TAT: Razorbacks Earn 7th Seed in SEC

This article originally appeared in the March 12, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

The Arkansas men’s basketball team is seeded seventh in the 2013 Southeastern Conference Tournament that begins Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

They received a first round bye and will face the 10th seed, Vanderbilt, in the second round Thursday.

This is the second year that the SEC has used a one-division format for basketball. Last year, the Razorbacks were the ninth seed with a 6-10 record in the SEC and lost to LSU in the first round.

The Commodores were the third seed last season and won the tournament. It was their second SEC title in school history.

Vanderbilt comes into this year’s tournament with an 8-10 conference record, while Arkansas is 10-8 in league play.

The teams split their two regular season games. Arkansas won 56-33 at home Jan. 12 and the Commodores won 67-49 in Nashville Feb. 9.

The winner of the Arkansas-Vanderbilt game will move on to the quarterfinals and face second seeded Kentucky, who receives a double bye because they finished in the top four of the conference.

No. 13 Florida is the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament, finishing the season with a 14-4 conference record. Each of their four losses came on the road, including one at Bud Walton Arena against the Razorbacks.

The other teams receiving a double bye are Ole Miss and Alabama, the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively.

The Rebels, Crimson Tide and Wildcats all finished with 12-6 SEC records, but Kentucky received the No. 2 seed by virtue of having the best record against the No. 1 seed, Florida. Ole Miss was awarded the No. 3 seed because they defeated Alabama in their only regular season matchup.

The first round of the tournament is Wednesday and it features two games. South Carolina and Mississippi State, the 12th and 13 seeds, respectively, will play, followed by Texas A&M and Auburn, the 11th and 14th seeds, respectively.

The winner of the first game will play fifth-seeded Tennessee and the winner of the second game will play sixth-seeded Missouri.

Georgia and LSU, the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds, respectively, will play in the other second round game Thursday.

The quarterfinals are Friday, with the semifinals Saturday and the championship game at noon Sunday on ABC.

Arkansas’ game against Vanderbilt is at 6:30 p.m. Friday. It will be televised on the SEC Network and streamed online on ESPN3.

TAT: Hogs Bounce Back With Sweep of Aztecs

This article originally appeared in the March 11, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler

The Arkansas baseball team rebounded following a four-loss weekend in Arizona by sweeping San Diego State in a four-game series at Baum Stadium over the weekend.

In a wild weekend of baseball, Razorback fans saw a complete game three-hitter by an opposing pitcher, a walk-off home run, a near no-hitter and head coach Dave Van Horn’s 1000th career victory.

Arkansas started the series with a 2-0 win over the Aztecs Thursday.

The Razorbacks scored both runs in the third inning. The first came with sophomore Brian Anderson at bat.

Senior Jacob Mahan attempted to steal second base, but when the catcher threw the ball down there, sophomore Brett McAfee ran home from third. Instead of tagging Mahan for the third out of the inning, San Diego State’s shortstop threw it back to the catcher, who couldn’t get the tag down on McAfee.

Anderson then hit an RBI double that scored Mahan.

That is all Arkansas got for the rest of the game as Aztecs’ sophomore Michael Cederoth retired the next 16 batters he faced. He finished with three walks, seven strikeouts and two earned runs while tossing an eight-inning complete game three-hitter on 114 pitches.

Freshman Colin Poche earned the win for the Razorbacks, going four innings and giving up three hits, striking out two and walking one. Junior Barrett Astin picked up the save.

Astin now has 15 career saves, which is tied with Bill Bakewell, who played from 1977-79, for second most saves in program history. Phillip Stidham had 33 saves from 1989-91.

The second game of the series ended on a walk-off home run by Joe Serrano with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

It was Serrano’s first home run as a Razorback and gave the Hogs the 4-3 win.

San Diego State sophomore Matt Munoz put the Atzecs on the board first with a two-run home run in the second inning.

Arkansas responded in the third as wild pitches and a fielding error by the second baseman allowed Serrano and Mahan to score.

An RBI-double in the fifth by San Diego State junior Brad Haynal broke the tie and knocked junior pitcher Ryne Stanek out of the game.

Freshman Tyler Spoon answered with an RBI-single in the seventh that tied the game and knocked out the Aztecs’ starting pitcher, junior Philip Walby.

By pitching the final 2.2 innings of the game, sophomore Jalen Beeks picked up his second win of the season.

Stanek and Walby each earned a no-decision and gave up three earned runs. Walby gave up six hits, four walks, had three strikeouts and threw 116 pitches in 6.1 innings. Stanek went 4.1 innings and gave up five hits, five walks and had five strikeouts.

Due to the threat of thunderstorms Sunday, Arkansas played a doubleheader Saturday.

The Razorbacks won game one of the doubleheader 8-2, led by freshman Trey Killian, who didn’t give up a hit in seven innings of work, and earned Van Horn’s 1000th career victory as a head coach.

Killian was perfect through 5.2 innings before walking a batter. He was pulled after seven innings because of his pitch count and replaced by junior Colby Suggs, who lost the no-hitter with one out in the eighth.

Offensively, Arkansas had four batters with multiple hits. Mahan went 3-for-3, with a double and an RBI, and reached base twice on walks.

Anderson and sophomore Eric Fisher both went 2-for-4, while Anderson had two RBI and Fisher had a double.

Suggs gave up San Diego State’s only two hits and two earned runs of the game in 1.1 innings, before senior Tyler Wright came in to close out the game.

Aztec senior Ryan Doran took the loss, pitching five innings and giving up eight hits and three earned runs on 105 pitches.

The Razorbacks used a four-run seventh inning to win game two of the double header 4-1 and complete the four-game sweep.

San Diego State pulled their starting pitcher, senior Ethan Miller, after only 83 pitches, the fewest pitches thrown by an Aztec starter all weekend.

Arkansas made them pay, as their seven-, eight- and nine-hole batters each had RBIs in the seventh.

Fisher knocked in a run with a single, junior Jacob Morris hit a two-RBI triple and McAfee laid down a safety squeeze bunt to score the fourth run of the inning.

Miller took a no-decision and gave up three hits, one walk and struck out five. Freshman Bubba Derby took the loss for the Aztecs, giving up four earned runs on five hits.

Arkansas’ starter, senior Randall Fant, also took a no-decision. He went six innings, allowed four hits and struck out three.

Sophomore Michael Gunn earned the victory for the Razorbacks, tossing a perfect inning in the seventh. He was also 2-for-2 with a walk at the plate.

San Diego State managed to score a run off of Astin in the ninth inning, but that was all they could get.

Leading off the eighth inning with a single, freshman Tyler Spoon extended his hit streak to 16 games. He has collected a hit in every game of his career.

The Razorbacks return to action with a midweek two-game series against Alabama A&M beginning at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.

TAT: Razorbacks Finish 4th Nationally

This article originally appeared in the March 11, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

Arkansas’ women’s track and field team is still searching for their first national championship after finishing fourth at the 2013 Indoor National Championship Saturday.

The Razorbacks ended the meet with 42.5 team points, which was 13.5 behind the national champion, Oregon.

Nine athletes qualified for the meet and all but one finished in the top eight and scored points for the team.

Senior Makeba Alcide started things off for the Razorbacks Friday, clearing a height of 6-1 1/2 in the high jump. She tied Middle Tennessee State senior Ann Dudley for sixth in the event.

The only Razorback not to finish in the top eight of her event was senior Ivanque Kemp. Her 8.17 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles Friday was ninth in the preliminaries and .02 seconds from qualifying her for the finals.

Day one of the meet ended on a high note for the Razorbacks, as they finished third in the final event of the day, the distance medley. Their 11:00.23 time was bettered only by Michigan and Villanova.

Alcide competed in the pentathlon Saturday, finishing third with 4,327 points. She actually tied Arizona State senior Keia Pinnick for second, but because Pinnick had better head-to-head marks in three of the five events, Alcide had to settle for third.

Junior Sandi Morris and sophomore Tamara Myers picked up fourth-place finishes in the pole vault and triple jump, respectively, for the Razorbacks.

Morris cleared a height of 14-3 1/4, while Myers jumped a distance of 43-10 on her fifth jump, increasing her distance by 4.5 inches.

“Our triple jumper was the real upset. Myers was the ninth qualifier for the final and popped a big jump to move up to fourth,” head coach Lance Harter said. “Those were the points that were critical.”

Arkansas’ highest finish of the meet came in the 400. Senior Regina George came in second in the 400 with a time of 51.05. Georgia freshman Shaunae Miller edged her by a mere .17 seconds.

Junior Sparkle McKnight finished seventh in the 400 with a time of 52.52.

In the final race of the meet, Arkansas beat Texas by .28 seconds to win their heat of the 4×400 relay. However, their 3:30.63 was still .13 seconds behind Oregon.

“I felt like we had it won when I crossed the finish line,” said George, the final leg of the relay team. “The fans were great and the atmosphere had us feeling like we won it.”

Oklahoma senior Tia Brooks broke the NCAA record in the shot put by throwing a distance of 63-0 3/4. Her mark beat North Carolina’s Laura Gerraughty’s 63 feet from 2004.

Oregon won the title with 56 team points, with Kansas (44 points), LSU (43 points), Arkansas (42.5 points) and Central Florida (30 points) rounding out the top five teams.

“We had a great weekend,” Harter said. “We were seeded third and there was 1.5 points separating second and fourth place. We had one great performance after another.”

TAT: Razorbacks Back on Top

This article originally appeared in the March 11, 2013 issue of The Arkansas Traveler.

The Arkansas men’s track and field team won the 20th NCAA Indoor National Championship in school history, and its first since 2006, Saturday.

Arkansas won three individual events and had 11 other athletes place in the top eight. They finished with 74 team points, 15 ahead of second-place Florida.

While this is the Razorbacks’ 41st overall national championship in indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country, it is their first since head coach Chris Bucknam replaced John McDonnell.

“It was a tough nut to crack,” Bucknam said. “I hope our alumni and Coach (McDonnell) are happy with what we’ve done. We look at all the national championship banners (hanging from) the ceiling and our number one goal was to make them proud and show them that we were back.”

The three individual titles came in the heptathlon, pole vault and 4×400-meter relay. The Hogs also picked up points in the 200, 400, 800, 3,000, 5,000, high jump, long jump and triple jump.

Leading the heptathlon through the first six events, junior Kevin Lazas needed a strong performance in the 1,000 run to hold on to the victory.

He finished the race with a time of 2 minutes, 49 seconds and collapsed at the finish line. That time gave him the final 776 points of his 6,175 total points, which was 10 ahead of Wisconsin junior Japheth Cato.

If Lazas finished just one second slower, his point total would have been one shy of Cato’s.

“I gave it all I had,” Lazas said. “I didn’t have anything left. I even fell at the finish line. I was hurting, so when the scores came up, I got a spark of energy and cheered for a little bit then just laid back down.”

In the pole vault, sophomore Andrew Irwin failed to clear 18-4 1/2 twice before clearing the bar on his final attempt. He defended his 2012 indoor title by clearing the bar at a height of 18-8 1/4, his personal best.

“It’s nerve wracking when it comes down to the third attempt,” Irwin said. “I don’t like going to those third attempts, but sometimes you have to.”

Friday, the Razorbacks were in fourth place with a lap and a half to go in the distance medley when junior Kemoy Campbell dropped the baton. They finished ninth in the race and didn’t earn any points.

When Campbell stepped onto the track Saturday, he only needed to finish third or better to clinch the championship for Arkansas. However, this was a long shot because he was seeded 15th out of the 16 runners.

He finished second with a time of 7:46.95.

“(Campbell) dug down and really got after it,” Bucknam said. “I think he indoctrinated himself as a true Hog. He knew we needed the points and he went out and got it done.”

Despite the outcome of the meet no longer being in question, Arkansas’ 4×400 relay team ended it with an exclamation point. They won the race and broke the NCAA record with a time of 3:03.50.

“It was the most intensity we’ve ever had,” said Anton Kokorin, the runner of the second leg of the relay team. “Knowing that we had it won before the race, we still wanted to go out and show that we were national champions in the 4×400.”

In the 200, seniors Akheem Gauntlett and Marek Niit finished fourth and seventh, respectively. Gauntlett had a time of 20.67 seconds, while Niit finished in 20.89 seconds.

Freshman Tomas Squella and sophomore Patrick Rono placed sixth and seventh in the 800, respectively. Squella ran a 1:49.20 and Rono ran a 1:50.84.

The Razorbacks also had two athletes place in the long jump, with junior Raymond Higgs finishing third and freshman Jarrion Lawson finishing fourth. They had distances of 26 1/4 and 26-0, respectively.

Arkansas’ other top finishers were senior Tarik Batchelor in the triple jump (53-11 1/4), senior Anton Kokorin in the 400 (46.09), junior Stanley Kebenei in the 5,000 (13:45.87) and junior Anthony May in the high jump (7-3 3/4). They finished third, fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively, in their events.

“To get this done, you need a special group of athletes,” Bucknam said. “I’m really proud of how these guys got it together. We followed the plan, and we came in here and got it done.”

Wisconsin (33 points), Texas A&M (30 points) and Texas Tech (28 points) rounded out the top five teams at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championship.