Best Of The Decade: Top Individual Performances

With the decade coming to a close, it’s time to celebrate the top individual performances from Razorbacks moments that stood out in the past 10 years. Below, in no particular order, are 10 of the best student-athlete performances from Arkansas athletics.

Razorback Baseball: Benny Baseball Wins 2015 Golden Spikes Award

University of Arkansas outfielder Andrew Benintendi won the 2015 Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the amateur baseball player who best displays “exceptional on-field ability and exemplary sportsmanship.” Benintendi hit .376./.488/.717 with a Division I leading 20 home runs. He also stole 24 bases in 28 attempts and drove in 58 runs. Benintendi was additionally named the SEC Player of the Year. The Red Sox selected Benintendi with the seventh overall pick.

Razorback Women’s Basketball: Dungee Goes Off For 41 Points

Razorback Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country: Outdoor National Title

With an indoor national title already in the bag, the women’s track & field team rolled into the final day of competition in Austin with a battle with USC on the horizon. The Razorbacks and Trojans each had 10 entries in the finals, including six head-to-head match-ups. An epic battle unfolded with the Trojans taking an eight-point lead into the 5000-meters. Taylor Werner scored eight points to bring the two teams even and set up a winner-take-all 4×400 relay. Paris Peoples led the squad off and handed to Kiara Parker who combined for a time of 1:44.73. Payton Chadwick turned in the second-fastest third leg of the day and handed the baton to Kethlin Campbell, who ran the fastest anchor leg of the event and ensure the Hogs the national championship.

Razorback Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country: Lawson Dominates Outdoor Championships

Any time you can match Jesse Owens in anything you are in elite company, in 2016 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Jarrion Lawson did just that winning three individual titles. Lawson claimed the 100-meter championship in 10.22, the 200-meter title in 20.19 and won the long jump with a distance of 26 feet, 9 inches to match a feat only accomplished by Owens prior to that meet. Lawson’s performance helped him become the first and only Razorback to ever win the Bowerman Award.

Razorback Women’s Golf: Fassi Claims National Championship

Instead of going pro, Maria Fassi returned to the Blessings to win a national title in 2019, which is exactly what she did on her home course. Fassi and the teams endured weather delays and a shortened format but her final round was nothing short of spectacular. Fassi started her round in second place and her day began at 11:55 a.m. ending at 7:25 p.m. During that time, Fassi had five birdies and 13 pars, shooting a clutch 68 to clinch the National Championship. She finished the rain-shortened championship shooting eight-under par with a 211.

Razorback Gymnastics: Grable National Championship

Katherine Grable completed the storybook ending for her career as a Razorback by claiming the first two national championships in program history and collecting a share of the program record on four of the five events in 2014. The Oshkosh, Wis., native won the vault national title after posting a career-best 9.975 in the second-position, which would stand for the whole first flight. The 9.975 is the highest winning vault score in NCAA history. Grable claimed three scores of a perfect 10.0 from half of the judges on the event. On the floor, Grable needed to beat a three-way tie of 9.95’s to claim the outright title. Grable completed her routine to the tune of a 9.9625 and claimed her second national title of the day. She did so by scoring two perfect 10.0’s from the judges to count one of them and earn the edge she needed to claim the outright title.

Razorback Soccer: Goins Seals Victory Over #1 North Carolina

After suffering a season-ending ACL tear during her sophomore campaign, Parker Goins came back in 2019 to score the Razorbacks second goal in the 81st-minute of Arkansas’ 2-0 upset win over No. 1 North Carolina. Goins led the squad with three shots and her goal sparked Arkansas to become the first program in SEC history to beat the Tar Heels by two or more goals. Goins went on to rank second on the team in points and goals and was named to the All-SEC First Team that season.

Razorback Softball: Gibson Goes For Home Run Cycle

On Feb. 23, Arkansas sophomore Danielle Gibson became the second Division I softball player to hit for the home run cycle — a solo home run, two-run home run, three-run home run and grand slam — and the first to do it in four innings. Gibson became the sixth person in NCAA history to hit four homer runs in a single game.

Razorback Swim & Dive: Hopkin’s Records & Schultz National Championship

As a freshman, Brooke Schultz became the third Razorback to claim the 3-meter National Championship.  Schultz set a personal-best at the NCAA Championships to claim the title. Also that season, Schultz was named SEC Diver of the Week seven times and was named SEC Female Diver of the Year, SEC Freshman Diver of the Year, All-SEC First Team and All-SEC Freshman Team.

Hopkin posted the fastest time in the nation this year in the 200 free with a time of 1:44.40 to break her own school record. Her meet-record time also earned her a NCAA ‘B’ qualifier. Hopkin also posted the fifth-best performance in split history in the 200-medley relay, with a 20.76 anchor leg as the Hogs came in second with a time of 1:37.34. The senior went on to swim the fastest 100 free in the nation this year, touching the wall in 46.56. This time was also good enough to get Hopkin the meet record, pool record, NCAA ‘A’ cut and automatically qualify her for NCAA’s Championship. Hopkin additionally holds the fastest 50, 100, 200 free and the 100 fly all time performance record for Arkansas.

Razorback Men’s Tennis: Redlicki Wins Indoor National Championship

Mike Redlicki became just the third National Indoor singles champion in school history with his 6-4, 6-3 win over top-ranked Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State in 2016. Redlicki won three of nine break points and saved 11 of 12 break points, including all seven in the second set. He also won eight of 10 on the no-ad (40-40) points, holding serve on five of six such points. He took advantage of a double fault to win the first set and held serve on championship point. His win in the championship match capped a run that included five top-20 victories over four days by the nation’s 11th-ranked player.