Last five of the 25 things about Arkansas

While the University of Arkansas is on spring break, ArkansasRazorbacks.com is giving viewers a chance to learn more about Arkansas Athletics with a special series of 25 Things About the Arkansas Razorbacks You Might Not Know. For the five days, we’ll have installments of five different noteworthy factoids about Arkansas Athletics.
Day 1
:
Wired Razorbacks ||
Day 2: We’re Top 25 ||
Day 3: Arkansas and the SEC
Day 4: A Mascot Like No Other ||
Day 5: America’s Best Facilities

#21 – Two Homes of the Hogs Arkansas is the only Division I team that has such a statewide following that the Razorback football team has two home fields. Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville is the home of the majority of Razorback games. Renovated in 2002 to its current 75,000-seat configuration, Reynolds Razorback Stadium (at right) is considered one of the finest in America. The Razorbacks play two games each year in the state capital of Arkansas – Little Rock – which is a short three-hour interstate drive from Fayetteville. War Memorial Stadium and the surrounding tailgate area is one of the great college football experiences. Starting in 2009, Arkansas adds a third “home field” with the Southwest Classic against Texas A&M, set for the next ten years at New Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
#22 – A Triple Crown Host The Arkansas Razorback men’s track team is known around the world as the Triple Crown champion, winning not just one, but five college national championship Triple Crowns – a sweep of the cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field NCAA titles. The long-time host of the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship, Fayetteville becomes a Triple Crown host – believed to be the first college campus to conduct all three NCAA Division I running championships at home. Arkansas hosted the 1994 cross country championship and this year is the host of the 2009 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Part of the reason is Arkansas’ home facilities. The Razorbacks hold a Class A ranking for John McDonnell Field, one of a handful of outdoor tracks in North America so certified. Randal Tyson Track Center has hosted eight straight NCAA meets, plus USAT&F pro events like the Golden Spike series and the Tyson Invitational. The Agri Park Cross Country Course is a dedicated multiple track course that recently hosted the 2008 South Central Regional and is the annual site of one of America’s largest cross country events, the Chile Pepper Festival.
#23 – Collegiate Baseball’s Finest Arkansas’ Baum Stadium is widely regarded as one of the finest collegiate baseball facilities in the country and many compare it to high level minor league ballparks. The past two Baseball America collegiate facility rankings placed Baum first and second in 1998 and 2003, respectively, and this past summer, Rivals.com named it collegiate baseball’s best stadium. Arkansas’ crown jewel holds more than 10,000 fans with 8,237 chair back seats, 32 luxury boxes and the Hog Pen beyond the left-field wall. Arkansas fans have responded to the amenities of Baum Stadium as they continue to show up in record numbers. Just this season the Razorbacks have set records for opening day attendance as well as attendance at a non-conference series when 21,429 witnessed the Razorbacks take two of three from the California Golden Bears.
#24 – Female Facility Firsts Great venues at Arkansas aren’t just for the guys. Arkansas built the first women’s only collegiate soccer pitch in the early 1990s, and continued to expand and improve Razorback Field into one of the best in America. The Bev Lewis Center provides a 7,000-square foot strength and conditioning facility exclusively designed for the needs of elite female student-athletes. The combined footprint of the Huntley Gymnastics Training Center and Barnhill Arena gives Arkansas’ top 10 ranked gymnastics program one of the largest single-site training and competition facilities in the country. The recently opened Bogle Park softball stadium features natural turf from Quail Valley Grass – the same company that provided the infield grass for the Atlanta Olympics and turf for some venues at other recent Olympiads.
#25 – The Valley of the Razorbacks Stretching from Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium at the north to Baum Stadium at the south, the fantastic home competition and training venues for the Razorbacks taken as a whole are considered the finest in the Southeastern Conference, if not the nation. You don’t have to take our word for it as several media groups, most recently The State newspaper in South Carolina, consistently rank Arkansas’ home venues top in the SEC. Along with the new softball facility, the expansion of the indoor and outdoor tennis courts into the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center provides the Razorbacks the only six-court indoor stadium in the SEC, skybox seating for patrons and a 10-court outdoor stadium. The Billingsley Tennis Center opened last spring as the host of the 2008 SEC Men’s Tennis Championship and will be the host this spring of the 2009 SEC Women’s. ..