Hogs eye best-ever NACDA showing

An SEC logo is shown on the field during the SEC Tournament on Thursday, May 27, 2021, in Hoover, Ala. (SEC pool photo)
An SEC logo is shown on the field during the SEC Tournament on Thursday, May 27, 2021, in Hoover, Ala. (SEC pool photo)

FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas athletics program is poised to wrap up another banner season in the next couple of weeks with the NCAA outdoor track and field meet and the conclusion of the NCAA baseball tournament.

The Razorbacks had a tough act to follow after accumulating one NCAA national championship in women's track and field and 10 SEC regular and postseason crowns during the 2020-21 academic year.

But they showed up again with championship intentions.

Arkansas has generated eight league championships during the school year: regular season and tournament titles by Courtney Deifel's softball team; a third consecutive title for Colby Hale's women's soccer squad, the SEC triple crown for Coach Chris Bucknam's cross country and track and field men; and a cross country and indoor double for Coach Lance Harter's women's track and field teams.

The athletic department finished eighth in the annual Director's Cup standings sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics last year, an all-time high for the Razorbacks. However, they were third among SEC teams behind fifth-place Florida and seventh-place Alabama.

Under fifth-year Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek, the Razorbacks are in position to post a second top-10 finish in a row with a shot at leading all SEC teams in the Director's Cup standings for the first time.

Arkansas has already posted seven top-10 NCAA finishes and 10 top-20 showings.

There are plenty of points left on the table for Arkansas, even after the softball team lost in the super regional championship game to Texas, which has gone on to qualify for the Women's College World Series championship series against Oklahoma, and the men's golf team's ninth-place finish at the NCAA Tournament, just outside the eight-team match play.

Both track and field squads have plenty of entries for the NCAA Championships, which begin today at Hayward Field at Eugene, Ore. Top=10 finishes are possible for both programs.

Coach Dave Van Horn's baseball team, looking to qualify for the College World Series for the third time in the past four completed seasons, powered into the NCAA Super Regionals with Monday night's 7-3 win at No. 7 seed Oklahoma State.

The Razorbacks bumped their Director's Cup point total from 50 to a minimum of 64 by advancing to face No. 10 national seed North Carolina this weekend. If they down the Tar Heels, they'll earn a minimum of 73 points for qualifying for the College World Series. Winning the program's first baseball championship would net 100 points and a runner-up finish would yield 90.

The softball team would have picked up a minimum of 73 points if it had qualified for its first Women's College World Series appearance last week. Deifel's team had to settle for 64 points for reaching the super regionals.

Arkansas sat in 10th place with 634.25 points after the final winter standings were released May 9. That slotted the Razorbacks second in the SEC behind only Kentucky, which had 662.25 points, including 100 points for winning the NCAA title in rifle. Alabama was in 12th place with 591 points.

Those standings did not include men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, men's and women's track and field and a handful of sports the Razorbacks do not sponsor: women's water polo, beach volleyball, rowing and softball, men's volleyball, men's and women's lacrosse. The scoring from those sports is scheduled to be tallied and posted June 16.

The baseball scoring will conclude the year's standings on July 1 or July 5.

With scoring still to be posted for men's and women's golf, both track and field teams, women's tennis, softball and baseball, the Razorbacks seem to be in a strong position to post the back-to-back top-10 finishes.

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NACDA points

The University of Arkansas point totals thus far in the annual Director’s Cup standings sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics:

Sport;SEC place;NCAA finish;Points

Men’s cross country;1st;4th;80

Women’s cross country;1st;8th;70.5

Volleyball;t5th;DNP;0

Women’s soccer;1st;t5th;73

Football;t5th;W-Outback Bowl;54

Women’s indoor T&F1st;4th;80

Men’s indoor T&F1st;7th;72

Gymnastics;6th;t13th;60.75

Women’s basketball;t8th;t33rd;25

Men’s basketball;4th;t5th;73

Women’s swim & dive;11th;28th;46

Women’s tennis;t5th;t33rd;25

Men’s tennis;11th;DNP;0

Men’s golf;10th;9th;TBA

Women’s golf;13th;t22nd;TBA

Softball;1st;t9th;TBA

Baseball;3rd;TBD;TBD

Men’s outdoor T&F:1st;TBD;TBD

Women’s outdoor T&F2nd;TBD;TBD

 


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