State sports briefs

GOLF

Teens to represent First Tee of NWA

Hanna Brauburger and Wade Schaller will represent The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas in the Golf to Paradise-First Tee Champions Challenge Playoff on Feb. 9 in Naples, Fla.

Brauburger and Schaller will face teams from across the country in an alternate shot format. The top two teams will advance to the Champions Challenge on Feb. 10, where they will join teams from Naples/Collier, Fla., and Philadelphia in a four-hole team competition pairing each team with a Champions Tour player.

The champion will play in the Champions Tour’s ACE Group Classic Pro-Am on Feb. 11-12, and all four final teams will attend the Pro-Am Pairings Party in conjunction with the tournament.

SOFTBALL

UCA picked 4th by SIDs, 5th by coaches

Central Arkansas was picked to finish fourth in the Southland Conference on Wednesday by the conference’s sports information directors and was picked fifth by the coaches.

UCA received 81 points from the sports information directors, placing them behind McNeese State (115), Northwestern (La.) State (109) and Sam Houston State (102). The Bears received 82 points in the coaches’ poll, ranking behind Northwestern (La.) State (116), McNeese State (114), Sam Houston State (97) and Stephen F. Austin (90).

Central Arkansas opens the season at the Louisiana Classic, hosted by Louisiana-Lafayette, on Feb. 6-8 and opens its home schedule against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Feb. 10.

GAC coaches rank teams

Southern Arkansas received 85 points, including two firstplace votes, to finish second behind Southeast Oklahoma State on Wednesday in the Great American Conference’s preseason coaches’ poll.

Henderson State received one first-place vote and finished fourth in the poll with 71 points, just behind East Central (Okla.) with 79 points. Arkansas-Monticello finished seventh with 47 points, followed by Arkansas Tech (44) in eighth and Ouachita Baptist (19) in eleventh place.

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