Hogs’ men’s team faces tough field at NCAA West Prelims

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Looking westward for the remainder of the season, Arkansas travels to the Golden State to take part in the NCAA West Prelims in California’s capital city.

The regional competition, which spans over three days, will feature the 48 most talented student-athletes (per event) in the West. Student-athletes earn their trips to Eugene, Oregon, perpetual hosts of the NCAA Outdoor Championships by finishing among the top-12.

Although the Razorbacks finished third at the 2018 SEC Outdoor Championships, the resilient group heads into the West Preliminary meet with the most entries in the country at 37.

“Right now it’s about getting the job done at the NCAA Preliminary Round,” said assistant coach Travis Geopfert.

“We’re headed to Sacramento with 37 entries, so we have a lot of guys going. They’re excited, we just have to go out there and flat out get it done,” Geopfert continued.

Fans can follow the action through the live results link or tune in to the FloTrack.org live stream daily by using the links above (subscription required). Fans can also participate in the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #ncaaTF.

Arkansas’ NCAA West Event Schedule
Thursday, May 24 
Running Events
4:30 p.m. – Men’s 400m Hurdles First-Round (Mowatt, Chambers, Donald)
5:30 p.m. – Men’s 1,500m First-Round (Griffith, Moehn)
6:30 p.m. – Men’s 100m First-Round (Cotton)
7:20 p.m. – Men’s 400m First-Round (Igbokwe, Stephen)
9:00 p.m. – Men’s 10,000m Semifinal Round (Dalquist, Boit, Murphy, Young)

Field Events
12:00 p.m. – Men’s Hammer Throw (Sullins)
4:30 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump (Schrage, Owens, Narin)

Friday, May 25 
Running Events
4:30 p.m. – Men’s 110m Hurdles First-Round (Donald)
5:30 p.m. – Men’s 400m Quarterfinal (Qualifiers)
6:00 p.m. – Men’s 100m Quarterfinal (Qualifiers)
7:00 p.m. – Men’s 400m Hurdles Quarterfinal (Qualifiers)
7:30 p.m. – Men’s 200m First-Round (Cotton, Ejiakuekwu, Harris)
8:20 p.m. – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase Quarterfinal (Hosting)

Field Events
12:00 p.m. – Men’s Discus (Sullins)

Saturday, May 26 
Running Events
6:00 p.m. – Men’s 4x100m Quarterfinal (Arkansas)
6:30 p.m. – Men’s 1,500m Quarterfinal (Qualifiers)
7:05 p.m. – Men’s 110m Hurdles Quarterfinal (Qualifiers)
7:35 p.m. – Men’s 200m Quarterfinal (Qualifiers)
8:05 p.m. – Men’s 5000m Semifinal (Bruce, Boit, Dalquist, Griffith)
9:25 p.m. – Men’s 4x400m Quarterfinal (Arkansas)

Field Events
12:00 p.m. – Men’s Javelin (Springer)
4:00 p.m. – Men’s High Jump (Owens, Rivera)
7:30 p.m. – Men’s Triple Jump (Owens)

Deifel on preparation for Sooners, connections to OU

Arkansas coach Courtney Deifel met with the media Wednesday to talk about the team’s appearance in the Super Regional at Oklahoma this weekend.

Hogs headed to NCAA West prelims in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After weeks of training in the fall, an entire indoor season and a majority of the outdoor season completed, Arkansas heads into its penultimate collegiate competition, the NCAA West Preliminary Round (West Prelims) in Sacramento, California, May 24-26.

The regional competition, which spans over three days, will feature the 48 most talented student-athletes (per event) in the West. Student-athletes earn their trips to Eugene, Oregon, perpetual hosts of the NCAA Outdoor Championships by finishing among the top-12 in each event.

Arkansas travels to the west coast with 22 total NCAA qualifiers, 21 of which who have to earn their tickets to Eugene, Oregon by advancing out of the West Prelims.

The lone Razorback who has already secured entry to the NCAA Championships is Taliyah Brooks in the heptathlon.

“Right now I think we’re very healthy,” said coach Lance Harter.

“I think it’s a situation where we need to make sure that everyone keeps themselves ready to go and be able to handle the challenge at hand. The [NCAA] is divided in half (East-West),  so there’s a lot of great competition out there fighting for those 12 qualifying spots to Eugene, Oregon, it’s quite a challenge in every event,” Harter continued.

Cooper talks about closeness of Hogs big key to success

Arkansas outfielder Tori Cooper talked Wednesday about the closeness of the team that starts with a retreat and facing Oklahoma in Super Regional.

Haff named finalist for Freshman of the Year award

FAYETTEVILLE — Whittled down from the initial list of 25, Arkansas pitcher Mary Haff has been named a top-three finalist for 2018 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year.

The Winter Haven, Florida, native leads the SEC and ranks second nationally with 29 wins and has helped the Razorbacks reach the program’s first-ever trip to an NCAA Super Regional.

The Haff Rèsumè

• Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Top-Three Finalist

• NFCA All-South Region Second Team

• SEC All-Tournament Team

• All-SEC Second Team

• SEC All-Freshman Team

• Three-time SEC Freshman of the Week

With Arkansas hosting its first NCAA Regional, Haff tallied three victories in the circle without allowing a run in 18.2 innings.

She posted a pair of complete-game shutouts in the Razorbacks’ wins over DePaul and Wichita State, and in the regional final, she struck out seven and allowed just two hits in 4.2 innings of relief in a second appearance against the Shockers.

“She just has a lot of guts, and she’s a consistent fighter for us,” coach Courtney Deifel said after Sunday’s win over Wichita State. “It’s that point in the season when you don’t count pitches anymore. Tired isn’t in your vocabulary. You just do what you need to for your team to win, and that’s exactly what Mary did this weekend.”

Through 43 appearances during her freshman campaign, Haff has tallied a 29-6 record in the circle to go along with a 1.35 ERA and 246 strikeouts in 207.2 innings of work.

She has 19 complete games, is tied for 11th in the NCAA with 11 shutouts and is holding opposing hitters to a .152 batting average. Haff, who has walked just 41 this season, has 11 outings this year with at least seven strikeouts coupled with one or fewer walks.

Earlier this season, Haff threw the seventh no-hitter in program history in a 9-0 win over Northern Colorado (March 2) during the Razorback Invitational at Bogle Park.

She added 12 strikeouts in the performance against the Bears. Additionally, Haff has registered seven one-hitters this season.

Haff is joined in the top three by Oklahoma’s Jocelyn Alo and Michigan’s Meghan Beaubien. The National Freshman of the Year will be announced May 29 at the Women’s College World Series banquet.

With its 3-0 run through the NCAA Fayetteville Regional, the No. 13 national seed will now travel to play two-time defending national champion Oklahoma.

The best-two-of-three series begins Friday in Norman with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. on ESPN2.

UPDATE: Henry to get second opinion today in Los Angeles

VIDEO FROM ESPN.COM
Former Razorback Hunter Henry is likely done for the year, but there is still a glimmer of hope for Los Angeles Chargers fans with a second opinion coming today.

ESPN.com’ Eric D. Williams wrote about the injury after the Chargers’ OTA workouts Tuesday:

Entering his third season, Henry was being counted on to develop into a focal point of the offense as the Chargers opted not to bring back future Hall of Fame tight end Antonio Gates in free agency.

Now, a Gates return could be in store, as the Chargers are expected to consider re-signing the 37-year-old, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Henry’s injury occurred early in practice during team drills, as he limped off the field on his own. Once treated by trainers, Henry remained on the sideline for the rest of the session.

Afterward, Chargers coach Anthony Lynn suggested Henry’s injury was not serious.

“He’s fine,” Lynn said. “We just held him back because we can.”

Henry has had a couple of other injuries in his two seasons in the NFL. He injured a knee and missed a game his rookie year and missed the last two games last season with a lacerated kidney.

Chargers general manager Tom Telesco told reporters during the draft that they decided to part ways with Gates because his targets would be limited and the team wanted to expand Henry’s role.

However, Gates already has a good rapport with quarterback Philip Rivers, intimately knows the offense and showed during the last two games of the 2017 season (10 catches, 127 yards, TD) that he can still make plays.

The Chargers signed Virgil Green to a three-year, $8.6 million deal this offseason to serve as the team’s blocking tight end.

Sean Culkin, Ben Johnson and Cole Hunt are the other tight ends on the team’s 90-man roster, so depth at that position is an issue.

Former Hog Henry suffers ACL tear at Chargers’ OTA

Los Angeles Chargers tight end Hunter Henry suffered a torn ACL during OTAs on Tuesday, the team announced.

Henry suffered the season-ending injury during a drill, going down untouched while running downfield, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He will have a second opinion Wednesday, the source said.

It’s a significant loss for the Chargers, who was set to assume the main pass-catching role with Antonio Gates not on their roster for the first time since 2003.

Henry had 45 catches for 579 yards and four TDs in 2017, his second season out of Arkansas. He averaged 12.9 yards per reception last season, the third-most among tight ends behind only Rob Gronkowski (15.7) and Vernon Davis (15.1).

Gates, meanwhile, remains unsigned.

QB transfers hot topic right now, but no Hogs … yet

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In case you haven’t been paying attention the last couple of days, quarterback transfers has been the hot topic.

That’s because, well, it’s the thing they do these days if they don’t like the way things are working out where they are.

Or, in the case of Shea Patterson leaving Ole Miss for Michigan, suddenly discovering he didn’t want to be around the Rebels after the NCAA investigation finally concluded. Of course that was ongoing when he signed with Ole Miss.

Naturally it had nothing to do with the emergence of Jordan Ta’amu who took over when Patterson was injured and promptly had a passing efficiency of 164.5, with nearly a 3-to-1 touchdowns to interceptions ratio. As much as the Rebels fling it around, that’s not bad.

At Arkansas, everyone is already assuming SOMEBODY’s going to be transferring after North Panola, Mississippi, quarterback K.J. Jefferson committed to the Razorbacks last week.

Don’t get confused. South Panola is the long-established powerhouse high school program in that region and North Panola is just a 3A school, but Jefferson has put that program on the map.

The quarterback room in Fayetteville is going to get crowded.

Let’s see, in the spring you had Cole Kelley, Ty Storey and Daulton Hyatt are on scholarship while Carson Proctor and Jack Lindsey are walk-ons.

Interestingly, it’s Lindsey that apparently picked up the offense quickest, even being told to quit having the answers before everybody else in quarterback meetings, according to one insider.

Others have said incoming freshmen Connor Noland and John Stephen Jones already know the offense and have won championships with it.

“Connor’s been running that identical offense for years,” said one person close to the Greenwood football program.

That’s at least seven guys vying for the quarterback spot. Storey will be a redshirt junior and Kelley a redshirt sophomore. In today’s world of transfers, Storey might do a graduate transfer situation if he’s not happy, but Kelly is between a rock and a hard spot unless he’s graduating soon.

There are some that feel Noland and Jones are better than anybody on the roster right now. In case you’re wondering, that’s not coming from the Razorback staff, but people who do a lot more evaluating than me.

From what I’ve seen of both, though, they do look better suited for Chad Morris’ offense.

Kelley hasn’t shown he can run it and Storey isn’t fluent in it. Hyatt showed some running ability, but it’s critical in the offense to be able to make the proper reads quickly and be able to utilize the passing part of the RPO equation.

Players-only practices will be starting in a couple of weeks. Noland admitted after Greenwood’s state championship baseball win Saturday he’s not in football shape because he didn’t lift a lot of weights during baseball season.

Don’t read too much into that. The guess here is he’ll be ready by August.

While I can’t speak for everybody else, I’m guessing there will be at least one direct and two indirect questions every media avail when practices start.

We probably won’t get any answers.

Unless somebody decides to transfer in August.

Which is not unprecedented in these matters.