Garland County will be well-represented at this week's Arkansas High School Coaches Association All Star Clinic at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
Area schools will have at least one player in all but two of the eight sport clinics with football leading the area participants with five players.
The week-long clinic kicked off Tuesday for coaches with the AHSCA Golf Tournament at Nutters Chapel Golf and Country Club in Conway with a 1 p.m. tee time.
All Star coaches and players began their check-in Wednesday with the football teams, which held their first practice at 6 p.m.
Baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball and spirit teams and coaches check in today with football practices at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball and spirit have practices set for 6 p.m.
Basketball players and coaches check in Friday with a 6 p.m. practice, and football will hold practice at 2 p.m. All activities other than basketball will have a 9 a.m. practice. The baseball and softball doubleheader is set for 4 p.m. at Bear Stadium and Farris Field, respectively. Girls soccer kicks off at Estes Field at 5 p.m., volleyball plays at the Farris Center at 6 p.m. and boys soccer is set for 7 p.m. at Estes Field.
Basketball, football and spirit teams hold their final practices Friday at 8:30 a.m. Girls basketball tips off at 1 p.m. at the Farris Center with the boys basketball game following at 3 p.m. The All Star football game caps off the week's events at 6 p.m. at Estes Field.
The All-Star baseball game at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Bear Stadium will feature Mountain Pine's Matthew Herron, one of three All-State baseball selections from Garland County. He was a First-Team All-Garland County pitcher after finishing his senior season with a record of 3-1, a 1.73 ERA, 94 strikeouts and 47 innings pitched.
Herron was an All-State selection in Class 2A. He batted .250 on offense with two home runs and 18 RBIs.
The softball game at 4 p.m. on Friday will feature Lake Hamilton's Hailee Quilici, The Sentinel-Record's 2018 Softball Player of the Year. She made the Class 6A All-State team and All-State Tournament Team after leading the Lady Wolves with a .458 batting average, .548 on-base percentage and .722 slugging percentage.
Friday's 6 p.m. volleyball match will include Fountain Lake's Olivia Cox, a signee for Henderson State in Arkadelphia. The Sentinel-Record's 2017 Volleyball Player of the Year had 233 service points, 36 aces, 332 kills, 242 digs and 38 blocks in her senior season.
Fountain Lake coach Tina Moore led the Cobras (26-3-2) to the Class 4A state semifinals. She was named an assistant coach for the all star match.
The boys' soccer match will include four local players, including Philip Gayle, The Sentinel-Record's 2018 All-Garland County Boys Soccer Player of the Year. He scored 14 goals and 12 assists in his senior season. His final goal was a penalty kick in the Class 5A state championship game, which the Rams won, 4-3, against Valley View.
Also participating are are All-Garland County Soccer selections Russell Gartner, of Lakeside, and Johnathan Aquino, of Hot Springs, as well as Malvern's Devin Langston. Hot Springs coach Geoffrey Hedrick was selected as an assistant coach after leading the Trojans (14-7) to the 5A-South district title and the state quarterfinals.
The girls' basketball game at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Farris Center will feature The Sentinel Record's 2018 Girls Basketball Co-Players of the Year, Ariana Guinn and Imani Honey. They led the Lady Trojans to a 31-3 record, a second consecutive 5A-South conference championship and the Class 5A state championship at Bank of the Ozarks Arena.
Guinn signed with Southern Arkansas in Magnolia after averaging 18.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and two assists per game. Honey signed with Harding in Searcy after averaging 14.7 points, 5.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. Both teams compete in the Great American Conference in NCAA Division II.
Their coach, Josh Smith, was selected as an assistant for the all-star game. Smith was chosen as The Sentinel-Record's All-Garland County 2018 Winter Sports Girls Coach of the Year.
Also playing will be Lake Hamilton's Taylor Wells, who broke a 29-year-old program record for 3-pointers in a season with 98 as a senior. The All-Garland County Second-Team selection signed with Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, which also plays in the GAC.
The Sentinel-Record's 2018 Boys Basketball Player of the Year, Jessieville's Alex Burleson, will play in the boys' game at 3 p.m. Burleson averaged 23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and three assists per game for the Lions (24-7, 16-1 3A-4A blended conference). He was named All-State in Class 3A, and he was a member of the Class 3A All-State Tournament Team.
Burleson signed with National Park College to play next season for the Nighthawks. The 2018-19 season will be the first as a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association for the program.
The football game at 6 p.m. at Estes Field will include Lake Hamilton offensive lineman Will Burgess, who signed in November to play for the Bears in Conway. He won the shot put event at the Meet of Champions on May 12 at Lake Hamilton's Wolf Stadium.
Also playing in the game are Isaiah Calhoun, of Hot Springs; Brody Davis and Cade Helms, both of Mount Ida; and Malvern's Demias Jimerson.
Sports on 06/21/2018