Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville wins MaxPreps again
Bentonville’s athletic program capped the 2014-15 school year just like it did the previous season as MaxPreps Cup champion.
Bentonville became the first school to win the honor, given to the nation’s top high school athletic program, for a second consecutive year. Bentonville finished the final standings with 1,092 points and held off runner-up Raleigh (N.C.) Cardinal Gibbons, which had 1,033 points.
“I want to give credit to our staff, our student-athletes, our fan base and the administration and community that supports us,” athletic director Scott Passmore said. “The Bentonville School District strives for excellence in academics, fine arts and athletics, and I think that’s a huge part of our success, the support we have through the entire community.
“Obviously, I was waiting for the information to come out. MaxPreps gave an update in the spring that showed we were in first place, and we’ve been patiently waiting for the announcement to see if we held on. That’s what makes it fun: when the wins are always greater than the losses, and we’ve been fortunate to win this back to back.”
Schools earn points with state championships or runner-up finishes in the sports that MaxPreps uses for its standings. Points are also awarded for the size of the
playoff division, meaning schools which play in its state’s larger classifications can earn more than those in smaller ones, while other factors include national rankings, a state’s population and the sport’s amount of player participation, which means a football title earns more points than a tennis or golf title.
Bentonville, the state’s largest high school, compiled state championships in baseball, football, volleyball, boys and girls tennis, girls track, girls cross country, boys and girls swimming and boys soccer. It also finished as the Class 7A runner-up in girls golf, boys cross country, boys basketball and boys track.
“When you look at our school and the traditions we have at this school, it’s a tradition of excellence,” said Bentonville coach Nick Nersesian, whose tennis and swimming teams accounted for four of the state titles recognized. “Our kids are looking at what it takes to be successful, and they learn from this school how to be successful.
“That body of work is not only in athletics, but it’s in the classroom and the other extracurricular activities. My programs have had a wonderful tradition, and it gives the kids the confidence. Every coach wants to set up a tradition in their program, and when they do, kids come to it and come to it with confidence.”
Bentonville’s 10 state championships were the most won by any high school in the country. Knoxville (Tenn.) Webb, which finished sixth with 850 points, had nine state titles, as did Honolulu (Hawaii) Punahou, which tied for eighth with 810 points.
This year’s margin of victory, however, was much narrower than last year, when Bentonville won by a 1,120985 margin. That became fitting for a school which had a number of close calls for its state championships.
Bentonville needed Dylan Smith’s 6-yard touchdown run with 26 seconds left to secure a state football championship and a Katy Kotoucek surge at the end of the 4x400-meter relay to win the girls track title by one-half point. Meanwhile, Bentonville’s baseball and boys soccer teams each won their titles by the slimmest of margins, and the boys tennis team relied on its doubles play to earn a state title.
“I had one of my coaches come to me that didn’t win a state championship and said ‘I hope I didn’t cost us the MaxPreps Cup,’” Passmore said. “So they’re thinking about it, as well. It could have gone either way.”
Cardinal Gibbons, a Class 3A school in North Carolina that finished 14th in last year’s standings, was recognized by MaxPreps as the highest-ranked medium-sized school. Oklahoma City Heritage Hall, which took seventh in the final standings with 838 points, was the top small school.
Carmel, Ind., finished third with 948 points, followed by Fort Lauderdale ( Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas with 922 and Darien, Conn., with 908. Rounding out the top 10 are Webb, Heritage Hall, Mobile (Ala.) St. Paul’s Episcopal and Punahou ( 810) and Atlanta (Ga.) Marist (800), while Jenks, Okla., finished 12th with 796.
“I’m not surprised Bentonville was able to pull off a second MaxPreps Cup championship because of the consistent excellence of the program,” said MaxPreps writer Kevin Askeland, who compiled all the standings. “Cardinal Gibbons made a very strong push this year and it came right down to the wire, but Bentonville’s baseball championship did the trick.”