Best Of The Decade: Student-Athletes
With more than 31,000 votes cast across our Twitter accounts, Razorback fans selected these student-athletes as the ones who dominated the decade for their respective sport programs.
Razorback Baseball – Andrew Benintendi
Benintendi played for Arkansas Baseball from 2014 to 2015. He won the 2015 Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy while earning National Player of the Year by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. Also the 2015 SEC Player of the Year, Benintendi was just the third player in league history to lead the conference in home runs and batting average. Other accomplishments include being the first Razorback to lead the nation in home runs (20) and became the first NCAA Division I player since 2009 to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a single season. While leading the to the program’s eighth College World Series appearance in 2015, Benintendi led the team in batting (.376), home runes (20), RBI (57), walks (50), slugging percentage (.717), on base percentage (.488) and stolen bases (24). After his time for the Razorbacks, Benintendi was a 2015 First Round Pick (7th overall) by the Boston Red Sox.
Razorback Men’s Basketball – Bobby Portis
Portis closed his Razorback basketball career being named All-American in 2015 (2nd team by Associated Pres and US Basketball Writers Association; 3rd team by Sporting News), and he was also voted the 2015 SEC Player of the Year by the media and coaches. As a sophomore, Portis led the team in scoring (17.5 avg.), field goal percentage (.536), rebounding (8.9 avg.), blocked shots (50) and steals (39). His 321 rebounds in 2015 are the most ever by a Razorback sophomore and his 230 rebounds in 2014 are the most ever by a Razorback freshman. Portis was the first Razorback to compile at least 1,000 career points (1,047) and 500 career rebounds (551) as a sophomore. He finished with 1,047 points (38th on the school’s all-time list) and 7.87 rebounds per game (5th on the school’s all-time list). Once done competing for the Hogs, Portis was a 2015 First Round Pick (22nd overall) by the Chicago Bulls.
Razorback Women’s Basketball – Chelsea Dungee
Chelsea Dungee keeps on making history for the Razorbacks. She recently just scored her 1,000th point as a Hog, needing just 49 games to do so. That is the fastest mark by six games, besting Bettye Fiscus’ mark of 55 games. Dungee’s 20.4 PPG average over those 49 games would be a new program record. Dungee’s 2018-19 campaign, her first on the Hill, left an impression, as she shattered the single-season points scored record (759), free throws made record (229) and minutes played record (1227). Dungee turned it up a notch in the postseason though, guiding the Hogs to their first-ever SEC Tournament Championship berth, scoring 103 points along the way, which set a new SEC Tournament record.
Razorback Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country – Lexi Jacobus
A 2016 Olympian, Lexi Jacobus left Arkansas as one of the most decorated Razorbacks of all time. She was a four-time NCAA champion and seven-time first-team All-American pole vaulter during her indoor and outdoor career. She captured an incredible five SEC titles and was the SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Year in both indoor and outdoor in 2016.
Razorback Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country – Omar McLeod
The 2015 SEC Indoor Runner of the Year, captured three individual national titles as a Razorback. He won back-to-back championships in the indoor 60-meter hurdles in 2014 and 2015 then sprinted his way to the 110-meter hurdles title at the NCAA outdoor meet and added a 4×100-meter relay title at that same meet. He holds the program record in the 60-meter hurdles, the 110-meter hurdles and as a member of the 4×100-meter relay.
Razorback Football – Hunter Henry
A consensus first-team All-American in 2015, Hunter Henry is one of the best tight ends to ever put on an Arkansas jersey. Best known for the ‘Henry Heave’ in 2015 at Ole Miss that helped lead the Razorbacks to a 53-52 win in over time, the Little Rock native was spectacular in his three seasons on the Hill. Henry’s 2015 made him the second Arkansas tight end to ever win the Mackey Award, given annually to the nation’s top tight end. Henry caught 51 passes for 739 yards and three scores that year before being selected 35th overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Razorback Men’s Golf – Austin Cook
Cook’s career started with a bang when he was named the 2010 SEC All-Freshman team, and he would continue to excel from there. Named honorable mention All-American in 2011, Cook finished 10th at the NCAA Championship. Cook went on to earn two-time SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2012 and 2013) and was also named to the 2012 SEC Community Service Team. As a runner-up at the 2013 NCAA Fayetteville Regional, Cook led team to a runner-up finish and berth to the NCAA Championship, where the team placed 10th. Cook turned pro in 2013, earned his PGA Tour card in 2017 and was finalist for PGA Rookie of the Year.
Razorback Women’s Golf – Maria Fassi
Maria Fassi’s senior season is one of the best single seasons Collegiate Women’s Golf has ever seen. Fassi was sensational when it mattered most, winning both the SEC’s Individual Title and the NCAA Individual Title, which was played in front of the Razorback Faithful on the course at the Blessings. For her efforts, Fassi swept just about every major award up for grabs, including the ANNIKA Award, The Honda Sport Award for Golf, the Ping WGCA Player of the Year, the SEC Female Athlete of the Year, while also being named a First-Team All-American by Golfweek and the WGCA. Fassi was so dominant at Arkansas, she actually became the first-ever to win the ANNIKA in back-to-back seasons. Fassi currently holds several program records, including her 64 rounds at par or better, the lowest scoring average in program history (72.03) and the top-two single-season scoring averages in school history (70.5 in 17-18, 71.2 in 18-19).
Razorback Gymnastics – Katherine Grable
Katherine Grable competed for the Gymbacks from 2011-14, appearing at the NCAA Championships as an individual performer every year of her collegiate career. She earned All-SEC honors in the All-Around in three of her four years, picking up the accolade in the All-Around in 2011, floor & AA in 2013 and in all four individual events, as well as the All-Around, as a senior in 2014. She was crowned SEC Gymnast of the Year in 2014, kickstarting a successful postseason for the Wisconsin native. Already claiming regional titles in the vault and floor exercise that year, and six overall as a Gymback, Grable posted a career-best 9.975 in the vault to win the NCAA title. She recorded three scores of a perfect 10.0 from half of the judges, securing the highest winning vault score in NCAA history at 9.975. But she wasn’t done there, as she completed her floor routine to a tune of 9.9625 to win the floor crown as well, cementing herself as the most accomplished Gymback of the decade and in school history.
Razorback Softball – Autumn Storms
Selected second-team All-America in May of 2019, Storms became the first All-American under fourth-year head coach Courtney Deifel and only the second in program history. As she helped lead Arkansas to its third straight NCAA tournament appearance, Storms signed off on the 2019 season after having the most successful year of her career, with season-bests in ERA (1.63), victories (20), complete games (15), shutouts (4), walks (29), strikeouts (172), and opponent batting average (.228). She has already written her name in the record books as well after recording only 1.01 walks allowed per seven innings this season, Storms slides into second all-time at Arkansas for walks per seven innings pitched (1.29). Her career awards include: SEC All-Freshman Team (2017), All-SEC Second Team (2019), All-South Region (2017, 2019), NFCA All-America Second Team (2019).
Razorback Swim & Dive – Brooke Schultz
Brooke Schultz has won various awards as a Razorback. Schultz was awarded SEC freshman of the year along with making the SEC All Freshman team. Schultz has won SEC athlete of the week 13 times, has made the All-SEC team twice, and won four SEC Championship diving titles. Schultz is also an all American and holds the record for all top five all-time Arkansas records in both the 1-meter and 3-meter.
Razorback Men’s Tennis – Jose Salazar
Jose Salazar, a two-time member of the All-SEC First Team, was also honored as an ITA Doubles All-American in 2017. The Tenerife, Spain native advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament his final season as a Razorback. He finished ranked in the top-45 of the ITA rankings in 2017 and 2018, including a No. 18 ranking in 2018, and teamed with Mike Redlicki to finish 2017 ranked as the 10th-best doubles pair by the ITA.
Razorback Women’s Tennis – Aurelija Miseviciute
Aurelija Miseviciute was voted ITA All-American for 2008 and 2009, along with making it on the All-SEC team two years in a row. Miseviciute is also the only women’s tennis Razorback to win SEC player of the year in 2008 and SEC Scholar Athlete during 2008 and 2009.
Razorback Volleyball – Pilar Victoria
After garnering All-SEC and AVCA All-South Region recognition her senior season, Victoria was named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention in 2017 to become the 10th player All-American in program history, and first since 2014. Victoria was the NCAA leader with 634 kills and 705.0 points and is the only player in the country to eclipse 600 kills and 700 points this season. She lead the SEC and ranked second nationally with 5.47 kills per set and 6.08 points per set, both of which established single-season program records. A three-time SEC Offensive Player of the Week, she finished the season with a .253 hitting percentage and double-digit kills in 29 of 30 outings including four 30-kill performances. Became just the second player in program history, and first since 1995, to reach 600 kills in a single season. Her 634 kills this season are tied for the 16th most in NCAA history during the 25-point scoring era which started in 2008. Along the way, Victoria became the 16th member of Arkansas’ 1,000-kill club and finished her Razorback career with 1,159 kills which puts her in 14th place on the program’s all-time list.
Click the links below to see the final vote tallies for each sport program.
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