From the Desk of Hunter Yurachek: March 1

Not even an ice and snow storm in Northwest Arkansas could derail the Razorback men’s and women’s track and field teams from sweeping both the men’s and women’s team titles at last weekend’s SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in College Station, Texas!

While the weather caused some travel delays, it was business as usual when the Hogs arrived. The No. 1 Arkansas men’s squad outdistanced Florida and Alabama to clinch its third-consecutive SEC indoor crown and its 25th SEC indoor title in school history. Meanwhile, the No. 3 Arkansas women team captured its eighth-consecutive SEC indoor title and 12th indoor crown since joining the league in 1991.

Congratulations to our student-athletes and Coach Chris Bucknam and Coach Lance Harter and their respective coaching staffs on the championships. Although both programs have made conference championships commonplace, the extraordinary efforts of our student-athletes and coaches to achieve each and every SEC trophy is anything but common.

Bud Walton Arena – “A Magical Place”

Anyone who knows Coach Eric Musselman knows he wears his emotions on his sleeve – even when he has one of his arms in a sling. So, it was only fitting after our men’s basketball team’s latest victory over No. 6 Kentucky, that Coach Musselman called Bud Walton Arena “a magical place when we’re winning.”

There has been plenty of winning for our men’s basketball team. The 75-73 victory over the Wildcats was the 13th win in the past 14 games and improved our record to 4-0 against ranked opponents this season. Congratulations to J.D. Notae who earned both SEC and National Player of the Week honors for his 30-point, eight assist effort in the victory.

Arkansas stands at 23-6 overall, 12-4 in the SEC with a chance to still win the league and claim the No.1 seed in next week’s SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Tampa, Florida. First, however, are epic regular season ending matchups at home vs. LSU on Wednesday (8 p.m. – ESPN2) and on the road this Saturday at Tennessee (11 a.m. – ESPN).

The crowds at Bud Walton Arena have simply been amazing! I certainly appreciate our students and all our fans who have made it such a great homecourt advantage.

Finishing Strong

Our women’s basketball team finished the regular season with a resounding road victory and are now headed to Nashville, Tennessee for the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. Arkansas capped the conference slate with an 87-79 victory at Mississippi State on Sunday.

On Tuesday, three Razorbacks were honored by the SEC, including Samara Spencer who was named the league’s Freshman of the Year. Senior Amber Ramirez was named to the second-team All-SEC squad, while Spencer and Jersey Wolfenbarger were selected to the SEC All-Freshman team.

Best of luck to Coach Mike Neighbors and our team as they open the SEC Tournament on Thursday at Noon CT (SEC Network) against Missouri. The winner of that game will take on top-seeded South Carolina on Friday at Noon CT (SEC Network).

Diamond Sports Update

The weather caused alterations to last weekend’s baseball and softball schedules, but ultimately both squads ended with victories in two out of three games.

Coach Dave Van Horn and the Razorback Baseball team won a pair of games at the Round Rock Classic, outside of Austin, Texas, winning games against Indiana and Louisiana, while dropping a decision to No. 6 Stanford. Arkansas is ranked No. 3 this week in the D1 Baseball poll.

Coach Courtney Deifel and the Razorback Softball team saw a home weekend tournament delayed and finally cancelled in favor of a three-game series with Louisville on Sunday and Monday. Arkansas won two of three games to improve to 9-4 on the young season. The Razorbacks are ranked No. 11 nationally.

It’s a big week for the Razorbacks! Thank you for your continued support of all of our programs.

Go Hogs!
Hunter