Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn met with the media Tuesday to preview the upcoming Georgia series in a wide-ranging session that covers a variety of topics.
Murphy on settling into role as second-day starter for Hogs
Razorbacks pitcher Kacey Murphy talked with the media about the upcoming weekend series at Georgia and how he’s adapted to the role of the Day 2 starter.
Cronin on recovering from bout with mono recently
Hogs’ reliever Matt Cronin had his first outing in a few weeks Sunday against Texas A&M and he talked Tuesday about the recovering process and facing Georgia.
Hogs’ Kjerstad previews upcoming series with ’Dogs
Arkansas freshman outfielder Heston Kjerstad talked about the upcoming final regular-season series on the road against Georgia coming up this weekend.
Benton, Fassi, Kim qualify for U.S. Women’s Open
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas had three student-athletes earn spots in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open on Monday.
Juniors Kaylee Benton and Dylan Kim tied for first place in Irving, Texas, while junior Maria Fassi finished second in Houston, Texas.
Kim and Benton Win In Dallas
Teammates stick together and that was certainly the case at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas, on Monday. The duo finished shooting 4-under 138’s with Kim going 70-68 and Benton carding 68-70.
Benton and Kim combined for 16 birdies with three coming on hole 18 of the course.
Fassi Finishes Second At Houston
ANNIKA Award finalist Maria Fassi played to a 1-under 143 with rounds of 69-74 to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. Playing at The Deerwood Country Club, in Houston, Texas, the Razorback junior finished second to make the cut.
Fassi had five birdies and two eagles in 36 holes of play.
This year’s U.S. Women’s Open takes place at Shoal Creek Club, in Shoal Creek, Alabama, May 31-June 3, 2018.
Anderson adds big man to large signing class for 2018
Arkansas has added a big man and an eighth signee to the 2018 class.
Ibby on Twitter
I’m grateful to God for everything, and thankful to my family for all their continuous love and support. When the opportunity presented itself for me to come home and represent the Razorbacks, I jumped on it. There’s no place like home????????. #WPS #COMMITTED
Center Ibby Ali committed to the Razorbacks and made the announcement via Twitter. He visited Arkansas on Friday.
Ali, a 6-10, 235-pounder from Nigeria, signed with Baylor in April, then received a release from his national letter of intent. Utah, Tulane, Syracuse, Georgetown others showed interest.
He began playing basketball in 2014 after arriving in Arkansas, where he now calls home.
“I chose to be a Razorback because of the opportunities,” Ali said to Richard Davenport at WholeHogSports.com in a story Monday. “I had a lot of other options but choosing to stay home was just really big thing for me. My personal goal here is to obviously get better and to help Coach (Mike) Anderson win a championship.”
Ali attended Southwest Christian Academy in Little Rock his first two years and his junior year at Little Rock Catholic.
He averaged 4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 50 percent from the field as a senior at Maumelle High School in 2017.
Buhl, Razorbacks in tie for second after first day of regional
NORMAN, Okla. — Arkansas sophomore William Buhl continued to pace the 15th-ranked Razorbacks in postseason action at the 2018 NCAA Norman Regional on Monday.
Buhl and the Razorbacks are tied for second after round one at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.
Buhl is coming off a tie for third place at the SEC Championships in late April and he opened play with a 3-under 69 in Norman.
Arkansas is in the clubhouse with an even-par 288 and is tied for second place with No. 10 Auburn and No. 27 North Florida. No. 3 and host Oklahoma leads the field with a 5-under 283 after first-round action.
Buhl got off to a quick start, scoring birdies on three of the first five holes to turn 3-under par through the front nine.
He played the back nine even as he finished the day in a two-way tie for second place with Quade Cummins of Oklahoma. The pair are just two shots back of the leader.
Mason Overstreet ended the day strong, recording an eagle on the final hole to finish with an even-par 72 and is tied for 16th.
Overstreet’s eagle was one of just two on the course on Monday, joining Pepperdine’s Sahith Theegala who tallied an eagle on seventh hole.
Luis Garza finished the day 1-over, carding a 73 and is tied for 21st, followed by Alvaro Ortiz with a 2-over 74.
Ortiz is tied for 28th overall. Tyson Redder, playing in his first NCAA Regional, is tied for 51st with a 76. Reeder birdied the final hole of the round, one of 14 birdies for the Razorbacks.
The 14-team Regional continues Tuesday and Wednesday with the top-5 teams advancing to the NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Round two of regional action begins at 7:30 a.m. with Arkansas paired up with Oklahoma and Auburn.
The Lineup
| PLACE | PLAYER | SCORE | TO PAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| T2 | William Buhl | 69 | -3 |
| T16 | Mason Overstreet | 72 | E |
| T21 | Luis Garza | 73 | +1 |
| T28 | Alvaro Ortiz | 75 | +2 |
| T51 | Tyson Reeder | 78 | +4 |
The Field
| PLACE | PLAYER | SCORE | TO PAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No. 3 Oklahoma | 283 | –5 |
| T2 | No. 10 Auburn | 288 | E |
| T2 | No. 15 Arkansas | 288 | E |
| T2 | No. 27 North Florida | 288 | E |
| 5 | San Diego State | 290 | +2 |
| T6. | No. 22 Florida State | 293 | +5 |
| T6. | Missouri – Kansas City | 293 | +5 |
| 8 | Nevada | 294 | +6 |
| T9 | No. 33 Pepperdine | 295 | +7 |
| T9 | No. 39 Brigham Young | 295 | +7 |
| 11 | No. 46 Virginia | 297 | +9 |
| 12 | Sam Houston State | 301 | +13 |
| 13 | Prairie View A&M | 315 | +27 |
| 14 | Navy | 323 | +35 |
Bucknam, Razorbacks take third place at SEC Championships
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas took third place at the SEC Outdoor Championships Sunday, finishing the weekend with 99-points highlighted by a title from Kemar Mowatt in the 400-meter hurdles on the final day of action.
“Our kids fought really hard,” said coach Chris Bucknam. “We put 99-points on the board. It’s documented the guys we have missing, but we were still in the mix and fighting until the very end.
“I’m very proud of our team and the efforts our guys made all weekend. The guys put everything they had in it, we just came up short.”
The men’s 4-x-100-meter relay of Ejiakuekwu, Mowatt, Harris, and Cotton started the meet with a bang, finishing runner-up in an extremely close finish.
The margin of victory for LSU was five one-hundredths of a second over Arkansas who posted an identical time of 38.76 seconds.
Following a protest of yesterday’s prelim, the final of the men’s 1,500-meters featured 20 student-athletes competing for precious points.
Arkansas advanced two to the final of the event and yielded points on each entry. Cameron Griffith hung tight for a runner-up finish running 3:47.02 while Jack Bruce finished fifth in the race crossing the finish line in 3:48.00.
Next on the track for Arkansas were the men’s 110-meter hurdles featuring Larry Donald. Donald finished fifth with a wind-legal personal-best time of 13.87 that fell two one-hundredths of a second off his all-conditions best of 13.85w set at the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas.
Obi Igbokwe got out hard in the men’s 400-meter final, leading through 300-meters before fading to a seventh-place finish in 45.86.
Cotton returned to the track for finals in the men’s 100-meters (10.24) and the 200-meters (25.46) finishing seventh and eighth, respectively. Cotton was joined in the final of the 200-meters by teammate Igbokwe who finished sixth at 20.52.
Kemar Mowatt locked up the title in the men’s 400-meter hurdles making it back-to-back SEC championships for the senior from St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.
Mowatt traversed the 10-barrier race in a brisk 49.32 seconds. Teammate Larry Donald finished eighth in 52.91.
Team Results (Top Five)
| Place | School | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  |
Florida | 111 |
| 2. |  |
Texas A&M | 100 |
| 3. |  |
Arkansas | 99 |
| 4. |  |
Alabama | 97.66 |
| 5. |  |
Georgia | 71 |
Men’s 1,500-metersMen’s 4-x-100-meters
2. Ejiakuekwu, Mowatt, Harris, Cotton – 38.76 (38.760)
2. Cameron Griffith – 3:47.02
5. Jack Bruce – 3:48.00
Men’s 110-meter hurdles
5. Larry Donald – 13.87
Men’s 400-meters
7. Obi Igbokwe – 45.86
Men’s 100-meters
7. Kenzo Cotton – 10.24
Men’s 400-meter hurdles
1. Kemar Mowatt – 49.32
8. Larry Donald – 52.91
Men’s 200-meters
6. Obi Igbokwe – 20.52
8. Kenzo Cotton – 25.46
Men’s 5,000-meters
5. Gilbert Boit – 14:01.28
6. Cameron Griffith – 14:09.21
7. Matt Young – 14:13.32
9. Austen Dalquist – 14:14.14
12. Kyle Levermore – 14:32.82
16. Ethan Mohen – 14:43.43
18. Ryan Murphy – 14:43.91
Men’s 4×400-meter relay
3. Mowatt, Ejiakuekwu, Woodhall, Igbokwe – 3:04.45
Men’s Triple Jump
7. Rubin Owens – 15.67m (51′-5″)
14. Laquan Narin – 14.55m (47′-9″)
Men’s High Jump
8. Rubin Owens – 2.16m (7′-1″)
Men’s Discus
16. Erich Sullins – 51.67m (169′-6″)
Jacobus wins again as Hogs finish sixth at SEC Championships
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas took sixth-place at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, as junior Lexi Jacobus took the pole vault title once again to lead the Razorbacks on day three.
“We were going in with a limited squad,” said head coach Lance Harter. “If we could get into the 70-point range, knowing what we left home, then the people that are here fought a great fight. Now it’s a matter of getting everyone healthy, and kicking the motivation to the regional meet to get qualifiers. I think we’ll have a higher team finish at nationals than we did here this weekend,” Harter finished.
Jacobus, a three-time national pole vault champion, took first once again boosting her total to five SEC crowns as her sister Tori Hoggard took silver to give the Razorbacks 18-points in the event.
The women’s 4-x-100-meter relay of Parker, Baylark, Brown, Brooks laid down a breakthrough performance in the final, recording a program record of 43.26 in a third-place finish behind Kentucky (42.30) and the SEC Champion LSU Tigers who set the collegiate record with their time of 42.05.
Nikki Hiltz, in fourth-place (4:22.17), and Carina Viljoen in fifth-place at 4:24.52 contributed points towards the team total in the 1,500-meter final. Hiltz competed outdoor for only the second time this outdoor season finishing the meet with a regional qualifying time.
The final of the women’s 100-meter hurdles produced the No. 2 and No. 3 times in program history as true-freshman Janeek Brown earned bronze running 12.84, while senior Taliyah Brooks finished fourth in 12.94. Both times were wind-legal personal-best performances.
As was the trend all day for No. 4 Arkansas, the final of the women’s 400-meters saw Morgan Burks-Magee turn in a personal-best of her own finishing sixth in the final with her time of 52.93 that shaved one one-hundredth of a second off her previous best set in last nights prelim.
The women’s 100-meter final was no different than any other event on Sunday afternoon, as it too produced a personal-best performance. Kiara Parker, who ran a lifetime-best of 11.22 to qualify last night, lowered her PB, even more, crossing the line in 11.13 seconds to post the No. 3 time in program history behind Veronica Campbell-Brown and Jada Baylark who are tied at 11.10 for the fastest time in program history.
Baylark returned to the track for the final of the women’s 200-meters, scoring points with her seventh-place finish running 23.11 seconds.
Devin Clark was the final medalist on the night, picking up a bronze medal in the women’s 5,000-meters with her time of 16:20.79.
Team Results
| Place | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | |
Florida | 91 |
| 2. |  |
LSU | 88.5 |
| 3. | |
Texas A&M | 79.5 |
| 4. |  |
Tennessee | 78 |
| 5. |  |
Ole Miss | 74 |
| 6. | |
Arkansas | 70 |
Women’s 4-x-100-meters
3. Parker, Baylark, Brown, Brooks – 43.26
Women’s 1,500-meters
4. Nikki Hiltz – 4:22.17
5. Carina Viljoen – 4:24.52
Women’s 100-meter hurdles
3. Janeek Brown – 12.84
4. Taliyah Brooks – 12.94
Women’s 400-meters
6. Morgan Burks-Magee – 52.93
Women’s 100-meters
7. Kiara Parker – 11.13
Women’s 200-meters
7. Jada Baylark – 23.11
Women’s High Jump
T-10. Carmen Sitz – 1.65m (5′-5″)
Women’s Pole Vault
1. Lexi Jacobus – 4.65m (15′-3″)
2. Toir Hoggard – 4.50m (14′-9″)
9. Elizabeth Ramos-Mata – 4.05m (13′-3.50″)
13. Rylee Robinson – 4.05m (13′-3.50″)
17. Morgan Hartsell – 3.80m (12′-5.50″)
Women’s 5,000-meters
3. Devin Clark – 16:20.79
9. Rachel Nichwitz – 16:56.74
26. Micah Huckabee – 17:36.91
Women’s 4×400-meter Relay
7. Burke-Magee, Parker, Baylark, Davis – 3:31.15
