Spotlight on local athletes
Foreman’s upset victory over Mount Ida in the Class 2A final on Friday officially ended the 2017 Arkansas high school football season and, with it, almost all of the state’s fall sports seasons are over.
That means it is time to look back and recognize the standouts from the fall season. We have planned our All-Garland County teams for next Sunday, Dec. 24, and it will be more than just football.
Sports writers James Leigh, Zach Parker and myself worked with our local coaches to select more than 75 of our top local student-athletes for the All-Garland County honors in football, volleyball, cross country, golf and tennis.
The honors will include a player of the year for offense in football, a player of the year for defense in football, a volleyball player of the year, two cross country athletes who share the honor as our top runners of the year, a tennis player of the year and two students who will share the honor as our golfers of the year. One coach was also selected as the fall sports coach of the year.
Five of the seven public school districts in Garland County are recognized with the individual honors. All seven will be well represented in the All-Garland County teams.
I am excited to give some space for top athletes in sports who may not always get as much attention as football. I am also excited to do the same for many of our local graduates who are playing sports in college.
I have spent the last month working with the coaches and athletic directors to develop a comprehensive list of alumni playing in college right now in order to provide weekly updates during their seasons. I plan to do a recap of the fall sports athletes in the near future, but I want to make sure I have everyone included.
The following is the list I have compiled. If you see anyone not mentioned or want to make a correction, please send a notice to me at sports@hotsr. com.
Lake Hamilton Football
Gavin De Los Santos, Harding; Chris Eastburn, Arkansas Tech
Volleyball
Kori Bullard, Ouachita Baptist University; Courtney Erby, Lyon College; Shelby Powell, Lyon; Madisson Williams, Lyon
Men’s soccer
Jeremy Porter, Lyon
Cross Country
Thomas Bearden John Brown; Bror Thirion, Central Arkansas
Men’s tennis
Elijah Ballard, Hendrix; Spencer Turner; University of the Ozarks
Women’s tennis
Kami Ward, Arkansas Tech
Men’s basketball
Jordan Harper, National Park College; Larenz Nero, Labette Community College
Women’s basketball
Kori Bullard, Ouachita Baptist; Anna Ledbetter, National Park College
Baseball
Jacob Crumpler, Ouachita Baptist; Zach Muldoon, Southern Arkansas; Zach Ross, University of Arkansas-Fort Smith; Nathan Sawrie, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; Ryan Sinclair, Southern Arkansas; Korey Wasson, Arkansas State
Track and field
Nick Johnson, South Dakota State ; London Martin, Bethel College; Madison Shinn, Southern Arkansas; Bror Thirion, Central Arkansas; Hunter Tucker, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Lakeside Football
Mo Bradford, Cornell; Caleb Dean, Arkansas State; Ethan Eye, Arkansas Tech; Grant Gatson, Henderson State; Kyle Mabry – Hendrix College
Volleyball
Mady Rottinghaus, Ouachita Baptist
Men’s soccer
Jack Butler, Hendrix; Grant Gartner, Hendrix; Evan Munro, Hendrix
Women’s soccer
Amanda Hamilton, Hendrix
Women’s tennis
Tatum Rice, Arkansas
Men’s tennis
Luke Lefler, Hendrix
Men’s golf
Cameron McRae, Henderson
Women’s golf
Kirsten Garner, Arkansas State; Natalie Renaud, Southern Arkansas
Women’s basketball
Lexi Tejcek, Henderson
Swimming
Eberle Yarbrough, Hendrix
Baseball
Erick Aguirre, Arkansas Baptist; Logan DeRosier, Henderson; Brandon Hall, Arkansas Baptist; Bo Ritter, Arkansas State; Race Tittle, UAPB; Carter West, North Arkansas College; John Youngblood – Henderson
Track and field
Tucker Pratt, Hendrix
Hot Springs Football
Cleo Floyd, Arkansas Baptist; Jojo Grant, Henderson; Clifford Jackson, Henderson
Men’s soccer
Dylan Mitchell, Hendrix
Men’s basketball
Exavian Christon, Louisiana Tech; K.J. Corder, National Park College; Trayvon Gordon, Independence Community College; Paris Harris, Itawamba Community College; Trey Lenox, Abilene Christian; Domonique Pondexter, National Park College; Quindell Smith, NorthArk
Women’s basketball
Ashley Clayborn, Arkansas State University; Keke Hunter, Tyler Junior College; Berniezha Tidwell, Highland Community College; Tiaunna Watkins, Southern Arkansas University
Track and field
Katie Welch (Arkansas School for Mathematics, Scienes and the Arts), Hendrix
Fountain Lake Football
Ethan Simpson, Henderson
Women’s basketball
Kayla Sims, National Park College; Bailey Womack, National Park College
Rugby
Dilan Holcomb, Arkansas State
Jessieville Tennis
Alisha Davis, Henderson
Men’s basketball
Hunter Daley, University of Arkansas at Monticello
Women’s basketball
Faith Bratton, National Park College; Kellie Lampo, Harding
Rugby
Steven Benson, Arizona; Nick Marshall, Arkansas State
Softball
Mary Carter, Southern Arkansas
Track and Field
Justice Reliford, Southern Arkansas
Mountain Pine Women’s basketball
Hailee Crosby, Ouachita Baptist; Jordan Godwin, Williams Baptist, Brooke Meeks, National Park College
Cutter Morning Star Golf
Neriah Brown, Southern Arkansas
Cross country
Sam Byrd, Hendrix
Men’s basketball
Chris Babb. University of Northwestern-St. Paul; Mikey Sims, National Park College
Track and field
Sam Byrd, Hendrix
Bismarck Cross country
Josie Cranford, Henderson
Baseball
Cole McSwain, Lyon
Centerpoint Football
Chad Arnold, Arkansas Tech
Softball
Emmery Boyd, Henderson
Magnet Cove Women’s golf
Peyton Penny, Hendrix
Football
Zach Dunlap, Hendrix; Harrison Wade, Arkansas Tech
Men’s basketball
Eli Fisher, Hendrix
Baseball
Josh Smeltzer, Southern Arkansas; Conner Wells, Southern Arkansas
Malvern Football
Bradley Dickson, UAPB; Jamari McCollum, Arkansas Tech; Austin Warford, Ouachita Baptist
Men’s golf
Marc Davis, Central Baptist College; Matt Davis, Central Baptist College
Men’s basketball
Andre Jones, UA-Little Rock
Women’s basketball
Alivia Huell, Ouachita Baptist; Tiffany Murdock, UAPB; Raven Northcross-Baker, Arkansas; Akasha Westbrook, Arkansas State
Baseball
Trace Collie, Southern Arkansas
Mount Ida Football
Logan Abernathy, Southern Arkansas.