Volleyball teams around Garland County continued to gear up for the upcoming season, and football coaches made personnel and quarterback decisions.
MONDAY
WINNING TRAINER HONORS FALLEN FILLY MAPLE LEAF MEL
It didn't make up for the trainer's loss Saturday but the ill-fated filly Maple Leaf Mel received a touching, day-after send-off at Saratoga in upstate New York.
Brendan Walsh, winning trainer in the Grade 1 race Saturday, brought the ceremonial flower blanket to trainer Melanie Giddings' barn. Maple Leaf Mel, 2-1 race favorite, was euthanized after breaking down before the wire going seven furlongs in the $500,000 Test Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.
Pretty Mischievous notched her third consecutive G1 victory for Walsh, following wins in the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn, even if Blood-Horse correspondent Sean Clancy said the site "made you turn away."
TUESDAY
LADY WOLVES TIP OFF WITH YOUNG ROSTER
PEARCY -- Lake Hamilton graduated 10 seniors from its volleyball team last season, and now the Wolf Pack is back for 2023 with a large group of sophomores ready to stamp their legacy into place.
Summer is winding down and the Wolves participated in one last team camp at Lakeside Friday.
"We saw a lot of really good teams there," head coach Karen Smith said. "We have had some college coaches come in and work with us individually, skills. We have put in a lot of position specific work this year."
WEDNESDAY
MOTT GREETS FORMER WORKER AFTER SARATOGA STAKES WIN
Trainer John Alexander Ortiz was understandably elated Sunday after his first Saratoga stakes victory.
Brightwork's performance in the Grade 3 Adirondack earned the horseman a hug from his former boss, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Although Mott's 2022 champion and Breeders' Cup winner Cody's Wish disappointed in Saturday's Grade 1 $1 million Whitney Stakes, Ortiz' runner stayed unbeaten in three starts. The Grade 1 Spinaway Sept. 3 at seven furlongs might be next for Brightwork, sired by Outwork and owned by longtime client WSS Racing.
Getting a pat on the back from Mott, whom Ortiz calls his "Barn Dad," highlighted the occasion for Ortiz, whose first job at the racetrack was for Mott after his father served as an exercise rider at downstate Belmont Park for the trainer of two-time Horse of the Year Cigar among other stars.
FIVE TOOL HOSTS ANNIVERSARY VELOCITY TOURNAMENT
Five Tool Academy is celebrating its one year anniversary of being open in style by hosting an exit velocity tournament at Uptown Hot Springs.
"This is something that we have done a couple of times prior, too," owner Daniel Ashcraft said. "This is our third velo tournament. There has been some great success. The great part of this particular one is that it is our one year anniversary for us as a facility.
"What we are doing is we are trying to give back and also have some fun with these kiddos. We have got some prizes and some gifts we are going to be giving away in a raffle."
THURSDAY
CMS BRINGS IN ALUMNUS AT DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
The Cutter Morning Star Eagles hired a new defensive coordinator and offensive line coach and to top things off, he is a Cutter Morning Star alumnus.
The Eagles brought in Steven Love to fill the defensive coordinator and offensive line coaching positions.
"Coach Love brings a lot to the table," head coach Nick Finley said. "When you go through a coaching search and you put your job out there, you get a bunch of applications. He was one of the very first ones that put in."
FRIDAY
LADY EAGLES ATTACK SEASON WITH NEW COACH, EXCITEMENT AROUND PROGRAM
Cutter Morning Star's volleyball Eagles are ready to serve it up with 10 seniors for leadership and first-year head coach Erica Trusty.
Trusty took over the head coaching job four weeks ago and hit the ground running with her new squad.
"We have had some team camps and some practices," Trusty said. "They surprise me every day. They are wonderful, hilarious, smart and they work so hard. I am so excited about not where we are going to start but where we are going to be at the end."
CASTELLANO LANDS ON BELMONT WINNER IN TRAVERS
Whichever horse Javier Castelllano chose to ride in the Travers, some trainer expected to pick between strength and strength in the $1.25 million Grade 1 race for 3-year-olds.
Castellano, who won two Triple Crown races in the spring, will pilot Arcangelo in the Saratoga classic Aug. 26. Luis Saez, meanwhile, lands the mount on Mage, after Hall of Famer Castellano broke 0-for-15 streaks in both classics.
Mage trainer Gustavo Delgado announced Tuesday that Saez would ride the Good Magic colt in the Derby. Delgado set a Tuesday deadline for Castellano and when no decision came, he landed Saez.
SATURDAY
LADY RAM FINDS PERFECT FIT, COMMITS TO HARDING
It was no surprise Lakeside's Amelia Rogers committed to play basketball on the next level for Harding University.
The rising senior showed she could handle seemingly every junk defense in the book thrown at her last season and since her sophomore year, the Lady Ram has illustrated her ability to push the ball down the floor at speed while hurting defenses by both driving to the basket and pulling up from anywhere.
Rogers always looked like a collegiate talent, and Harding just made sense for her.
SUNDAY
MOUNTAIN PINE QBs ADAPT TO OFFENSE WITHOUT STARS
MOUNTAIN PINE -- The Red Devils have been the premier 8-man football team in Garland County, but All-State quarterback Jonah Wilburn has his work cut out for him in his senior year.
Wilburn passed for 1,175 yards and 21 touchdowns while running for six scores and 347 yards last season, leading Mountain Pine to an 11-1 record and a run to the state semifinals.
However, Wilburn leaned on Mountain Pine greats and All-State talents Keelan Dobbins and Isaiah Miles. With those two gone, Wilburn acknowledged the challenge that awaits this season to replace that offensive production.
MTXE VOLLEYBALL BOASTS TEAM CHEMISTRY, READY TO DIG FOR STATE
Garland County powerhouse Lakeside MTXE volleyball is ready to go for another exciting season with state championship hopes in the team's mind.
Head coach Rhonda Thigpen's MTXE Rams were very busy over the summer.
"We have had some intense team camps," Thigpen said. "July flew by because we went everywhere from University of Arkansas, Greenwood and to Benton. Our team camp was huge. We just had that Aug. 4. We had teams from all over the state. It gave us something every week to shoot for.
PREAKNESS WINNER NATIONAL TREASURE JOINS TRAVERS LIST
On top of everything, the 154th Travers Stakes shapes up as a summit meeting of the year's Triple Crown winners.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert included Preakness hero National Treasure as a likely starter in the Grade 1 $1.25 million 3-year-old classic Aug. 26 at Saratoga Race Course. National Treasure won the middle jewel of the Triple Crown May 20 at Pimlico with HOF jockey John Velazquez aboard.
Baffert, whom Churchill Downs barred from entering the May 6 Kentucky Derby, also is readying Oaklawn-raced Reincarnate for the mile-and-a-quarter Midsummer Derby, which the trainer has won three times. Reincarnate, 13th in the Derby, won the Grade 3 Sham Jan. 8 at 16-1 and also scored in the July 8 Los Alamitos Derby, both in California.