Henderson’s Langston, Haralson garner pair of All-Region honors

ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State junior closer Taylor Langston and senior starting pitcher Bryant Haralson recently received a pair of All-Region honors.

Both Reddies were named to the 2018 Central Region First Team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the NCAA Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association’s All-Region Second Team. It marked the second straight season and the third time in four years Henderson (30-20, 21-12 Great American Conference) had two players earn NCBWA All-Region accolades.

Langston, a junior from El Dorado, transferred to Henderson

athis season from Barton Community College in Kansas. He solidified himself as the team’s go-to arm late in games for the Reddies.

The junior made 19 appearances this season, carried a 1.63 ERA, allowed just five runs in 27

2/3 innings and picked up nine saves. Langston was the only reliever on the All-GAC First Team. He joins Nick Vanthillo and Blake Patterson as the only Reddie relievers to earn NCBWA All-Region honors and is the first to earn First Team recognition. He finished his first season at Henderson with 31 strikeouts and only two walks.

Haralson, a senior from Atkins, earned First Team All-Region from the NCBWA for the second straight year after finishing with a 9-3 record. He had

100 strikeouts to just 18 walks and led the conference in innings pitched with 105 1/3 over

14 starts.

During his two seasons at Henderson, Haralson went 19-6 in 28 starts, struck out 214 batters, was a two-time First Team All-GAC honoree and a 2017 All-American on three publications. He is the first Henderson player in the NCAA era to be named to the All-Region team twice in a career. Haralson named to five All-Region teams in the last two years.

Reddies add JUCO basketball All-American

ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State men’s basketball coach recently announced the signing of Anthony Lupardus to the program for the 2018-19 season. Lupardus, a two-year junior college transfer, is the sixth member of the Reddies’ 2018 signing class.

“We are very excited about the addition of Anthony to our basketball program,” Elgas said. “He has the ability to play any position on the perimeter, and is one of the most versatile players we have recruited in our time at Henderson State.

“Anthony is an outstanding person, who comes from a close knit family and has played for one of the most established coaches in junior college basketball. We know his leadership, toughness and work ethic will be huge assets to our program. We are thrilled to add him to our Reddie family.”

Lupardus joins the Reddies after a two-year stint at Johnson County Community College in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. He was the KJCCC Division II Player of the Year and a National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Third-Team All-American.

Adrian McConnell, a 6-9 forward from Warren High School in San Antonio, was Henderson’s first 2018-19 signee in November. Graham Chenault, Bauxite; Grayson Nix, Red Oak, Okla.; and Jeremiah Toney, Arkansas-Fort Smith, signed with the Reddies earlier in the spring.

Lupardus is Henderson’s second signing in the last month after Jairus Carroll signed from Scotland Campus Sports prep school. Lupardus led the KJCCC with 19.7 points per game and averaged 4.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

He shot 45.1 percent from the 3-point line and 87.9 percent at the free throw line. Lupardus scored in double figures in 29 of the Cavaliers’ 30 games, hit 96 3-pointers, was named conference player of the week a record six times and led Johnson County to an undefeated conference title.

During his two years with Johnson County, Lupardus hit a school-record 192 3-pointers and scored 1,161 points.

HSU volleyball releases 2018 schedule

ARKADELPHIA — The Henderson State volleyball team recently announced its full schedule for the 2018 fall season.

The Reddies open the year at the Washburn Invitational in Topeka, Kansas, before returning home to host the Bettye Wallace Invitational in the Duke Wells Center, where they will play four games in two days on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

Henderson’s third tournament of the 2018 season will be at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., the following weekend, which then gives way to Great American Conference play. The Reddies will play nine conference home games this fall and open GAC action on Sept. 11 in the Duke Wells Center against Arkansas-Monticello.

The GAC Tournament will again be held at the Hot Springs Convention Center from Nov. 8-10.

Other notable game dates include the home edition of the Battle of the Ravine with Ouachita Baptist, which is set for Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m., as well as Senior Night, which is scheduled for the final home game of the regular season on Nov. 1 against Southern Arkansas.

Reddie student-athletes again set record GPA in 2018 spring semester

ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State student-athletes have set a new bar for academic excellence in a semester.

After reaching a goal of a

3.0 departmental grade point average during the 2017 spring semester and then improving upon that mark last fall with an overall GPA of 3.01, the Reddies continued to climb in the recently completed 2018 spring semester, bumping the program-wide GPA up to 3.03, which is the best collective academic standing for student-athletes in school history.

In total, 160 student-athletes finished with a 3.0 or higher, 47 had marks between 3.5 and 3.9, and 27 completed the spring with a perfect 4.0.

The spring of 2018 marks the third straight semester in which Henderson’s student-athletes notched a GPA of 3.0 or better and is the ninth consecutive in which the overall GPA of the department has improved.

“I’m very proud of our student-athletes for continuing to raise the bar academically while balancing the opportunities and responsibilities that come with competing at the NCAA Division II level,” Henderson’s Director of Athletics Shawn Jones said. “Our coaches do an outstanding job of recruiting students who succeed in the classroom and I’m appreciative of everyone on campus who supports our student-athletes in their pursuit of academic excellence.”

Basketball, led by head coach Jimmy Elgas, had the highest GPA amongst the men’s programs at Henderson during the spring with a 3.46, while the golf team, headed by Forrest Schultz, led the way on the women’s side with a team GPA of 3.56. Altogether, nine of Henderson’s 12 athletic teams, including every women’s team, fielded GPAs of

3.0 or higher.