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Rebel Roundabout: Furbush’s career year secures All-SEC honors

Ben Garrettby:Ben Garrett•05/10/24•

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Ole Miss softball senior Aynslie Furbush is coming off the best offensive season of her career.

The SEC officially recognized her efforts Friday morning. 

Furbush was named All-SEC for the third time. She was placed on the second team. Furbush was also named to the SEC Community Service Team earlier this week. She was an SEC All-Freshman in 2021.

Furbush, in her fourth and final Ole Miss season, tallied a career-best 48 hits. She had a team-high 44 RBI (10th in the SEC), and Furbush finished second of all Rebels in average (.331). She clubbed 12 home runs, tied for the fourth-most in a single season in program history. 

Furbush, a two-way player, had four saves and 3.73 ERA over 60.0 innings as a pitcher. Ole Miss will find out its postseason fate during the 2024 NCAA Softball Selection Show on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

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EXCELLENT DAY FOR OLE MISS TRACK & FIELD ON DAY 1 OF SEC OUTDOOR

Ole Miss swept both titles, claimed four medals and scored a whopping 44 points in both men’s (24) and women’s (20) hammer at the 2024 SEC Outdoor Championships on Thursday. 

The Rebels lead both team leaderboards after Day 1. 

All-American sophomore Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan defended his SEC hammer crown with ease with second-round toss of 70.17m/230-2. Robinson-O’Hagan is just the ninth player in SEC history to ever repeat as the men’s hammer champion. 

Actually, the men’s hammer accounted for all 24 points on their side, the most in the event since Georgia had 26 in 20023. Senior Dartmouth transfer Jake Dalton took silver behind Robinson-O’Hagan. 

He’s No. 3 in Ole Miss history and moved up to No. 22 in the NCAA this season.

“I’ve been chasing this mark all season,” Dalton said. “My practices have been going great. I’ve been throwing this in practice all year, so it’s kind of a huge weight off my chest to get that mark out there, especially at SECs where it really matters.” 

All-American senior Jasmine Mitchell made history for the Ole Miss women.

She claimed her third career SEC crown and the first ever in women’s hammer for any Rebel in history.

She won off her very first throw of 68.06m/223-3.

“When I get in the ring, my first throw is always to go after it (and) make it the best of the best,” Mitchell said. “That’s what I did. I went in there and did what I had to do.”

Fellow All-American senior Jalani Davis won her 10th career SEC medal in taking bronze. Robinson-O’Hagan and Mitchell are just the sixth pair of teammates in the SEC, and first in 2017, to sweep the hammer. They’re the first U.S.-born teammates to do so.

Ole Miss also received two superb preliminary performances on the track, courtesy of sprinters McKenzie LongandGabrielle Matthews.

Rebel senior McKenzie Long, the national leader in the 200-meter, made easy work of her prelim.

The two-time NCAA runner-up is the defending SEC Outdoor champion. She punched her ticket to Saturday’s final with a wind-legal, season-best 22.37 (+0.6). 

She’s looking to become the event’s first repeat winner since LSU’s Kimberlyn Duncan won three in a row from 2011-13.

Gabrielle Matthews is a sophomore from Jamaica. She flew past her own school record, and earned an automatic qualifier, in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing second overall with a personal-record 55.82.

Matthews is the first Rebel woman ever to break 56 seconds. The mark ranks No. 4 in the NCAA, No. 16 worldwide and No. 1 in Jamaica.

Day One Men’s Team Scores (Through Three Scored Events)

1. Ole Miss – 24
2. No. 4 Alabama – 18
T3. No. 5 Arkansas – 14
T3. No. 1 Florida – 14

Day One Women’s Team Scores (Through Three Scored Events)

1. No. 12 Ole Miss – 20
2. No. 4 Texas A&M – 18
3. No. 15 Alabama – 17

Day One Medalists

Jasmine Mitchell – Women’s Hammer, Gold Medal
Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan – Men’s Hammer, Gold Medal
Jake Dalton – Men’s Hammer, Silver Medal
Jalani Davis – Women’s Hammer, Bronze Medal

CONFERENCE ACCOLADES FOR PAIR OF OLE MISS MEN’S GOLFERS

Two members of the Ole Miss men’s golf team took home conference honors this week. 

Michael La Sasso was placed on the All-SEC first team, the 16th such Rebel in school history. He’s the first since Jackson Suber in 2022. Tom Fischer made his way onto the SEC Community Service Team, his first conference accolade.

La Sasso, a sophomore, is a transfer from NC State, has led Ole Miss and currently ranks second in the SEC in stroke average through 26 rounds (69.35). He’s on pace to break the program record for lowest stroke average in a season, surpassing Braden Thornberry. The sophomore has been Ole Miss’ best individual performer in six consecutive tournaments this season. He’’s finished inside the Top 20 in all eight events this regular season. He was Top 3 in four.

La Sasso has shot 11 rounds in the 60s, 21 rounds even or below par and 15 rounds below pa this season. He was recently selected to compete in the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup for Team USA and currently ranks No. 5 in the nation, according to Clippd Golf rankings.

Sophomore Fischer participated in Feed the Sip, which collected and donated over 7,000 non-perishable food items for Tunica and Quitman counties. Fischer assisted in Adopt A Basket in the fall. The Ole Miss athletics department donated Thanksgiving baskets to families in need throughout the Lafayette-Oxford-University Community.

FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC

Jackson Koivun, Auburn
Michael La Sasso, Ole Miss
Jack Lundin, Missouri
Brendan Valdes, Auburn
Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt
Matthew Riedel, Vanderbilt
Jacob Skov Olesen, Arkansas
Cole Sherwood, Vanderbilt

COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM

Thomas Ponder, Alabama
Kaelen Dulany, Arkansas
Ryan Eshleman, Auburn
Rylan Shim, Florida
Caleb Manuel, Georgia
Tanner Parks, Kentucky
Connor Gaunt, LSU
Tom Fischer, Ole Miss
Jack Lundin, Missouri
Rafe Reynolds, South Carolina
Vishnu Sadagopan, Texas A&M
Jackson Van Paris, Vanderbilt

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