For Mansfield, the opportunity to go to Fayetteville and run the same hills as some of the best college and high school teams in the country is a real treat. This year the Tigers took seven hand picked athletes to enjoy the upscale cross country races known as the Chile Pepper Festival.
Competing in the open division high school races were Faith Rainwater, McKenzie Griffin, John Branche, and Ashton Hinkle. For the junior high section, Trinity Triska, Laney Wood, and Jadelynn Wood all performed.
“It’s a real eye opener to see some of the talent on display at this event,” said Mansfield Coach John Mackey. “We make it a trip for invited athletes only. Those that have shown a real proficiency get the honor of representing our squad. It’s an exclusive club and a humbling experience.”
In the senior boys open division race, there were 891 runners at the start. Sophomore John Branche of Mansfield clocked in at 23:07.5 for a middle of the pack placement. Freshman teammate Ashton Hinkle was about 18 seconds behind that for the Tiger men.
Faith Rainwater off the senior girls team was the quickest Lady Tiger to finish. She went 25:53.6 for 246th out of 550 runners. McKenzie Griffin was close behind taking the tape at 26:01.4 for 251st place.
Seventh grade rising star Trinity Triska held her own among 633 junior girls. The newest Tiger talent went 14:17.8 for the two mile course to land in 114th place.
“This is the first time in a long time we took a seventh grader,” announced Mackey. “This year we took two. Both Trinity and Laney (Wood) have been scoring in bunches this season.”
Laney Wood crossed the finish line in 14:38.9 for 147th place. Wood’s sister, freshman Jadelynn Wood, came in 294 at 15:52.4.
“Jadelynn has been sick for two days,” explained the coach. “She wasn’t up to her usual self. She didn’t want to miss this chance to compete. The opportunity really meant something to her.”
Mansfield will rejoin the usual forces in preparation for the hills of Greenwood on October 10. A trip to Van Buren nine days later finishes off the regular season for the Tigers.
A quirk in the schedule puts the regionals ahead of district play this season. Those meets will run October 23 for the Acorn hosted regionals and October 28 for the Elkins hosted conference meet.
For the second straight weekend in October, area high school bands will be competing against each other. For the past 8 years, the Waldron Band Program has hosted the Bulldog Invitational. Sixteen High School bands from Arkansas and Oklahoma will compete for grand champion at Bulldog Stadium. The marching contest is limited to bands with 80 wind players or less.
The Bulldog Marching Invitational will be awarding 1st and 2nd division trophies for Color Guard, Percussion, Drum Major, and overall Band. In each class, 1st and 2nd place trophies will be given. Their will also be awards for most outstanding Color Guard, Percussion, Drum Major, and Soloist. The Contest will also have a People’s Choice trophy and a Grand Champion trophy, along with a first runner-up and a second runner-up.
4-H members across Arkansas and the nation will have the opportunity to serve their communities and showcase service projects throughout October, which is National 4-H Month.
“October is the season for county fairs and a great time to highlight 4-H and all that 4-H has to offer,” said Angie Freel, interim associate department head for 4-H Youth Development for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
4-H Day activities are planned for Oct. 12 and Oct. 18. Among the highlights: • Oct. 12 – 4-H Entomology exhibits • Oct. 12 – 4-H Giant pumpkin and watermelon contest • Oct. 18 – 4-H Poultry BBQ cook-off
“Inspire Kids to Do” is the theme of this year’s National 4-H Week, which is part of the larger National 4-H month. Many Arkansas clubs have planned events that allow youth with opportunities to serve others.
Franklin County kicked off its month-long celebration on Oct. 1 with its annual County 4-H Achievement Banquet. Later this month, teen leaders will have dinner with Franklin County Quorum Court members and discuss their 4-H experiences.
Many chapters have planned events designed to give back to their communities.
Arkansas County 4-H members are hosting an annual 4-H Appreciation Coffee event on Oct. 8 at the Arkansas County Courthouse in DeWitt. They are also assisting with the 4-H Hamburger Supper on Oct. 17 at the Arkansas County Fairgrounds.
In Crawford County, 4-H’ers will celebrate with a 4-H Family Night at Frog Bayou Farms in Alma, complete with a corn maze, hay rides, ziplines and a rock wall.
The 4-H program is operated by the Cooperative Extension Service, part of the Division of Agriculture. It teaches leadership, citizenship and life skills to more than 14,000 students in grades K-12 who participate in 4-H statewide.
To learn about Arkansas 4-H, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit http://www.uaex.edu/counties, or visit Arkansas 4-H online at http://uaex.edu/4h-youth/. Follow the Cooperative Extension Service on Twitter at @uaex_edu.
On Monday afternoon, Waldron city leaders, the Superintendent of the school district, law makers and several business and community members gathered to be a part of a monumental day. Representatives from Communities Unlimited made the announcement that the City of Waldron had been selected to recieve an economic development grant.
According to Communities Unlimited Director of Sustainability, Debbie Luther, there were only two cities in Arkansas chosen for this grant, Waldron and Mulberry. Another city in Texas was also selected. The grant totaling $250,000 will be matched with an additional $250,000 from Communities Unlimited. These monies will be divided among the three selected cities. “That’s our commitment to this community,” stated Luther.
The USDA grant is a part of the Rural Community Development Initiative and will provide for the GIS mapping of the water and wastewater system. “This is part of our addressing disaster preparedness,”shared Luther. “If you don’t have the infrastructure, it makes it difficult to push economic development.”
“We saw a lot of potential here in Waldron,” said Communities Unlimited Community Facilitator, Jackson Alexander. Luther shared that they will begin working within the community by developing a leadership team. Michelle Viney, Community Facilitator, and Brian Wells, Management Consultant, will be working hands on within the Waldron community. “Ruralcommunities are so unique,” said City Clerk/Treasurer Sherry Johnston. “We often have trouble finding the right grant or getting help, but we got it today.”
After last night’s intense volleyball match against the Mansfield Sr High Lady Tigers, the Hackett Sr High Lady Hornets remain UNDEFEATED. Being at the top is not something the Lady Hornets are strangers to. In fact, not many other competitors in the volleyball world seem to hold a candle to the extraordinary talents of the Lady Hornets. With their 3-0 win over the Lady Tigers, Hackett sits in the top seat of the 2A West with a 10-0 conference record. In second place with a 9-1 record are the Lavaca Lady Golden Arrows with Alpena taking third.
Sr High Lady Hornets
The Sr Lady Hornets not only pulled off an awe-inspiring “Pink Out” match but they celebrated their two seniors as well. Volleyball guru, Jordyn Null, and manager, Elise Fox, who holds the team together with all of her behind the scenes awesomeness. Fox took over as manager in Jr High when a knee surgery forced her to discontinue playing and Null has been in the volleyball program for its entire four-year existence.
(L-R) Jordyn Null, Coach Bridget Freeman, and Elise Fox
With set scores ending 25-10, 26-24, and 25-17, the Sr Lady Hornets weren’t going to allow the Lady Tigers the opportunity to flex their winning muscle. Rain Vaughn led her team in kills with 11 while Kenadi Wright followed with seven. Bringing in five was Madeline Freeman while Shayla Foster earned four and Jamye Durham and Kandace Byrd made two each.
Jordyn Null
Better than an ace in the hole is an ace in your face. Byrd and Freeman each earned two while Foster, Durham, Null, and Kayla Richardson added one apiece. Durham lobbed out three blocks while Wright and Vaughn helped with one each. And digging their way to China was Richardson with a whopping 18 digs, Foster with 11, Byrd with seven, Vaughn with five, and combining for eight was Freeman, Durham, Null, and Brooke Holt.
Kayla Richardson
Tonight, Hackett will travel to Lavaca to battle the Lady Golden Arrows. These two heavyweights will face-off in what is sure to be a match for the books. Lavaca will try their hand at knocking Hackett out of their number one seat while the Lady Hornets will try to keep the Lady Arrows in the losing bracket. The games will begin at 4 p.m.
The Mountainburg Little League Dragons squared off against their neighbors from the north as they faced the West Fork Tigers on Saturday, October 5th. Mountainburg held a playoff position with both of their teams and was looking to keep their playoff hopes alive in an evenly matched game against West Fork.
Riding off of their previous big win over the Magazine Rattlers, the Dragons 3rd and 4th Grade were hungry for more of a heaping plate of winning. The Mountainburg defense stood strong and bowed up to the West Fork offense without backing down once. With precise tackling and a team effort, the Dragons were able to force West Fork to put the ball on the ground a few times creating turnovers for Mountainburg. Their defense shut down the tigers on multiple third downs forcing West Fork to give the ball right back to the elusive Dragons offense. Offensively, Mountainburg had West Fork chasing their tail as the Dragons opened the field up with big plays leading to a 14-0 victory. The big win put Mountainburg at 2-2 on the season and pushed them up to the fifth out of six available playoff spots.
Mountainburg 3rd and 4th Grade Coach, Eddie Jones, explained “On offense, we made some changes and we showed some improvements. We still had a few costly turnovers that kept us out of the end zone but were able to score twice and get the win. We just keep improving each week which is what we want to see. Easton Overbey had a 20-yard TD run to make it 6-0 and RJ Young had a 50-yard TD run with Overbey making the two-point conversion to give us a big 14-0 win.”
The Dragons 5th and 6th Grade started off their game with a handicap of 10 players. West Fork agreed to play 10 on 10 against Mountainburg so that both programs could still get plays in and continue their goal of growth. Both teams battled tooth and nail against each other, but West Fork had the numbers advantage and was able to substitute players while giving others a rest. Mountainburg played the 10 they had without rest and was still able to make it into one heck of a game. The Dragons showed plenty of heart and determination but eventually fell 20-6 to the Tigers.
“It was like a proud dad moment for us coaches,” expressed 5th and 6th Grade Coach, Matt Byron. “We had a couple stand out kid performances, but when you’re playing 10 on their whole team and it takes them until the last three minutes to beat you, you can’t be anything but pleased with the TEAM performance.”
Mountainburg still holds positions in the WCFL Playoffs with only two games left in the regular season. The first of those two games will be against the Pirates on Saturday, October 12th. Mountainburg knows they can hold their own against anyone and will sharpen their teeth and talons to prepare for their big trip to Greenland in hope of more victories.
Pictured are the true VIPs of the game. Each of these ladies has or is still battling some form of cancer and define what real bravery looks like. Thank you for allowing all of us in attendance to recognize you. You are a shining ray of hope for those of us in your presence.
In their annual “Pink Out” game, the Hackett Jr High Lady Hornets hosted the Mansfield Jr High Lady Tigers to an all-out ace in your face volleyball party. The Lady Hornets took control of the first set through authoritative play bringing in the win 25-21. But even after delivering strong and unyielding game skills, Hackett ended falling 1-2 to the Lady Tigers.
Tori Blanton
Even though they didn’t snag the victory this time, the Lady Hornets were still able to rack up some powerful totals. Alona Rothwell led her team in the kills department with six followed by Mackenzie Mendenhall with five. Prairie Vaughn, Lilly Slavens, and Tori Blanton secured three each and Makenzie Freeman brought in one. Mendenhall also led with six assists with Vaughn totaling four and Slavens and Kyleigh Hill earning one each.
Lilly Slavens
Rothwell and Blanton were the aces duo with one apiece with Blanton also leading with three blocks while Mendenhall, Rothwell, and Slavens netted one each. And with more digs than an excavator was Freeman with nine, Mendenhall with seven, Rothwell and Slavens with six each, Vaughn with four, Hill with three, and Blanton with two.
Makenzie Freeman
The Hackett Jr High Lady Hornets will compete in two more matches this week until their attempt to take over District on Saturday. Tonight the Lady Hornets travel to Lavaca to take on the Lady Golden Arrows and on Thursday, October 10, Hackett heads to Bentonville to face the Lady Spartans of Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy. Both games have a start time of 4 p.m. On October 12, the Jr High Lady Hornets head to Decatur for their District Tournament.
The Magazine Little League Rattlers traveled the high seas to Cedarville Saturday, October 5th in an attempt to continue growing their program into a league powerhouse. It’s no longer a secret that the Rattlers are getting better and better each week and Cedarville spent all week trying to map them out.
The 3rd and 4th Grade Rattlers boarded the Cedarville ship looking to steal the fuses from the Pirates offensive cannons. Magazines defense did its job by coiling the Cedarville running backs up for most of the game. But the Pirates continued to fire at will eventually wearing down the Rattler defense. Although Cedarville scored twice in the game, the Rattlers earned plenty of respect by holding their own. The Magazine offense struggled to get into the end zone against Cedarville but not from a lack of effort. The Rattlers O-Line was able to open some big holes and Austin Scott and Braxton Canada were able to find the gaps to break out a few good runs. Magazine fought valiantly, but in the end, that Rattlers fell to Cedarville 14-0.
Magazine 3rd and 4th Grade Coach, Cody Shelton, said “We’re growing. The scoreboard doesn’t reflect the week to week improvements that our players are making. Our defense played well, we just could not get anything going on offense. We had a long run by Austin Scott and Braxton Canada got a lot of yardage on the ground, we just couldn’t get it done.”
The Rattlers 5th and 6th Grade team continued to set the standard as they pummeled Cedarville 30-0 to remain undefeated. Magazines unstoppable offense ate up yards and big plays all night putting the Pirates on their heels. Chakong Yang continued to impress with his explosiveness breaking away from the clutch of defenders during the game. Samuel Hartman also showed his determination grinding his way into the end zone for the Rattlers. Magazines defense held the Pirates number giving minimum yards knocking eye patches off the Cedarville backfield.
The Rattlers 5th and 6th Grade Coach, Charly Moua, stated “Overall our team played great. Offense went smooth and defense finally had a shutout that I have been waiting for. I was really impressed with Samuel’s touchdown. And Cedarville showed great sportsmanship in the game which is always a great thing to see.”
The Rattlers will play their last regular-season game on Saturday, October 12th against the JC Westside Rebels. Magazines 3rd and 4th Grade still has a shot at the playoffs with a win over the Rebels and the 5th and 6th Grade squad currently holds the #1 seed in the playoffs and will be playing to earn their first undefeated regular season in a long time. Saturday’s game will also be the Rattlers 6th Grade Appreciation night.
In a teeth-gritting white-knuckled volleyball match between the Mansfield Jr High Lady Tigers and the Hackett Jr High Lady Hornets, all bets were off on which high flying superstar team was going to assume the victory. The Lady Tigers stormed into Hackett with a point to prove and after the dust settled, its safe to say that their point was made. Mansfield held strong in this battle and it paid off. The Lady Tigers took the win 2-1 over the Lady Hornets ending with sets of 21-25, 25-16, and 15-13.
Alayna Turner
Madelen Jones led the team with four aces while Alayna Turner followed with three of her own. Skylynn Harris dominated with eight kills with Natalie Allison and Brooklyn Adams securing four each. Jones and Allison were quick to help with their six and five assists respectively. Kynslee Ward and Kinley Hanfielder combined for a total of six digs. And with one block apiece was Allison, Harris, and Edwards.
Alyson Edwards
This exciting win upgrades the Jr High Lady Tigers to 15-3 on the season and 9-1 in conference play. With only five games left until District, Mansfield isn’t worried about what the future holds. The Lady Tigers have found their niche and it shows. Mansfield will stay home tonight and host the Paris Lady Eagles starting at 4 p.m.
As the 3A-1 volleyball conference season winds down, the Charleston Lady Tigers played a non-conference match with the Lavaca Lady Golden Arrows on Monday night. The Lady Tigers defeated Lavaca 3-0 for the second time this season. Monday’s match in Charleston completed a sweep of the Lady Arrows in which Charleston did not lose a set in either match. The win improved Charleston’s record to 13-2 overall and 8-2 in conference play.
After the match, Charleston coach Ryan Rachuy assessed his team’s performance. “When you’re Charleston, everybody wants to come in and beat you. No matter what sport. And you can take that as a positive and a negative, and I want us to take that as a positive. I want us to take it as a challenge. We have to step up to the challenge to beat a team. Because it is difficult to be the team that everybody wants to go after. I know that teams like Paris feel it, Mansfield has felt it, and now we are feeling it. When you’re the team that is playing well then you’ve got to be able to play at the top of your game. You’re going to get everybody’s best shot. Lavaca has a great group of girls that go out and play hard. They don’t give up on any ball. They got some really good swings in; they were swinging from every spot of the court. That’s impressive. In the first set, I had us down for 12 or 13 errors, and that is a compliment to them. Ended up being able to pull that out, challenged my girls similarly to when we did against Mansfield when we had 12 errors in the first set and I challenged our girls to cut the errors in half. We did, we cut it to six errors then and we did again tonight. Really wish we could have played a little more consistently in that third set. Once we gave up the first three to five points, and we’re just trying to hang around, the next thing we know we get a point back here, we get a point on a serve error, and another serve, and we get another couple of points back there. And it’s back and forth, back and forth. We finally make it where it’s close and we got balls up, out of the net, and started feeding Jadyn (Womack).”
The Lady Tigers entered the week ranked sixth in class 3A by Max Preps. Charleston is ranked 34th overall in Arkansas across all classifications. The Lady Tigers only losses this season have been to the number one ranked Paris Lady Eagles.
Charleston has a grueling three match schedule this week that started with a tough non-conference match with Lavaca and will continue on Tuesday with a home conference match with West Fork. The Lady Tigers will travel to Waldron on Thursday to play a critical conference match with the Lady Bulldogs. Charleston is focused on finishing the conference season this week and next to wrap up the second seed in the senior district tournament. Critical road trips to Waldron and Mansfield await the Lady Tigers.
It is the time of year when coaches must strike a balance between pushing their teams to improve as much as possible before post-season tournament play begins, versus getting their teams the necessary amount of rest to enable them to have fresh legs and high energy for the tournament run. This is part of the art form of coaching, and it is a process that began several months ago with the scheduling of matches to be played in the final weeks. The Charleston coaching staff scheduled non-conference matches to end this week so that the Lady Tigers game schedule will begin to taper off with just two conference matches next week going into the district tournament the week after next. Coach Rachuy indicated that the tournament practice schedule will be dependent on the seeding the Lady Tigers earn going into the district tournament. Proper rest is important to the players this time of year for energy and to heal from season long injuries and / or soreness. Charleston, like any other contending program, wants to peak at tournament time and play their best volleyball of the season when they will be competing for district and state tournament titles.
The Lady Tigers will play in the Paris Lady Eagle invitational tournament on Saturday. The tournament will provide an opportunity for Charleston to step out of conference play and get some additional work in on Saturday that will hopefully payoff in the post season. The Paris tournament will end an intense week for the team before they play their final two matches of the regular season next week.
The conference season concludes next week for the Lady Tigers with a road game at Mansfield on Tuesday, October 15 and a final home match on Thursday, October 17 against Elkins. Senior night will be held on October 17, and that should be an emotional night as this outstanding senior class will play their final home match at the Charleston gymnasium. The 3A-1 district tournament will be held at West Fork High School the following week.
But for now, just as they have all season, the Lady Tigers have to remain focused on each match. That means that the West Fork game on Tuesday is now the most important game of the season for Charleston. The stakes are getting higher, and a slip up at this point of the season could have major implications with respect to tournament seeding, the quality of opponent that would be faced in the opening round, and the backets the Lady Tigers would occupy in the district tournament. With only three teams advancing from district to the state tournament, the next nine days are critical for the Lady Tigers.
Charleston will once again rely on their awesome senior class to lead them through the last nine days of the regular season.
