Hogs get pair in finals, podium finish
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On the first day of the Tennessee Diving Invitational, four Arkansas divers competed in the one-meter springboard, as two advanced to Wednesday’s finals, one earning a podium finish.
Freshman Brooke Schultz and senior Nicole Gillis earned a spot in the afternoon finals, with third (295.10) and sixth-place (275.70) finishes, respectively in the morning prelims.
Schultz would pace all Southeastern Conference divers to finish second in the 1m finals with a score of 325.70, falling only to Minnesota’s Sarah Bacon, who scored a 327.90. Gillis posted a score of 281.55 in the finals, good for seventh place.
“This is the type of high-quality competition we need to get us back into the swing of things after the holiday break,” said head coach Neil Harper. “Our Razorbacks competed well and are looking forward to competing again tomorrow.”
In the prelims, junior Marissa Green would finish 24th with a score of 231.60, while sophomore Caroline Welch scored a 196.50 for a 33rd-place showing.
Action from Knoxville will pick back up tomorrow with the three-meter prelims, beginning at 10 a.m.
SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
Wednesday, Jan. 3
1m Prelims
3rd – Schultz (295.10)
6th – Gillis (275.70)
24th – Green (231.60)
33rd – Welch (196.50)
1m Finals
2nd – Schultz (325.70)
7th – (281.55)
Thursday, Jan. 4
3m Prelims – 10:00 a.m.
3m Finals – 12:42 pm.
Friday, Jan. 5
Platform Finals – 10:00 a.m.
Hogs’ tennis starts dual match part of season at No. 18
TEMPE, Ariz. — Following a successful fall season, Arkansas will enter the dual match portion of the 2017-18 campaign as the nation’s No. 18 ranked team, announced by Oracle and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Wednesday.
One of nine SEC teams featured in the top 25, the Razorbacks’ No. 18 ranking is their highest since opening at No. 14 in 2009.
“We know that our successful fall season has us well positioned for a strong run this spring season,” coach Michael Hegarty said. “The excitement is high, and we look forward to growing throughout the spring to fulfill our potential.”
A national rankings panel voted on the top 25 teams, and will do so up to the ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championship in February. Upon the conclusion of the national event, team rankings will transition to the computerized system.
The 2018 campaign will mark the Razorbacks’ 15th season under Hegarty, who is the program’s all-time winningest coach with 197 victories and the 2017 Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year.
Arkansas will return the bulk of its 2017 roster that finished No. 19 in the final national rankings with an 18-10 (7-6 SEC) record.
Arkansas defeated 11 teams featured in the final national rankings, including No. 14 Auburn, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 21 LSU and No. 24 Tennessee, and held a spot in the top 20 in each of the last 10 weeks of the season.
Report says Chavis already ‘in and working’ for Hogs
If you’re wondering where Arkansas is with hiring John Chavis, there’s a report from FootballScoop.com that he apparently is already in Fayetteville.
no idea. Pure guess is they want to announce them all at the same time. He’s in & working for them.
— FootballScoop Staff (@FootballScoop) January 2, 2018
There are multiple reports across the world of college football saying it’s a done deal, but there has been no announcement from coach Chad Morris or anyone in Fayetteville.
Well, if we’re all going to start claiming titles now …
Central Florida is taking things into their own hands concerning the national championship in football.
They are hanging their own “National Champions” banner and declaring themselves the top team in the world of college football.
Perfection achieved. ????#ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/cLJb8MrJLw
— 2017 National Champions (@UCF_Football) January 3, 2018
UCF athletic director Danny White said Wednesday the program has decided to claim a national championship and will place a championship banner inside Spectrum Stadium to recognize its undefeated 2017 season.
The Knights beat Auburn 34-27 in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl to cap a 13-0 season, finishing as the only undefeated team in college football.
But because UCF doesn’t play in a Power 5 conference, it entered the bowl game ranked No. 12 by the College Football Playoff selection committee and was not given an opportunity to play for the national championship.
White told ESPN Radio’s Dan Le Batard on Tuesday that the school is planning a parade for the team. He initially told Orlando radio station 96.9 The Game about plans for the banner.
“If you take the long view of the history of college football, there’s an awful lot of national championships being claimed by universities that didn’t accomplish what we accomplished this year in those respective seasons, so we feel we’re more than justified to claim our first national championship, and we think it’ll be the first of many,” White told ESPN.
“I don’t think our kids should be penalized because we weren’t respected by the College Football Playoff committee, nor should our program be penalized because we weren’t around 20 or 30 years ago when people were claiming national championships left and right. We’re trying to build our program and we feel very strongly as the only undefeated team and having beat Auburn, who beat both teams competing for the national championship, that we have an extremely sound case to claim the crown.”
Maybe Arkansas should just claim a national title for 1977, too. For those too young to remember, the Razorbacks had lost only to No. 1 Texas, 13-7, in October, then ran the table, went to the Orange Bowl and beat No. 2 Oklahoma, 31-6.
The winner in the wire service polls that year was Notre Dame after the Irish beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl and jumped all the way from fifth to No. 1, leapfrogging No. 3 Alabama, who beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
That left a bunch of teams with one loss for the season and Notre Dame took the top spot followed by Alabama and Arkansas, then Texas.
Based on what Central Florida is doing (and what Oklahoma State did recently awarding itself a national championship from the 1940’s or something), then the Hogs might as well give themselves one for that magical 1977 season.
KNWA VIDEO: Macon, Anderson after loss
VIDEO COURTESY OF KNWA
Arkansas’ Daryl Macon and Mike Anderson talked with the media after the Razorbacks’ loss in Starkville to Mississippi State on Tuesday night.
