Blackhawk XC teams hold the No 2 ranking in class 4A
Both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams under the direction of head coach Heather Wade are holding down the No. 2 position in the Milesplit 4A Cross Country rankings.
The boys’ ranking is topped by longtime distance power DeQueen with the girls’ rankings headed by defending state champion Valley View. The Pea Ridge boys won last year’s state title but lost several key runners through graduation. It would appear they are on their way back to the top. The girls also lost a lot of talent from 2020 when they won the state runnerup trophy but are putting up solid numbers this season as well.
Rankings are compiled by combining all the meet results of the 2021 season to come up with individual rankings. Those rankings are then added up to determine team scores/rankings. Races run on faster or slower courses may skew the scores a bit but they are accurate generally.
Tian Grant is the highest ranked Hawk at fourth, with five boy scorers ranked in the Top 25. Grandon Grant is ranked eighth, Troy Ferguson 20th, Elijah Wiggins 22nd and Sebasttian Mullikin 24th.
Liz Vasquez is the highest ranked Hawk at sixth, with RyLee Raines ranked eighth, and Kamree Dye at 14th to be the only Pea Ridge girls ranked in the Top 25.
How bout them Hawgs?!
Last year’s football season, while it didn’t go down as a banner year for wins and losses, the University of Arkansas was in the hunt for most of the games and, take away a few crucial referee mistakes, the Hawgs could have played in a bowl last season.
Prognosticators had the Razorbacks down for last place this year or close to it, giving them not much of a chance for more than three or four victories. To date, the Hogs are 4-0, are currently ranked the No. 8 team in the United States after starting the season ranked somewhere south of No. 100.
Quarterback K.J. Jefferson has emerged the team leader in his first year as a starter. The 6’3,” 245-pound athlete has lit it up through the air, has already thrown for over 900 yards, and is a punishing runner. But the biggest improvement in the world of Razorback football, is their coach, Sam Pittman.
Most head coach hires come from coaches with head coaching experience or at least holding a defensive or offensive coordinator position. Pittman left a job as a line coach to take the Arkansas job.
When Pittman was offered the job, on the heels of several other head coaches turning down the offer, the former Georgia line coach signed the contract without even knowing what the contract would pay. After playing football for Pittsburg State 35 years ago, Pittman has been toiling as a line coach for several schools, including Arkansas, and jumped at the chance to take the head job.
His hiring angered a lot of fans, with lots of media sources calling the Pittman the worst hire they had ever. Actually the worst hire the Hogs ever made was the coach that Pittman replaced. A well known sports editor John Talty called the hiring the worst hire of the cycle, maybe ever.
Pittman’s first year saw spring practice cancelled due to the covid response, a shortened season, with little time to actually implement the system he intended to employ. Still, after the previous coaches compiled 19 SEC losses in a row, Pittman won three and lost three others by 2 points twice and 3 points once. Coming into 2021, Arkansas had by far the toughest schedule in the nation, with five of their first seven opponents nationally ranked.
The Hogs were heavy underdogs to Texas but won by 19 points. They were underdogs to Texas A&M but beat them 20-10.
The Hogs have four running backs who are averaging over 5 yards per carry and the quarterback Jefferson is averaging over 7 yards per carry.
One of the biggest reasons for the Hogs’ meteoric rise in the polls is the play of both their offensive and defensive lines. A lot of head coaches leave the line play to the coaches assigned and give it little thought. Pittman is a great line coach, and as the head coach, is motivating all the players to perform at very high levels.
Pittman played football at Grove High School, then attended Pittsburg State to play for the Gorillas. While a player, the Pitt State coaches would take Pittman along on recruiting trips because he was the best recruiter they had. After working for Pitt State for two years following graduation, he got the job as offensive coordinator at Beggs High School (Okla.), then head coach at Princeton High School (Mo.) then Trenton High School (Mo.).
He then was offensive line coach at Hutchinson College (Kan.), then Northern Illinois, then Cincinnati University, then the University of Oklahoma, then Western Michigan, then Missouri University, then the University of Kansas, then back to Northern Illinois, then to University of North Carolina, then the University of Tennessee, then finally he came to Fayetteville in 2013 and lasted until 2015. From there he
went to Georgia who paid Arkansas $250,000 to get Pittman’s contract.
At Georgia, the Bulldogs began a string of divisional championships with Pittman on board, and he became the highest paid line coach in America at $900,000 a year. When the last Arkansas coach was fired, several former linemen at Arkansas lobbied Arkansas officials to hire Pittman. Athetlic Director Hunter Yurachek listened, interviewed Pittman, and the rest is history.
Pittman has been to a lot of places, mostly because when you work on the staff of a collegiate head coach, the head coaches’ firing usually means the end of all the other coaches jobs as well. Hopefully, he has found a place he can stick around with for a good long while.
MaxPreps/CBS 5A State poll Top 25
1. Pulaski 3-1
2. White Hall 4-0
3. Little Rock Christian 4-0
4. Vilonia 4-0
5. Greenbrier 4-0
6. Camden 4-0
7. Harrison 3-1
8. Farmington 4-0
9. Nettleton 4-0
10. Maumelle 1-3
11. Wynne 3-1
12. Hot Springs 2-2
13. Valley View 3-1
14. Magnolia 1-3
15. Alma 2-2
16. Green County Tech 3-1
17. Watson Chapel 0-4
18. Texarkana 1-3
19. Brookland 2-2
20. Lakeside 1-3
21. Morrilton 1-3
22. Batesville 0-4
23. Beebe 1-3
24. Clarksville 1-3
25. Pea Ridge 0-4
••• art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwadg.com.