High scores highlight archery regional tournaments

February 12, 2020

By RANDY ZELLERS/AGFC ASSISTANT CHIEF OF COMMUNICATIONS

Arkansas National Archery in the Schools tournament

LITTLE ROCK – Impressive team and individual scores highlighted a Saturday of statewide regional competition of the Arkansas National Archery in the Schools Program, sponsored by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Two teams from each of 12 regional events across three age groups qualified for the ANASP State Tournament, which will be held at Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs March 6-7. In addition, 12 more at-large teams were selected from each of the three divisions and will compete in Hot Springs.

The elementary and middle school divisions have Friday, March 6, to themselves in Hot Springs, while the senior division will determine its state champion Saturday, March 7. Admission to the event for spectators is free, but the school whose supporters bring the most canned food items will win cash for their team to purchase equipment and other team items. The prize has been donated by the AGFC Commissioners. The canned food drive at the State Tournament is being held to support Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry.

“There were some really high scores from across the state,” Curtis Gray, the AGFC’s coordinator of ANASP, said of the regional tournaments. “All of the tournaments went off without a hitch and we are now marching towards the State Tournament.”

A total of 3,731 girls and boys competed across the state in the three age groupings. Region 4, staged in Cave City, drew a high of 433 competitors.

“There were really good attendance at all of the regionals across the state with the exceptional weather we had this past weekend,” Gray said. “All of the schools are reporting that they were able to raise more than sufficient funds to support their archery programs and other student organizations on their respective campuses through hosting these tournaments.”

The most excitement among the Senior Division teams may have come at Harrison in Region 2, where Alpena’s boys and girls ran up a weekend best 3,341 points to win over Bergman, which had 3,284 points – enough to win most other regions. Valley Springs missed out on the top two spots by ending 12 points shy of Bergman, but Valley Springs landed an at-large berth with its score of 3,272. In another senior regional thriller, Valley View won Region 4 in Cave City by a mere 7 points over Greene County Tech, 3,239-3,232.

Team scores were determined by totaling the top four girls team member scores, the top four boys team member scores and up to four other boys or girls scores for the team.

Other Senior Division region winners and runner-ups, and their points, were: 1–Arkansas Arts Academy (3,063), Bentonville (2,959); 3–Batesville Pioneers (3,191), Hillcrest (3,002); 5–Charleston (3,077), Waldron (3,064); 6 –VHS Eagles (3,090), Pangburn (2,987); 7–Bryant Hornets (3,301), Oden Timberwolves (2,959); 8–Cabot (3,320), Homeschoolers on Target (3,009); 9–Acorn Tigers (3,257), Murfreesboro Rattlers (3,154); 10–Glen Rose (3,115), Robin’s Hoodlums (3,056); 11–El Dorado Wildcats (3,245), Taylor (3,109); 12–Hamburg (2,933), Drew Central (2,715).

Brady Webb of Acorn scored a 295 with 25 bulls-eyes to lead all senior boys scoring on Saturday. Kaleb Tramel of Pottsville and Jacob Jones of Greene County Tech both totaled 292 at their respective regionals, with Tramel getting one more bulls-eye, 23-22.

Emilee Evers of Bergman amassed 293 points, including 23 bulls-eyes, to lead all senior girls scoring. Allie Strother of Oden amassed 292 points, including 23 bulls-eyes, and Emma Everett of Cabot totaled 290 points with 21 bulls-eyes.

Bullseye at Regional Tournament

Middle school regional winners were: Washington Junior High, Bergman, Batesville, Greene County Tech, Charleston, Pangburn, Bryant, Des Arc, Eagle Eye Archery, Murfreesboro Rattlers, Glen Rose, El Dorado Barton and Hamburg. Finishing in second in their regions were: Woodland Junior High, Alpena, Hillcrest, Valley View, Pottsville, Patriots Archery, Bryant Blue, Cabot North, Wickes, Region 10 Straight Shooters, Washington Middle and Blue Steel.

Hill Farm Elementary of Bryant, which has dominated the Elementary Division at the ANASP State Tournament, cruised on to Hot Springs again in winning Region 7 in Mt. Ida. Other elementary qualifiers for the State Tournament were Bentonville Old High Elementary, Arkansas Arts Academy, Bergman, Omaha, Eagle Mountain Magnet, Southside Batesville Southerners, Valley View Intermediate, Cross County Archers, Charleston, Pottsville Apaches, Hornet Archery, Davis Elementary Knocked and Loaded, PFE Archers, Carlisle, Murfreesboro Rattlers Archery, Vandervoort Sharp Shooters, Glen Rose, Mockingjays, Taylor, Emerson, Hamburg and Monticello Blue Steel.

At-large Elementary Division qualifiers (and points in the regional) were Greene County Tech (2,751), Valley Springs (2,725), Sulphur Rock (2,676), Cedar Ridge (2,657), Collegeville (2,656), Hillcrest (2,608), Searcy County (2,602), Salem (2,576), Maynard (2,557), Springhill (2,465), Parker’s Chapel (2,415) and Jasper (2,401).

Middle school at-large qualifiers were Valley Springs (3,131), Omaha (3,105), Maumelle (3,096), Taylor (3,076), Emerson (3,027), Cabot Junior South (3,024), Acorn (3,014), Southside (2,987), Cross County (2,985), Waldron (2921), Carlisle (2,908) and Searcy County (2,889).

Senior High Division teams earning an at-large berth were Valley Springs (3,272), De Queen (3,139), Pottsville (3,042), Brookland (3,000), Omaha (2,997), Southside (2,987), Cross County (2,965), Perryville (2,958) Jasper (2,955), Blevins (2,952), Fordyce (2,951) and Little Rock Christian Academy (2,947).

Arkansas Tech announces 2020 signing class

February 5, 2020

By ARKANSAS TECH SPORTS INFORMATION

RUSSELLVILLE – Thirty-nine high school student-athletes and three four-year transfers have joined the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys 2020 football program, announced by head coach Kyle Shipp on Wednesday.

Of the new additions, 24 are from the state of Arkansas, with student-athletes from Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Missouri also joining the program.

“I’m excited about all of the kids that we’re signing – I feel like it’s a very good class from top to bottom,” Shipp said. “This class is a building block to where we want to get to in the future. Along with our returning class we feel like this group will have the chance to be pretty special.”

A complete list of signees follows:

2019 High School Signees

NamePositionHeightWeightHometown/Previous School
Adam MartinQB6-0190Heber Springs HS, Ark.
Ayomide JohnsonOL6-4265Cedar Hill HS, Texas
Brandon BuntonDB6-0180Dardanelle HS, Ark.
Brenton BacheminOL6-4280Archbishop Rummel HS, La.
Bryce FoxOL6-7275Dierks HS, Ark.
Carmerius RucksLB6-0205El Dorado HS, Ark.
Christian CorkranOL6-4307Fontainebleau HS, La.
Christian StaffordDB6-0170Lufkin HS, Texas
Cole CannonOL6-4270Grandview HS, Texas
Connor WatsonATH6-0175Valley View, HS, Ark.
Damarius NewtonWR6-2195Van Buren HS, Ark.
Davy HarrodDT6-0255Henry County HS, Tn.
Dewayne SmithLB6-0190Conway HS, Ark.
Drew RustTE6-1270Pottsville HS, Ark.
Germany PowellLB6-0255Bastrop HS, La.
Hunter TaylorOL6-1285Pillow Academy, Miss.
Jayden WimberlyDE6-3220Vilonia HS, Ark.
Jayson CampbellDL6-3215Arkadelphia HS, Ark.
Jayvien FranklinOL6-0270Russellville HS, Ark.
John WashburnOL6-0285Hoxie HS, Ark.
Jordan EdingtonQB6-2237Little Rock Catholic HS, Ark.
Jude BartholomewWR6-1200Van Buren HS, Ark.
Korlin McKinneyDL6-0275Conway HS, Ark.
Kyle GreenDE6-1230Bryant HS, Ark.
Kyren HarrisonATH5-11180Arkadelphia HS, Ark.
Lorenzo LawsonDL6-1250Arkadelphia HS, Ark.
Mason RossWR6-0185Rogers HS, Ark.
Matt ArnoldDB6-0180Texas HS, Texas
Micah SeawoodWR6-2175Springdale Har-ber HS, Ark.
Nakiyah DavisWR6-2195Joe T. Robinson HS, Ark.
Nate BurkhartzmeyerOL6-4280Broken Arrow, Okla.
Sam BartisOL6-2280Sunnyvale HS, Texas
Sammy LeBlancQB6-1175Teurlings Catholic HS, La.
Travarus Shead Jr.ATH6-2210Drew Central HS, Ark.
Trey WhiteDT6-1270Evangel Christian Academy HS, La.
Tyler IvyDB5-11175Benton HS, La.
Tyler WilliamsWR6-2180Metairie Park Country Day HS, La.
Vincent SteppesRB6-0175Warren HS, Ark.
Xavier ClemonsATH5-11180Morrilton HS, Ark.

2019 Transfers

NamePositionHeightWeightHometown/Previous School
Detavion TurnerRB5-10220University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Ark.
Jacob CatoOL6-2310Iowa Central CC, Iowa
Devin BurnsDL6-1240Austin Peay University, Tenn.

Williams Baptist repeats at Lyon College

News Photo
WIlliams Baptist University Sports Information

August 30, 2019

By WILLIAMS BAPTIST SPORTS INFORMATION

BATESVILLE – A year ago the Williams Baptist University men’s cross country team won a meet for the first time in school history. Today, the Eagles repeated that feat at the same course and race. WBU won the Lyon Invitational, hosted by Lyon College in Batesville.

The team won with 36 points. They finished one point ahead of Lyon (37) and 13 points ahead of Crowley’s Ridge College (49). It was head coach Tim Shepard‘s first race as the head Eagle.

“Today was only a 5km race, but I think my guys have gained some confidence. They showed their competitive nature. We are not where we want to be just yet, but if we build on this we can surprise some people,” said Shepard.

The Eagles took home the individual places of fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth. Lucas Goodrich (SO/Dexter, Mo.) led the way with a 5km time of 19:10, followed by Ruben Whitney (FR/Fayetteville) and Jack Wafler (SR/Memphis, Tenn.). Whitney finished in fifth with a time of 19:25, while Wafler ran the race in 20:04, good enough for sixth place. Joey Colvert (SR/Bryant)’s time of 21:10 placed him in ninth place for the race.

Karlis Smith (FR/West Memphis) was the fifth finisher for Williams after coming in 12th place with a time of 22:20. Meanwhile, Isaiah Cook (FR/Hoxie) finished in 14th place with a time of 23:44.

This was the first time Whitney, Smith and Cook represented WBU at the collegiate level.