Outdoor Opens At Panther Relays

CARDS, TIGERS COMPETITIVE VS. 7A CONFERENCE ATHLETES

Prairie Grove’s Josh Vickery threw a curveball that literally appeared to fall off of a table and made countless hitters — including myself — look foolish trying to make contact with the ball.

Farmington’s Bud Norris was an Adonis with a physique unmatched by most athletes even today, with the exception of his 6- foot-7, 275-pound son, Dylan Soehner, an Iowa State football signee. Norris only played six minutes his senior season before shattering both bones in his forearm in the season opener against Prairie Grove, yet was so revered that he still earned All-Conference honors that season.

Lincoln’s Bobby Osbourn was another superb athlete who was before his time. With the help of teammates like Tim Bailey and Dax Moreton, Osbourn made the Wolves into a dangerous opponent in baseball, basketball and football, where he starred at quarterback.

Jason Beeler fired fastballs in the low 90s for Farmington in the early 1990s before being drafted out of high school in the 16th round by the San Francisco Giants.

Brent Jackson and Jay Holland rewrote record books for tackles while playing for Jay’s dad, Allan Holland. The FHS football field is named after “Big Al” as he guided the Cardinals to 16 consecutive conference titles.

Dennis Fletcher was a quarterback at Prairie Grove before transferring to play baseball (PG didn’t field a baseball program at the time) at Farmington. He pitched the Cards to the 1984 state championship before moving on to pitch for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Jessica Carter and Ryan Dennis did the same thing for Farmington’s basketball team. Kris Webb is another former Cardinal who was unstoppable on the basketball court and almost as successful on the baseball diamond.

Bart Orr was like one of those bulls that none of the riders want to draw at the rodeo. At Prairie Grove, he leveled opponents as a running back/ linebacker, could hit a baseball a country mile and somehow, despite his physical strength, had the touch to drain 3s on the basketball court.

Steve Edmiston and Jay Harper starred as athletes at Prairie Grove before becoming coaches, the latter at Farmington.

Brothers Randall and Rickey Lewis ran Farmington to back-toback state championships in the early 1970s. Ever hear their stories? No? Want to? I sure hope so because I would love to share more of their stories that have become legendary over the years.

They transcended their sports on many of the same fields today’s high school players dig their cleats into each day.

They are Legends of Highway 62 West, or Legends of West Washington County. (I still haven’t settled on a name and am open to suggestions.)

But I need your help to make this series — which I hope to

Despite competing mostly against athletes from larger schools, Farmington and Prairie Grove had several individual standouts during the Siloam Springs Panther Relays on March 10. In fact, most of the Cardinals and Tigers were only bested by athletes from larger classifications as the event featured several 7A-West schools from Northwest Arkansas.

It was the first outdoor track and field meet for both squads.

Prairie Grove’s Sydney Walker was second in the 100- and 200- meter runs, finishing just behind Rogers Heritage sprinter Brandon Shaw in both races. Walker ran the 100 meters in 11.44 seconds while Shaw crossed the finish line in 11.35 seconds. Walker ran the 200 in 23.12 seconds with Shaw winning seconds.

Walker, a junior, won the 200 at the Class 4A state indoor meet in Fayetteville by sprinting to a meet-record time of 22.20 seconds.

In the 400 meters, Walker added a third place finish to pad Prairie Grove’s team total of 22 points, which was 11th among the boys’ 16-team field at the Panther Relays.

Farmington’s boys tied with Greenland for ninth place with 23 team points behind fourth-place finishes in both the 4x100 and 4x800 relays.

As far as the Cardinals’ top individuals, Josh Williams came in fourth in the 400 meters, Matt Duffy tied for fifth in the discus throw, Alex Garrison tied for fifth in the high jump and Derrick Ebers

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FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL WOODS ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Prairie Grove’s Sydney Walker, pictured at last spring’s 4A-1 meet, finished second in the 200 and 400 meters at the Panther Relays.