Seven to be inducted into Rogers Hall of Fame

ROGERS — Angie Kennan Milford was known for her work ethic and shooting ability.

Jamie Rains recalled her former teammate’s car seemed to always be parked in front of the old gymnasium anytime she drove past it.

“She was a gym rat,” Rains said. “I remember she was always working on her game.”

The 47-year-old Milford fessed up to being able to climb through a window, which had a broken latch, that allowed she and others to practice basketball for hours on end.

“Yeah we would climb through the window to shoot hoops,” said Milford, a 1989 Rogers High graduate who now lives in Tallahassee, Fla. “It was to a side locker room or something. And I believe you could always hear someone using a key to get in the front doors and we would scatter.”

That work ethic served Milford well as she was invited to walk-on at Auburn and play for Hall of Fame coach Joe Ciampi. She later earned a scholarship for a team, which made the NCAA Tournament every year she was there and was national runner-up her freshman year.

Milford will be one of seven

people inducted into the Rogers Mountaineers Athletic Hall of Fame in a ceremony beginning at 5 p.m. Friday at the Rogers High Performing Arts Center. She will be joined by Chris Chalmers, Troy Curby, Kim Dameron, Ryan Fox, Ted Givers and Cody Kirby.

Milford said she always wanted to leave to the area to attend college and enjoyed her time at Auburn.

“I never wanted to stay here,” Milford said. “I don’t know why. I remember I visited and just loved it. Back then I didn’t know the recruiting system. They recruited me as a walk-on, but I got a scholarship after my first year.

“We made it to the national championship game my freshman year and I even got to play in the semifinal game against Louisiana Tech. That was crazy.”

The 5-foot-7 guard played in 84 games in her career, but stood out for her shooting. She shot 36 percent from 3-point range (35-for98) and made 19 during the 1991-92 season.

Holly Treat, a 2017 Rogers Hall of Fame inductee and another former Milford teammate, said she was a perfect role model for her as a sophomore.

“Her passion and love for the game is what I remembered most about Angie and I looked up to her as a senior,” said Horton, who now serves as the Bentonville High freshman girls basketball coach.

Dameron and Chalmers were both multi-sport standouts at Rogers. Dameron, who is currently the head football coach at Eastern Illinois, played football at Arkansas and professionally with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL.

Chalmers also played college football at Arkansas and was a four-year letterman. Kirby was an all-state quarterback, who led the Mounties to the state championship game.

Fox was a baseball standout, who also played collegiately at Arkansas and was drafted by the Colorado Rockies. He spent eight years in professional baseball and still holds the Rogers High career record for home runs with 21.

Curby was a standout runner for the Mounties cross county teams that won state titles in 1988 and 1989. He won both of those races and set a course record as a senior that still stands today at Arkadelphia.

Givers, a 1954 Rogers graduate, is being recognized for his years of distinguished service to the Rogers athletic programs. He served as football statistician for almost three decades.

Milford coached basketball at the high school and collegiate level and in recent years began competing in triathlons in which she attained a top-15 ranking nationally and internationally in her age group. She doesn’t recall much about her specific basketball exploits, but her memories are more about friends and teammates.

“My pawpaw came and sat on the front row and watched me play, that’s what I remember,” Milford said. “Running suicides with my teammates. In college, I was definitely a role player. I was a 3-point shooter. But it showed me how important team was. I loved my team.”