’Hawk thinclads compete at State
The Blackhawk track teams were in Batesville Tuesday night competing in the 4A State Track and Field Championships in Pioneer Stadium.
As the paper went to press prior to the meet, we will have the results in next week’s edition. Having said that, there is a lot I could say about what might have happened last evening.
The girls were decided favorites to take another state championship though this one will be more difficult than in the three previous state championship runs. The Arkansas Activities Association decision to move 16 5A schools into the 4A classification made things considerably more competitive in 2019.
I ran the numbers this weekend to see how it would have shaken out had the AAA had left the classifications alone. Most of the scoring to be done this season will likely be done by Pea Ridge and three to four formerly 5A teams. Had the classes not been changed, I believe the final outcome would have been close to a record margin of victory.
Over on the boys’ side, it is fairly obvious to me that the ’Hawks would have won the meet this year if the classes had remained the same. Be that as it may, however, things did change so that is life.
The girls’ main challenger is likely to be Magnolia. They have more than 200 more students than we do in Pea Ridge and landed in 4A because they averaged one less enrolled student than did Paragould which is still 5A. Located on the Louisiana/Arkansas border, Magnolia is massively strong in the throwing events and have talented athletes scattered around the other events.
Magnolia has the advantage of being in a weak seven-team conference. They scored a whopping 280 points, 150 more than second-place Crossett. They qualified one or two entries in nearly every event except the long and triple jumps. They swept all three relays by large margins in the 4A-8 meet last week in Crossett. They will be bringing a bus load. The ’Hawks will have to score over 100 to take the title, something they are capable of doing.
The boys meet has DeQueen as the favorite. They are especially tough in the distance events and will likely score half their total in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter, 3,200-meter and 4x800meter relay events. They do have other athletes, enough to pull in perhaps 80 total points. Magnolia is also in the hunt for a title, for the same reason as the girls. They won their district by 100, scoring 267 points, and will be bringing a large contingent.
The Blackhawk boys are projected to score about 60 points, based on seasonal outcomes to date. However, these projections may, or may not, be dependable. There will be surprises at the meet with unheralded athletes making headlines with upset wins, and other surprises may relate to highly ranked athletes having off days.
It all comes down to competing. Whichever team comes out the most ready to compete will have the inside track to titles and championships. The ’Hawks have shown all year, both boys and girls, that they are ready to compete.
Anyone who has read my columns might realize that I am not a big fan of the AAA. For the past several years, it seems to me that a lot of their changes have proven to be ill advised. They originally went to seven divisions, they claimed, because they felt the need to give more students more opportunities to succeed. Having seven rather than four divisions has allowed more students to earn athletic honors so why did they change from seven to six classifications.
Arkansas now has the odd arrangement with seven classes in football but six in every other sport. As I have opined before, it is all about the Benjamins. Football playoffs is where the AAA gets their money (i.e. salaries, etc.) so the AAA expanded the number of classes and number of teams qualifying. Revenue relating to football is way up.
The other sports are not nearly as lucrative as football, so the classifications were cut. It was and is a money thing, not a “student opportunity” thing.
But such is life. Deal with what comes.
Razorbacks are tearing it up
After a brief lull and series losses to Mississippi and Vanderbilt, the baseball Hogs have won their last seven conference games in a row and now have the best record in the baseball-rich SEC at 15-6.
Ranked as high as fifth in some national polls, the Hogs look like a strong bid to host a Regional at the end of the season. If they keep it up, they may even be in line for a Super Regional gig.
The top 16 teams according to an NCAA formula using poll data, will host a regional. The importance of being host can’t be overstated. Of the 14 teams in the SEC, the most powerful league in the country, only four teams have a winning road record. The Hogs 9-6 road record is the strongest road record percentage wise. On the other hand, every single SEC team, even those in last place, has a winning home record.
The Hogs’ last seven consecutive conference wins were against teams ranked No. 2, No. 4 and No. 18.
With improving pitching and torrid hitting, it looks more and more likely that the Razorbacks may again
be Omahogs. Omaha, Neb., is the permanent home of the NCAA College World Series.
Diamond ’Hawks in the Regions
Both the boys and girls Blackhawk teams will be playing in the regional tournament Thursday, May 2. Both qualified in Gentry last week at the 4A-1 District tournament.
The girls whipped Harrison 6-1, lost to Gravette 7-3 then beat Berryville 5-3 to grab the No. 3 seed. The boys beat Huntsville 9-7 then lost to Harrison in the semifinals 11-6 to give the ’Hawks the No. 4 seed in the 4A-1.
The girls will play the 4A-4 second-place finisher at 12:30 p.m. Thursday with the boys tackling the 4A-4 champion at 3 p.m.
All games will be held in Farmington. Those teams winning Thursday will be qualified to play in the state tournament in Batesville next week.
AR Class 4A High School Baseball Rankings
1 Shiloh 18-5
2 Valley View 21-5
3 Harrison 17-6
4 Brookland 18-4
5 Pottsville 14-4
6 Pocahontas 15-7
7 Huntsville 13-7
8 Pea Ridge 11-9
9 Heber Springs 14-7
10 Southside 12-9
11 Farmington 11-13
12 Ozark 15-10
13 Batesville 10-13
14 Morrilton 10-16
15 Gravette 12-15
16 Prairie Grove 11-13
17 Clarksville 12-11
18 Dover 10-13
19 Berryville 9-9
20 Westside 7-12
21 Dardanelle 7-13
22 Gentry 7-16
23 Highland (Hardy) 5-15
24 Subiaco Academy (Subiaco) 3-17
25 Blytheville 1-16
AR Class 4A High School Softball Rankings
1 Valley View 21-1
2 Farmington 19-2
3 Nashville 19-4
4 Morrilton 19-4
5 Brookland 15-4
6 De Queen 14-4
7 Stuttgart 24-3
8 Gravette 14-6
9 Magnolia 15-4
10 Pottsville 13-6
11 Bauxite 15-7
12 Westside 17-10
13 Dardanelle 17-7
14 Southside 16-7
15 Batesville 20-7
16 Pea Ridge 12-6
17 Warren 16-8
18 Lonoke 17-5
19 Monticello 11-8
20 Malvern 12-11
21 Star City 10-10
22 Hamburg 12-8
23 Clarksville 13-13
24 Berryville 13-11
25 Gentry 12-8
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Editor’s note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwadg.com.