Hogs coach Dave Van Horn said Thursday morning he hasn’t mentioned the No. 1 ranking with the team a single time, previewed weekend series.
Holt on Van Horn’s update on Opitz’s status, basketball surging
Democrat-Gazette writer Bob Holt talked on Halftime on Thursday about Dave Van Horn’s press conference plus strong basketball streak.
RECRUITING THURSDAY: Moody exceeding expectations
Democrat-Gazette’s Richard Davenport said on The Morning Rush freshman Moses Moody has managed to go beyond what was expected.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast: Case for Freshman of Year
Tye & Tommy on the SEC Freshman of the Year, Richard Davenport joins plus #NationalSnackDay!
Battle at quarterback in spotlight when Hogs start spring practice
K.J. Jefferson and Malik Hornsby are the two leading candidates for the quarterback spot, but there are other key things to be watching when spring drills start Tuesday, says Tom Murphy of the Democrat-Gazette.
Defense, chemistry obviously making trip with Hogs on road
Hawgs Illustrated’s Clay Henry pointed out on Halftime when you go on the road in college basketball defense, chemistry, two key things needed to be packed for trip.
Hogs lead field at home for NCAA Indoor Championship next week
No. 3 Arkansas leads the men’s NCAA Indoor Championship field with a total of 18 entrants among 10 events for the event that will be hosted inside Randal Tyson Track Center on March 11-14.
It marks the most entries for the Razorbacks since 19 in 2013, when they claimed an NCAA Indoor championship.
In the weekly USTFCCCA national rating index, the Hogs remain No. 3 behind Oregon and LSU. The rest of the top 10 includes BYU, Georgia, Florida State, Florida, North Carolina A&T, Tennessee, and Texas Tech.
The leading entries following Arkansas include LSU and Oregon with 12 each, Florida (10), Alabama (9) and Florida State (9). Among entries by conference the SEC tops the field with 86, followed by Big 10 (32), Mountain Pacific (32), ACC (30), Big 12 (30), and Summit league (10).
The Razorbacks also lead the NCAA field in the number of events they will contest with 10, followed by nine for LSU, eight for Alabama, and three schools – Florida, Oregon, and Texas – at seven each.
For the third consecutive year the Razorbacks have qualified both the 4×400 and distance medley relay. Joining Arkansas with both relays in this year’s national meet are Alabama, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia Tech.
This marks the 11th consecutive season for the Razorback 4×400 relay to qualify, third best behind Texas A&M (16) and LSU (13). This is the third consecutive season for the Hog’s distance medley to advance.
With three entrants in the heptathlon, this marks the fifth consecutive year Arkansas has qualified in the combined event.
Information from Arkansas Communications is included in this story
Hogs will take record 25 athletes to NCAA Indoor Championships
No. 1 Arkansas produced a school record 25 entries for the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships, which are being held March 11-14 inside Randal Tyson Track Center.
The Razorbacks will contest 18 events over the three-day meet.
Previously, the highest entry mark for Arkansas has been 15, which occurred twice in recent years (2015 and 2019), which were national championship seasons for the Razorbacks, scoring 63 and 62 points, respectively.
Heading into the NCAA Indoor meet next week, the Hogs maintain a firm hold on the No. 1 position in the weekly USTFCCCA national rating index over Texas A&M, Texas, Georgia and Florida among the top five.
The next group among the top 10 include LSU, BYU, USC, Alabama, and Texas Tech.
Arkansas doubled the number of entries by any other school as Florida, Texas, and Texas A&M have a dozen each. They are followed by Georgia (11), LSU (9), and USC (9).
Among entries by conference the SEC leads with 99, followed by the ACC (40), Mountain Pacific (37), Big 12 (36), and Big 10 (22).
The Razorbacks have four entries in three separate events – 400, Mile and 3,000m. They also have four athletes who are entered in two individual events.
They include Jada Baylark (60|200), Kennedy Thomson (800|Mile), Katie Izzo (3000|5000), and G’Auna Edwards (Long Jump|Pentathlon).
For the second consecutive year Arkansas and Florida are the only two women’s teams to have qualified in both the 4×400 and distance medley relays.
The Razorbacks enter the NCAA Indoor with a collegiate-leading time in the distance medley relay as their 10:53.77 ranks second on the UA all-time list.
In the 4×400 relay, the school record performance of 3:28.50, which broke the 2005 SEC meet record, ranks second collegiately.
In the women’s history of the NCAA Indoor, dating back to 1983, no school has won both relays. The distance medley relay was contested starting in 1994, replacing the 4×800 relay. In 1984, Tennessee claimed the 4×400 as well as the 4×800 relay.
This marks the 21st consecutive year the Razorbacks have qualified an athlete in the pole vault and the eighth straight season Arkansas qualified multiple athletes in the pole vault.
In the past 15 years, the Razorbacks have advanced more than one vaulter into the NCAA Indoor on 14 occasions.
Matthews one of first three chosen for ‘Arnold Palmer Cup’
Brooke Matthews’ stellar 2020-21 continued on Wednesday afternoon, as she was one of three initial women’s golfers, and one of six golfers overall, chosen to take part in the Arnold Palmer Cup for the United States, announced today on Golf Channel.
Matthews was the only new selection for the United States team on the women’s side, joining Rachel Kuehn of Wake Forest and Allisen Corpuz of Southern California.
The event will take place from June 11-13, and will be hosted by Rich Harvest Farms. For both the men and the women’s teams, the remaining members will be selected the week of May 3.
Coach Shauna Taylor has a history of placing golfers into the event, as Matthews is now the fifth Razorback to be selected, joining Maria Fassi, Dylan Kim, Kaylee Benton and Alana Uriell.
Matthews is also no stranger to high stakes amateur events, as she has played in the US Amateur twice, while also taking part in the NW Arkansas Championship, an LPGA event in which she took 49th place in as an amateur in a field loaded with professional players.
At the collegiate level, Matthews has been excellent this season.
The Rogers native started off the season with a bang, winning the Blessings Collegiate Invitational over reigning SEC Player of the Year Ingrid Lindblad by five strokes.
She followed that up with a runner-up finish at the Ally at Old Waverly a few weeks after that.
All told so far this year, Matthews has played 10 of her 18 rounds under par this season, and finished both the BCI (-10) and the Ally (-7) well under par.
King on Walker being best college player he’s seen and it’s not close
Bill King of Nashville Sports Radio said on ESPN Arkansas’ Halftime with Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis on Wednesday afternoon.
