Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Froud’s Influence On Prairie Grove Athletics
Lady Tiger head girls basketball coach Kevin Froud was the unsung hero as the senior class won the May 16 Prairie Grove Powder Puff girls football game, 18-0, over the juniors.
One of Froud’s former players, senior Camree Bartholomew, turned in a Most Valuable Player-type, dominating performance, demonstrating a superior level of conditioning she learned while playing basketball for Froud. The fact that a football field is 100 yards long compared to the 84-feet length of a basketball court, and 53 yards wide compared to basketball’s 50-feet width; or that the girls basketball season for Prairie Grove concluded in mid-February seemed to have little effect on Bartholomew, who was all over the field.
She played every down, going both ways as a quarterback running the offense and made a key interception on defense.
“I workout every day, I’ve been practicing a lot,” Bartholomew said.
Classmate Sol Walker, who was coaching the senior girls, relied on Bartholomew’s conditioning. She was the workhorse, getting the bulk of the carries for the senior offense that started slowly with a turnover on downs to end their first possession.
After the seniors punted to start the second half, Bartholomew helped the seniors flip the field and turn the game in their favor by picking off a pass when she ripped an interception out of the hands of one of her own teammates.
“It (the interception) was a surprise to me, I tackled one of my own players to get it,” Bartholomew said.
Her runback put the seniors in prime field position and they capitalized. Running a keeper to the wide side of the field, Bartholomew turned the corner and darted 18 yards up the left sideline for a touchdown, surprising even herself.
“I didn’t think I would be able to get it, but I just kept running,” Bartholomew said.
Senior two-sport athlete (softball and volleyball) Anna Kidd ran in the 2-point conversion for an 10-0 senior lead.
Senior volleyball power hitter Riley Gerwig made a tackle for a loss to put the juniors in a hole to begin their next drive, which ended with a turnover on downs.
The seniors scored a late touchdown with Bartholomew completing a scoring pass to Madison Beaver on second-and-15 from the 28 with seven seconds left in the contest. Bartholomew ran in the 2-point conversion untouched as time expired with the seniors winning 18-0.
“We (the Class of 2017) won last year, so we’re back to back (Powder Puff) champions. I’ve had great coaches. I’ll do it all over again, it’s kind of sad to be leaving, not to play next year.”
“She runs better than her brother,” Froud said, referring to Bartholomew’s older sibling, Weston, a star for the Tigers during a trip to the state football semifinals in 2012.
In recent weeks, Froud’s impact on Prairie Grove athletics has been showcased in other sports. His wife, Dana Froud, is coaching the girls track and field team. Dana Froud pointed out Kevin Froud’s influence with the Tiger 4 x 800 meter relay team of Kaylee Elder, Lexi Madewell, Audrey Doering, and Bekah Bostian. They won the event at the 4A-1 Conference meet with a time of 11:39.59, and finished in 13th place at the State 4A meet with a time of 11:53.88.
Dana Froud recalled the girls’ desire to place in the top-two at district in order to qualify for state.
“They were striving to get second, but they came in first by one 1/100th of a second,” Froud said. “That’s all a credit to my husband (Prairie Grove girls basketball coach Kevin Froud). The basketball girls (Elder, Madewell and Doering) are just tough, they’re strong-minded. They are used to hurting. They know what it takes to win. Everyone of them sprinted the last 100 yards. Nobody else did that.”
“He (Froud) knew what he was doing,” Bartholomew said. “He kept us in shape, there were no days off.”
From the looks of her on-the-field football performance, Bartholomew hasn’t taken days off either. That is a mindset instilled by Froud.