Razorback Roundup -- Feb. 1

RAZORBACK ROUNDUPFeb. 1, 2010ACADEMICS: The University of Arkansas has 29 student-athletes selected to the 2009 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll and 186 Razorbacks were named to the Athletic Department Honor Roll this week. The SEC’s fall list includes student-athletes from football, soccer and volleyball, while the department’s list includes all sports.BASEBALL: The Razorbacks picked up a pair of rankings last week as two of the major preseason polls were released. Arkansas is No. 16 in the USA Today/ESPN preseason Top 25 coaches’ poll and No. 17 in the initial rankings by Baseball America. The Razorbacks are No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason rankings, which were released in December. Senior pitcher Mike Bolsinger was one of 40 players named to the sixth annual NCBWA ‘Stopper of the Year’ Watch List, an award given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I. Arkansas opened team practices Saturday inside Walker Pavilion after the winter storm delayed the original start date of Friday. On Monday (today), the Swatter’s Club meetings resume at the Clarion Inn with a noon start time. The meetings are held the first Monday of each month during the season. Arkansas begins the 2010 season Feb. 19-21 with a three-game series against Ball State at Baum Stadium.MEN’S BASKETBALL (10-11, 3-3): The Razorbacks had a fantastic week with wins over SEC West leader Mississippi State and at No. 18 Ole Miss. Sophomore Courtney Fortson had a game for the ages against the Bulldogs as he scored 35 points and willed Arkansas to victory. Fortson had just two points at the break and in the second half scored 33 to match Mississippi State’s total and lead Arkansas to a 67-62 win. Arkansas went to Ole Miss and watched senior Mike Washington earn a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds as the Hogs went inside in the second half to erase a five-point halftime deficit and win 80-73. Freshman Marshawn Powell had 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Arkansas’ win at Ole Miss snaps a 15-game SEC road losing streak that goes back to the 2007-08 season and is Arkansas’ first road win against a ranked opponent since March 3, 2007, when the Razorbacks defeated Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Razorbacks travel to Georgia for a Wednesday night contest before returning to Bud Walton Arena to take on Auburn on Saturday.WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (9-12, 1-7): Lyndsay Harris scored 20 points, leading all players, but the Razorbacks couldn’t overcome good defense by No. 25 Vanderbilt, losing 67-61 Sunday. Harris was joined by senior Charity Ford in double figures with 12. Arkansas travels to No. 5 Tennessee Thursday and hosts No.24 Kentucky Sunday.FOOTBALL (8-5): National signing day for football is Wedenesday. Coach Bobby Petrino is scheduled to meet with the media at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the incoming class.MEN’S GOLF: The Razorbacks are off until Feb. 14-16 when they compete at the Battle at the Beach in Newport Beach, Calif.WOMEN’S GOLF: The Razorbacks are idle until the Central District Invitational Feb. 22-23 in Parrish, Fla. GYMNASTICS (2-2, 2-2): No. 10 Arkansas recorded the third-best all-around team score in school history with 196.750 points in Friday’s win over No. 12 Kentucky. Sophomore Jaime Pisani won the individual all-around title with a school-record matching 39.525 points. She had a 9.925 on vault, which ties for the fourth-best mark in program history. She had career highs on vault and bars (9.875), a season high on beam (9.825) and matched her season high on floor (9.900). Casey Jo Magee had a 9.925 score on beam, which ties the third-best score in UA history. The Razorbacks are home again this week with Friday’s 7 p.m. meet against Auburn in Barnhill Arena.SOFTBALL: The Razorbacks open the season Feb. 12-14 at the Metrodome Classic in Minneapolis, Minn. SWIMMING AND DIVING (6-2, 2-1): Seniors Yi-Ting Siow and Leah Pierce each won two events in their final home meet to lead the Razorback swimming and diving team over Utah on Saturday at Arkansas Natatorium. Thirteen event wins carried the Hogs to a 195-100 victory over the Utes, giving Arkansas a commanding victory in its final home meet of the season. In diving, sophomore Liana Bugslag won the one-meter with a personal-best score of 287.18 while fellow sophomore Alex Roman took the three-meter event with a score of 324.53. That mark sets a new career high for Roman by almost 30 points. Arkansas returns to action Feb. 17-20 when it travels to Athens, Ga., for the SEC Swimming and Diving Championship, hosted by the University of Georgia. MEN’S TENNIS (1-3): Arkansas traveled to Oxford, Miss., for the ITA Kick-Off. In round one, the Hogs fell to No. 10 Mississippi, 4-3. No. 81 Chris Nott defeated No. 49-ranked Tucker Vorster in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Newcomer Gregorian Lehmann won his first road match, topping Harry Fowler, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1. The Hogs earned the doubles point with wins at No.1 and No. 2. Matt Hogan and Matt Walters defeated Marcel Theimann and Chris Theimann, 9-8(6). Nott and Dmitry Lebedev clinched with their victory over Vorster Jonas Lutjen, 9-8(5). The Hogs then faced the No. 52 Columbia Lions in the consolation round, claiming a 4-1 victory. Lebedev was down 2-5, but came back to beat Hiag Scheiderman, 7-5, 7-5. Lehmann clinched the match, defeating Cyril Bucher, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. The Razorbacks also won the doubles point. The Hogs return home to face Louisiana-Lafayette at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center on Friday at 6 p.m. They host Wichita State and Cowley Community College in Fayetteville on Sunday. First serve against the Shockers is at 1 p.m. and play against the Tigers is at 5 p.m.WOMEN’S TENNIS (2-0): The women’s tennis team was one of 15 host schools for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, which held matches from four different schools ranked in the top-25. In the Razorbacks first match against No. 23 Washington, they won the doubles point and got strong singles performances en route to a 5-2 win and advancement to a second round match with No. 19 Michigan, which defeated South Carolina earlier in the day. Freshman Kelsey Sundaram, who lost her first set 0-6 before rallying to win the next two sets, 6-4, 6-1, clinched the win over Washington. In the Michigan match, the Hogs lost the doubles point and fell 5-2. The team is back in action on Friday, facing Utah at 1 p.m. at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center. MEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: Dorian Ulrey, Scott MacPherson and Lane Boyer dipped below the NCAA provisional time in the 3,000 meters for No. 7 Arkansas at the Texas A&M SEC-Big 12-PAC-10 Challenge. Ulrey’s 7:55.23 is an NCAA provisional qualifier, ranks No. 3 in the world, No. 1 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the SEC. MacPherson was fourth with a personal-best 7:58.32, which is an NCAA provisional qualifier, ranks No. 2 in the SEC and No. 6 in the NCAA. Boyer finished fifth in 8:00.25, which is an NCAA provisional qualifier, a 13-second personal best, ranks No. 3 in the SEC and No. 8 in the NCAA. Drew Butler, Ben Skidmore, Chris Bilbrew and Ulrey combined for a distance medley relay time of 9:33.12, which is an NCAA provisional qualifier, ranks No. 3 in the NCAA and No. 1 in the SEC. Arkansas competes next at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Armory Track Center in New York, N.Y.WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD: Sophomore Tina Sutej won the pole vault and the middle distance runners picked up NCAA times for No. 10 Arkansas at the Texas A&M SEC-Big 12-PAC-10 Challenge. Sutej cleared 13-11.25 to win the pole vault, leading a 1-3-5 finish for Arkansas with senior Katie Stripling third (13-8.25) and senior Janice Keppler fifth (12-11.5). Senior Megan Jackson finished seventh in the 3,000 meters with a 9:35.72, a 10-second personal best which ranks third in the SEC. Freshman Regina George, in her first open 400-meter race, was second in 54.31, which is an NCAA provisional qualifier, ranks No. 3 in the SEC and No. 13 in the NCAA. Sophomore Kristen Gillespie finished fourth in the 800 with a season-best of 2:07.32, which is an NCAA provisional time and ranks No. 5 in the SEC. Sophomore Stephanie Brown earned a runner-up finish in the mile. Already holding a provisional qualifier in the 800, she added a provisional time in the mile with a 4:46.40, which ranks No. 3 in the SEC and No. 2 in the NCAA among freshmen runners. In the distance medley relay, Samantha Learch, Shelise Williams, Brown and Gillespie combined for a time of 11:15.70 and a second-place finish. Their time is an improved NCAA provisional qualifier, ranks No. 2 in the NCAA and leads the SEC. Arkansas competes next at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Armory Track Center in New York, N.Y.