60 F
Fayetteville

Hogs improve on back nine to advance at NCAA’s

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

STILLWATER, Okla. — Arkansas played the challenging back nine of Karsten Creek Golf Club 5-over climbing up the leaderboard and advancing to round four of the 2018 NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Sunday.

Arkansas came off the course moving up two spots to 11th overall making the first cut to the top-15 teams in the 30-team field. The Razorbacks tee it up for the final round of stroke play Monday afternoon with the top-8 teams advancing to match play. Arkansas has used third round heroics to advance in its last three events this season.

Arkansas finished the round shooting a 3-over 291. That moved them up two spots into 11th place overall with rounds of 296–289–291—876. Arkansas is just four shots back of the coveted eighth spot on the leaderboard. Duke posted a course record 12-under 276 on Sunday. The Blue Devils are in first with an 854.

Oklahoma State, playing on their home course, remains in second followed by Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma in the top-5.

The Razorbacks were 9-over in the first round and 7-over in round two counting some big numbers on the back side of the course in the opening days of play. Sophomore Luis Garza posted his best round of the weekend shooting a 2-under 70. Garza was 1-under on each side and birdied the 18th hole helping the Razorbacks remain in front of Clemson who is 12th overall.

William Buhl and Mason Overstreet also had their best rounds of the tournament on Sunday. Buhl was 1-under with a 71 while Overstreet was 1-over shooting 73. Buhl turned 3-under, birding his final two holes on the front side. He battled back from a misstep on No. 10 picking up birdies on Nos. 12 and 16 to finish strong for Arkansas.

Overstreet’s 73 came after he played the front side 1-under. He survived the back nine coming into the clubhouse with five consecutive par holes. Redshirt sophomore Tyson Reeder and senior Alvaro Ortiz both carded 77s. Reeder’s second round 67 allowed Arkansas to make its first move up in the standings and make today’s cut.

The Lineup

PLACE PLAYER SCORE TO PAR
T32 Luis Garza (5) 76–72–70—218 +2
T55 Tyson Reeder (4) 77–67–77—221 +5
T63 William Buhl (2) 72–79–71—222 +6
T75 Alvaro Ortiz (1) 72–74–77—223 +7
T93 Mason Overstreet (3) 76–76–73—225 +9

Hogs cap NCAA Prelims on strong note for NCAA

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On the final day of the NCAA West Prelims, Arkansas secured three individual and two relay spots to the NCAA Championships in Eugene.

Kenzo Cotton, Larry Donald, and Cameron Griffith, as well as the men’s sprint and mile relay teams, will represent the Razorbacks at Hayward Field June 6-9.

In the opening event on the track, the 4-x-100-meter relay, the combination of Kristoffer Hari, Kemar Mowatt, Kevin Harris and Kenzo Cotton carried the baton to the tune of 39.56Q winning section two and posting the fifth-fastest time in the event on the day to punch their ticket to NCAA’s.

Saturday night was the first time this season that Arkansas had run that combination.

Cameron Griffith will make a trip to Eugene in the 1,500-meters after earning an auto-Q to the NCAA meet Saturday afternoon. Griffith crossed the line in 3:43.14Q to finish third in his heat and fifth overall.

Larry Donald will make his first appearance at the NCAA Championships in the 110-meter hurdles after a gutsy run in the quarterfinal.

Donald, who ran in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA meet back in 2016, will make a return trip to the great northwest running the high hurdles. The senior earned a spot to the big show as the fastest time-qualifier sprinting to a time of 13.88q.

Kenzo Cotton, who punched his ticket to the championships earlier in the day as the anchor leg of the sprint relay and yesterday in the 100-meters, added another event to his schedule in Eugene with a birth to the semifinal of the 200-meters running 20.74Q finishing runner-up in his section and eighth-overall.

The final event of the meet, as is traditional in track & field, was the 4-x-400-meter relays that featured the Razorbacks of Arkansas.

The Hogs took the first heat in 3:04.51Q to earn an auto-Q trip to Eugene where they were runner-up last season. On the carry for Arkansas were Jamarco Stephen, Kemar Mowatt, Hunter Woodhall and Obi Igbokwe.

All-in-all, Arkansas advanced nine individuals and both relays as well as decathlons Gabe Moore and Derek Jacobus who will all compete in the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA Championships will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. June 6-9.

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.

NCAA West Preliminary
Saturday Results

Men’s 4-x-100-meter relay
5. Arkansas – 39.56Q – Advanced to NCAA’s

Men’s 1,500-meters
5. Cameron Griffith – 3:43.14Q – Advanced to NCAA’s

Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles
10. Larry Donald – 13.88q – Advanced to NCAA’s

Men’s 200-meters
8. Kenzo Cotton – 20.74Q – Advanced to NCAA’s
16. Roy Ejiakuekwu – 20.96

Men’s 5,000-Meters
15. Gilbert Boit – 13:56.34
17. Austen Dalquist – 13:56.73
34. Jack Bruce – 14:19.02
39. Cameron Griffith – 14:36.92

Men’s 4-x-400-Meter Relay
7. Arkansas -3:04.51Q – Advanced to NCAA’s

Men’s Javelin
29. Alex Springer – 61.74m (202?-7?)

Men’s High Jump
40. Brendon Rivera – 2.01m (6?-7?)
— Rubin Owens – NH

Hogs add Hiltz, Brown, both relays to NCAA Championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Razorbacks will head to the NCAA Championships with a solid squad as eight individuals and both relays punched their tickets over the weekend at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State.

Hogs coach Lance Harter:

“We had a great day. Nikki Hiltz is magical! The way she’s been able to overcome a lack of traditional training and be able to run not too far off her lifetime-best is absolutely amazing. She is truly the definition of a racer; she just flat can race. I’m so happy for her being able to go back to Eugene and finish her career where it began is going to be fun. Having the mile relay qualify with the youngsters is remarkable. That’s a true credit to [associate head coach] Chris Johnson and his coaching ability because I guarantee you none of those girls were ever recruited by these other major colleges. Their determination and heart are unmatched, its so impressive. Janeek [Brown] in spite of her age, displayed fantastic poise in the heat of competition, she looked fantastic and even noted herself that she has some things she can improve to run even faster. That’s just her m.o., she always wants to get better.”

The squad of Kiara Parker, Jada Baylark, Janeek Brown and Taliyah Brooks advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 4-x-100-meter relay finishing runner-up in their section behind Texas A&M (43.88) crossing the line in 43.90Q — the fifth-fastest time in the quarterfinal.

In the 1,500-meters it was Nikki Hiltz making headlines for the Razorbacks as the senior will make a return trip to Eugene in the 1,500-meters — an event she finished runner-up in last season.

Hiltz ran a strong final 400-meters (1:05.00) to secure her spot in the field at NCAA’s posting a season-best time of 4:13.33Q that was fifth-overall in the quarterfinal.

Hiltz is looking to close out her senior year with an NCAA title kept that dream alive Saturday night.

True-freshman Janeek Brown, who was an All-American in the 60-meter hurdles earlier this year, will look to earn All-American honors in the 100-meter hurdles as she locked-up an auto-Q spot with her heat-winning time of 12.90Q that was the third-fastest in the quarterfinal.

The Razorbacks closed out the West Preliminary with the 4×400-meter relay. Arkansas grabbed an auto-Q spot to Eugene running 3:35.01Q with Morgan Burks-Magee, Kiara Parker, Sydney Hammit, and Sydney Davis carrying the baton the distance.

All-in-all, Arkansas advanced eight individuals as well as both the sprint and mile relays as well as Taliyah Brooks in the heptathlon to TrackTown for the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA Championships will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. June 6-9.

NCAA West Preliminary
Saturday Results

Women’s 4-x-100-Meter Relay
5. Arkansas – 43.90Q – Advanced to NCAA’s

Women’s 1,500-Meters
5. Nikki Hiltz – 4:13.33Q – Advanced to NCAA’s
17. Carina Viljoen – 4:20.28

Women’s 100-Meter Hurdles
3. Janeek Brown – 12.90Q – Advanced to NCAA’s

Women’s 200-Meters
17. Kiara Parker – 23.42
— Jada Baylark – DNF

Women’s 4-x-400-Meter Relay
8. Arkansas -3:35.01Q – Advanced to NCAA’s

Reeder fires 67 in second round at NCAA Championship

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

STILLWATER, Okla. — Arkansas sophomore Tyson Reeder fired a 5-under 67 helping the Razorbacks remain above the cut line in round two of the 2018 NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Saturday.

Reeder’s round of 67 ties for the second-best round of the day.

Arkansas finished the day with a 1-over 289 and is currently T-13th overall shooting 296-289=585. That is just above the first cut which takes place after Sunday’s round. The top 15 teams move on to a final round of stroke play on Monday.

That round will determine the individual medalist. In addition, the top-8 teams advance to match play to decide the team title.

Temperatures soared into the low 90s and Arkansas’ scores fell on the front nine holes of the golf course on Saturday. Reeder, an Oklahoma State transfer, paced the Razorbacks shooting a 4-under 32 through the first nine holes.

Reeder birdied Nos. 4, 6, 7 and 9 pacing the Razorbacks who had 12 birdies on the front side of the Karsten Creek Golf Course.

PING All-Central Region selection Alvaro Ortiz made the turn 2-under picking up birdies on holes 2, 3 and 6. He bogeyed No. 8 but settled in for six consecutive par holes as his round continued.

Mason Overstreet, who was also selected to the PING All-Central Region team today, finished the front nine with a flurry. The Kingfisher, Oklahoma, native was 2-over after the first four holes but picked up birdies on Nos. 6, 8 and 9 to turn 1-under helping Arkansas to an 8-under start.

Luis Garza posted a 35 as the Razorbacks shot up the leaderboard into the top-10.

The back nine of the course saw Arkansas pick up a couple of big numbers but the Razorbacks finished strong with birdies on the final hole from Ortiz, Reeder and William Buhl.

From Tyson Reeder

Playing here in the past is definitely an advantage. The course is visually intimidating so once you get over the intimidation part of it, you just kinda let it go and that’s what I did today. I did a really good job of staying in the moment. It was a good round. I drove it great, but my putting was really good. I didn’t putt well yesterday but today I made some putts. You have to drive it well out here — you don’t want to lose any golf balls. So I want to drive it well, hit a lot of greens and hopefully make some putts tomorrow.

From Coach Brad McMakin

I’m really pleased with the final results from today. We struggled on the back nine both days, so we need to get better back there. Overall, I’m very pleased with the 1-over we shot. Tyson (Reeder) had an unbelievable round. Luis (Garza) played solidly. Alvaro (Oritz) just had one bad hole. I really can’t complain about it. Blessings prepares us for this. We are prepared but you gotta execute out here. I’m pleased with where we are, and we just have to come out tomorrow and work to be in that top 15.

The Lineup

PLACE PLAYER SCORES TO PAR
T28 Tyson Reeder (4) 77–67—144 E
T46 Alvaro Ortiz (1) 72–74—146 +2
T68 Luis Garza (5) 76–72—148 +4
T100 William Buhl (2) 72–79—151 +7
T121 Mason Overstreet (3) 76–76—152 +8

The Field

PLACE TEAM SCORES TO PAR
1 Texas Tech 284 – 287 — 571 -5
2 Oklahoma State 287 – 285 — 572 -4
3 Alabama 294 – 279 — 573 -3
T4 Duke 291 – 287 — 578 +2
T4 Oklahoma 285 – 293 — 578 +2
T6 Vanderbilt 287 – 292 — 579 +3
T6 Kent State 288 – 291 — 579 +3
T6 Clemson 285 – 294 — 579 +3
T9 Illinois 289 – 291 — 580 +4
T9 Auburn 300 – 280 — 580 +4
T9 Texas 289 – 291 — 580 +4
12 Texas A&M 293 – 289 — 582 +6
T13 Arizona State 296 – 289 — 585 +9
T13 North Carolina 296 – 289 — 585 +9
T13 Arkansas 296 – 289 — 585 +9
T13 Brigham Young 289 – 296 — 585 +9
17 Florida 300 – 286 — 586 +10
18 Stanford 292 – 295 — 587 +11
19 Northwestern 280 – 308 — 588 +12
20 Kentucky 292 – 297 — 589 +13
T21 UNLV 297 – 293 — 590 +14
T21 UCF 291 – 299 — 590 +14
T23 Iowa State 290 – 302 — 592 +16
T23 UCLA 295 – 297 — 592 +16
T25 NC State 292 – 303 — 595 +19
T25 North Florida 293 – 302 — 595 +19
T25 Baylor 297 – 298 — 595 +19
28 Oregon 296 – 300 — 596 +20
29 Kansas 295 – 302 — 597 +21
30 Augusta 298–310—599 +23

Van Horn, Martin, Campbell, Gates on LSU loss

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn and players Casey Martin, Isaiah Campbell and Jarred Gates recap Saturday’s 2-1 loss to LSU in the SEC Tournament semifinals.

Razorbacks fall short to LSU in SEC Tourney semifinals

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas’ run to a second-straight SEC Tournament final appearance fell a game short Saturday night as LSU won a pitchers’ duel, 2-1, in the semifinals at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

Saturday’s game was the 18th one-run game Arkansas has played this year and third in its last five games. In its 18 games against conference opponents that were not played at Baum Stadium this year, 15 of those games were decided by three runs or less.

Senior Jared Gates’ third-inning home run was one of only three hits in the game for the Arkansas offense as LSU starting pitcher Zack Hess held the Hogs down for seven innings, striking out seven.

Gates actually finished with two of the three Razorback hits in the game, his first multi-hit game since April 21 and fifth of the year. Gates’ home run was his fourth of the year and gives the Razorbacks 84 for the season, one more than a year ago.

The 84 team home runs this season is currently tied for the second most by any Arkansas team in a single-season, tying the 1999 team that hit 84 long balls in 65 games. The record of 92 home runs in 2010 is still in sight with this year’s team just eight away.

As for Gates, the Kansas native finished the week with a great tournament performance, going 4-for-9 at the plate with four runs scored, two RBIs, and a home run.

His four hits tied Casey Martin for the most by a Razorback player in the tournament and tie for the second most among all players in the field.

On the mound, redshirt sophomore Isaiah Campbell had one of his best performances of the year on one of the biggest stages as he matched Hess pitch-for-pitch through five innings, including retiring 10 in a row from the end of the second inning and through the third, fourth, and fifth innings.

Campbell ran into trouble at the beginning of the sixth inning when he gave up a lead-off single to LSU’s nine-hole hitter, Brandt Broussard. Zach Watson followed with a two-run home run over the left field wall, his sixth of the year.

It was the only blemish on Campbell’s line as he was relieved two batters after the homer with Jake Reindl.

Campbell finished the game with just two runs allowed on four hits, while walking only one and striking out seven, just one shy of his career-high.

As Reindl followed, the junior kept his team in the game with four shutout innings out of the bullpen with just one hit allowed against the first batter he faced. Reindl retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced in what was his longest outing since April 17 against Missouri State.

In his last 12 appearances, Reindl has been one of Arkansas’ best options out of the bullpen, allowing just three earned runs over his last 26 innings, while striking out 38 and giving up just nine walks.

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 ESPN2. The regional host announcement will come Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Postseason of firsts for Hogs’ softball ends quickly

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

NORMAN, Okla. — Having reached a new level of program success with its first-ever appearance in a Super Regional, Arkansas closed its season with Saturday’s 9-0 loss to host Oklahoma.

In her final game in Cardinal and White, senior Tori Cooper registered her eighth multi-hit effort of the season.

The Razorbacks wrap the year with a 42-17 overall record.

“I’m incredibly proud of this team,” coach Courtney Deifel said following the game. “What they’ve done over the course of the year is pretty remarkable. I’m just really proud that I get to coach them every day.

“(This team) exceeded our expectations, and not because we had low ones. Last year, we got our feet wet with postseason so they knew what they were striving for, and that was always the goal going into this year: to make the postseason. But not just to make it but to make an impact in the postseason and this team did that.”

Arkansas’ 42 wins are the third most in program history, and the highest total by a Razorback team since the 2000 campaign.

The team earned the program’s first-ever NCAA national seed and hosted the Fayetteville Regional on its way to securing a spot in this weekend’s Norman Super Regional.

Playing as the visitor in Saturday’s game, Oklahoma (55-3) jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage in the first inning.

Arkansas had opportunities to get on the board with runners in scoring position in the third and fourth frames but came up empty.

The Razorbacks had at least one runner on base in six of seven innings.

The combination of Autumn Storms and Mary Haff kept Oklahoma to those two runs through the first four innings but in the fifth, the Sooners pushed their lead to 5-0 with a three-run shot by Fale Aviu in the fifth before added two scores in each of the last two innings of the game.

With a hit apiece, senior Autumn Buczek and freshman Hannah McEwen end the year with 64 hits during the 2018 campaign which is tied for the eighth-highest total in a single season in program history, and the highest figure since Jessica Bachkora had 66 hits in 2010.

Junior Ashley Diaz had a sixth-inning single to extend her hitting streak to eight games.

Ortiz, Overstreet earn spots on PING Central Region team

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

STILLWATER, Okla. — Arkansas men’s duo Alvaro Ortiz and Mason Overstreet garnered postseason accolades on Saturday, earning a spot on the PING All-Central Region Team.

A total of 154 student-athletes across six regions – Northeast, East, Southeast, Midwest, Central and West – were honored.

The PING All-Central Region selection is the third of Ortiz’s career, as he was also selected in 2016 and 2017.

Currently ranked No. 42 by Golfstat and No. 44 by Golfweek, Ortiz also earned his first All-Southeastern Conference honor with a second-team selection two weeks ago. In addition, Ortiz made his second appearance on the SEC Community Service team.

Ortiz leads the team with a 70.8 stroke average entering NCAA Championship play. The senior from Zapopan, Mexico, has posted five top-10 finishes this season including playing to a T-1st at the Southern Intercollegiate this spring.

He has counted 21 rounds under par and leads the team with 150 birdies this season.

Overstreet ranks second on the team with a 71.2 stroke average as a sophomore. The Kingfisher, Oklahoma, native leads the team with six eagles this season and has counted 15 rounds under par, 133 birdies and 406 par holes.

Overstreet played to a T-1st at the Jerry Pate Intercollege this spring and has four top-10 finishes. He ranks No. 64 in the Golfweek standings No. 68 in the Golfweek rankings.

The Razorbacks are currently taking part in the 2018 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The team battled weather in round one and begins second round action on Saturday afternoon.

Hogs planning return to natural grass for 2019 season

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
1
Hogs planning return to natural grass for 2019 season

According to a report at WholeHogSports.com, Arkansas will replace its worn artificial surface with grass for the 2019 season at Razorback Stadium.

In the report from Tom Murphy:

Razorbacks Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek said in Hoover, Ala., the decision has been made to install real grass when the 2018 season comes to an end.

The life cycle for the turf was 10 years and it was put in for the 2009 season because then-coach Bobby Petrino wanted it for his offense.

Back in the spring, Chad Morris had made it clear what his preference was.

“Worrying about what the next surface out here looks like is irrelevant to me,” he said on March 3. “I just want to get through a practice and get better today. But I prefer, I’m a natural grass type of guy. I love being on a grass field. There’s nothing better than that in college football, or football period.”

He admitted it was a hint of nostalgia that might be traced back to his high school coaching roots.

“That’s just me,” he said. “Maybe that’s just the high school coach in me.”

Baylark tops Campbell-Brown’s 100-meter mark at NCAA Prelims

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Veronica Campbell-Brown’s record stood for 12 years before Jada Baylark tied it this season and Friday night that record was no more as the sophomore blazed the track during the quarterfinal of the 100-meters at the NCAA West Prelim in Hornet Stadium.

Coach Lance Harter:

“Jada’s race was absolutely fantastic. Anytime you can rewrite the record book, especially at the University of Arkansas, because of the legacy that we have established there aren’t any weak marks anymore. The school record she broke was at the time the fastest women in the world. Anytime you can rewrite Veronica Campbell-Brown you’re in pretty special and elite company, it was a remarkable run. [Baylark] has put herself as a major player at the national championships.We squeezed a PR out of Rylee Robinson in the pole vault and got three of the five we brought to prelims through to Eugene with her and Lexi and Tori. Collectively, we’re having a fantastic meet, we’re super excited!”

In what was the most outstanding performance for Arkansas on Friday night was the run by Jada Baylark in the quarterfinals of the 100-meters.

Baylark finished with a wind-legal time of 11.04Q (+1.1) seconds that broke the tie she held with Veronica Campbell-Brown’s time of 11.10 from 2004. Baylark’s time was the fastest in the west region and would’ve been tied for the sixth-fastest time in the nation heading into this weekend.

Baylark will look to shave more time in the event when she takes the track in Eugene for semifinal action in the 100-meters.

#PoleVaultU was on display for Arkansas as the Razorbacks advanced an NCAA-best three vaulters through to the national championships as Lexi Jacobus, Tori Hoggard, and Rylee Robinson all cleared 4.18m (13?-8.50?) to secure spots in Eugene.

The final NCAA qualifier on Friday was Devin Clark in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. Clark held strong from start to finish as the sophomore recorded a time of 9:53.06Q grabbing an auto-Q spot to Eugene by finishing in the top-three of her section.

True-freshman Janeek Brown will get another shot at the 100-meter hurdles as she easily advanced in the event with her time of 13.09Q.

Baylark, who had success in the 100-meters, also advanced to the quarterfinals of the 200-meters running 23.23Q and will be accompanied by teammate Kiara Parker who clocked 23.41Q grabbing an auto-Q to the next round.

Arkansas will return to Hornet Stadium Saturday afternoon where the Razorbacks will compete in every event on the track including both relay events.

NCAA West Preliminary
Friday Results

Women’s 100-Meter Hurdles
8. Janeek Brown – 13.09Q

Women’s 400-Meters
20. Morgan Burks-Magee – 53.58

Women’s 100-Meters
1. Jada Baylark – 11.04Q – Advanced to NCAA’s (school record)
13. Kiara Parker – 11.32

Women’s 200-Meters
12. Jada Baylark – 23.23Q
15. Kiara Parker – 23.41Q

Women’s 3,000-Meter Steeplechase
6. Devin Clark – 9:53.06Q – Advanced to NCAA’s
17. Rachel Nichwitz – 10:09.65
19. Regan Hime – 10:11.41

Women’s Pole Vault
1. Tori Hoggard – 4.18m (13?-8.50?) – Advanced to NCAA’s
1. Lexi Jacobus -4.18m (13?-8.50?) – Advanced to NCAA’s
8. Rylee Robinson -4.18m (13?-8.50?) – Advanced to NCAA’s
22. Elizabeth Ramos-Mata – 3.93m (12?-10.75?)
32. Morgan Hartsell – 3.78m (12?-4.75?)

Cotton, Mowatt, Igbokwe advance to NCAA Championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
-
0

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Three Razorbacks punched their tickets to Eugene on Friday afternoon at Hornet Stadium as Arkansas continues to compete at the NCAA West Prelims.

Coach Christ Bucknam:

“There were no big surprises for us today. I think our expectations of the kids we thought could get to the final rounds in Eugene did it. Kemar [Mowatt] looked great in the 400-meter hurdles, Larry Donald advanced to the quarterfinals in the 110-meter hurdles, Kenzo [Cotton] qualified for Oregon in the 100-meters, and then Kenzo and Roy [Ejiakuekwu] made it through to the quarterfinals in the 200-meters. I think Kyle Hosting was gonna give it a good run in the 3K steeple. Right there at the end with 500-meters to go he was right in the lead group with five of the best steeplers in that heat and just took a hard fall with a lap and a half to go which knocked him out of contention. I feel bad for him because he really had an outstanding season. There’s still one day of work, so we need to continue to keep our foot on the accelerator, we can’t let up. Nothing is easy, nothing is given so we need to be dialed in tomorrow and find a way to continue to have success.”

Arkansas had three NCAA qualifiers on the day in three events. The first to punch their ticket to Eugene of the three was Obi Igbokwe in the 400-meters.

Igbokwe booked his return trip to Eugene in the event running a time of 45.61Q to win his heat and finish with the fourth-fastest time of the day in the event.

The very next event on the track, the 100-meters, featured the second national qualifier on day two as Kenzo Cotton punched his ticket in auto-Q fashion finishing third in his heat running 10.25Q.

Kemar Mowatt rounded out the NCAA qualifiers on Friday for the Razorbacks as the senior easily advanced in the 400-meter hurdles.

Mowatt coasted to a heat-winning time of 49.33Q in the event to make a return trip to Eugene where he finished as the national runner-up last season en route to his fourth-place finish at the end of the summer over in England at the World Championships in London.

Larry Donald grabbed the final spot in the quarterfinals of the 110-meter hurdles running 14.25q, while teammates Cotton and Ejiakuekwu passed through to the quarterfinal of the 200-meters running times of 20.54Q and 21.07Q, respectively.

Arkansas will wrap up action at the NCAA West Preliminary tomorrow afternoon where the Razorbacks will be represented in every event except the men’s shot put.

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.

NCAA West Preliminary
Friday Results

Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles
24. Larry Donald – 14.25q

Men’s 400-Meters
4. Obi Igbokwe – 45.61Q – Qualified for NCAA’s

Men’s 100-Meters
5. Kenzo Cotton – 10.25Q – Qualified for NCAA’s

Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles
2. Kemar Mowatt – 49.33Q – Qualified for NCAA’s
20. Larry Donald – 51.84

Men’s 200-Meters
3. Kenzo Cotton – 20.54Q
16.. Roy Ejiakuekwu – 21.07Q

Men’s 3,000-Meter Steeplechase
30. Kyle Hosting – 8:57.51

Men’s Discus
30. Erich Sullins – 51.14m (167?-9?)

1...1,5161,5171,518...1,760Page 1,517 of 1,760

HitThatLine.com is the website for ESPN Arkansas. Listen at 99.5 in Fayetteville, 95.3 FM in Fort Smith and the River Valley, 96.3 FM in Hot Springs and 104.3 FM in Harrison.

© Copyright 2017-25 by Pearson Broadcasting. All rights reserved.