Activities heating up
SSHS teams prep for busy summer
The Siloam Springs boys basketball team is looking forward to a strong summer schedule to help the Panthers rebound from a difficult 2017-18 season.
The Panthers have practices scheduled all throughout the summer in June and July and will be attending various team camps as well.
“We’re excited to go compete and see this group’s growth both physically and mentally,” said Siloam Springs boys coach Tim Stewart. “We’ve been really pleased with the energy and concentration our guys have brought to practice. More importantly the boys are ready to go play. We’ve scheduled more games this summer than in the past, so we’ll get a good look at what our strengths and weaknesses are heading into next year.”
The Panthers are scheduled to particpate in a team camp at John Brown on Friday, and they’ll also be going to an AAO Team Camp on June 11 and a team camp at the University of Arkansas on June 15-16.
Several other playing dates and team activities are scheduled in June.
The Panthers will take a twoweek break for the Arkansas Activities Association dead period from June 24-July 8, and summer workouts will resume in July from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Panthers will take most of August off before the start of school.
Girls basketball
The Lady Panthers, coming off a 6A state tournament appearance in 2017-18, also have a busy summer planned.
The Lady Panthers are scheduled to practice every Tuesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
Siloam Springs will participate in a team camp at Rogers on Friday and Saturday.
Siloam Springs also will go to a team camp at Gravette on June 5 and then another team camp at Branson, Mo., on June 7-9.
“This summer we are hoping to make some changes in our defensive scheme,” Siloam Springs girls coach Tim Rippy said. “We hope to get lots of kids playing experience for the varsity level, so we have an idea of what the kids can do in competition.”
Volleyball
The Siloam Springs volleyball team will have a lighter schedule in June with workouts, open gyms and a play night with Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove on June 18.
The schedule gets busy after the dead period as the Lady Panthers will head to the Branson area for the Licking Team Camp on July 12-14.
“We are looking forward to the summer,” said head coach Joellen Wright. “It’s our preseason.”
The Lady Panthers, who were state semifinalists in 2017, are scheduled to participate in a playday at Har-Ber on July 19, and they’ll go to team camp at Arkansas Tech on July 25-26.
“We’re looking forward to developing the team’s chemistry and seeing who steps up,” Wright said.
Cross country
Siloam Springs cross country coach Sharon Jones expects a record-high participation in the program this upcoming year.
“We’ll see who actually shows up and will endure the summer workouts,” she said.
The Panthers and four-time defending 6A champion Lady Panthers will begin aerobic base workouts in the first week of June and continue through the dead period.
“We’ll host our one-mile time trials again about every two weeks to gauge our progress,” Jones said. “The varsity will have an extra meet incentive, if they make the required summer practices and their goal time for the mile.”