Razorback Roundup -- Aug. 24

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPAug. 24, 2009FOOTBALL: The Razorbacks began practice Thursday, Aug. 6. This week, UA head coach Bobby Petrino begins his radio show. The show begins Wednesday and airs from 7-8 p.m. on the Razorback Sports Network. The team opens the season on Sept. 5 in Little Rock, Ark., against Missouri State. Arkansas is 89-22-4 all time in season openers. VOLLEYBALL: The Razorbacks are anxiously awaiting the start of the 2009 season under the direction of second-year head coach Robert Pulliza. The Razorbacks return two seniors, three juniors and add seven freshmen for this year. Arkansas opens the season at the Texas Christian University Invitational Friday and Saturday. The first home match is Sept. 1 against Texas-Arlington.MEN’S BASKETBALL: Mike Nail, the radio play-by-play voice of the Razorbacks for the last 28 years, is retiring following the 2009-10 campaign. Arkansas’ schedule is complete and posted on ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Non-conference television arrangements and game times will be announced later.WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: The Razorbacks announce their full season schedule on Monday (today) and will set the 2009-10 roster during the week. Over the summer, sophomore C’eira Ricketts earned a gold medal as a member of Team USA’s FIBA U19 World Championship team.SOCCER (1-0):Kailey Anders and Chelsea Tidwell each found the back of the net to lift Arkansas to a 2-0 victory over Michigan in its 2009 season opener at the U-M Soccer Complex in Ann Arbor, Mich. It was also the team’s first win under the direction of first-year head coach Erin Aubry. In front of a large Razorback crowd, Anders scored the first goal of the season with a 30-yard rocket past the Wolverine goalkeeper at the 36:13 mark. The second goal came in the 78th minute when Tidwell scored her first goal as a Razorback off a cross from fellow transfer Laurel Pastor. In goal, Kendal Winston and Britni Williams combined for five saves and the shutout. Arkansas makes its home season debut by hosting the Razorback Adidas Classic beginning Friday with teams from Air Force, Austin Peay and Missouri State. After the day’s first game, the Razorbacks will take the field at 7 p.m. to take on Air Force. The weekend event will close with a Sunday matchup against Missouri State at 1:30 p.m.TRACK AND FIELD:Select current and former members of the Razorback track and field programs competed at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin last week. Of the 10 Razorbacks who competed in Berlin, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon Jr. won medals (two silvers and a bronze). The three current student-athletes, Alain Bailey (Jamaica, long jump), Marek Niit (Estonia, 200 meters) and Dorian Ulrey (USA, 1,500 meters), return to Fayetteville with eligibility for the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons. Gay posted an American record in THE 100 meters: 9.71 seconds (third-fastest time ever). Amy Yoder Begley’s sixth-place finish in the 10,000 meters (31:13.78) is the fastest time ever by an American at a World Outdoor Championships. Ulrey was one of four American men to advance to the 1,500-meter semifinals and Christin Wurth-Thomas was one of three American women to advance to the finals of the 1,500 meters. She finished fifth in her first World Championship final.OLYMPIC SPORTS PRESS CONFERENCE:Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Barnhill Arena interview room.