The Hogspy Awards

2020 HOGSPYs: Female Team of the Year

Razorback Communications April 30, 2020

The female team of the year award recognizes one female team who had had an impressive season, displayed academic excellence and overall team success.

This year’s nominees are:

Basketball

  • The 2019-20 Hogs became one of just two teams to ever win 10 games in the league, while Neighbors’ most recent squad was one of just three Razorback teams in the SEC era to finish above .500 in the league. With their 10-6 record in 2020, the Hogs finished tied for third place in the conference, the best-ever conference finish for Arkansas Women’s Basketball.
  • The Hogs’ 24 total wins made them one of two teams this century to win 24 or more games. If not for the shortened season, the 2019-20 Razorbacks would have been dancing for the first time since 2015.
  • The Hogs finished the season as the nation’s leader in free throws made (512), while also finishing third in total threes made (314) and fewest turnovers per game (11.0). The Razorbacks’ mark in three pointers made this past season is a new SEC record, one they also broke in Neighbors’ second season on the Hill.
  • Neighbors’ elite offense was powered by a three-headed monster at the guard position, as he got the most out of Alexis Tolefree, Chelsea Dungee and Amber Ramirez during the 2019-20 season. For Tolefree, Neighbors’ helped guide her to one of the best single conference seasons in program history, as the former JUCO All-American became Arkansas’ first First-Team All-SEC Player since 2016 after averaging 18.6 points and 4.9 boards in conference play.

Cross Country

  • Won NCAA Championship, first in program history, completed triple crown of NCAA titles.
    • Four All-Americans – Katie Izzo, Taylor Werner, Devin Clark, Carina Viljoen.
  • 2019 USTFCCCA Scholar Team of the Year – first time Arkansas has earned this honor.
    • All seven members of team earned individual All-Academic honors.
  • Head coach Lance Harter – USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year.
    • USTFCCA South Central Region and SEC Coach of the Year.
  • NCAA South Central Region champions, swept top five places to produce perfect score of 15.
  • SEC Champions, won conference title for seventh consecutive year.
    • SEC individual champion – Katie Izzo.
    • SEC Runner of the Year & SEC Scholar of the Year – Taylor Werner.

Golf

  • The 2018-19 Hogs were phenomenal on the golf course, finishing fourth in the nation at the 2019 NCAA Championships, which they hosted on their home course, the Blessings.
  • Taylor also produced her second-ever individual national champion, as Maria Fassi dominated in her last round as a Hog to take home the 2019 NCAA Individual Championship in front of her home crowd.
  • It wasn’t just on the course that Taylor’s squad dominated, though; the 2018-19 Razorbacks owned a 3.7 GPA as a team, while also leading Arkansas Athletics in Community Engagement.
  • Fassi became a multi-time All-American, WGCA Ping Player of the Year, winner of the ANNIKA Award, the Honda Sport Award for Golf and SEC Female Athlete of the Year.

Soccer

  • Set program firsts…
    • National seed in the NCAA Tournament
    • SEC title (matched a program-high with eight conference wins)
    • United Soccer Coaches All-Americans (2)
    • SEC Coach of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year
    • Back-to-back wins over ranked opponents (at No. 22 Baylor and vs. No. 1 North Carolina)
  • Just the second time in school history to put four on the All-SEC First Team.
  • Set an all-time program best by finishing No. 10 in the RPI and No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches poll at the end of the season.
  • Led the SEC with all-time program highs in total goals (62), total assists (63) and total points (187).

Track & Field

  • SEC Indoor champions, won indoor conference team title for sixth consecutive year.
    • Total of 8 medalists – 4 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze.
    • Ranked No. 3 nationally heading into SEC Indoor, defeated No. 1 LSU (102-87.5).
  • SEC Runner of the Year – Katie Izzo.
  • SEC Coach of the Year – Lance Harter.
  • Qualified 11 athletes in seven events for 11 entries in NCAA Indoor Championships.

Watch the video to find out this year’s winner.

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