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Benton’s two-putt clinches Hogs’ first SEC women’s title

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas junior Kaylee Benton stood on the 18th green in front of a gallery of people and television cameras and calmly two-putted to win the first SEC women’s golf title in program history.

The third-ranked Razorbacks defeated No.10 South Carolina 3-2 in the inaugural season of match play on the Legacy Course at Greystone Golf and Country Club on Sunday.

The Razorbacks clinched the title when Benton, who won all three of her matches this weekend, hit her second shot to 30 feet. Her opponent was on the fringe of the green and two-putted. Benton rolled her first attempt close and her opponent conceded the match for the 1-up victory.

From Kaylee Benton

“Yah, ya know it was a tough match all day long. I started out 2-down through two and she (her opponent) was just not messing up — throwing some darts. I stayed in it. I stayed patient and kept giving myself some looks, and I got it to 2-up. I lost a hole on 15 and was 1-up with three to go. I made a really good six-footer on 16 and carried that momentum forward on 17. I had another good two-putt before we went to 18.

“I kept telling myself to take a couple of deep breathes and I couldn’t lose it on that hole and I knew that. I knew if I could give myself a look at a birdie I would have it in the bag, and I did. I was pretty nervous, and it was pretty nice.”

Coach Shauna Taylor became the first in conference history to win the SEC title as both a player and as a head coach. The title is the 127th SEC crown for the Razorbacks.

From Shauna Taylor

“It’s everything for this program. These young ladies worked so hard and they put in the time and effort in the gym, in the classroom and on the course. To finally get a championship for our women’s golf program at Arkansas, it’s been a long time coming and gosh, I’m just so proud of our student-athletes.

“Maria (Fassi) has been a rock, an anchor. She has gotten the points when we needed her. She’s such a great leader and I couldn’t say enough about her. It’s 16 years for me at Arkansas. Everyday I wake up trying to think of ways to make these young ladies better – better people and better golfers – and to have a day like this and to experience it with this group is just tremendous.”

Fassi went out first and was the first player finished with a 2 & 1 victory. She won the first hole and led by as much as three on the front nine.

Her opponent cut into the lead, winning the seventh hole but Fassi would remain 2-up for the rest of the match.

Carolina made it interesting winning at the number two and three spots, but Arkansas had the advantage in the final two matches as regulation play wound down.

Junior Dylan Kim picked up a big win on hole 15 to move to 2-up with three to play. She confidently approached No. 17 and halved the hole to get the 2 & 1 win.

Knotted at 2-2, the championship came down to Benton. She trailed most of the match falling behind two holes and remained down until the sixth hole.

Benton won the No. 7 and squared the match winning No. 9. The players remained tied until Benton drained a 25-foot putt on No. 13 taking the lead.

Results
Maria Fassi (Ark.) def. Anita Uwadia (SC) 2 & 1
Marion Veysseyre (SC) def. Cara Gorlei (Ark.) 2-up
Ana Pelaez (SC) def. Alana Uriell (Ark.) 19 holes
Kaylee Benton (Ark.) def. Ainhoa Olarra (SC) 1-up
Dylan Kim (Ark.) def. Lois Kaye Go (SC) 2 & 1

Notes
• Arkansas has finished second or tied for second three times in program history
• This is the first-ever SEC Championship to play match play
• Shauna Taylor is the first person to win an SEC Women’s Golf title as both a player and head coach
• Maria Fassi and Kaylee Benton won all three matches this weekend

Up Next
The Razorbacks await word of an NCAA Regional selection. The selection show is scheduled to air on the Golf Channel on Wednesday, April 25, at 4:30 p.m.

This year’s regional sites include Stanford Golf Course (San Francisco, Calif.), University of Texas Golf Club (Austin, Texas), University Ridge Golf Course (Madison, Wis.) and Southwood Golf Course (Tallahassee, Fla.).

Taylor: Championship win means everything for Hogs

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK
SEC Network’s Peter Burns talks with Arkansas women’s golf head coach Shauna Taylor as she reacts to the Razorbacks’ first SEC title.

If Chavis is excited, that should have fans pumped, too

Andy Hodges
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John Chavis is saying a lot these days.

For someone who’s been a longtime defensive coordinator in the SEC at the highest levels, he’s never been particularly in the limelight, according to people who have followed his career closer than me.

Some longtime SEC football observers told me when he was hired in January that he didn’t do a whole lot of off-campus recruiting and, well, they didn’t know a whole lot more because you never heard from him much.

Apparently Chad Morris has changed all of that.

Chavis is, by all appearances, totally pumped about his new team at Arkansas. More than that, he’s excited about Morris’ vision.

“Obviously, I’m as excited as I’ve ever been,” Chavis told Clay Henry of WholeHogSports.com in a story last week.

That in itself is cause to raise an eyebrow.

Oh, Chavis has always had a burning desire to win. You don’t become one of the top defensive coordinators in college football, heading up two defenses that make it to the national championship game and multiple SEC Championship Games without that.

Morris walks, talks and acts like a winner. In well over 40 years of covering college sports I’ve noticed a trend of coaches who are winners wherever they are. Some coaches win at a certain place as long as they stick with that system.

Others go win wherever they are.

Anybody who dug more than a iittle bit would have had grave doubts in December 2012 that Bret Bielema would be very successful at Arkansas.

Many of the national experts, who have a remarkable track record of not being more than a layer or two deep in their thinking, said it was a home-run hire. As I said on the air at the time and wrote it was the worst fit at Arkansas since Otis Douglas in 1950.

As he waddled through five seasons that had varying degrees of success, but massively under-achieved, he did nothing to change my mind. Bielema actually coached most players down while pointing out the needle-in-a-haystack accidental successes he had at Wisconsin.

Morris has had success simply by working as hard as anybody in college football. Other schools are already taking notice, according to people at various places around the league (and that’s not other media people, but folks inside programs).

Some media wags like to point out that the Hogs were 4-8 last year and probably won’t be any better this year because they’re changing systems, players won’t adjust to it and, well, by golly, those guys just weren’t very good.

They weren’t very good, apparently, because they were overweight, sluggish and out of shape. Oh, they may have been able to life a truck, but they couldn’t outrun one. In the SEC you better be able to at least keep up with the truck.

“You’re either recruiting speed or chasing speed,” Morris said at his very first press conference and he hasn’t altered that stance one bit.

Speed was tied for first as the biggest problem on this team the last few years along with being out of shape. Look no further than fourth-quarter collapses over five years.

It’s easy for fans to forget the Hogs lost three games decided by one score. They won just two, over Ole Miss and Coastal Carolina. Yeah, chew on that one for a bit.

Arkansas was outscored in the second half last season by a whopping 231-165. That’s an average of 5½ points a game for ALL games. Every coach I talked to pointed to conditioning as a key factor when that happens.

No, the Hogs’ talent wasn’t the biggest problem. There were injuries, particularly to feet and ankles during Bielema’s tenure. As players have slimmed down they have gotten quicker, faster and practically eliminated those injuries.

Morris saw all of that and it’s part of his plan to fix quickly, which is already being done.

The other part is that vision. This staff works as hard as any football staff I’ve seen in the SEC recruiting, recruiting and more recruiting. People that follow this staff say the difference there since the coaching change is night and day.

There’s that vision thing again. It’s what has Chavis excited.

“Everyone has to be pulling together and to see the vision the head coach has,” Chavis said in the story in WholeHogSports.com last week. It’s fun being at what I call ground level in terms of building this program and to be part of the Chad Morris era. I’m fired up and excited.”

That should be enough to get the fans excited.

And, if you read between the lines of what every one of the coaches say, they actually believe this team will be better than what most think.

It’s not WHAT they say. It’s HOW they are saying it.

They say it like it’s a fact.

Not like they are trying to convince themselves.

Razorbacks’ sprints, relays dominate meet in Baton Rouge

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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BATON ROUGE, La. — Competing at the largest meet of the year for LSU, No. 1 Arkansas went to work, posting 12 Top 10 finishes Saturday afternoon.

The 4-x-100-meter relay of Janeek Brown, Kiara Parker, Jada Baylark, and Morgan Burks-Magee combined to run 43.87 trailing only LSU’s “A” squad and the team of LSU Olympians at the meet.

The 100-meters featured three top-10 finishes and the No. 8 time in program history. Jada Baylark finished third at 11.26 followed by Kiara Parker in sixth at 11.40, Janeek Brown in ninth at 11.49, Taliyah Brooks in 12th at 11.52, and Tamara Kuykendall in 13th-place running 11.54. Brooks’ time of 11.52 registers as the No. 8 time in program history.

Brooks also long jumped at the meet, capturing the event title with a best of 6.57m (21′-6.75″).

Brown backed into the blocks for the women’s 100-meter hurdles where she finished in 13.21 (+0.5).

Morgan Burks-Magee finished seventh in the 400-meters posting a season-best of 53.03.

Baylark finished runner-up in the 200-meters with her time of 23.00. rounding out the field for Arkansas in the event were Kiara Parker (23.44), Taliyah Brooks (23.83), Tamara Kuykendall (24.01), in seventh, ninth, and 13th-place. Baylark retained her spot at No. 3 in program history but lowered her time from 23.17 earlier this season.

Sydney Davis, Morgan Burks-Magee, Jada Baylark, and Kiara Parker combined to post a season-best time in the 4-x-400-meter relay crossing the line in 3:35.29.

On the west coast at the Cardinal Classic, Carina Viljoen (4:16.07) and Micah Huckabee (4:33.92) finished fifth and eighth in their respective heats completing the competition weekend for the Razorbacks who competed at a total of four meets over the past three days.

Hogs split doubleheader, but lose series to Auburn

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK

Hogs drop both games in doubleheader against ’Dogs

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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VIDEO FROM ESPN SEC NETWORK
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Some breaks didn’t go Arkansas’ way on Saturday as Mississippi State completed a three-game sweep, winning both games of the doubleheader, 5-3 and 7-5, at Dudy Noble Field.

It’s the first three-game series sweep that Arkansas has suffered this year and the two losses drop the Razorbacks’ overall record to 28-13 overall and 10-8 in conference play.

Arkansas looked to be on its way to salvaging the final game when it jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning, but could only score two more runs on top of that the rest of the way.

Mississippi State rallied for the second time of the weekend, scoring six runs over the course of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings and ended up with its fourth win in six games.

Sophomore Dominic Fletcher came away as the team’s top hitter on the day, going a combined 4-for-7 (.571) with a run scored and a walk.

Four different players recorded multi-hit games in the first game of the doubleheader, while Fletcher and senior Jared Gates were the only two with two hits or more in game two.

As a team, Arkansas had 13 hits in game one and 10 hits in game two Saturday, its’ third of the last four games with 10 or more hits. This year, the Hogs have totaled 10 or more hits in 24 of 41 contests and are 18-6 in those games.

Game 1 | Mississippi State 5, Arkansas 3 (Box Score)

In the first game of the day, the Hogs and Bulldogs were locked in a low-scoring affair as starting pitchers Kacey Murphy and Ethan Small battled well into the sixth inning with only four runs crossing the plate through the first six innings.

Murphy ended up throwing 6.2 innings with three earned runs allowed, while Small went six innings and just one earned run allowed on six hits with six strikeouts.

It was Murphy’s third-straight start of six or more innings and he has yet to give up more than three earned runs in any appearance this season.

However, the Razorbacks could never fully catch up to the Bulldogs as a single run in the third, a two-run fifth, and a two-run eighth were all they needed to clinch the series, even with a furious late-game rally by the Hogs.

Evan Lee and Eric Cole both smacked solo home runs in the late innings to pull as close as one. Lee’s came in a pinch-hit role in the seventh, his third of the year, while Cole’s was part of a strong ninth-inning stand for his ninth of the year.

In that ninth inning, down three runs, Arkansas was able to send seven batters to the plate, five with two outs starting with Cole’s at-bat. The Hogs even got the bases loaded later in the inning, but were unable to connect on the game-tying hit they needed.

Freshman Casey Martin finished the game 3-for-5, just his second game this year with three or more hits. Heston Kjerstad, Carson Shaddy, and Fletcher all came away with two hits each in the game.

Game 2 | Mississippi State 7, Arkansas 5 (Box Score)

Arkansas jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning of game two and looked to have new life as it tried to win at least one game of the series.

The team took advantage of an MSU error that led to the game’s first run and it was followed by a big two-RBI double from Jared Gates, his fifth double of the year.

Unfortunately, the Hogs were only able to score two more runs over the next eight innings, which gave the Bulldogs an opportunity to scratch their way back in.

The big inning from Mississippi State came in the sixth when it scored four runs on three hits, only one being an extra-base hit, taking the lead for good.

Redshirt sophomore Isaiah Campbell pitched 5.2 innings on Saturday, giving up five earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts.

Campbell held Mississippi State to just two runs over the first five innings, but struggled to get out of the sixth inning as a two-out walk and a wild pitch eventually led to the key four runs that helped MSU take the lead.

Up Next

Arkansas returns home for its next five games starting with a two-game midweek series with Texas Tech on Tuesday at Baum Stadium.

First pitch between the Razorbacks and Red Raiders is set for 6:30 p.m., while game two will be on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Game one will be televised on the SEC Network and game two will be on SEC Network+.

Arkansas captures three event titles at ‘Michael Johnson’

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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WACO, Texas — No. 11 Arkansas finished its busy weekend around the country with a strong showing at the 2018 Michael Johnson Invitational, hosted by Baylor University Saturday afternoon at Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium.

Erich Sullins got things going in the opening event of the meet, finishing runner-up in the hammer throw with a best of 59.86m (196′-05″). Sullins returned in the discus to post a third-place finish throwing 52.66m (172′-9″).

The hammer throw gave way to the events on the track at the Michael Johnson Invite.

Harrison Schrage ran 10.66 in the morning session of the 100-meters finishing first in the session, and fourth overall combined with the evening run.

In the 200-meters, it was a Razorback sweep as Kenzo Cotton (20.53), Obi Igbokwe (20.66), and Roy Ejiakuekwu (20.88) raced away from the competition to finish 1-2-3. Kevin Harris also competed in the 200-meters running 22.46 taking 18th-place.

Moving up to 400-meters, Jamarco Stephen led the way for Arkansas running a season-best 47.39 for a top-10 finish, snagging ninth-place. Arkansas also finished 11th and 12th as Hunter Woodhall made his season debut running 47.73 right before John Winn ran 47.91.

It was a 1-2 finish in the 800-meters for Kieran Taylor and Chase Pareti. The freshmen duo ran times of 1:51.11 and 1:52.83 – both season-best times. Reese Walters finished 12th in the event running 1:56.82.

Larry Donald posted an all-conditions lifetime best for in the 110-meter hurdles running 13.85 seconds for a second-place finish. Travius Chambers also set a personal-best in the high hurdles running 14.97.

The duo would later return to run the 400-meter hurdles. Chambers again finished with a personal best time running 51.06 for fifth-place while Donald finished 12th at 52.57.

The team of Kevin Harris, Kemar Mowatt, Roy Ejiakuekwu and Kenzo Cotton combined to run 39.07 in the 4-x-100-meter relay for the win.

In the 4-x-400-meter relay, the squad of Jamarco Stephen, Kemar Mowatt, Roy Ejiakuekwu, and Obi Igbokwe carried the baton to the tune of 3:05.48 – a season-best time.

In the invite section of the shot put, Jeff Rogers took fifth with his season-best throw of 16.71m (54′-10″), followed by Sam Kempka in seventh-place with a best of 16.43m (53′-11″) in the competition. Decathlete Gabe Moore finished eighth in the open section of the shot put with a best throw of 14.06m (46′-1.50″).

Brandon Rivera and Rubin Owens finished fourth and fifth, respectively in the high jump. Rivera finished with a best clearance of 2.08m (6′-9.75″), while Rivera cleared 2.03m (6′-8″) on the day.

Laquan Nairn finished eighth in the long jump leaping out to a mark of 7.00m (22′-11.75″). Trae Carey took 11th jumping 6.81m (22′-4.25″).

Alex Springer (56.31m/184′-9″) and Andrew Henn (54.11m/177′-6″) finished third and fifth, respectively, in the javelin throw.

Hogs win two matches, advance to SEC championship

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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HOOVER, Ala. — Third-ranked Arkansas was on the course for more than 10 hours on Saturday, winning two matches and advancing to the SEC Match Play Championship.

The Razorbacks take on No. 10 South Carolina in the final day of the week-long event.

Action began on Wednesday with three rounds of stroke play with the top eight teams advancing to match play on Saturday.

The field of eight was cut to four with Arkansas advancing with a 3-2 win over Florida in the morning flight. The Razorbacks defeated Alabama, 3-1-1, in the afternoon to move on to the championship on Sunday.

South Carolina entered the day as the No. 1 seed after finishing first after three rounds of stroke play. They defeated Missouri and Georgia to reach the championship.

SEC individual runner-up Maria Fassi picked up two match play wins as did junior Kaylee Benton to lead Arkansas on the day. Alana Uriell and Cara Gorlei each won a match as well.

Inside The Ropes
When: Sunday, April 22, 2018
Time: 7 a.m. CT
Where: Legacy Course at Greystone Golf and Country Club
Who: No. 3 Arkansas vs. No. 10 South Carolina
Live Scoring: http://bit.ly/2HnANu4
Watch: The SEC Network – coverage begins at 8 a.m. CT

Semifinals – Arkansas def. Alabama, 3-1-1

The second match of the day saw the conditions and course change during the afternoon. Hot temperatures and relatively no wind gave way to cool and windy conditions with overcast skies as the round turned for the final nine holes.

Fassi was out of the gate first and she battled in a back-and-forth match with her opponent. The players turned all square and would remain even until the 14th hole of the afternoon.

Fassi grabbed the lead on the par-5 as she continued to play well on the long holes. She held on for the first win of the match for the Razorbacks.

Uriell and Benton both picked up wins in their matches to clinch the Razorback victory. Uriell opened fast taking the lead on the third hole of the round.

She would go up by as much as three before getting the 2 & 1 win.

Benton also took an early advantage winning the first hole of the match. She never surrendered the lead in the 3 & 2 win. Gorlei added some drama to the match on the 17th hole of her round.

All square to that point, Gorlei hit her tee shot into the bunker on No. 8. A great sand shot saw the junior hole out and take the lead. She moved on to the 18th hole, but her contest was suspended after the Razorbacks won its third match.

Maria Fassi (Ark.) def. Kristen Gillman (Ala.) 1-up
Cara Gorlei (Ark.) vs. Cheyenne Knight (Ala.) Susp.
Alana Uriell (Ark.) def. Lauren Stephenson (Ala.) 2 & 1
Kaylee Benton (Ark.) def. Lakareber Abe (Ala.) 3 & 2
Angelica Moresco (Ala.) def. Dylan Kim (Ark.) 1 & 3

Quarter Finals – Arkansas def. Florida 3-2

Arkansas opened the day at 7 a.m. from the 10th tee against the Gators. Uriell won the first hole of the day and Arkansas was in a good position as they made the turn with all five Razorbacks leading their matches.

Fassi turned with a three-hole advantage and won her 10th hole to go up four with eight holes to play. She gave a hole back but rallied on No. 6, her 15th hole, winning the hole and the match 4 & 3.

Benton was on Fassi’s heels with a 3 & 2 win. She turned with a one-hole advantage and stretched that to three holes winning Nos. 2 and 3. Benton held on to the lead, winning in 16 holes.

Arkansas lead 2-1 at that point needing just one more match to move on. It was Gorlei who clinched for the Razorbacks winning 2 & 1 in 17 holes.

Gorlei’s opponent hit her tee shot into the bunker on No. 8 (the 18th hole of the round). Gorlei followed with a long shot over a ridge. Her second shot was a 35-foot effort down a ridge to the green.

Gorlei’s opponent conceded the putt, needing to make her own 6-footer to win the hole. She missed, and Gorlei sealed the Razorback win.

Elin Esborn (Fla.) def. Alana Uriell (Ark.) 1-up
Dylan Kim (Ark.) vs. Marta Perez (Fla.) Susp.
Cara Gorlei (Ark.) def. Sierra Brooks (Fla.) 2 & 1
Kaylee Benton (Ark.) def. Addison Baggarly (Fla.) 3 & 2
Maria Fassi (Ark.) def. Taylor Tomlinson (Fla.) 4 & 3

Up Next

The Razorbacks move on to face South Carolina in the final. Ainhoa Olarra battled in a two-hole playoff with Fassi to win the SEC individual title on Friday.

Maria Fassi (Ark.) vs. Anita Uwadia (SC)
Cara Gorlei (Ark.) vs. Marion Veysseyre
Alana Uriell (Ark.) vs. Ana Pelaez
Kaylee Benton (Ark.) vs. Ainhoa Olarra
Dylan Kim (Ark.) vs. Lois Kaye Go (SC)

Arkansas concludes strong run at SEC Championship matches

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — After winning three SEC Tournament matches for the first time in program history, Arkansas’ impressive run in the 2018 conference tournament ended Saturday.

In the semifinal match against No. 9 ranked and No. 2 seed Florida, the No. 11 seed Razorbacks tested and took the Gators down to the wire but fell short 4-2 at the Dr. Robert L. Barksdale Tennis Stadium.

“For our fourth intense match in four days at this elite level it was incredible to see our team compete better than we have all season long,” Razorbacks head coach Michael Hegarty said. “This was a championship level match and we give great credit to Florida, who we have tremendous respect for.”

Arkansas’ tournament run this week started with a 4-1 win over No. 14 seed Missouri. A 4-2 victory over No. 17 ranked and No. 6 seed Auburn was followed by a 4-2 win against No. 6 ranked and No. 3 seed South Carolina.

The Gators (18-7, 11-2 SEC) got on the board first Saturday, winning the doubles point by earning victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.

The Razorbacks’ No. 40 ranked pair of Tatum Rice and Ana Oparenovic earned their highest-ranked win of the season at the top spot, a 6-4 decision over the Gators’ No. 13 ranked tandem of Anna Danilina and Victoria Emma.

Arkansas (10-16, 3-10 SEC) quickly leveled the match at 1-1 thanks to a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles by Natsuho Arakawa over Victoria Emma.

Florida’s Peggy Porter outlasted Rice at No. 5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, before Mia Jurasic delivered a three-set win of her own at No. 3, 6-2, 0-6, 6-4, against No. 90 McCartney Kessler.

The Gators closed out the match and secured the victory with a pair of triumphs, including the clincher at the No. 2 position. Katie Kubicz beat Jackie Carr 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 6, and No. 47 Josie Kuhlman edged out No. 89 Oparenovic 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) at the second spot.

At the clinch, No. 50 Giulia Pairone led 1-0 in the third set against Florida’s No. 14 Danilina after winning a second-set tiebreaker.

Bruce posts NCAA top 20 time in 1,500 meters

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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AZUSA, Calif. — Jack Bruce highlighted action for Arkansas on the west coast as a group of three competed in the 1,500-meters Friday night.

Bruce, who entered the meet with a best time in the event of 3:41.45 from last years John McDonnell Invitational, finished the night with personal best of 3:39.86 – currently No. 16 in the NCAA. Bruce was part of a group of 21 student-athletes that ran below the stadium and meet record of 3:41.17 run by Ross Millington in 2012.

Also in the field for the Razorbacks Friday night were Ethan Moehn (3:45.97) who finished 54th and Colin O’Mara (3:55.90) in 201st-place.

The men’s team will continue to compete this weekend, taking part in the 2018 Michael Johnson Invitational hosted by Baylor University in Waco, Texas Apr. 21.

The Michael Johnson Invitational will be LIVE streamed by FloTrack.

RamosMata captures Kansas Relays title in pole vault over Hartsell

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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LAWRENCE, Kan. — The 91st Kansas Relays featured a trio of top-three performances from Arkansas, including a Kansas Relays title by Elizabeth Ramos Mata.

Ramos Mata finished the Kansas Relays clearing 3.90m (12′-9.50″), the same height that teammate Morgan Hartsell cleared.

Ramos Mata grabbed the win on jumps clearing her first three bars of the day clean, while Hartsell needed three attempts to clear 3.90m.

Thr 1-2 finish in the pole vault accounted for two of the three top-three finishes on the day for Arkansas. The third came in a third-place finish by Carmen Sitz in the women’s high jump. Sitz took third clearing 1.65m (5′-5″) on her fifth jump of the day.

On the west coast at the Cardinal Classic in Palo Alto, Calif., Arkansas continued to compete on the track.

In the 800-meters, Kailee Sawyer (2:15.35) finished sixth in section three of the event while   Ruth Wiggins (2:13.39) took eighth in section two.

Moving up the ladder of distance disciplines, a trio of Razorbacks closed out the competition day with their run in the 5,000-meters.

A fourth-place finish by Maddy Reed (16:20.38) was followed up by  Rachel Nichwitz (16:33.27) in sixth-place and Abby Gray (16:38.60) in ninth-place.

Arkansas will split competition on Saturday between the Cardinal Classic in Palo Alto, Calif. and the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge, La.

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