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Four meets coming up for Hogs’ top-ranked women’s track team

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Coming off the John McDonnell Invitational looking to nail down wind-legal marks, No. 1 Arkansas will spread out across the country one last time, competing at four meets this weekend before the final stretch run to the postseason.

FloTrack will provide LIVE coverage of the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif.

“We have our vaulters going to Kansas Relays right up the road, we have our sprint crew going to LSU for their Gold Alumni Meet, Taylor Werner is going to go to Mt. SAC Relays to run the 10,000-meters, and then Taylor will meet the rest of the distance crew at Stanford and complete the weekend,” said coach Lance Harter.

“It’s that time of year where traditionally we’d have people going to Baylor or some other competition but the way the meets were working out as far as quality of competition and so on, we wanted to make sure we had our people in the right place at the right time,” Harter continued.

The women’s track & field team is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and boast seven performances in the Top-10 of the NCAA including Taliyah Brooks — the national leader in the long jump.

No. 1 | Taliyah Brooks – Long Jump 6.78m (22’-3”) *school record
No. 2 | Taliyah Brooks – Heptathlon 5946-points
No. 2 | Lexi Jacobus – Pole Vault 4.55m (14’-11”)
No. 3 | Victoria Hoggard – Pole Vault 4.50m (14’-9”)
No. 7 | Jada Baylark – 100-meters 11.09
No. 7 | Janeek Brown – 100-meter hurdles 12.90
No. 7 | Arkansas 4-x-100 meter relay 43.40 *No. 2 in program history

Entries for this weekend’s slate of competition include:
Mt. SAC Relays
Thursday
10,000-meters: Taylor Werner

Kansas Relays
Friday
Pole Vault: Morgan Hartsell, Elizabeth Ramos Mata
High Jump: Carmen Sitz

LSU Alumni Gold
Saturday
100-meters: Jada Baylark, Taliyah Brooks, Janeek Brown, Tamara Kuykendall, Kiara Parker
100-meter Hurdles: Janeek Brown
200-meters: Jada Baylark, Taliyah Brooks, Tamara Kuykendall, Kiara Parker
400-meters: Morgan Burks Magee, Sydney Davis
4-x-100-meter Relay: Janeek Brown, Kiara Parker, Jada Baylark, Morgan Burks-Magee
4-x-400-meter Relay: Morgan Burks-Magee, Kiara Parker, Jada Baylark, Sydney Davis

Field Events:
Long Jump: Taliyah Brooks

Cardinal Classic
Friday
5,000-meters: Sydney Brown, Abby Gray, Rachel Nichwitz, Maddy Reed
800-meters: Kailee Sawyer & Ruth Wiggins

Saturday
Steeple: Devin Clark & Regan Hime
1,500-meters: Micah Huckabee, Carina Viljoen

Hogs split weekend between California, Texas for meets

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 11 Arkansas will split efforts this weekend as the Razorbacks compete at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif., the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., and the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas.

“Our field events and sprinters will be down at Baylor for the Michael Johnson Invite and our distance runners will be out to L.A. for the Mt. SAC/Azusa Pacific meet there,” said coach Chris Bucknam.

FloTrack will provide LIVE coverage of the 2018 Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas as well as the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. (Links Above)

“We’ll split between those two meets and then we’re together for the rest of the season,” Bucknam continued.

For the distance crew, the 1,500-meters, the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and the 5,000-meters will be the focus this weekend in California. Athletes competing in the Golden State include:

For the sprints group, the Michael Johnson Invitational will be another opportunity to nail down qualifying times with the hopes that the weather cooperates to keep the times legal.

“[The sprinters] ran a fast 200-meters on Saturday but the wind reading was 4.1 it needed to be 4.0. As you know, Friday and Saturday we caught a lot of wind. They’ll have to run it again … so hopefully we can get those times in and stay within that 4.0 meters per second,” Bucknam added.

The Michael Johnson Invitational will feature teams from Baylor, Abilene Christian, Arkansas (Men), Iowa State, Northern Illinois (Women), Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, SFA, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech.

Both the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Mt. SAC Relays will feature teams from across the nation.

The men’s track and field team is currently ranked No. 11 in the nation, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and boast six performances in the Top-20 of the NCAA with three of those falling inside the Top-10.

No. 7 | Kenzo Cotton – 100-meters 10.12
No. 6 | Kemar Mowatt – 400-meter hurdles 50.49
No. 9 | Arkansas 4-x-100-meter relay 39.31
No. 15 | Shakiel Chattoo – 110-meter hurdles 13.79
No. 14 | Larry Donald – 400-meter hurdles 51.05
No. 19 | Austen Dalquist – 10,000-meters 29:08.60

Entries for this weekend’s meets include:

Bryan Clay Invitational:
Thursday:
3,000-meter Steeplechase -Kyle Levermore, Kyle Hosting
5,000-meters – Cameron Griffith, Austen Dalquist, Gilbert Boit, Andrew Ronoh, Ryan Murphy

Friday:
1,500-meters – Jack Bruce, Ethan Moehn, Kyle Levermore, Colin O’Mara, Kyle Hosting

Mt. SAC Relays:
Thursday:
10,000-meters – Preston Cates, Matt Young

Michael Johnson Invitational:
Saturday:
100-meters – Roy Ejiakuekwu, Harrison Schrage
200-meters – Kenzo Cotton, Roy Ejiakuekwu, Obi Igbokwe, Kevin Harris
400-meters – Obi Igbokwe, Jamarco Stephen, John Winn, Hunter Woodhall
800-meters – Kieran Taylor, Chase Pareti, Reese Walters
110-meter Hurdles – Larry Donald, Travius Chambers
400-meter Hurdles – Travius Chambers, Larry Donald
4-x-100-meter Relay – “A” Team
4-x-400-meter Relays – “A” & “B” Teams
High Jump – Brendon Rivera, Rubin Owens
Long Jump – Laquan Nairn, Trae Carey
Triple Jump – Laquan Nairn
Shot Put – Sam Kempka, Jeff Rogers, Gabe Moore
Discus – Erich Sullins, Gabe Moore
Hammer – Erich Sullins
Javelin – Alex Springer, Andrew Henn

Razorbacks fly through to second round of SEC Championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An impressive performance in singles action helped Arkansas to a 4-1 win against Missouri on Wednesday in the first round of the 2018 SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament at the Dr. Robert L. Barksdale Tennis Stadium.

The Razorbacks (8-15, 3-10 SEC) surrendered the doubles point, but used four consecutive singles victories in straight sets to secure the overall team win over the Tigers (13-17, 0-13).

“Today was a very strong performance,” Razorbacks coach Michael Hegarty said. “Tons of credit to Missouri, they have been so close to a lot more wins this year and their coaches and players are doing a great job.

“This conference just has no mercy sometimes. The past two seasons we were at team match point on the eventual national champions (Vanderbilt, 2016; Florida, 2017) and still we went a month both seasons where we couldn’t win a conference match. So credit to both teams today, this was a quality match in the greatest league.”

No. 50 Giulia Pairone provided the clinching victory at the top spot, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0. With the win, she improved to 12-5 on this spring.

Mia Jurasic got the first singles win of the day at No. 3, a 6-1, 6-0 decision. No. 89 Ana Oparenovic then bested her opponent 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 before Jackie Carr set up the clincher with a 6-4, 6-4 win of her own and her first ever against a conference opponent at No. 6.

Up Next

The Razorbacks will play No. 6 seed Auburn at 11 a.m. CT Thursday.

Bud Light Podcast: Wednesday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Bud Light Podcast: Wednesday

Hogs come from behind to overpower Missouri State

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK
FAYETTEVILLE — After trailing by as much as four runs to Missouri State in the early goings Tuesday night, third-ranked Arkansas scored eight unanswered runs and won, 11-7, at Baum Stadium for its third win in a row.

The win is Arkansas’ 28th of the year, making it 28-10 overall, while Missouri State has now lost four in a row and falls to 22-11.

The Hogs have won eight of their last nine games and have claimed victory in five-straight midweek games.

Kjerstad is tied for the team lead with nine home runs on the year, while Martin is just one behind with eight.

Combined this year, the freshman duo of Martin and Kjerstad is hitting .353 with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs. Both of their RBI totals (Kjerstad 37; Martin 32) are good for 1-2 on the team.

Tuesday against Missouri State, Martin went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two walks. He’s reached base safely in eight-straight games and now has 13 multi-hit games.

Kjerstad was 3-4 on the night, with four RBIs, tying a season-high. He has at least one hit in 22 of his last 24 games and continues to lead the team with a .373 average.

Razorbacks third baseman Casey Martin waits on a late throw as Missouri State exploded for three runs in the first inning. That set the stage for the Hogs’ comeback 11-7 win. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

The Hitting

The Hogs scored 11 runs on 12 hits Tuesday night, the 11th game this year that they’ve plated 10 or more runs, and the 21st game with 10 or more hits.

The win also moves the Hogs to 11-1 on the season when scoring 10 or more runs, as well as 11-1 when they score in the first inning.

Eight of the nine Razorback starters recorded at least one hit in the game. After Kjerstad and Martin, sophomore Jordan McFarland turned in a multi-hit game going 2-for-5 with two runs scored. McFarland has at least one hit in eleven of his last 13 games.

Carson Shaddy also extended his hitting streak to eight games, after going 1-for-4 with a double. His hitting streak is the longest active streak on the team and he’s the seventh Razorback with a hitting streak of eight or more games at one point this year.

Freshman Caleb Bolden started against Missouri State on Tuesday night, but gave up four hits and three runs in only one inning of work. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

The Pitching

Freshman Caleb Bolden, who had earned his third-consecutive midweek start, only made it one inning against Missouri State, giving up three earned runs on four hits before giving way to the bullpen.

After Barrett Loseke and Evan Lee couldn’t slow down the Bears offense, another freshman in Kole Ramage stepped in.

Ramage struck out two of the five batters he faced after entering the game in the middle of the fourth with a runner on and one out.

Ramage went on to hold the Bears hitless for 1.2 innings right as Arkansas had its big fifth inning at the plate, earning him his first win of the year.

After Ramage, junior Jake Reindl picked up his second save of the year, striking out seven over the final four innings.

It’s the second-straight good outing for the Fayetteville native.

Over those two outings, he has only given up one run in 14.0 innings of work with 17 strikeouts with two walks. His 35 strikeouts are also the third-highest total on the team.

Hogs catcher Grant Koch had a lot of adjusting to do in Tuesday night’s win with five different pitchers on the mound in the 11-7 win over Missouri State. PHOTO BY ANDY HODGES | HITTHATLINE.COM

Razorback Quotables

“He has done a really good job, and I just put him there a few games back. We let him hit leadoff all fall, because I see him as a leadoff hitter. He fits the profile anyway with the speed and he has got power, obviously. I think he has done a tremendous job. I mean tonight he, obviously, did a great job. He got a walk, a couple of hits, three or four RBIs, a homerun, and he is just a threat. I like him there.” — Coach Dave Van Horn on Casey Martin leading off in recent games

“It was big for him and it was big for us. The coaches and the players, getting to see him pitch well back to back, so it looks like he’s back.” — Van Horn on Jake Reindl’s last two outings

“I felt pretty comfortable tonight. I saw the ball really well and really stuck to my approach. A lot of the stuff (Carson) Shaddy has been telling me like, to drive through the middle and basically tell myself what kind of player I am before I get into the box. That has really helped, but it kind of shows what type of leader he is on this team.” — Casey Martin on batting leadoff in the last week

“I feel like with the lineup we have, there is never a game we are out of. It was a four-run deficit at one time, but we all are confident that we would be able to scratch some more runs on the board and the game will go on.” — Heston Kjerstad on being down four runs, but not feeling out of it

“Yeah, it’s good. Just, obviously, showing everyone it wasn’t a fluke that I came back. But, I feel like now that is who I am and that is who they should expect when I come out of the pen.” — Jake Reindl on having back-to-back strong outings

Up Next

The Razorbacks go on the road this weekend as they head to Starkville, Mississippi to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

First pitch for game one on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.

Saturday’s game two will be at 6 p.m., followed by Sunday’s game three at 1 p.m. All games will be televised on SEC Network+.

Van Horn talks about win over Bears, MSU series

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn talked with the media after the Hogs came from behind to beat Missouri State, 11-7, on Tuesday night and the upcoming series at Mississippi State.

Reindl, Kerstad, Martin after win over Missouri State

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Pitcher Jake Reindl, left fielder Heston Kerstad and third baseman Casey Martin talked with the media about the comeback win over the Bears and the upcoming series with Mississippi State.

Haff collects third SEC Freshman of the Week honor Tuesday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — On the strength of a 3-0 week in the circle including a pair of wins over Alabama, pitcher Mary Haff has been named the SEC Co-Freshman of the Week as announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office.

This is her third SEC weekly honor of the season, and the Razorbacks’ fifth overall.

With nine games remaining in the regular season, Arkansas carries a 33-9 overall record with an 8-7 mark in SEC play.

The Razorbacks are ranked a program-high No. 16 in Tuesday’s release of the USA Today/NFCA top-25 poll. The team travels to 11th-ranked Auburn this weekend for a three-game series that begins Friday at 6 p.m.

Haff opened the week with a one-hit, complete-game shutout at Saint Louis, a performance that featured a career-high 13 strikeouts. She entered the seventh inning with a no-hitter and ended up with her sixth one-hit effort of the season.

With the start in game two of Arkansas’ series against Alabama, Haff registered another complete-game shutout. Her nine strikeouts in the win established a new high during SEC play.

The win was Arkansas’ first in the series since 2012 and marked just the second time the Razorbacks recorded a shutout of Alabama.

With her nine strikeouts, Haff moved into the program’s single-season top 10.

In another complete-game effort in the series-finale victory, Haff became the first pitcher in the SEC with 20 wins this season.

She also became the first Arkansas freshman to reach 20 since 2001. In three starts during the week, Haff registered 26 strikeouts while allowing just three walks in 21.0 innings of work.

The Winter Haven, Fla., native is 20-3 this year with 185 strikeouts and a 1.07 ERA in 143.2 innings during her freshman campaign.

Arkansas’ SEC Player of the Weeks in 2018
Mary Haff – Freshman of the Week (Feb. 19)
Hannah McEwen – Co-Player of the Week (March 5)
Mary Haff – Freshman of the Week (March 5)
Autumn Storms – Pitcher of the Week (April 3)
Mary Haff – Co-Freshman of the Week (April 17)

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Tuesday

Third-ranked Hogs facing tough field at SEC Championships

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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ATHENS, Ga. — Postseason play begins this week as third-ranked Arkansas tees it up at the Southeastern Conference Championship in Hoover, Alabama, starting Wednesday.

Arkansas is having a record-setting season with five team titles and eight top-4 finishes. Junior Maria Fassi joined former Razorback Stacy Lewis as the only players in program history to win five or more titles in a single season.

Fassi was selected to the inaugural Palmer Cup Team (international) and is ranked No. 2 on the ANNIKA Award Watch List for the top player in college golf.

Fassi’s monster season doesn’t overshadow the balance that Arkansas has this year. Senior Alana Uriell and junior Dylan Kim are also playing well. Both players were selected to the Palmer Cup Team (USA) and both have been listed on the player of the year watch list.

This year’s SEC Championship field is loaded with some of the top teams in the country. Arkansas faces No. 1 Alabama for the fourth time this year and for the second consecutive week.

South Carolina begins the week at No. 10 followed by No. 13 Florida, No. 20 Auburn and No. 24 Vanderbilt inside the Golfstat.com Top-25.

This year’s championship format is updated to mirror the NCAA Championship. Teams will have three days of stroke play followed by two days of match play to crown the champion.

Inside The Ropes
Date: April 18-22
Golf Course: The Legacy Course
Location: Hoover, Alabama
Live Scoring: http://www.Golfstat.com
SEC Tournament Central: Click Here
Watch: SEC Network (Championship Match Only)

The Lineup
No. 2 Maria Fassi
No. 10 Alana Uriell
No. 12 Dylan Kim
Kaylee Benton
Cara Gorlei

The Field
No. 1 Alabama
No. 3 Arkansas
No. 10 South Carolina
No. 13 Florida
No. 20 Auburn
No. 24 Vanderbilt
No. 35 Texas A&M
No. 37 Ole Miss
No. 43 Tennessee
No. 44 Georgia
No. 51 LSU
No. 62 Kentucky
No. 64 Missouri
No. 69 Mississippi State

Sankey blocked Freeze from coming back to SEC as coordinator

Andy Hodges
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Apparently SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has enough stroke to keep Nick Saban from doing what he wanted to do at Alabama.

According to a story in AL.com Monday, Saban was ready to hire former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze as co-offensive coordinator and position coach:

“However, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey encouraged Alabama not to hire a man as well known for the personal shortcomings that led to his Ole Miss resignation as he is for his success as a coach.”

Sankey decided to impose his own punishment on Freeze, who was the head coach when the Rebels were slapped on the wrist by the NCAA for recruiting violations.

If you read it closely, the Kangaroo Court in Indianapolis that oversees the world of college athletics accepted Ole Miss’ self-imposed penalties from 2016 and added an extra year of a bowl ban that is still being appealed … and told them not to do it again.

Sankey was the chairman of the NCAA Infractions Committee until September of last year when his three-year term ended. He spent a few days in Oxford during his tenure and the rather lengthy investigation.

After Sankey stepped down, the committee reported it’s final verdict on the Rebels’ program and put the blame on the institution and not Freeze, who stepped down last July because he was calling escort services on a school phone (although they knew of it before everything broke in the media … or at least had to because everybody else in Oxford did).

AL.com reported all of this in their story:

“While multiple Ole Miss assistants and staffers received multi-year show-cause penalties, Freeze was hit with only a two-game conference suspension should any school hire him as a head coach before Nov. 30.”

Freeze met with Saban in January and the most powerful man in college football (at least according to several polls) was blocked from making the hire he really wanted to make, according to multiple sources.

According to AL.com:

“Sankey informed both Freeze and Alabama that it would look bad for the SEC for Freeze to be back coaching in the league while Ole Miss suffered from NCAA penalties incurred under his watch. The SEC preferred that Freeze, who resigned in July following a “pattern of personal misconduct,” go off the radar for at least a little while before trying to return to work at one of its schools.”

It also was reported widely and confirmed by the AL.com story that LSU and Missouri both showed interest in Freeze, who worked for LSU coach Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss from 2005-07. The two have remained close.

“Sankey’s stance left Saban disappointed. Saban has a strong respect for Freeze, who bested him twice as Ole Miss’ head coach — one of only three SEC coaches to beat Saban multiple times during his time in Tuscaloosa.”

So, after an investigation conducted under Sankey’s chairmanship of the committee investigating Ole Miss for years basically cleared Freeze of everything except paying enough attention, the commissioner imposes his own penalty.

While technically following the league’s rules, “a school must consult directly with Sankey before offering a job to a coach “who has engaged in unethical conduct as defined under NCAA Bylaws or who has participated in activity that resulted, or may result, in a Level I, Level II or major infraction.”

And apparently Sankey can hand out his own judgement … for whatever reason he chooses.

Freeze can’t do anything about it legally. Saban can’t do anything about it, either. He hired someone else.

This might be one to put in the file to remember.

Exactly why is something I have no idea about right now, but I do think we’ll hear about this again.

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