-around in 2012).
She was also the 2008 U.S. junior all-around, vault and floor exercise champion and the American Cup all-around champion in 2009, 2011 and 2012. She dominated the competition at the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships, winning four gold medals (all-around, uneven bars, floor exercise, team) and one silver (vault).
In her first international competition at the 2007 Junior Pan American Championships, she won gold medals on uneven bars and balance beam, silver in the all-around and bronze on floor exercise. Wieber officially retired from competitive gymnastics in 2015.
Wieber, from DeWitt, Michigan, graduated from UCLA in 2017 with a degree in Psychology.
She was a 2016 inductee into the Greater Lansing Sports Hall of Fame and is also a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame as a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.
About Jordyn Wieber …
“I’ve known Jordyn Wieber for the past eight years, through her victory as a USA Gymnastic World Champion, USA Olympic Champion and UCLA NCAA Champion Coach. Her dedication to the integrity of the process of becoming and developing champions in life through the sport of gymnastics is on par with some of the greatest leaders I’ve ever met. She has proven over and over how to achieve greatness through thorough & healthy preparation and commitment to every detail. Jordyn Wieber is simply one of the most impressive people I have ever had the honor and privilege to work with.” — Valorie Kondos Field, former UCLA gymnastics coach
“The first time I met Jordyn, I asked for her autograph. I was a fan. A few years later we became teammates on the US National Team. We bonded immediately. Jordyn has always been a supportive friend and teammate. She is a leader. I always knew she would go on to accomplish great things. I could not be more proud of her. I am excited to cheer her on in this next chapter of her life. I wish her and the Arkansas Gymnastics family the best of luck. I can’t wait to see what the coming years have in store.” — Aly Raisman, teammate on 2012 “Fierce Five” U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Team
“Jordyn Wieber is a highly motivated coach of tremendous character and integrity. She is eager to learn and recognizes each day as an opportunity to do so. She subscribes to the philosophy of coaching the individual before the athlete. She brings a work ethic, knowledge, background and focus to teaching that no other gymnastics coach in the country can claim considering she is a World, Olympic and NCAA Champion.
“As a leader of young women, Jordyn will steward the Arkansas gymnastics program with a commitment to developing strong, respectable and high achieving student-athletes that will represent the university in the gym, the classroom and in the community with class and commitment to excellence, just as she has exhibited in everything she has done in her own life.” — Bobby Field, former Arkansas football standout and UCLA administrator
???? Wednesday Halftime Pod — Change My Mind
Phil Elson & Tye Richardson hit on the importance of former Razorbacks being a part of the current programs and more!
Arkansas’ Zerulo named to All-SEC second team after strong season on court
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Arkansas sophomore Martina Zerulo earned Second Team All-SEC honors, as announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon.
Zerulo is 18-13 overall in singles play, going 13-8 in dual play to rank second on the team in singles wins. Coming in at a season-high ranking of No. 83 in the latest ITA Rankings release, she primarily plays at the No. 1 position.
The Manfredonia, Italy native is 5-2 in the Hogs’ last 10 matches, winning her last two matches and defeating four nationally ranked players. She defeated then-No. 12 Ida Jarlskog of Florida in early March, the highest-ranking opponent to fall to Zerulo this season.
Zerulo is 12-10 in doubles play this spring, with all 12 wins coming at the top two positions. She has defeated three ITA-ranked doubles pairs with partner Tatum Rice, defeating then-No. 15 Akvile Parazinskalte and Justina Mikulskyte of Kentucky 6-2 in March.
“I’m really happy and proud of Martina,” coach Courtney Steinbock said. “She has put in a lot of hard work and it is starting to pay off, so I’m glad to see her efforts are being recognized by other coaches in the SEC as well.”
No. 45 Arkansas will look to play in the NCAA Tournament in May, with team and individual tournament selections to be announced next week.
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday
John & Tommy discuss the shot of a Omaha repeat, changes in the basketball film room, NCAAF rules update and more!
Washington, Kjerstad, Ramage recapping 19-2 win Tuesday night
Razorbacks Curtis Washington, Jr., Heston Kjerstad and pitcher Kole Ramage on the positives — and some negatives — in the blowout win over Northwestern State.
Hogs get sixth straight win with 19-2 romp over Northwestern State
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas blasted Northwestern State on Tuesday night, 19-2 in eight innings, behind a 19-hit night and a season-high five home runs to run its win streak to six games.
A heavy downpour moved across the stadium in the ninth inning after Jacob Burton recorded one out.
Once the rain moved out, the field was deemed unplayable and the game was called after eight innings.
Arkansas (31-10) got crooked numbers in the second, third, fourth, seventh and eighth innings as the 19 hits were the second-most hits in a game this year and the fifth time in the last six games it has totaled 10 or more.
The five home runs hit were also the most in a single game since hitting five against No. 4 Kentucky on March 17, 2018.
The 19 runs were also the most in a game by Arkansas this season and the most since scoring 32 against Bucknell on Feb. 17, 2018.
Dominic Fletcher, Heston Kjerstad, Jack Kenley, Jordan McFarland and Curtis Washington, Jr. all went deep in Tuesday’s game. For McFarland and Washington, it was their first home runs of the year and each Razorback that went deep had at least two hits in the game.
Kjerstad, Washington and catcher Zack Plunkett all led the team with three hits each. Kjerstad and Washington both fell a triple short of the cycle, while all three of Plunkett’s hits went for doubles, which was easily a career-high.
Washington was 3-for-6 in the game, a career-high. Both Kjerstad and Plunkett were 3-for-4 in the game.
Ramage rights ship with career-long outing
After struggling over his last three outings with 12 earned runs allowed, sophomore right-hander Kole Ramage got back on track Tuesday with a career-long five-inning performance and only one run allowed.
Ramage scattered five hits and struck out five with one walk on 72 pitches. He earned his seventh win of the year, moving him into a tie for the team lead with redshirt junior Isaiah Campbell.
Washington coming up big when called
Tuesday’s three-hit night wasn’t an anomaly for freshman Curtis Washington, Jr. The West Memphis native has been one of Arkansas’ first hitters off the bench this year as he’s made six pinch-hit appearances and four starts in the outfield.
Of his 10 hits, all have come in non-conference play and Tuesday’s three-hit game was his second multi-hit game of the season.
Washington is now batting .400 (10-for-25) and has four extra-base hits.
Kjerstad picks ip where he left off
Taking his first game off in his Razorback career last Saturday after being ejected in Friday’s game against Mississippi State, Heston Kjerstad returned to the lineup on Tuesday against Northwestern State and didn’t miss a beat, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
His lone RBI came on a 417-foot home run in the second inning that bounced off the batter’s eye in centerfield. It was his 10th home run of the year and 24th of his career.
Teammate Jack Kenley followed that at-bat with a solo home run of his own, marking the first back-to-back home runs hit by two Razorbacks since Evan Lee and Jared Gates did it against No. 2 Florida on March 25, 2018.
Razorback quotables
“I just thought we did a great job coming out and swinging the bats. From the second inning on we just saw a lot of pitches and fouled some pitches, took a lot of pitches and hit a lot of balls hard. You never know how it’s going to go on a Tuesday or Wednesday, but I feel like the team showed up with a little bit of an attitude and kept it rolling. Really top to bottom though the lineup guys we having good at-bats.” — Coach Dave Van Horn on his team’s showing on Tuesday
“He plays the game hard and hits the ball all over the field. He’s still a developing player. We see him every day and we know what he’s good at and what he really needs to work on. We played him on some Tuesday night and he seems to take a walk, get a hit and score some runs. He knows his role, and he’s done a great job with it.” — Van Horn on Curtis Washington, Jr.
“Offensively, he was outstanding. Today in batting practicing he really hit the ball hard. I mean, he hit a couple three balls opposite way to left center out of the park. He hit a couple off the batter’s eye. He hit a lot of line drives though the middle. Then, he took it to the game. I think he had three hits and used the middle of the field. It was really good to see.” — Van Horn on Heston Kjerstad
“Man, when it left the bat, I was just praying it went over and when it did it was a relief. Just enjoyed the moment running around the bases.” — Curtis Washington, Jr., on hitting his first career home run
It felt good. I only threw one inning over the weekend, so I didn’t have too many pitches over the weekend, so I felt good going into the game.Today I felt relaxed like everything was kind of there for me. Five innings really didn’t seem that long just going out there and throwing a lot of strikes and getting people out.” — Kole Ramage on his five-inning outing
Up next
Arkansas and Northwestern State will be back on the field on Wednesday to finish its two-game series at Baum-Walker Stadium.
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 with pregame starting at 2:30 p.m.
First pitch between the Razorbacks and Demons is set for 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
Van Horn on Hogs’ hot hitting, Kjerstad’s perplexing night in win
Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn talked after the 19-2 win over Northwestern State on the quick start offensively, Heston Kjerstad’s hitting, mental errors.
???? Tuesday Halftime Pod — featuring Nikki Chavanelle
Phil & Tye discuss Saban impacting Arkansas, interview Nikki Chavanelle, and Get Off My Lawn!
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday
John and Tommy discuss sports tech, recap Yurachek’s comments, and more!
Martin, Noland get weekly SEC honors after sweeping Bulldogs
FAYETTEVILLE — Following last week’s sweep of Mississippi State where Arkansas outscored the Bulldogs, 27-10, and now sits atop the SEC West, Casey Martin was named the SEC’s player of the week.
Freshman right-hander Connor Noland also took home the league’s co-freshman of the week honors.
The pair led the Hogs to a 4-0 record for the week and are now 30-10 on the year and 12-6 in league play.
Casey Martin | Player of the Week
Martin hit .471 for the week with five of his eight hits and six of his 10 RBIs coming against the second-ranked Bulldogs.
His performance helped Arkansas to its second SEC series sweep and second sweep over Mississippi State in the last three years.
He also totaled a career-high four RBIs twice, once coming in the 16-4 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and the other in a 12-5 series-clinching victory over MSU.
The Lonoke native takes a five-game hitting streak into this week’s midweek series against Northwestern State and he has at least one hit in 15 of his last 17 games with a .391 average over his last 10 games with eight extra-base hits and 11 RBIs.
On Friday, Martin hit his first career grand slam, his eighth home run of the year, to help the Hogs earn an important series victory over the Bulldogs.
He finished the game 2-for-3 and also tied a career-high with three walks.
Martin now has 17 doubles on the year and is tied for the SEC lead in the category with MSU’s Jake Mangum and teammate Dominic Fletcher. He is also fourth in the SEC in total bases (97).
Connor Noland | Co-Freshman of the Week
Noland had his best week as a Razorback, earning his first two wins of the year after throwing two scoreless frames against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and 7.2 scoreless against the Bulldogs.
The 7.2 innings pitched on Saturday was a season-long as he struck out five batters and scattered four hits without giving up a walk.
The five strikeouts were his second-most in a game this year, two shy of his season high of seven coming in his first career outing in February (vs. EIU – Feb. 16).
Up Next
Arkansas continues the homestand next Tuesday and Wednesday as it welcomes Northwestern State to Baum-Walker Stadium for a two-game series.
First pitch on Tuesday is set for 6:30 p.m., followed by game two on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
You can hear both games at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home. Pregame coverage starts 30 minutes before the first pitch.
Both games will be televised online on SEC Network+.
