Razorback Roundup -- May 18

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPMay 18, 2009BASEBALL (32-20): No. 16 Arkansas dropped a three-game series at home to No. 9 Ole Miss to end the regular season. The Razorbacks are the No. 7 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament at Hoover, Ala. Arkansas plays No. 2 seed Florida on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Arkansas opened SEC play by sweeping the Gators early in the season. If Arkansas wins, the Hogs play the Georgia-Ole Miss winner on Thursday at 5. If the Razorbacks lose, they face the Georgia-Ole Miss loser Thursday at 10. Senior shortstop Scott Lyons was 4-of-7 against Ole Miss before being forced from Friday’s game with an injury. His status is day-to-day. Arkansas is No. 13 in the latest RPI rankings. MEN’S BASKETBALL: Junior forward Michael Washington removed his name from the NBA Draft list and is returning for his senior season. This year in his first season as a starter, he led the team in scoring (15.5) and led the Southeastern Conference in rebounding (9.8), and earned second-team All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches and the Associated Press.WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Coach Tom Collen added two more signees and saw one of his top freshmen from his first recruiting class at Arkansas take a step closer to Team USA. Rising freshman Ceira Ricketts was among the 14 players chosen for the USA Basketball U19 training camp next month, making the freshman All-American a finalist for the team. Arkansas signed the player of the year in Louisiana’s Class AAA, Dominque Robinson of Capitol High in Baton Rouge. Former NJCAA All-American, 6-3 post player Maddy Plunkett from College of Southern Idaho, rounded out the signees for the weekend.FOOTBALL: Head coach Bobby Petrino continues to speak at Razorback Club meetings throughout Arkansas. The football players had the week off with the spring semester concluding recently. Razorback football camps will be held June 7-9, June 11-13 and July 19. MEN’S GOLF: The No. 9 Razorbacks competed in the 2009 NCAA South Central Regional Championship in Stillwater, Okla., last week and finished second of 13 teams to advance to the NCAA Championship. Arkansas finished behind No. 4 Oklahoma State, which hosted and played on its home course. It was the fifth straight second-place finish for the Razorbacks, who went 39-over 903 (298-301-304) for the three-day event. David Lingmerth led the Hogs in scoring with three rounds of 74 to finish at six-over 222. Ethan Tracy tied for 13th, carding a 10-over 226 (71-76-79). Andrew Landry finished tied for 25th with a 12-over 228 (75-75-78). Jamie Marshall and Jason Cuthbertson tied at No. 37 with an 18-over 234 (82-76-76) and (78-80-76). The NCAA Championship is May 26-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: Propelled by six individual titles last week, Arkansas won its 93rd conference title overall (cross country, indoor and outdoor), its 24th conference outdoor title and its 15th Southeastern Conference outdoor title. The Razorbacks have won five of the last six SEC Outdoor team titles. The Razorbacks scored 141 points to edge out the hosting Florida Gators, who had 129 points for a runner-up finish. LSU rounded out the top three with 98.5 points. Alain Bailey (high jump/long jump), Shawn Forrest (5K), Scott MacPherson (steeplechase), Alex McClary (800 meters) and Dorian Ulrey (1,500 meters) won individual titles.WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: Junior Katie Stripling proved to be the Southeastern Conference’s top pole vaulter on the final day of competition at the SEC Outdoor Championships on Sunday. The Razorback scored 96.5 points for a fourth-place finish. Florida won the team title with 135.5 points. LSU was second with 113 points and Tennessee third with 106. Arkansas won four individual titles from Catherine White (5K/10K), Stripling (pole vault) and Etienne Chaplin (heptathlon). Additionally, sophomore Shelise Williams added a runner-up finish in the 400 meters and sophomore Jillian Rosen earned bronze in the 1,500 meters. Stripling made SEC history on Sunday. Winning her third conference pole vault title and second outdoors, she cleared 14-5.25. Arkansas has now won three straight titles in the outdoor pole vault (2007-09). Her clearance is an Arkansas record, an SEC meet record, a personal best and is the new NCAA leader. Stripling now holds all five of the top clearances on Arkansas’ all-time list.SOFTBALL (27-29): The 2009 season came to a close with losses to Tulsa and No. 7 Oklahoma at the Norman (Okla.) Regional of the NCAA Tournament last week. Arkansas finished the year 27-29 and with its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Whitney Cloer had two home runs against the Sooners in the season finale, and finished the season with a team-leading .335 batting average. Miranda Dixon led the Razorbacks with 11 home runs and 40 RBI. She also picked up a team-best 17 victories in the circle for Arkansas. For her performance on the field, Dixon was named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-South Region first team, the second all-region selection of her career. During the season, two individual records fell as Dixon became the program’s all-time leading home run hitter (31) while senior Kayla Johnson went into first place on the all-time runs scored list (124).MEN’S TENNIS (10-14): Four weeks after his last match, Razorback Blake Strode, ranked No. 15 in the country, travels to College Station, Texas, to play in the NCAA Men’s Singles Championships, Wednesday through Monday. Strode (22-11) is the overall No. 15 seed in the tournament. The draw for the singles tournament will be announced Tuesday. Although not competing on the court over the last month, Strode has continued to add to his list of honors. He has been named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, runner-up for the Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship, recipient of the Central Region ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership & Sportsmanship, and the recipient of the Central Region ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award. As the central region honoree for both the Arthur Ashe and Rafael Osuna awards, Strode is up for each national award.WOMEN’S TENNIS (15-8): The No. 14-ranked Razorbacks ended their season in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships Friday with a 4-2 loss to No. 3 seed Duke. The Razorbacks took a 1-0 lead, clinching the doubles point behind No. 3 team Emily Carbone and Kate Lukomskaya, and No. 1 doubles team Anouk Tigu and Nanar Airapetian. However, the Blue Devils fought back in singles, winning four of five for their win. Lukomskaya scored the only singles point for Arkansas in the match, downing Jessi Robinson, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 6 singles. This week, No. 2-ranked Aurelija Miseviciute competes in the NCAA Singles Championships as the overall No. 3 seed while Airapetian and Tigu, who are ranked No. 20 in the country, head into competition at the NCAA Doubles Championships. Both the singles and doubles tournaments run Wednesday through Monday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. Draws for each tournament will be announced Tuesday. Earning recognition for their hard work and dedication throughout the 2008-09 season, assistant coach Jeroen Joling was named the ITA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year and senior Ela Kaluder was named the ITA Central Region Senior Player of the Year. As regional award recipients, Joling and Kaluder are nominated for their respective national awards.OLYMPIC SPORTS PRESS CONFERENCE:Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Barnhill Arena interview room.