Lady Razorbacks report
Posted on Thursday, April 24, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/223729/
UA golfer won’t rest on success
Arkansas senior Stacy Lewis might be the hardest-working woman in college golf.
Lewis, who won her second SEC championship last week, set her alarm clock for 5 a. m. on each day of the tournament.
Why the early rising ?
Lewis redshirted her first season at Arkansas after undergoing back surgery, and has followed a strict rehabilitation and maintenance program since then. Coach Shauna Estes-Taylor said she took Lewis to a gym in the pre-dawn hours on each day of competition for stretching and running on a treadmill.
“I can safely say nobody else did that,” Estes-Taylor said.
Lewis’ victory was her sixth in 10 events dating to the fall season, and she placed in the top 10 in three of the other four events. She also was named Wednesday as the unanimous choice for SEC Golfer of the Year after leading the conference with a 70. 83 stroke average this season.
Lewis and the Lady Razorbacks learn their NCAA Regional destination Monday.
Arkansas has played at two of the sites — the Texas and Georgia university courses — but never played the Lincoln Hills Golf Club in Sacramento, site of the West Regional. All three tournaments will be played May 8-10, with the top 24 teams advancing to the NCAA Championships in Albuquerque, N. M. Lewis is attempting to repeat as the individual national champion, and Estes-Taylor said there is no reason to think she won’t be in the hunt. “She just has everything in her game to win golf tournaments,” Estes-Taylor said. “She comes up with a game plan when we’re at practice rounds to get around the golf course in the most efficient and smart way, she can hit the golf shots she wants to, and under pressure she’ll make those putts that she really needs to make.”
Numbers game The Arkansas softball team (33-22, 6-16 SEC ) remained in the hunt for the eight-team conference tournament despite a 2-1 series loss to Ole Miss last weekend. Arkansas, currently in ninth place overall, has a mathematical chance to earn as high as the fifth seed. Its more likely chance is to grab one of the last two spots. “We’re basically two out with six to play,” Coach Jamie Pinkerton said. “But as long as you have dirt and grass and a ball and a bat and some outs left, you’ve got a chance to play, and that’s kind of the attitude we’ve taken in practice this week... that anything’s possible.” Arkansas plays a three-game series at No. 15 LSU, owner of a 24-3 home record this season, on Saturday and Sunday, then closes the regular season with a three-game homestand against fifth-place Mississippi State on May 3-4.
On record pace Coach Lance Harter is often puzzled by college track and field rankings, though he didn’t broach the subject of Arkansas’ fall from the current Top 25 after being ranked 15 th two weeks ago. Harter seemed more concerned with his own opinion of the Lady Razorbacks. “We’re rolling,” Harter said. “I mean, things are going very, very well.” Evidence is the fact 23 Lady Razorbacks have qualified for the NCAA Regional meet to be held in Fayetteville on May 30-31. “I see 12 of them being at the NCAA Championships as of right now, so we’re definitely on cue to set some sort of record as far as number of qualifiers,” Harter said.
Hoping to host The 15 th-ranked Lady Razorbacks tennis team went 1-1 at last week’s SEC Tournament but helped its chances of hosting an NCAA Regional by beating LSU and advancing to the semifinals.
That victory kept Arkansas among the top 16 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, spots generally rewarded with home regional dates. The full 64-team field and 16 regional sites will be announced Tuesday.
“Being 15 th gives us a lot of hope that we’re going to host,” Coach Michael Hegarty. “Having hosted and gone on the road many times, it’s definitely better to stay at home.”
Junior Aurelija Miseviciute regained the top spot in the ITA singles rankings with two victories at the SEC Tournament, and the doubles team of Miseviciute and classmate Ela Kaluder is ranked 21 st. Kaluder is ranked 71 st in singles. By the numbers 5 & 5 Teams, and Top-10 teams, in Arkansas’ half of the draw at the NCAA Championships gymnastics meet 3 Teams that advance from today’s two sessions into the Super Six championship meet, in which the gymnastics national champion is determined 1-7 Arkansas’ head-to-head record against those five teams this season. On tap SPORT COMMENT Golf Awaiting NCAA Regional bid Gymnastics At NCAA Championships Track Heading to Drake Relays Softball At No. 15 LSU this weekend Tennis Also awaiting NCAA bid