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Hogs, Rebels to battle for SEC West lead starting Thursday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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OXFORD, Miss. — Arkansas heads into the final stretch of its eight-game road trip this week as it begins a three-game series with fourth-ranked Ole Miss on Thursday at Swayze Field.

First pitch on Thursday and Friday are set for 6:30 p.m. each day, while Saturday’s series finale will be at 1:30 p.m. All games can be viewed on SEC Network+.

Ole Miss will be Arkansas’ third-straight top-five opponent to begin SEC play (No. 4 Kentucky, No. 2 Florida) and it will also be a battle for early-season advantage in the Western Division.

Both the Rebels and Razorbacks have a 4-2 record after the first two weeks of the conference season and boast a couple of the best offenses in the SEC and the nation.

Arkansas and Ole Miss are two of three teams with a combined team batting average of .300 or higher. The Razorbacks currently sit second in the league at .311, while the Rebels are hitting an even .300, which is good for third.

The Razorbacks will look to curb that strong Ole Miss offense when it sends Blaine Knight to the mound for Thursday’s game one. Knight holds a 1.83 ERA after six starts, his best six-game start of his collegiate career.

Last week against No. 2 Florida, Knight struck out 10 over 6.2 innings to earn his fourth win of the year. His 10-strikeout performance was his first of the year and made him only the second pitcher to record 10 or more strikeouts against the defending national champions this season.

Arkansas is coming off an 8-7 victory over Memphis at AutoZone Park on Tuesday, snapping a two-game losing streak it had going in.

The Hogs scored all eight of its runs and recorded eight of its nine hits with two outs, winning its third one-run game this year.

Follow Live

All games will be streamed via SEC Network+, the online-only arm of the SEC Network on WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.

Richard Cross (PxP) and Brady Bramlett (Analyst) will have the call for all three games.

Phil Elson will call all three games on the radio for the Razorback Sports Network from IMG. That radio broadcasts are also available on the Razorback Gameday app.

Important Links (All times Central)

Thu, March 29 – Arkansas vs. Ole Miss – 6:30 p.m. – LIVE STATS | WATCH
Fri, March 30 – Arkansas vs. Ole Miss – 6:30 p.m. – LIVE STATS | WATCH
Sat, March 31 – Arkansas vs. Ole Miss – 1:30 p.m. – LIVE STATS | WATCH

Probable Starters

THU: ARK RHP Blaine Knight (1.83 ERA, 4-0, 35 K, 9 BB) vs. OM LHP Ryan Rolison (2.88 ERA, 3-2, 46 K, 15 BB)

FRI: ARK LHP Evan Lee (5.19 ERA, 1-1, 7 K, 3 BB) vs. OM RHP Brady Feigl (2.08 ERA, 5-1, 38 K, 7 BB)

SAT: ARK LHP Kacey Murphy (2.28 ERA, 3-1, 22 K, 6 BB) vs. OM RHP James McArthur (1.93 ERA, 3-0, 23 K, 13 BB)

Razorback Prime 9

• Arkansas finishes off its eight-game roadtrip with a three-game series at No. 4 Ole Miss, starting on Thursday. The Hogs will have been on the road for 13-straight days after Saturday’s game three.

• Arkansas is coming off an 8-7 victory over Memphis on Tuesday at AutoZone Park. The Hogs scored all eight of their runs and tallied eight of nine hits with two outs in the game.

• Arkansas hit five home runs over the weekend at No. 2 Florida and one more at Memphis on Tuesday, upping its season total to 47, which still leads the SEC and is second most in the nation.

• Freshman Heston Kjerstad hit two home runs in the loss to Charlotte last week. He’s the fifth different Razorback to record a multi-home run game this season (C. Shaddy, G. Koch, C. Martin, J. McFarland, H. Kjerstad).

• Four of Arkansas’ five home runs against Florida came from the left side of the plate last week. 20 of the season’s 47 homers have been from left-handers, while 27 have come from right-handers.

• Last week, Heston Kjerstad went 9-for-16 (.563) at the plate leading all Razorbacks with six extra- base hits, including three home runs. He slugged a staggering 1.313 and struck out just two times. He upped his hit streak to nine games on Tuesday at Memphis, the longest-active streak on the team.

• Arkansas owns the advantage in the all-time series with Ole Miss, 46-42, but hasn’t won a series in Oxford since 2010.

• The Razorbacks won their third one-run game of 2018 on Tuesday after rallying to beat Memphis on Tuesday. Arkansas is 3-3 in games decided by one run this year including wins over Arizona and USC.

• The Razorbacks have hit at least one home run in 11-straight games dating back to the March 11th doubleheader against Kent State. Arkansas has only gone homerless in three games this year.

Knight Keeps Rolling

Junior Blaine Knight has clearly shown why he is the ace of the Arkansas pitching staff this year.

Knight currently leads all Razorback hurlers with a 1.83 ERA over six starts, good for a top-10 total in the SEC. He had a sub-1.00 ERA through his first four starts and has struck out four or more batters in all six of his appearances.

Last week against Florida, Knight outdueled Brady Singer, going 6.2 innings and holding the Gator offense to just three runs with 10 strikeouts.

It was Knight’s first 10-strikeout performance of the season and he’s the second pitcher to notch 10 K’s on the defending national champions this season.

The Silent Assassin With The Silent J

Freshman Heston Kjerstad has shown no growing pains in his first season at the collegiate level.

Kjerstad currently has the fourth-highest batting average in the SEC (.395) and is coming off a strong week where he turned in four-consecutive multi-hit games, including a multi-home run game against Charlotte.

Over his last 10 games, the Amarillo, Texas native has hit .444 (16-for-36) with four home runs and 13 RBIs.

He’s only gone hitless once during that span and has at least one hit in 17 of his last 19 games.

SEC Hitting Leaders

Rank Player (Team) Average
1. Jonathan India (UF) .430
2. Kameron Misner (MIZ) .413
3. Michael Helman (TAMU) .400
4. Heston Kjerstad (ARK) .395
5. Tristan Pompey (UK) .394


Call In The Baum Squad

In 2017, Arkansas crushed an SEC-best 83 home runs. It was the most home runs by a Razorback team since 2010.

The Hogs have picked up where they left off with 47 home runs after 25 games, 13 more than they had after 25 games last year.

Casey Martin leads the team with seven homers on the year, but four other Razorbacks have five or more on the year (Kjerstad, Shaddy, Cole, Koch).

78 of Arkansas’ 209 runs in 2018 have come from the home run ball, making 37 percent of the team’s total run production.

Most Home Runs Hit (NCAA)

Rank Team Home Runs
1. Tennessee Tech 51
2. Arkansas 47
3. Kentucky 45
4. NC State 42
5. Florida 41

Razorbacks women’s tennis headed for pair of road matches

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will hit the road for a pair of matches starting at 4 p.m. Thursday at No. 12 Florida before a Saturday showdown at No. 6 South Carolina at 11 a.m.

Live Coverage Links
Thursday at Florida (12-5, 7-1 SEC): Live Video | Live Scoring
Saturday at South Carolina (16-3, 8-0 SEC): Live Video | Live Scoring

Five Things To Know
1. Razorbacks Giulia Pairone and Ana Oparenovic are ranked No. 55 and No. 76, respectively in the national singles rankings.

2. Ranked No. 40 nationally in doubles, Oparenovic and Tatum Rice lead the SEC with an 11-3 record at the top spot.

3. Pairone owns a team-best 9-3 mark in singles play this spring.

4. The Hogs (5-11, 1-6 SEC) have won the doubles point in 12 of 16 matches this spring.

5. Pairone and Mia Jurasic have also been dominant in doubles at 10-3 this spring, the most wins among all SEC doubles duos at the No. 2 position. The pair is 8-2 across their last 10 matches.

Razorbacks looking to continue momentum on road trip

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas heads to both the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, California and Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, this weekend looking to continue the momentum it gained in last weekend’s outdoor opener.

The Razorbacks competed at last week’s Arkansas Spring Invitational where it picked up four event titles and six runner-up finishes to open the outdoor season.

“Coach Case is going to take the sprint crew to the Texas Relays and they’re going to do everything,” said assistant coach Travis Geopfert. “Kenzo did a great job this past weekend opening up in the 100 meter dash, but the relays are the main this down in Texas.

“We’ll have a couple open events. The main thing is that those guys are excited about competing and we’re trying to set them up and prepare and perform well at the home staff.”

Senior Kenzo Cotton was named the Southeastern Conference’s Co-Runner of the Week after leading the Razorbacks to wins in the 4×100 meter relay and the 4×400 meter relays to go along with a title of his own in the 100-meter dash at the Arkansas Spring Invitational.

He heads into the Texas Relays with a 10.12 in the 100 meter dash, the fastest time early in the NCAA outdoor season.

The 4×100 meter relay heads to Texas Relays in Austin, Texas with the fifth fastest time in the NCAA outdoor season with a time of 39.31 at the Arkansas Spring Invitational.

Gabe Moore will compete in the 110m Hurdles, 400m and discus throw at the Stanford Invitational as he gets ready to make his decathlon debut at the John McDonnell Invitational in two weeks.

“We are excited to take all the field events out there so,” said Geopfert. “But, we are going to shake the rust off and hopefully be ready to come back here for John McDonnell in two weeks and get some stuff done.

“And, then of course at Texas Relays Coach Case is going to take the sprinters down there and we are going to try and do everything. Just let those guys have some fun.”

Texas Relays Entries

400m Hurdles — Larry Donald, Travius Chambers, Kemar Mowatt
110m Hurdles — Larry Donald, Chattoo
Sprint Medley Relay — Kenzo Cotton, Obi Igbokwe, Jamarco Stephen, Cameron Griffith
Distance Medley Relay — Kyle Hosting, Hunter Woodall, Kieran Taylor, Ethan Moehn
4-X-800 Meter Relay — Kyle Hosting, Ethan Moehn, Kieran Taylor, Chase Pareti
4-X-200 Meter Relay — Kenzo Cotton, Hari, Roy Ejiakuekwu, Obi Igbokwe
4-X-100 Meter Relay — Hari, Kemar Mowatt, Roy Ejiakuekwu, Kenzo Cotton
4-X-400 Meter Relay Invitational — Obi Igbokwe, Kemar Mowatt, Jamarco Stephen, John Winn

* Subject to Change

Stanford Invitational Entries

110m Hurdles — Gabe Moore
100m Hurdles — Harrison Schrage
Javelin — Andrew Henn, Alex Springer
400m — Gabe Moore
3000m Steeplechase – Kyle Levermore, Carter Persyn
Discus Throw — Gabe Moore, Erich Sullins
1000m — Gilbert Boit, Andrew Ronoh, Austen Dalquist, Matt Young, Ryan Murphy
Hammer Throw — Erich Sullins
Shot Put — Sam Kempka
Triple Jump — Rubin Owens, Laquan Nairn
200m — Harrison Schrage

Top-ranked Razorbacks ready for first road tests of season

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Fresh off its strong showing at the Arkansas Spring Invitational, No. 1 Arkansas travels to Austin, Texas, for the Texas Relays, while the distance crew will travel out west for the Stanford Invitation in Palo Alto, Calif.

“Last weekend was way beyond our expectations,” said coach Lance Harter. “I think part of that is that we have some talent and also we had great weather. Fayetteville was perfect that day and our track has always been fast and our kids responded accordingly.

“We’re on track and we’ll start adding more and more to our lineup. Our distance crew will activate this weekend, the two vaulters (Lexi Jacobus and Tori Hoggard) will make their debut this weekend.

“We’ll split the forces with our jump and sprint crew at the Texas Relays, and the distance crew will open up in the Stanford Invite.”

In last weekend’s opener, Arkansas sophomore Jada Baylark tied an 18-year record set by Veronica Campbell Brown in the 100 meters with a time of 11:10, while senior Taliyah Brooks broke her own school record in the long jump with a distance of 22-3.

Both will compete at the Texas Relays, with Brooks scheduled to begin the Heptathlon on Wednesday, subject to the weather.

At last year’s Texas Relays, Taliyah Brooks set the school record in the heptathlon with 6,075 points, a mark she would later break at the 2017 SEC Outdoor championship.

“It’s early but traditionally we’ve always done that,” said Harter. ”They’ve always produced great marks and it gives her (Brooks) a chance to catch her breath and focus on open events and ultimately get ready for the SEC meet and national meet.

“I think she’ll go in as the favorite, after the pentathlon championship. To be able to jump 22-3, she’s ready to go.”

Baylark will run in the 100 meters, as well as three relay teams in the 4-x-100, the 4-x-200 and the 4-x-400 meter relays.

Baylark was the third leg in Arkansas 4-x-100 meter relay squad that finished first at last weekend’s Spring Invite with a time of 43.40.

She currently ranks in the Top 10 in the country in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash.

Lexi Jacobus, who landed on The Bowerman Watch List following her NCAA Indoor Title in the pole vault, will make her outdoor debut this Friday. Tori Hoggard will also debut on Friday following her runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships.

Texas Relays Entries

Heptathlon — Taliyah Brooks
Pole Vault — Lexi Jacobus, Tori Hoggard
100 meter dash — Jada Baylark, Tamara Kuykendall, Kiara Parker
100 meter hurdles — Janeed Brown
4-x-100 meter relay — Jada Baylark, Janeed Brown, Morgan Burks Magee, Kiara Parker
4-x-200 meter relay — Jada Baylark, Janeed Brown, Morgan Burks Magee, Tamara Kuykendall, Kiara Parker
4-x-400 meter relay — Jada Baylark, Morgan Burks Magee, Sydney Davis, Sydney Hammit, Kiara Parker

*Subject to Change

Stanford Invite Entries

800 meters — Kailee Sawyer, Ruth Wiggins, Carina Viljoen, Devin Clark
1,500 meters — Maddy Reed, Alex Ritchey, Abby Gray, Devin Clark, Carina Viljoen
3,000 meter steeplechase — Regan Hime, Rachel Nichwitz
5,000 meters — Taylor Werner

Texas State Bobcat Invite Entries

Pole Vault — Morgan Hartsell, Ellie Ramos-Mata, Rylee Robinson

Moncrief elected to college basketball’s Hall of Fame

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Arkansas legend Sidney Moncrief has been named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2018 the organization announced Wednesday morning.

Presented by Nike, the National Collegiate Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place Sunday, Nov. 18 in Kansas City.

Others being inducted into the class are Arizona’s Sean Elliott, Houston’s Otis Birdsong, North Carolina’s Sam Perkins, Morgan State’s Marvin Webster and USC’s Paul Westphal will join former Charleston coach John Kresse and former Oregon Tech coach Danny Miles.

Moncrief becomes the third Razorback to be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, joining his former coach Eddie Sutton who was selected in 2011 and Nolan Richardson who entered in 2008.

All three Arkansas legends have a banner hanging in the rafters of Bud Walton Arena.

One of the Arkansas’ famed “Triplets,” Moncrief ended his career at Arkansas with the second-most points in program history, scoring 2,066 points from 1976-79.

He poured in 600-plus points each of his last two years in Fayetteville, one of just four Razorbacks to score more than 600 points during two separate seasons.

Moncrief helped lead Arkansas to two Elite Eight appearances and the 1978 Final Four, when the Razorbacks recorded Arkansas’ first of five total 30-win seasons in program history, going 32-4 overall.

A 14-time All-American, Moncrief’s name is scattered all through Arkansas’ record book. He still ranks sixth in scoring average among Razorbacks at 16.9 points per game in his career.

He also ranks second in field goal percentage in a career at 60.6 percent, while holding the school record in free throws made (588), free throws attempted (752) and rebounding (1,015) in a career.

He was named All-Southwest Conference his last three years as a Razorback, while being named to the 1978 NCAA Tournament All-Regional West Team and to the 1979 All-Regional Midwest Team.

Moncrief was drafted fifth overall in the 1979 NBA Draft to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he spent his first 11 NBA seasons, before finishing his career in Atlanta in 1990-91.

The Little Rock native was just the second Razorback in school history to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft and remains as the only player to be taken in the top five.

While in Milwaukee, Moncrief earned All-NBA first team honors once (1983) and second team honors four times (1982-85 and 1986).

The five-time All-Star was also named to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team four years (1983-86) and second team in 1982, along with earning NBA Defensive Player of the Year honors two seasons (1982-83 and 1983-84).

During his 12-year NBA career, Moncrief averaged 15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Wednesday

Ninth-inning single lifts Razorbacks past Memphis

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Last week, Arkansas couldn’t score when they had to against Florida and Charlotte.

Tuesday night was a different story. The Razorbacks did most of their damage against Memphis on Tuesday night with two outs in an 8-7 win at AutoZone Park.

They avoided what could have been an ugly loss before the weekend series against No. 4 Ole Miss in Oxford.

Carson Shaddy’s go-ahead RBI single on a full count in the top of the ninth inning was Arkansas’ seventh hit when down to its final out and improved it to 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

In four games last week, the Razorbacks were just 4-for-37 (.108) in those situations.

With a two-run single in the fourth inning, Shaddy finished with three RBIs and was one of three Razorbacks with multiple RBI hits. The others were Jax Biggers and Casey Martin, with Biggers hitting a solo home run to start Arkansas’ scoring in the third.

Making his first career start, Jake Reindl struggled in 2 2/3 innings. Although he struck out five, he gave up five runs (four earned). It didn’t help his ERA, either, as it ballooned to a team-worst 6.92.

Bryce Bonnin tried, but couldn’t stop the bleeding, retiring only 2 of 6 batters faced, Dave Van Horn turned to junior Barrett Loseke.

Loseke went 4-1/3 innings, gave up a run and Jackson Rutledge took over in the eighth.

Inheriting runners on the corners, Loseke gave up a game-tying single to Tyler Webb. He settled in and earned the victory by pitching the final 1 1/3 innings.

Despite having twice as many losses as wins and being 0-4 against SEC teams (including three top-10 teams) this year, Memphis’ SEC losses have been by a combined five runs.

The Razorbacks have a day off before beginning its series in Oxford, Miss., on Thursday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and all three games will be streamed on SEC Network-plus.

Hogs get first Top 25 ranking of softball season

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — Winner in nine of its last 10 games, Arkansas checked in at No. 23 in Tuesday’s release of the USA Today/NFCA Coaches’ Poll.

The Razorbacks stand at 25-6 overall with a 2-4 mark in SEC play after last weekend’s series win over Missouri.

Tuesday’s ranking release sets up a top-25 matchup with No. 20 Mississippi State at Bogle Park this weekend. The three-game series begins Friday at 6 p.m. with gates opening one hour prior to first pitch.

Arkansas was most recently ranked in the NFCA poll last season where it had a seven-week run in the top 25.

After a 4-1 week that featured a doubleheader sweep of UT-Arlington and a series win over Missouri, the Razorbacks were also up five spots to No. 25 in Monday’s release of the NCAA RPI.

The team sits just one spot shy of cracking the USA Softball Collegiate Top 25.

In their last outing, the Razorbacks rallied from a four-run deficit in their series finale against Missouri with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The outburst was punctuated by a game-tying, three-run shot by freshman Kayla Green and go-ahead double by senior Autumn Buczek.

Green’s home run was Arkansas’ 39th of the season which ranks second in the SEC and is tied for the seventh most in the nation.

The Razorbacks also carry top-50 national marks in slugging percentage (.502), team ERA (1.91) and scoring (5.77 runs per game).

Cotton gets top runner’s honor for week from SEC

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Arkansas senior Kenzo Cotton was named the Southeastern Conference’s Co-Runner of the Week.

He was part of three of Razorback victories with wins as the anchor leg of the 4-x-100m and 4-x-400m relays while sailing to the 100 meter dash title in the season opener this past weekend at the Arkansas Spring Invitational.

Serving as the anchor in the 4-x-100 meter relay, Cotton along with Kristoffer Hari, Kemar Mowatt and Obi Igbokwe finished first in the event and set a new meet record with a time of 39.31.

Cotton followed that up with a 10.12 time in the 100 meter dash, the fastest in the NCAA early on in the outdoor season.

Cotton ended the day as the anchor on the 4-x-400 meter relay squad of Travius Chambers, Kemar Mowatt and John Winn placing first with a time of 3:10.30.

“Kenzo did a great job this past weekend opening up in the 100” said assistant coach Travis Geopfert. “The relays is the main thing at the Texas Relays, he’s going to run on some relays down there as well.”

He shared the honor with Ilolo Izu of Texas A&M who won the 400 meter hurdles at the UTSA Roadrunner Invitational. Cotton and the Razorbacks return this weekend for the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas and the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, California.

Final numbers from Hogs’ pro day Monday for former players

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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FAYETTEVILLE — A total of 14 former Razorbacks showcased their abilities to all 32 NFL teams Monday morning during Arkansas’ Pro Day held inside Walker Pavilion at the Fred W. Smith Center.

The players took part in individual tests before breaking into positional work.

All three of Arkansas’ combine invites were in attendance and went through work outs, as Austin Allen just went through positional work.

Frank Ragnow showed out, as the 308 pound offensive lineman clocked a 4.99 forty-yard dash time, along with turning out 27 reps on the bench.

His 40 time ranks fifth among offensive linemen at the NFL Combine, while his bench reps ranks tied for 25th. Ragnow also had a broad jump of 9-7 (115 inches), which ranks as the second-best among offensive linemen at the combine, along with his vertical which was 33.5 inches.

Defensive back Henre’ Toliver improved his 40 time Monday, running a 4.59, after clocking a 4.63 at the combine. He also added three inches to his broad jump, as it went from 117 to 120.

Running back David Williams turned in the fastest 40-yard dash time, running in 4.52. He also benched 225 pounds 21 times, which would have ranked eighth among running backs at the NFL Combine.

Pro Day Results

Athlete Pos. Ht. Wt. Arm Hand Wing 10 20 40 SS LS 3 Cone Vertical Broad Jump Bench
Austin Allen QB 6’0 1/4″ 207 – – – – – – – – – – – –
De’Andre Coley DB 6’0 3/8″ 202 31 8’6 74 1.67 2.73 4.65 4.46 12.6 7.37 30 9’11” 10
Robert Decker LS 5’10 5/8″ 244 30 8’3 72 1.98 3.19 5.47 5.06 – 8.37 – – 10
Dwayne Eugene LB 5’11 3/8″ 227 33 10’4 79 1.72 2.8 4.81 4.5 12.06 7.34 31.5 9’11” 13
Bijhon Jackson DL 6’1 1/4″ 330 33 9’1 82 1.87 3.05 5.28 4.84 – 7.84 24 8’4″ 22
Josh Liddell DB 6’0 1/8″ 200 32 8’7 77 1.64 2.65 4.53 4.28 11.56 6.93 6 10’9″ 14
Frank Ragnow OL 6’4 7/8″ 308 32 9’2 79 1.74 2.91 4.99 4.45 – 8.04 33.5 9’7″ 27
Karl Roesler DL 6’0 7/8″ 232 30 9 75 1.73 2.83 5.03 4.5 – 7.25 – 8’11” –
Henre’ Toliver DB 6’0 7/8″ 187 30 9 74 1.62 2.64 4.59 4.32 – 7.03 25.5 10′ –
David Williams RB 6’0 1/8″ 224 30 9’1 72 1.62 2.64 4.52 4.52 12.46 7.55 30.5 9’6″ 21
Damon Mitchell WR 6’1 1/8″ 212 31 9’1 76 1.63 2.69 4.55 – – – – – –
Dominique Reed WR 6’1 5/8″ 175 32 8’5 78 1.69 2.82 4.81 – – – – – –
Toby Baker K 6’3 1/8″ 212 31 9’2 75 – – – – – – – – –
Knile Davis RB 5’11 1/” 234 29 8’3 71 1.64 2.61 4.58 – – – – – –

Brooks named field athlete of week; prepped for Texas Relays

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Senior Taliyah Brooks was named the SEC’s Co-Field Athlete of the Week following her record long jump at the Arkansas Spring Invitational this past weekend.

In her first outing since capturing the NCAA pentathlon title at the national indoor meet, Brooks led the long jump from start to finish.

The Razorback senior began her series with a wind-aided mark of 6.44m/21-1.5, which stood as the top jump until her final attempt of the day.

With the wind cooperating (+1.2), Brooks soared out to a 6.78m/22-3 measure which improved upon the previous record (21-4) by nearly one foot; she owned that mark, too.

Her mark is the best in the country this season by more than a foot.

“She had a terrific indoor season,” associate coach Chris Johnson said. “Coming off of her National Championship, we’re going to be a little more focused on individual events in the outdoor season. Obviously this weekend we’ll go to Texas looking for a national qualifier in the heptathlon.”

The Witchita Falls native owns Arkansas records in the indoor and outdoor long jump, the pentathlon and the heltathlon. Her mark is the longest in the SEC by 1-1.75.

Brooks shared the honor with Ole Miss’ Maddie McHugh who took first in the 800 meters at the Trailblazer Challenge.

Heptathlon Preview

Brooks opens up the Texas Relays on Wednesday with four of seven events in the heptathlon with the 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meter dash.

Brooks, who owns the record in the heptathlon, set the school record at the Texas Relays last season with 6,075 points.

That record held up until she scored 6,099 points in the heptathlon at the SEC Championships last May.

“Taliyah’s got the heptathlon this weekend,” said coach Lance Harter. “It starts tomorrow morning. It’s early but traditionally we’ve always done that.

“They’ve always produced great marks and that gives her a chance to catch her breath and focus on her open events and ultimately get ready for the SEC and national meet.”

10:30 a.m. Heptathlon Schedule
100 Meter Hurdles
High Jump
Shot Put
200 Meter Dash

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