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Powerful 400 crew breaks out for UA | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Powerful 400 crew breaks out for UA | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


The University of Arkansas women’s 400-meter crew flexed its muscle Thursday night at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.

Arkansas had the top four times at Hayward Field, advancing to Saturday’s final with freshman Kaylyn Brown (49.82 seconds), senior Nickisha Pryce (49.87), junior Rosey Effiong (50.42) and senior Amber Anning (50.67).

Brown, Pryce and Anning all won their heats. Effiong was second behind Pryce in their heat.

It’s the first time the same women’s team has advanced as many as four to the 400 final at an NCAA meet.

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Anning, Pryce and Effiong went 1-2-3 to lead Arkansas to the NCAA Indoor title earlier this year.

The Razorbacks capped Thursday night’s events with the top time in the 1,600 relay to advance to the final with junior Aaliyah Pyatt, Pryce, Effiong and Anning running 3:25.51.

Sophomore Ariane Linton, Effiong, Brown and Anning opened running events by setting an Arkansas record in the 400 relay, going 42.45 for the second-fastest time advancing to the final.

The Razorbacks broke the previous 400 relay school record of 42.65 set in 2019.

Ole Miss ran a school-record 42.22 for the top time in the semifinals.

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Arkansas junior Rachel Glenn, a two-time NCAA champion in the high jump and winner indoors earlier this year, ran a personal-best 53.80 for the top time in the 400 hurdles and advanced to the final.

It’s the top time in the NCAA this season and ranks seventh on the all-time collegiate list and second on Arkansas’ career list behind Britton Wilson’s 53.08 in 2022.

Glenn’s previous top time was 53.94 she ran two weeks ago at the NCAA West First Round meet in Fayetteville.

Glenn will compete in the high jump Saturday, then run in the 400 hurdles final about 30 minutes later.

Arkansas’ women’s team scored its first two points of the meet with junior Sydney Thorvaldson taking seventh in the 10,000 in a time of 32:50.47.

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Paityn Noe, a freshman for the Razorbacks, finished one spot out of scoring when she took ninth in the 10,000 in 32:57.29.

Florida leads the women’s standing with 26 points with six of 21 finals scored. The No. 1-ranked Razorbacks are tied for 26th, but have plenty of scoring opportunities Saturday.

The men’s decathlon was completed Thursday night and Arkansas seniors Jack Turner and Yariel Soto Torrado combined to score six points.

Through seven of 21 finals scored in the men’s events, the No. 1-ranked Razorbacks are tied for seventh with 11 points.

Southern California leads the men’s team standings with 19 points.

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Turner finished fourth with a personal-best 7,963 points in the decathlon after taking third in the 1,500 in a personal-best 4:26.79. He had the third-fastest time in the 110 hurdles at 14.27, threw the discus 135 feet, 3 inches, cleared 15-5 1/2 in the pole vault and threw the javelin 172-11

Yariel Soto Torrado moved from 10th to finishing eighth with 7,804 points after he took first in the 1,500 in a personal-best 4:23.8. He ran the 110 hurdles in 15.11, threw the discus 134-4, had the second-highest clearance in the pole vault at 16-5 1/4 and threw the javelin 143-5.

Texas senior Leo Neugebauer won the decathlon for the second consecutive year and broke his own collegiate-record 8,960 points. His old record was 8,836 in winning last year’s NCAA title.

Arkansas senior Laura Taborda advanced to the 3,000 steeplechase final, running 9:48.48 for the second-fastest qualifying time.

Also advancing for the Razorbacks were sophomore Sanu Jallow with the fifth-fastest time in the 800 at 2:00.04 and senior Destiny Huven, who ran a wind-aided 12.72 in the 100 hurdles.

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Arkansas senior Nia Robinson was 12th in the long jump final with a best mark of 20 feet, 7 inches.

Freshman Rachel Homoly cleared 13-7 1/4 and finished 18th in the pole vault for the Razorbacks. She missed three attempts at 14-1 1/4.

Linton finished 21st in the 100 (11.33) and 23rd in the 200 (23.37).

Arkansas State junior Selace Sampram took 21st in the shot put (50-7 1/2).



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Arkansas

New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette


The newly formed Arkansas Prescribed Burn Association held its first meeting in mid-October.

The association works as an umbrella organization, recruiting and maintaining new groups of landowners to conduct prescribed burns throughout the state.

“Properly planned prescribed burns reduce the fuel load, which can lessen or even eliminate wildfires,” said Thomas Baldridge, one of the association’s three directors. “But that’s only part of the benefit of prescribed fire. It’s the best tool available to land managers to increase wildlife habitat for turkeys, quail, deer and all sorts of other species.”

North American bird populations have declined by more than 2.9 billion birds in the last 50 years and the loss of grassland habitat is one of the largest contributors to that loss, according to a recent study conducted by Kenneth Rosenberg and highlighted by the National Audubon Society. Fire helps open up dense underbrush to promote seed-producing grasses and plants that are beneficial to grassland species on a year-round basis.

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Instead of manipulating land through dirt work or planting food plots, many landowners can turn the tide on the loss of wildlife habitat with the proper use of prescribed fire.

Baldridge said the formation of the prescribed burn association was a natural evolution to what the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and other partnering organizations had been studying the last few years.

“Game and Fish started building prescribed burn associations a few years ago. Most of our members have been fortunate to have worked with many of the staff from Game and Fish, Quail Forever and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on burns and other private land habitat projects. The prescribed burn association just sort of seemed to be a missing piece to the puzzle that was already being put together,” Baldridge said.

Hunter Johnson of Des Arc and Catrina Mendoza of Searcy share director duties with Baldridge, who also lives in Searcy.

Baldridge said the association used states like Oklahoma and Florida as templates to follow in their formation.

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“Oklahoma really sets the standard for a statewide prescribed burn association. They’ve grown to a massive organization with a budget over $1 million and eight full-time staff members to support all of their chapters.”

Game and Fish, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Quail Forever all pitched in financially to help the new association build a firm foundation. Game and Fish granted the organization $25,000. Fish and Wildlife gave it $50,000 and Quail Forever provided $17,000 derived from its specialty license plate sales.

Baldridge says trailers, safety gear and other prescribed burn necessities also were donated to the association, increasing its startup assistance to more than $200,000 in funding and equipment. Since the organization is entirely volunteer-based, all of this funding is put directly into putting prescribed fire on the landscape.

Visit www.arfire.org for more information and to learn how to set up a new prescribed burn association in any area of Arkansas.



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Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game

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Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game


FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (6-4, 3-4 SEC) have released the depth chart for Saturday’s regular season finale against the No. 24 Missouri Tigers (8-3, 4-3 SEC) at Razorback Stadium.

Arkansas recovered from a slow start to take down Louisiana Tech, 35-14, over the weekend in Fayetteville. Missouri bounced back from a loss to South Carolina on Sept. 16 with a 39-20 win at Mississippi State on Saturday.

A few changes were made to this week’s depth chart, most notably the absence of junior defensive end Nico Davillier at the defensive end position. The pass-rusher did not play against Louisiana Tech on Saturday due to a knee injury, and senior Anton Juncaj is the lone listed starter in Davillier’s place. Backing up Juncaj is freshman Charlie Collins.

At safety, sophomore TJ Metcalf and junior Miguel Mitchell no longer have an “or” listed between them. Metcalf is the starter with Mitchell backing him up. Finally, redshirt sophomore Brooks Edmonson is listed as the backup center behind Addison Nichols instead of redshirt sophomore Amaury Wiggins, who is no longer listed on the depth chart.

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Here is the full Arkansas depth chart ahead of Saturday’s game against Missouri, which is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network at Memorial Stadium.



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Higginbottom key in win vs. old team | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

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Higginbottom key in win vs. old team | Arkansas Democrat Gazette


FAYETTEVILLE — Izzy Higginbottom sent a text message to her teammates on the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team Saturday night.

The note contained a list of things she felt the team needed to work on from its 94-71 loss Thursday night to Oral Roberts. First on the list was better energy.

Her message resonated.

Higginbottom played with passion and excelled against her former team as Arkansas found its defense in the second half to defeat Arkansas State 76-60 on Sunday afternoon at Walton Arena.

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“I personally knew how much this game meant to her,” Arkansas forward Jenna Lawrence said of Higginbottom. “Obviously, you want to beat the team that you’ve recently been on, so I just think she was really amped up — the most amped I’ve seen her for a game.

“I’m just really proud of how she performed and how she was a leader on and off the court.”

Higginbottom, a 5-7 transfer guard who played two seasons with the Red Wolves, filled the stat sheet with 15 points, a career-high 8 rebounds and 5 assists.

“When the other team shoots threes, they become speed rebounds,” Arkansas Coach Mike Neighbors said. “I thought she dug a bunch of those out, and then that got us going on transition, too. She was out in front of the break leading it, getting to the foul line and created a couple of good catch and shoot looks for (teammates).”

The Razorbacks (4-3) snapped a two-game losing streak and won their second game against an in-state opponent this year. Arkansas won 71-60 in overtime at Arkansas-Little Rock on Nov. 11.

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“It stinks to lose any day,” Neighbors said, “but especially if you get on a little bit of a streak, it’s easy to get (down). So, I thought it was important for us to stay above .500. You feel different when you win. I don’t know if we played any better yet. I’ll have to go home and watch, but I think we did.”

After giving up 38 points before halftime, the Razorbacks held the Red Wolves to 22 points on 8-of-36 (22%) shooting in the second half.

Arkansas State (2-3) went seven-plus minutes without a field goal between the third and fourth quarters. That stretch proved decisive as a 38-35 halftime deficit for Arkansas turned into a double-digit lead for most of the final quarter.

“We started getting all the 50-50 balls,” Neighbors said. “Before that, it was about (half). I think it was like 90-10 in that third quarter. The effort was much better. I thought our focus was a lot better.”

Arkansas State entered on a two-game win streak, which included a 100-96 victory at Arizona State. The Red Wolves fell to 3-9 all-time against the Razorbacks, last winning in the 2005 Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

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A fast-paced, back-and-forth first quarter saw two lead changes and runs of 6-0 and 5-0 that helped Arkansas State take a 23-19 lead into the second quarter. The Razorbacks committed six turnovers in the period that resulted in 10 points for the Red Wolves.

Arkansas took a 33-27 with 3:32 remaining in the first half before Arkansas State closed with an 11-2 run. Kennedie Montue beat the shot clock with a three-pointer to give Arkansas State a 38-35 lead just before halftime.

Fatigue appeared to play a factor in the first half, in which Arkansas was outscored 26-2 in bench points. Arkansas State Coach Destinee Rogers made mass substitutions throughout the game and had 10 players log minutes.

Arkansas forward Vera Ojenuwa, who put up a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, scored 12 points before halftime.

The Razorbacks took a 39-38 lead early in the third quarter on a jumper by Kiki Smith, who finished with 15 points. The teams went back and forth for a while before Lawrence connected on her first three-pointer of the game to put Arkansas up for good at 46-43 with 4:01 remaining in the third. Lawrence finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.

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Arkansas State ran a full-court press for most of the game and Arkansas fared better against it as time went on. The Razorbacks found Ojenuwa alone under the basket on multiple press breaks.

“For two days straight, we worked on just breaking their press and making sure we see Vera wide open,” Lawrence said. “Because the way their press was, they put all of their players in front and left Vera wide open in the back.”

As the Razorbacks built their double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, Higginbottom drove past defenders for three fast-break layups.

Arkansas finished the game on a 12-4 run, including six unanswered, to close the door.

The Razorbacks shot 30 of 67 (45%), including 7 of 27 (26%) from three-point range, and 9 of 12 (75%) from the free-throw line.

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Arkansas State went 23 of 74 (31%), 9 of 35 (26%) and 5 of 7 (71%) in those categories, respectively.

Anna Griffin led the Red Wolves with 16 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Montue, who made 3 three-pointers and scored 13 points. Both Griffin and Montue played off the bench, while Wynter Rogers was Arkansas State’s highest-scoring starter with 8 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Arkansas State’s starters outside of Rogers — Crislyn Rose, Zyion Shannon, Kyanna Morgan and Shaunae Brown — combined to go 4 of 36 from the field and scored eight points. Bella Weary and Mimi McCollister provided 7 and 6 points, respectively, off the bench for the Red Wolves.

Arkansas won the rebound battle 48-42 and had a season-high 16 assists.

Six Razorbacks scored at least eight points: Ojenuwa (20), Higginbottom (15), Smith (15), Lawrence (8), Carly Keats (8) and Danika Galea (8). Karley Johnson and Lawrence led the Razorbacks with three steals apiece.

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