Sweeps in pole vault, heptathlon power powers Hogs’ first day

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Full Results (PDF) | Heptathlon Results (PDF)

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Behind sweeps in the heptathlon and pole, Arkansas women’s track and field program took a big step towards capturing its 10th straight SEC title Friday with a 65-point day at the 2017 SEC Outdoor Championships.

The Razorbacks, who are also seeking their third consecutive SEC triple crown, will enter Saturday with a 43-point lead on Alabama (30) in second place.

Arkansas jumped into the lead thanks to 29 points in the heptathlon, as Razorbacks occupied the top four spots in the standings. In all, Arkansas’ five heptathletes won six of the seven events and combined to set 11 individual PRs.

Entering the day with a 79-point lead, redshirt junior Taliyah Brooks became the sixth Razorback and first since 2013 to win the SEC heptathlon. Brooks built on her own program record with 6,099 points via two wins and four PRs.

Already with a win in the high jump on Thursday, Brooks opened Friday by taking the long jump with a new personal-best of 21-0. The Wichita Falls, Texas, native was the only heptathlete in the field to finish in the top six of all seven events.

“I’m really excited to win the title, but I’m really happy with how the last two days went for all of us,” said Brooks. “I think this shows how strong we are as a multi group.”

Junior Payton Stumbaugh also surpassed 6,000 points en route to a second place finish behind Brooks.

Stumbaugh led the field with three wins out of the seven events, taking the 100-meter hurdles, 200 meters and 800 meters to close things out. Her 6,023 points are a new PR.

Senior Leigha Brown established four individual PRs and won the shot put to post 5,852 points for third place. Sophomore Kelsey Herman added another PR to her total on Friday to finish with three over the two days. She rounded out the Razorbacks in the top four spots with 5,820 points.

“To go one through four in the heptathlon is a precedent that’s never been duplicated and it may never be repeated,” coach Lance Harter said. “To have two over 6,000 points on the same team is rarefied air. That gives us a lot of confidence going into the national meet.”

Weather in the area delayed the start of the evening session by 35 minutes, but not until after the Arkansas trio of pole-vaulters had nearly completed their warm-ups.

The delay did not seem to bother the sophomore superstars, as Lexi Weeks, Tori Weeks and Desiree Freier were the last three left in the field after clearing 14-4.

Arkansas was the last SEC program to finish 1-3 in the pole vault in 2013.

“Coach Compton is back to his old ways,” said Harter with a smile. “The kid’s did a great job dealing with the wind that was in their face. That was a pleasant serenade to go 1-2-3. It was great coaching and that’s a group of tremendous athletes.”

Lexi and Tori Weeks each cleared 14-7 1/4 on their first try and moved the bar up to 15-1 1/2 in an attempt to take over the national lead.

Battling swirling winds, neither was able to get over the national-leading height, giving Lexi her second career SEC Outdoor title due to lower number of misses.

Lexi’s SEC Championship is the third of her career and marked the seventh straight SEC title for Arkansas pole-vaulters dating back to the 2014 outdoor championships. Tori won the SEC Indoors in late February.

The 29-point barrage in the heptathlon followed by the 24 points in the pole vault did not mean the Razorbacks were done for the day.

In the final event of the night, the 3000-meter steeplechase duo of junior Regan Ward and freshman Rachel Nichwitz combined for 12 points to cap the monster day.

Both established PRs with Ward posting a time of 10:08.23 to take second place and earn All-SEC second team honors. Nichwitz (10.21.04) bested her PR by nearly 13 seconds to take fifth place and score four points.

Team Standings
1. Arkansas – 73
2. Alabama – 30
3. Ole Miss – 27.5
4. Kentucky – 27
4. Georgia – 27
6. Tennessee – 21
7. Missouri – 13
7. Florida – 13
9. Texas A&M – 9
10. South Carolina – 8
11. Mississippi State – 7
12. Auburn – 6
12. LSU – 6
14. Vanderbilt – 5.5

Heptathlon
1. Taliyah Brooks – 6,099 points – Arkansas Record & PR
2. Payton Stumbaugh – 6,023 points – PR
3. Leigha Brown – 5,852 points – PR
4. Kelsey Herman – 5,820 points – PR
10. Ashlee Moore – 5,293 points

Pole Vault
1. Lexi Weeks – 14-7¼
2. Tori Weeks – 14-7¼
3. Desiree Freier – 14-4

Long Jump
13. Taliyah Brooks – 19-9

3000 Meter Steeplechase
2. Regan Ward – 10:08.23 – PR
5. Rachel Nichwitz – 10:21.04 – PR

Moving On
After collecting eight points with her runner-up finish in the heptathlon earlier in the day, Stumbaugh advanced through the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries and into Saturday’s final by taking the top non-automatic qualifying spot with a time of 13.24.

The 2017 SEC Indoor champ in the 400 meters, senior Daina Harper made it look easy in the first heat of the 400 meters with a time 51.36. Harper’s time held up as the top 400 time of the night, as she entered the weekend with the top time in the conference that posted at SEC Relays.

110 Meter Hurdle Prelims
7. Payton Stumbaugh – 13.24q
14. Kelsey Herman – 13.71

100 Meter Prelims
13. Jada Baylark – 11.40
19. Kiara Parker – 11.55

400 Meter Prelims
1. Daina Harper – 51.36Q
20. Sydney Hammit – 54.81 – PR
24. Sunkietra McCallister – 55.04

1,500 Meter Prelims
2. Carina Vijoen – 4:21.41Q
4. Nikki Hiltz – 4:21.66Q
10. Therese Haiss – 4:25.33Q

Complete Heptathlon Results
Taliyah Brooks
2. 100 Hurdles – 13.14 (1103 points) – PR
1. High Jump – 5-10¾ (978 points)
4. Shot Put – 39-4 (660 points) – PR
2. 200 Meters – 23.88 (992 points) – PR
1. Long Jump – 21-0 (975 points) – PR
6. Javelin – 119-5 (598 points)
5. 800 Meters – 2:22.9 (793 points)

Payton Stumbaugh
1. 100 Hurdles – 13.00 (1124 points)
5. High Jump – 5-7¼ (867 points)
8. Shot Put – 36-4¼ (600 points)
1. 200 Meters – 23.22 (1057 points) – PR
2. Long Jump – 20-0¼ (880 points)
3. Javelin – 122-4 (615 points)
1. 800 Meters – 2:15.91 (880 points)

Leigha Brown
5. 100 Hurdles – 13.57 (1040 points) – PR
3. High Jump – 5-8½ (903 points)
1. Shot Put – 43-8 (748 points) – PR
5. 200 Meters – 24.19 (963 points) – PR
7. Long Jump – 18-11¼ (780 points) – PR
7. Javelin – 115-11 (578 points)
3. 800 Meters – 2:18.81 (840 points)

Kelsey Herman
3. 100 Hurdles – 13.45 (1058 points)
2. High Jump – 5-9¾ (941 points) – PR
5. Shot Put – 39-0½ (654 points) – PR
3. 200 Meters – 23.91 (989 points)
4. Long Jump – 19-8¾ (853 points)
8. Javelin – 115-11 (578 points) – PR
10. 800 Meters – 2:25.76 (747 points)

Ashlee Moore
7. 100 Hurdles – 13.70 (1021 points)
6. High Jump – 5-6 (830 points)
7. Shot Put 36-10¼ (610 points)
11. 200 Meters – 25.45 (846 points)
3. Long Jump – 19-10¼ (865 points)
5. Javelin – 120-7 (605 points)
13. 800 Meters – 2:45.11 (516 points)

Razorbacks’ win over Commodores in pictures

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Here are the best photos from the Hogs’ walk-off winner against Vanderbilt on Friday night.

Luke Bonfield comes up big for Hogs against Commodores

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas’ Luke Bonfield breaks down his huge walk-off single clinching a close victory for his team over Vanderbilt.

Arkansas falls in opening SEC Tournament game to Alabama

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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• Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Redshirt senior Nicole Schroeder hit her 16th home run to break the program’s single-season home run record but the Razorbacks lost to 16th-ranked Alabama, 4-1, in Wednesday’s first round of the SEC Tournament.

Ashley Diaz registered her 13th multi-hit game of the season and Loren Krzysko extended her on-base streak to 15-straight games in the setback. Arkansas sits at 31-22 with an RPI ranking of No. 30 heading into Sunday’s Selection Show.

“(Alabama) played a good game,” coach Courtney Deifel said. “It’s always a good battle when you play Alabama, but I’m proud of my girls. I think we had some early game jitters, and I think once we settled in we really gave them a game, but it was a little too late.”

Trailing by three runs after two innings, Arkansas put together its first scoring threat in the top of the third after back-to-back singles by Katie Warrick and Ashley Diaz to lead off the frame.

After a sacrifice bunt by Shelby Hiers, the Razorbacks had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out but Alabama (41-15) got out of the jam with a play at the plate and fly out to shallow center field. Warrick has a hit in five of her last six games played.

Autumn Storms worked her first 1-2-3 inning with a trio of ground-ball outs in the bottom of the third, and Schroeder cut into Arkansas’ deficit with a two-out solo shot to left field.

With the record-setting big fly, Schroeder broke the tie atop the program’s single-season home run list she previously shared with Jessica Bachkora (2007-10) and Devon Wallace (2012-15). With the home run, Schroeder also moved into second on the single-season list with her 48th RBI of the year.

After giving up three runs in the first, Storms steadied and held the tournament’s No. 5 seed to just one run on five hits over the next five innings.

The Crimson Tide picked up its final run with a Bailey Hemphill home run in the fourth inning. Arkansas had a runner on base in each of the last five innings including Krzysko who led off the sixth with a hit up the middle.

The redshirt junior has at least one hit in 14 of the last 17 games.

Up Next

The Razorbacks now await their NCAA fate that will be determined Sunday during the NCAA Softball Selection Show which will air at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.

Arkansas is seeking the program’s seventh NCAA Regional appearance.

Williams won’t return to Razorbacks after second neurological injury

Andy Hodges
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You had the feeling when Rawleigh Williams went down in the final spring practice and didn’t bounce back up that his career with the Razorbacks might be over.

Now it is.

Per a letter posted to Arkansas’ sports website Monday morning, Williams told fans he was not going to return.

“It still doesn’t seem real yet, but I really don’t have a choice. I’ve dodged the bullet twice. I realize that at the end of the day I want to live a normal life and be around my family.”

Frankly, it was surprising to some he came back after the first injury, suffered in October 2015. That injury scared the beejesus out of everybody, including Bret Bielema.

He made it back, though. All the way back. He led the Hogs with 1,403 yards rushing last season.

Everyone was looking to bigger things this year.

“It still doesn’t seem real yet, but I really don’t have a choice. I’ve dodged the bullet twice. I realize that at the end of the day I want to live a normal life and be around my family.”

That’s pretty much the feeling the fans will have for a while.

Williams made the right decision, though. It was reported his parents didn’t want him playing after the first injury.

“The first thing I thought when it all happened was the reaction of my mom, dad, sister and brother. I didn’t want them to go through this all over again.”

As with any neurological injury, it doesn’t take as big of a hit after the first injury. Williams had been told this. He knew the risks and played all last season with that risk.

But when he basically bumped into McElvin Agim in the final practice and went down, he knew it was real.

“I’ve seen the replay. I saw a normal hit. That scared me. It shows me it doesn’t take a big hit at this point. Any little thing can trigger it. I also saw the reaction of my mom and my sister. That broke my heart. I can’t do this anymore. I want to be able to walk.”

He made the right decision.

And no one should argue with it.

SEC Softball Plays of the Year

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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SEC Network highlights the most eye-catching plays from the regular season.

Bracket breakdown: SEC Softball Tournament

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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SEC Network’s Peter Burns and Kayla Braud take a look at the SEC Softball Tournament bracket.

Razorbacks open play in SEC Softball Tournament against Tide

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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• 2017 SEC Tournament bracket

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ return to postseason play begins Wednesday against Alabama in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The 5-12 matchup will serve as the opening game of the tournament with first pitch set for 11 a.m. at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, home of the Tennessee Volunteers.

The game will be televised on the SEC Network and streamed live through the WatchESPN app.

Arkansas is making the program’s 10th overall appearance at the SEC Tournament and first since the 2013 season. Under second-year coach Courtney Deifel, the Razorbacks closed out the regular season with a 31-21 record which marks a 14-game improvement from last year’s mark.

Arkansas’ seven conference wins this season equals the team’s combined efforts from the previous three seasons.

The Razorbacks secured their spot in the SEC Tournament with a 6-2 win over Georgia in Friday’s series opener.

Through its regular-season schedule, Arkansas launched an SEC-leading 56 home runs which currently stands as the fifth-highest total in program history heading into Wednesday’s game against Alabama.

Razorbacks fall in regular-season finale against Georgia

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Arkansas honored all the seniors with the softball program in pregame ceremonies on Sunday before the regular-season finale.

• Box Score

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas closed out its regular season with a 10-0 loss to Georgia Sunday afternoon at Bogle Park.

A.J. Belans tallied her team-leading 12th double of the season and Loren Krzysko extended her on-base streak to 14-consecutive games.

The Razorbacks will enter next week’s SEC Tournament with a 31-21 overall record under second-year coach Courtney Deifel, a 14-game improvement from last season.

Prior to Sunday’s game, Arkansas celebrated its senior and graduating class of Parker Pocklington, Marley Harmon, Betina Beringhele, Grace Moll, Stephanie Canfield, Kylie Smith, Shelby Hiers, Nicole Schroeder and manager Katie Magness. The team also recognized its opponent with a flower for Georgia’s seniors.

Trailing 3-0 through four and a half, the Razorbacks put together their first scoring threat of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Madison Yannetti drew a one-out walk, and after a Georgia error at shortstop, the home team had runners on second and third with one out.

However, the would-be rally was cut short with a fly out to right field and ground ball to short. Prior to the fifth, Arkansas’ lone base runner came courtesy of a walk to Ashley Diaz in the third frame.

Georgia (33-21, 6-18 SEC) added two more runs in the top of the sixth to push its advantage to 5-0. The Razorbacks looked to respond with another rally in the home half of the inning that started with a walk to Krzysko.

On the first offering in her at-bat against reliever Kylie Bass, Belans lined a double to left center for Arkansas’ first hit of the game and to put two runners in scoring position for a second-straight inning. The visitors got out of the jam with a fly ball to right field.

The Bulldogs tacked on five more runs in the top of the seventh inning to cushion its lead. Sunday’s finale marked the first time Arkansas has given up double-digit runs this season.

Cortni Emanuel paced Georgia’s offense with three hits and two runs scored in the game.

Up Next

With a win in Friday’s series opener against Georgia, the Razorbacks secured a spot in next week’s SEC Tournament which begins Wednesday in Knoxville, Tenn.

Seeding and game information will be announced following the day’s slate of league games.

In addition to online coverage, the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament will be televised on the SEC Network with the semifinals and final airing on ESPNU and ESPN, respectively.

Georgia playing best softball in weeks

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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SEC Network’s Dari Nowkhah and Kayla Braud examine Georgia’s strong win over Arkansas and what it means for the postseason.

Fletcher, Stephan lift Arkansas to split doubleheader with Vols

ESPN Arkansas News Services
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Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Freshman Dominic Fletcher’s solo home run in the fifth inning was all Arkansas needed to split a double-header with Tennessee Saturday afternoon.

His homer, coupled with a great performance on the mound by junior Trevor Stephan, gave Arkansas the 2-0 victory in seven innings over the Volunteers, its 14th conference win of the year.

Stephan was locked in from first pitch striking out the side in the first and third innings. He ended up tallying 11 strikeouts over a complete seven innings, his third outing of 10 or more strikeouts this season, joining Blaine Knight with three outings of 10+ strikeouts this year.

It’s also the first complete game shutout by a Razorback pitcher this year and first since Zach Jackson pitched a complete game shutout in seven innings at Kentucky on April 23, 2016.

As for Fletcher, the freshman was nearly unstoppable at the plate in both games of the double-header, going 5-for-7 at the plate with two home runs on the day.

He now has eight homers on the year, which leads all freshmen in the SEC.

The victory for the Hogs is key for them to stay in the hunt for the SEC Western Division as their 14 conference wins keeps them just a game and a half back of leader Mississippi State and just a half game behind second-place Auburn.

Game 1: Tennessee 5, Arkansas 4 (Box Score)

A fielding error by Chad Spanberger in the sixth inning allowed the go-ahead runs to score for Tennessee and ended up being the difference as the Volunteers won the recently suspended game, 5-4, in nine innings.

The lead changed hands three times with Arkansas holding the advantage on two separate occasions.

However, once starting pitcher Blaine Knight was taken out of the game, sophomore Jake Reindl was brought in to try and continue the success that Knight had going.

Two runners reached for Tennessee before the one-out error allowed the two runs to come home unearned.

Fletcher provided much of the offense for the Hogs after going 3-for-4, including a home run in the sixth.

At the time, his homer put the Hogs ahead 4-3, but was the last time Arkansas could push a run across over the final four innings.

The three-hit game breaks Fletcher out of a 2-for-15 (.133) slump he had coming in dating back to the second game of the Auburn series (April 22). It was also his first home run since March 26 against Missouri.

The series opener began on Thursday before the rains moved through the Knoxville area all Thursday night and through Friday. The game finally resumed Saturday morning at 9 a.m. CT, more than 36 hours after it was suspended.

Arkansas had the early 1-0 lead thanks to the base-running of Jared Gates on Thursday after he reached on a one-out single. He, then, moved around the bases on a wild pitch and a failed pick off by Tennessee pitcher Hunter Martin before scoring on, yet, another wild pitch.

Upon resuming the game two days later, neither team made a change to its lineup, including bringing back both starting pitchers. After a hitless first inning Thursday, Knight returned to the mound for the Razorbacks, but had trouble early on. Three runs scored for the Volunteers in the second inning off Knight, two from a double by Jeff Moberg.

Knight was able to settle in, however, retiring nine of the final 10 batters he faced over the third through fifth innings and the Hog offense did its job to tie the game with two runs in the fifth and re-take the lead with a lone run in the sixth.

It ended up being a good five innings of work for Knight, allowing just three runs, all in the second inning. It was his second straight start of five innings or more, but he wound up with the no-decision after the bullpen couldn’t hold the one-run lead in the sixth.

Game 2: Arkansas 2, Tennessee 0 (Box Score)

After fighting through the rain over three straight days, the Hogs and Vols finally caught a break in the second game of the double-header Saturday as the weather finally subsided for the first time all weekend.

Stephan did everything he could to make sure the Hogs got a quality outing from its starting pitching, especially with the good weather.

The seven innings was the junior’s longest outing since going seven strong against LSU back on April 8, where he only gave up two runs on five hits, while striking out seven.

The shutout with one hit allowed and 11 strikeouts marked his best overall outing since going 8.1 innings against Rhode Island on March 10, where he struck out 13 batters and only gave up two hits.

Only four batters combined between both teams reached base in the first four innings. However, Fletcher changed all of that with his monstrous home run over the right field wall in the fifth to light up the scoreboard and give the Razorbacks the 1-0 lead.

Arkansas got an insurance run in the top of the seventh after Carson Shaddy doubled to lead off the inning. He was later brought around to score on an Eric Cole single up the middle. It was Cole’s only hit of the game and Shaddy finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Up Next

Arkansas gets back to Baum Stadium next week for its final regular-season series of the 2017 season when it welcomes Vanderbilt for a three-game set starting on Friday, May 12 at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network.

It will be Senior Weekend for Razorback seniors Alex Gosser, Josh Alberius, Dominic Taccolini, Jake Arledge, and Cannon Chadwick. All seniors will be honored prior to the series finale on May 14.

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