FOOTBALL
UA to open 2016 against Louisiana Tech
Arkansas will open the 2016 football season against Louisiana Tech at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, according to a news release from Louisiana Tech.
The game will be played Sept. 3, 2016. The schools agreed to the game five years ago, but the date and location were announced Thursday by Louisiana Tech.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at War Memorial Stadium, but Arkansas has since reduced its number of annual games in Little Rock from two to one per season.
Louisiana Tech has never played the Razorbacks on the Fayetteville campus. The teams have played twice in Little Rock and once in Ruston, La., but haven’t met since 1997.
Arkansas is under contract to play three nonconference opponents in 2016. In addition to Louisiana Tech, the Razorbacks are scheduled to travel to TCU and host Texas State.
A fourth nonconference opponent for Arkansas in 2016 has yet to be announced.
— Matt Jones
TRACK AND FIELD
Preliminary qualifiers announced
Arkansas announced its list of qualifiers for the NCAA West Preliminary, which will be held May 28-30 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
A total of 48 qualifiers were announced into each region. The Arkansas men’s team had 16 qualifiers represented by 10 athletes in 11 events while while the women had 24 total qualifiers represented by 17 athletes in 12 events.
For the Arkansas men, the qualifiers are Jarrion Lawson in the 100 meters and long jump; Kemoy Campbell in the 5,000 and 10,000; Stanley Kebeni in the 5,000 and 3,000 steeplechase; Omar McLeod in the 110 hurdles; Franklin Tonui in the 3,000 steeplechase; the 400 relay team of Eric Hawkins, Lawson, Kenzo Cotton and Marqueze Washington; the 1,600 relay team of Cotton, Washington, Eric Janise and Jamarco Stephen; Ken LeGassey in the high jump, Andrew Irwin in the pole vault; Clive Pullen in the triple jump; Rubin Owens in the triple jmp; Devin Randall in the shot put and discus.
Arkansas’ women qualifiers are Taylor Ellis-Watson in the 400; Chrishuna Wililams in the 800; Rebekka Simko in the 800; Therese Haiss in the 1,500; Dominque Scott in the 5,000 and 10,000; Diane Robison in the 5,000 and 10,000; Valerie Reina in the 5,000; Alex Gochenour in the 100 hurdles, high jump and long jump; Taliyah Brooks in the 100 hurdles, high jump and long jump; Jessica Kamilos, Shanon Klenke and Regan Ward in the 3,000 steeplechase; the 1,600 relay team of Swinton, Harper, Williams and Ellis-Watson; Sandi Morris, Denise Freier, Ariel Voskamp and Megan Zimlich in the pole vault; Amethyst Boyd in the javelin.
Arkansas State qualified 16 athletes for the meet, including five from its women’s team that won the Sun Belt Conference meet. Kristina Knott qualified in the 100 and the 200, while Keturah Smith (400), Darragh May (high jump), Erin Farmer (shot put) and Calea Carr (discus) also qualified.
For the ASU men, Jaylen Bacon qualified in the 100, 200 and is on the 400 relay team along with Roelf Pienaar, Joey Meyer, Elijah Ross and Henry Offiah. Other qualifiers include: Billy Ellis (110 hurdles), Ethan Sandusky (pole vault), Pienaar (long jump), Jonah Wiley (long jump), Will Oliver (long jump), Richard Chavez (shot put and discus) and Christian Ravar Ladislau (hammer throw).
Central Arkansas qualified seven from its men’s team in Chance Tanner (400), Daniel Spickles (pole vault), Eric Moore (high jump), Anthony Farris-King (long jump), while Tanner, Kelton Ray, Jeremiah Watson and Trevon Boyd will compete in the 1,600 relay.
UALR’s Desmond Gulley also qualified in the long jump, the program’s first male to qualify since 2012.
BASKETBALL
Report: Ex-Trojan will transfer to Georgia Tech
Former UALR forward James White told several outlets Thursday he has committed to play his final season at Georgia Tech, the Atlantic Coast Conference school located not far from where White attended high school.
White, who received his scholarship release not long after Chris Beard was introduced as UALR’s new coach April 8, picked Georgia Tech over Georgia, Alabama and Boston College, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and will enroll in school following his UALR graduation in August. As a graduate transfer, White will be eligible immediately to play his final season.
“It looked like it was the best fit for me and my family,” White told the newspaper. “The opportunity is there and the players there I know personally and I kind of developed a bond with them.”
White averaged 11.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 15 games last season for the Trojans, before he missed the final 16 games with a stress fracture in his tibia.