LAKE HAMILTON
Gavin De Los Santos
Lake Hamilton High School alum Gavin De Los Santos capped his distinguished career with the Harding with All-American honors after the Bisons made it to the the NCAA Division II semifinals.
De Los Santos started all 15 games at right tackle as the Bisons went 11-4 in his final year of eligibility. He finished with 39 career starts and 48 total games played.
The Bisons ranked second in Division II with 341.9 rushing yards per game. Their 24 wins in the last two seasons is tied for the most among NCAA Division II teams.
De Los Santos graduated from Lake Hamilton in 2013 and he redshirted during his first season in Searcy. He played in nine games as a freshman and started all 11 games of the 2015 season as Harding finished 7-4.
Harding stormed through its 2016 schedule before losing to top-ranked Northwest Missouri State in the national quarterfinals to finish with a record of 13-1. The accolades began to pour in for De Los Santos after he started and played in 13 of Harding's 14 games.
The honors included being named to the Don Hansen All-America second team, D2Football.com All-America honorable mention. Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-Super Region 3 first team, Don Hansen All-Super Region 3 first team, All-Great American Conference first team. He earned Academic All-GAC honors for the second time in 2016.
De Los Santos was one of two Bisons picked this season as D2CCA All-Americans. He and junior linebacker Sam Blankenship were both named to the All-America first team.
Harding only had four players in program history to be named All-Americans before De Los Santos and Blankenship. De Los Santos was Harding's first offensive lineman on an All-America first team since Mike Black in 1976 and only the third Harding offensive lineman ever to receive first-team honors. He was named to the D2CCA All-Super Region 3 first team again this year.
Chris Eastburn
Arkansas Tech boasts an All-American Lake Hamilton alum of its own. Chris Eastburn, a junior fullback, was voted to the third team of the Don Hansen NCAA Division II All-America football teams after the 2016 season.
His blocking helped Arkansas gain 2,369 yards last season, the sixth-most in a single season in program history. He also caught eight passes for 102 yards and a touchdown during his sophomore season in Russellville.
Eastburn and defensive player Cua' Rose became the 15th and 16th players in Wonder Boys history to become three-time first team all-conference selections. Eastburn caught 14 passes in the 2017 season for 145 yards and two touchdowns, but his main role was blocking for a rushing attack that averaged 22.5 yards per game on the ground.
Arkansas Tech finished the 2017 season with an 8-4 record after losing to the Pittsburg State University Gorillas in the Agent Barry Live United Bowl in Texarkana, marking the Wonder Boys' second bowl game appearance in three seasons. This season also marked Arkansas Tech's first time to have three consecutive winning seasons since 2004-06.
Kori Bullard
Ouachita Baptist senior Kori Bullard has represented Lake Hamilton in volleyball and basketball every since 2014. She was named a first team Division II Academic All-American this month by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Bullard maintains a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a Biology/Pre-Med major. She was among 10 student-athletes from NCAA Division II District 7 to be named to the Academic All-District Volleyball team in November.
Her final volleyball season included 305 kills, a .293 hitting percentage, 78 blocks, 77 digs and 23 service aces. She was named Second-Team All-GAC this season with two junior and sophomore teammates. She received the Crafton Tull Elite Scholar Athlete award from the GAC the past two years.
Bullard was among 20 players selected for the first D-2 National Teams earlier this year to tour Brazil to compete against top under-22, adult and professional teams. She is now with OBU's women's basketball team for her final season.
The sixth-seeded Tigers were eliminated from the 2017 GAC volleyball tournament in November by Oklahoma Baptist in the first round at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Bullard 15 kills, five digs and one ace in her final college match.
Madisson Williams, Shelby Powell, Courtney Erby
Madisson Williams, a 2015 Lake Hamilton honor graduate, recently concluded her junior season at Lyon College, leading the Scots to their best year in a decade. The libero was a first team All-American Midwest Conference selection, AMC Academic All-Conference and honorable mention American Volleyball Coaches' Association NAIA All-Midwest Region
Her 648 digs this season was third-most in program history and ranked her No. 1 in the AMC and No. 16 in all of NAIA. She now ranks third in Lyon volleyball history with 1,581 career digs. Williams was twice named AMC Defender of the Week.
The Scots finished the 2017 season with a record of 18-16 and an 8-4 mark in conference play, also the Scots' best conference record since 2008. They finished the regular season fifth place in the AMC before losing in four sets at William Woods in the first round of the conference tournament.
Williams was joined at Lyon in 2016 by fellow Lake Hamilton graduate Shelby Powell, an outside hitter. Powell played in 49 total matches in her freshman and sophomore seasons.
Powell finished her second season with 61 kills in 63 sets, both up from 38 kills in 60 sets during her freshman year.
Courtney Erby joined Williams and Powell from Lake Hamilton at Lyon in Batesville this season. She recorded 15 kills in 12 sets a right side hitter in her freshman season.
Jeremy Porter
Jeremy Porter was among seven seniors honored by Lyon on the men's soccer team's senior day in October. The Scots were 6-8-2 this season and 5-5-1 in the AMC.
Porter scored two goals in 12 games in his final season.
Thomas Bearden
Thomas Bearden completed his senior cross country season at John Brown University in Siloam Springs.
Bearden helped the Golden Eagles finish 11th out of 22 teams at Missouri Southern State First to the Finish Stampede, fourth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference Championships, second place in the St. Louis Fall Classic and first place in the Little Rock Invitational.
Bror Thirion
Bror Thirion completed his senior cross country season at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
Kami Ward
Kami Ward, now a sophomore tennis player at Arkansas Tech, went 3-1 in singles and 1-1 in doubles matches Oct. 13-14 in Plano, Texas, in the Collin Community College Open to close fall competition for the Golden Suns.
Ward was 19-13 in singles matches as a freshman and 15-6 in doubles. She finished conference play with a 6-0 record in doubles matches alongside Annabel Rowlands in four matches and Haeleigh Long in two. She also ran cross country in her freshman year.
Ward and partner Katharina Drebka won first place in the second flight of the doubles competition in the the 2017 GAC Individual Championships in September. She was 1-1 in the second flight of singles competition.
Rowlands paired with Ward again in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Regionals in Springfield, Mo., this September. The pair won their first two matches before losing in the quarterfinals.
LAKESIDE
Mo Bradford
Sophomore Mo Bradford, a Lakeside High School graduate, played in all 10 games this season for the Cornell Big Red. He is listed as a 6-2, 224-pound linebacker for the Big Red defense. He competed on the junior varsity team as a freshman in 2016,
Bradford finished high school with a grade point average above 4.0 and rushed for 1,231 yards and 26 touchdowns to go along with 41 receptions for 669 yards as a senior to help the Rams win their first conference title in 40 years. He led the team's defense with 95 tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.
His sophomore season at Cornell included nine solo tackles, 13 assisted tackles and three tackles for loss. The Big Red finished the season 3-7.
Ethan Eye
Ethan Eye, a 2017 graduate of Lakeside, did not see action as a freshman for the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys, who finished the year 8-4.
Grant Gatson
Grant Gatson is a redshirt sophomore punter on the football roster for the Henderson State University Reddies in Arkadelphia.
Starting punter Cody Mikell was named a first team All-American by the American Football Coaches of America earlier this month.
The Reddies finished the season 6-5.
Kyle Mabry
Kyle Mabry is a sophomore offensive lineman for the Hendrix Warriors, which compete in the Southern Athletic Association of NCAA Division III.
The Warriors finished the 2017 season with an 8-2 record.
Mady Rottinghaus
Mady Rottinghaus, a 2017 Lakeside graduate, did not play in her freshman season on the Ouachita Baptist University volleyball team.
The Tigers finished with a record of 19-12.
Jack Butler, Grant Gartner, Evan Munro
Jack Butler led Hendrix College's men's soccer with six goals as a midfielder in his freshman season this year, but the Warriors finished the season with a record of 3-16-1. Butler was also second on the team with three assists and second in minutes played with 1,693.
Third on the team in minutes played was Grant Gartner, a junior defender from Lakeside. He started in 14 games as a freshman and 14 games as a sophomore with 30 total games played in his first two seasons. He was named to the SAA Academic Honor Roll both years.
Evan Munro, also a junior from Lakeside, played in 13 games this season.
Amanda Hamilton
Amanda Hamilton played in 35 games her first seasons for Hendrix and started in 33 in defense to help the Warriors to a combined record of 20-15-2. She was limited to eight games this season as a junior, when Hendrix went 8-9-4.
Hamilton was twice named to the the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
Cameron McRae
Cameron McRae, a junior from Lakeside, played in three competitions for the men's golf team at Henderson in Arkadelphia during the fall season. He shot scores of 75, 76 and 71 to tie for 27th at the Mule Invitational in September; 76, 72 and 75 at the 19th annual Northeastern State University to tie for 48th place; and 76, 75 and 76 in the Henderson State Invitational in October to tie for 17th.
McRae transferred from Arkansas State, where he participated in eight tournaments as a freshman, recorded five top 25 finishes and completed a low round of 69 in the Grover Page Classic and Red Wolves Intercollegiate. In the spring season earlier this year, McRae recorded five top 25 finishes, including a ninth-place showing at the Dave Falconer Classic with rounds of 76 and 69. He also tied for 22nd in the GAC Championships.
Natalie Renaud
Southern Arkansas University senior Natalie Renaud, of Lakeside, played in all four of the SAU women's golf team's fall tournaments. She helped the Mulriders place eighth in the NSU Fall Women's Classic, fourth in the HSU Fall Invite, fourth in the Oklahoma Baptist Women's Fall Invitational and third place in the GAC Preview in Oklahoma City, Okla., hosted by Southern Nazarene University.
Renaud's final spring season will begin March 5 with the Diffee Ford Lincoln Invitational hosted by Southern Nazarene in Edmond, Okla.
Tatum Rice
Tatum Rice ventured to Fayetteville this summer after signing with the Arkansas Razorbacks as a blue chip prospect and the state's No. 1 tennis recruit. She was the No. 28 overall player in the nation by TennisRecruiting.net
Rice went 7-3 in singles competition during the fall season and posted an 8-2 record in doubles with her partner, sophomore Jackie Carr. The pair picked up three wins over ranked opponents and made a run to the semifinals of the ITA Central Regional championships in October.
The team of Carr and Rice were No. 34 in the national doubles rankings after the fall season.
Rice won the Class 5A state doubles championship in 2016, a year after she won the Class 5A singles and Overall singles titles the year before. She won singles and doubles titles at the 2016 Southern Closed 18-and-under Championships in Mobile, Ala., making her the first Razorback signee to accomplish the feat.
The Razorbacks will open the spring season at home on Jan. 23 against Tulsa.
HOT SPRINGS
Jojo Grant, Clifford Jackson
Jojo Grant, a junior at Henderson from Hot Springs, continued to stand out on the Reddies line during the 2017 season. He again played in all 11 games as the Reddies went 6-5.
Grant played and started in all 11 games during the 2016 season when the Reddies finished 8-3. Henderson finished the 2015 season with a record of 11-2 and Grant appeared in nine games as a freshman.
Fellow Hot Springs graduate Clifford Jackson joins Grant on Henderson's offensive line as a redshirt sophomore. Jackson played in fives games in 2016, but did not see game time this season.
Cleo Floyd
Hot Springs running back and safety Cleo Floyd signed with the Northwest Mississippi Rangers out of high school. He played football this season for Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock.
Dylan Mitchell
Dylan Mitchell has been limited to six games the past two seasons for the Hendrix men's soccer team. He missed the entire 2015 season with an injury and made the SAA Academic Honor Roll.
Mitchell appeared in three games as a midfielder in the 2016 season. He played in three more games this year as a junior.
FOUNTAIN LAKE
Parker Ross
Fountain Lake graduate Parker Ross is a freshman running back for the Army Black Knights football team. The Black Knights finished the season with a 10-3 record after topping San Diego State 42-35 Saturday in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Forth Worth, Texas.
Army's double digit win total is tied for the most in program history. The Black Knights won 10 games for the first and only other time in 1996.
Ross played last season for the United States Military Academy Preparatory School in West Point, N.Y.
Ethan Simpson
Ethan Simpson, of Fountain Lake, is a redshirt freshman tight end for Henderson after sitting out the 2016 season.
Dilan Holcomb
Fountain Lake graduate Dilan Holcomb is a freshman front wing for the Arkansas State rugby club team. The Red Wolves' fall schedule included a 109-0 win over Memphis at Curt Huckaby Field in Jonesboro, a 34-7 home win over Lindenwood-Belleville, a 31-19 win over Arkansas in Little Rock, a 44-29 win over Davenport in Grand Rapids, Mich., and a 65-0 victory against the Texas Longhorns at Curt Huckaby in November.
Holcomb played as a guard on the offensive line and defensive tackle for Fountain Lake's football team. He lined up as a hooker for the Little Rock Junior Stormers, the area youth rugby club for high school students 15 and older.
Arkansas State lost a member of its team on Dec. 15 when Garrett Soileau, 22, died in a vehicle accident near his hometown of The Woodlands, Texas.
JESSIEVILLE
Maddie Back
Jessieville graduate Maddie Back is a freshman on the Missouri State volleyball team, which finished 28-6 after losing to Michigan State in the NCAA tournament. Back is listed on the team roster as a defensive specialist.
Nick Marshall
Nick Marshall, Jessieville graduate, is a freshman second row for the Arkansas State Rugby team. The Red Wolves' fall schedule included a 109-0 win over Memphis at Curt Huckaby Field in Jonesboro, a 34-7 home win over Lindenwood-Belleville, a 31-19 win over Arkansas in Little Rock, a 44-29 win over Davenport in Grand Rapids, Mich., and a 65-0 victory against the Texas Longhorns at Curt Huckaby in November.
Marshall played for the Little Rock Junior Stormers, the area youth rugby club for high school students 15 and older.
Arkansas State lost a member of its team on Dec. 15 when Garrett Soileau, 22, died in a vehicle accident near his hometown of The Woodlands, Texas.
CUTTER MORNING STAR
Neriah Brown
Cutter Morning Star High School graduate Neriah Brown is a senior for the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders men's golf team. The Muleriders competed in the Central Regional Invite in St. Joseph, Mo., and the Missouri Southern State University Fall Invite in October.
The team also placed sixth in the GAC Preview hosted by Southern Nazarene in September and fourth in the HSU Fall Invite. The spring season will open on March 12 with the Dave Falconer Classic, hosted by Arkansas Tech in Danville.
Sam Byrd
Sam Byrd, a junior from Cutter Morning Star, is a member of the cross country team at Hendrix in Conway. The team competed in the Arkansas Dill Championships hosted by the University of the Ozarks, the University of Central Cross Country Challenge; the Rhodes College Invitational and the Ozarks Invitational in September.
The Warriors closed their 2017 season with the SAA Championships Oct. 28 in Atlanta.
BISMARCK
Josie Cranford
Bismarck High School graduate Josie Cranford closed out her career for Henderson Reddies in October when the Reddies placed 10th in the GAC Championships.
In her final season of eligibility, Cranford helped Henderson placed sixth in the University of Texas at Tyler Braveheart Invitational, fifth at the Lois Davis Invitational hosted by Southern Arkansas University, third at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Invitational and second in the Bob Gravett Invitational hosted by Ouachita Baptist University.
CENTERPOINT
Chad Arnold
Centerpoint graduate Chad Arnold recorded three tackles in two games for Arkansas Tech as a junior at safety this season. The Wonder Boys finished 8-4 after a loss to Pittsburg State on Dec. 2 in the Agent Barry Live United Bowl.
Arnold redshirted in the 2014 season. He appeared in one game as a freshman and competed in 10 games, recording six tackles, as a sophomore.
MAGNET COVE
Peyton Penny
Hendrix sophomore Peyton Penny, a graduate of Magnet Cove High School, is a member of the college's women's golf team, which competed this spring in the Louisiana College Fall Tournament in Alexandria, La.; the Union Fall Invitational, in Jackson, Tenn.; and the Maryville Invitational in Tennessee.
The team will open its spring season on Feb. 17 against Centenary at the Conway Country Club.
Zach Dunlap
Hendrix sophomore Zach Dunlap, of Magnet Cove, is a sophomore running back for the Hendrix Warriors football team, which finished 8-2 this season.
Harrison Wade
Magnet Cove graduate Harrison Wade is a redshirt freshman long snapper for the Arkansas Tech football team. Wade sat out the 2016 season.
MALVERN
Bradley Dickson
Bradley Dickson, of Malvern, is a freshman running back on the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff football team. The Golden Lions finished the 2017 season with a record of 2-9.
Jamari McCollum
Malvern High School graduate Jamari McCollum is a redshirt freshman running back for the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys, who finished the 2017 football season with a record of 8-4 after losing to Pittsburg State in the Agent Barry Live United Bowl.
Marc Davis, Matt Davis
Marc Davis and Matt Davis, of Malvern, are senior members of the men's golf team at Central Baptist College in Conway. The Mustangs' fall season included the Southwestern Christian Invitational in Oklahoma City, Okla.; the U.C. Ferguson Invitational in Oklahoma City; the National Christian College Athletic Association Central Regional tournament in Oklahoma City; the Freed-Hardeman Invitational in Covington, Tenn.; and the NCCAA National Championships, where the team placed eighth overall.
Austin Warford
Malvern graduate Austin Warford wrapped up his career at Ouachita Baptist this fall with more than 2,700 total yards and 19 touchdowns as the Tigers went 9-3 in his senior season.
Warford first started for the Tigers in 2015. He threw for more than 1,600 yards and nine touchdowns to lead OBU to a 7-4 record. He also ran for 895 yards and six touchdowns.
The 2016 season started off well for Warford until an injury kept him out for the rest of the year. He began the season 57-for-84, 67.86 percent, for 1,031 yards and nine toucdowns to three interceptions. He already had 597 yards before his injury, but the Tigers were able to make it to 7-4 without him.
Warford was back healthy for the 2017 season. He was 148-for-221 passing for 2,072 yards 13 touchdowns to only two interceptions. He ran 110 times for 770 yards and another six touchdowns.
The redshirt senior was 17-for-40 for 219 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, as well as 16 rushing yards, in his final game in November. The Tigers' season ended in Big Rapids, Mich., with a narrow 24-19 loss on the road against the 9-1 Ferris State Bulldogs.
MOUNT IDA
Logan Abernathy
Mount Ida graduate Logan Abernathy is a freshman offensive lineman for the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders football team, which finished the 2017 season with a record of 7-4.
Sports on 12/25/2017