McGEE: Blackhawks were great this year

This was a good to great year as in the school motto.

The headliner was the dominant girls track and field team that coach Heather Wade has put together. A nearly 100-point victory in the state indoor championships and a comfortable win in the outdoor championships was especially impressive in light of the AAA moving half of the 5A classification down into 4A this year. Blakelee Winn’s and Cassidy Mooneyhan’s domination of the state sprint events left a lot of south Arkansas coaches asking “did you see that?”

The boys’ track team under Asa Poteete reached the upper echelon, taking second places in both state championships. Not that long ago, the ’Hawks’ track program was near the bottom of the conference and the state. Their winning of the state 4x100-meter relay in such a remarkable time shocked a lot of the former 5A schools. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Football had a much upgraded schedule but was still quite competitive. For the past four years, the ’Hawks have one of the very best records in the state.

Basketball had a great year with both teams ranked in the state Top 10 for most of the year. The diamond ’Hawks had highly ranked teams in both baseball and softball.

We are losing a lot of talent via graduation this year, so next year will see different kids taking on leadership roles in new situations. Of course, that’s what high school is all about. Bringing up the next generation to succeed and follow in the footsteps of the ones before is why we have sports.

Sports has the potential to be a bad thing sometimes, with students learning concepts or attitudes that will prove harmful to them later. Here in the Ridge, being involved with sports will not only be a good thing physically, mentally and socially, it will also prepare students for the future.

My association with my own high school and college coaches certainly changed the arc of my life. I would not be here in Pea Ridge if not for their influence and the choices their influence led me to make.

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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. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwadg.com.