RUSSELLVILLE -- Lake Hamilton's boys swim team finished second at the Class 5A state swim meet late last month, led by senior Noah Smith who set two state records.
Noah Smith set records in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:55.11 and in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.02 seconds. The senior, along with classmate Adam Albrecht, sophomore Ethan Smith and freshman Aidan Qualls, earned All-State honors for finishing in the top two in their respective events.
The quartet won the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 1:47.39 as well as the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:35.95. Ethan Smith finished second (1:52.70) in the 200-yard freestyle and won the 500-yard freestyle (5:07.18) while Aidan Qualls was second (5:16.63), and Aidan Qualls also finished sixth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.88).
Lakeside's Logan Rhea won the boys 1-meter diving with a final score of 371.00 points while teammate Will Mims was third with 292.35. Lakeside's Caleb Ellis finished fourth in the boys 200-yard IM (2:35.97), Nicole Jones was seventh in the girls 100-yard butterfly (1:19.37) and Amanda Navarro took ninth (1:21.13).
Elizabeth Chipps finished fifth in the girls 500-yard freestyle (6:31.34), and the boys 200-yard freestyle relay team of Mims, Ashton Dorathy, Will Griffin and Samuel Stevens finished ninth (1:45.88). Griffin was seventh in the boys 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.87), the girls 400-yard freestyle relay team of Emma Belic, Chipps, Whitley Terry and Navarro was eighth (4:50.66).
Hot Springs' Eben Sanders was second in the boys 50-yard freestyle (22.12 seconds) and second in the boys 100-yard freestyle (50.64), Emma Campas was fourth in the girls 100-yard butterfly (1:10.84) and fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:17.20), Sawyer Simpson was sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (5:46.61) and fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.44), and Tillie Reagler was 10th in the 100-yard backstroke (1:15.10).
NPC athletes earn regional honors
Two National Park freshmen earned Division II Region II weekly athlete honors for the last week while two more earned the honor for the previous week.
Megan Beene, of Carlisle, earned the softball Player of the Week honor for the first week of March while Horatio grad Kenley Anderson earned baseball's Pitcher of the Week honor. DeWitt grad Jack Hackney earned the baseball Player of the Week honor for the week of Feb. 24 through March 1 while Bradley Bearden, a pitcher from Ashdown, earned the Pitcher of the Week honor.
Beene dominated the diamond from March 2-8, batting .563 with three triples, two doubles, two stolen bases and 13 RBI. Anderson had one appearance on the mound to earn a win with just one hit and one strikeout in three innings of work.
Hackney batted .875 in the final week of February with two doubles, three walks, three stolen bases and one RBI. Bearden, with two appearances on the hill, fanned 13 to earn a win and a save while allowing two hits and a walk.
H-Mendez, Jimerson lead
Nighthawks in split vs. CBC
Sophomore Panama H-Mendez hit three home runs, and freshman Demias Jimerson went yard twice as National Park took an 11-6 win over the Central Baptist College junior varsity team. CBC came back to take a 5-3 win in the second game of the doubleheader.
After the Nighthawks fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first, Jimerson, a Malvern grad, knocked the ball over the centerfield fence as the team's leadoff, followed by a hard double to the right field wall by Kade Stuart. The freshman first baseman from Lonoke later scored on an error for a 2-1 edge.
The Mustangs scored big in the top of the second with a pair of home runs plating five for a 6-2 lead, and H-Mendez hit his first home run over the right field wall to cut the deficit to 3. Four more Nighthawks scored in the bottom of the third for the 7-6 lead before the Miami Beach native hit another solo shot over the right field wall in the fourth.
H-Mendez hit a two-run shot over the center field wall in the bottom of the seventh followed by a solo home run over the left field wall by Jimerson to set the final.
Sam South, a freshman from Owasso, Okla., got the win for NPC, holding CBC scoreless over four innings with 2 hits, 1 walks and three strikeouts. Matthew Herron, a Mountain Pine product, started the game and allowed 6 earned runs off 3 hits, 3 hit batters and 1 walk while fanning 4 over two innings. Jacob Hickman, of Marianna, closed out the game by walking 1 in the seventh.
NPC struggled to score in the second game of the doubleheader as the Mustangs scored a run each in the first, third and fourth innings before the Nighthawks tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. CBC scored two in the top of the seventh and retired NPC in order in the bottom of the innings to take the win.
Jesus Minjarez, a freshman from Lakeside, hit the Nighthawks' only home run of the second game while fellow Lakeside grad Zac Melugin hit a double.
Genoa Central grad Mason Sellers picked up the loss with five innings on the rubber, allowing 3 runs off 5 hits and 2 walks while fanning 7. Anderson finished the game in relief, allowing 2 runs off 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3.
MC takes pair of big
wins at home
MAGNET COVE -- Mountain Pine garnered just one hit in Tuesday's 12-0 loss at Magnet Cove while Abundant Life could not erase an 8-run deficit in a 16-6 loss to the Panthers Thursday.
Five Panthers got extra-base hits against the Red Devils in the five-inning game. Magnet Cove scored a run in the bottom of the first and two in the bottom of the third before plating 9 in the fourth.
Javin Shirley scored 3 runs with a double and 1 RBI, Brennen Koller and Brayden Campbell both scored two runs, and Landon Stone, Lucas Smeltzer, Owen Tillery, Julius McClelland and JR Tolleson each scored 1. McClelland, Tolleson, Stone and Koller each had 2 RBI, and Smeltzer, Campbell, McClelland and Tolleson had 1 each. Smeltzer, McClelland and Tolleson each had doubles, Tolleson with two, and Stone had a triple.
Andrew Goodin had the lone hit for the Red Devils with Tielyr Sales and Goodin also reaching on walks.
Campbell got the win for the Panthers with four innings of work with 1 hit, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts, and Shirley walked 1, hit 1 batter and struck out 2 in his inning in relief. Sales picked up the loss for Mountain Pine with 12 runs allowed, 5 earned, off 11 hits, 1 walk and a hit batsman while striking out 2 in four innings.
The Panthers continued to produce at the plate on Thursday with eight batters producing 14 hits. Smeltzer and Campbell both had 3 hits, Shirley and Smeltzer scored 3 runs, and Luke Upton went 3 for 4 with 5 RBI. McClelland also had 3 RBI, Smeltzer hit a home run, and Upton, McClelland and Campbell hit two doubles each.
Jaryd McJunkins picked up the win for the Panthers with 5 runs allowed on 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 hit batters while striking out 3 in two innings of work. Joby Terry toed the rubber to start the game, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, 3 walks and 2 hit batters while fanning 4.
Lakeside splits
against MC, Mt. Ida
Lakeside committed 9 errors as Magnet Cove took an 11-6 win Tuesday, but the Lady Rams bounced back to take a 13-2 win over Mount Ida Thursday.
Magnet Cove jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Lakeside finally plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. The Lady Panthers added 4 more in the fourth and 1 each in the fifth and sixth for an 11- 2 lead. Lakeside added 3 in the sixth but could only plate 1 in the seventh to collect the loss.
Erika Bittinger picked up the loss for Lakeside allowing 11 runs, 4 earned, off 8 hits, 3 walks and 3 hit batters while striking out 6. Bella Laughlin earned the win for Magnet Cove with 2 earned runs off 3 hits, 3 walks and a hit batter while fanning 3 in five innings, and Haylie Helton finished out the game in the circle with 4 earned runs allowed off 4 hits and 2 walks with 1 strikeout.
Emylee Bittinger, Erika Bittinger and Kalya Bright each hit triples in Thursday's rout of Mount Ida. The Lady Lions scored 1 run in the top of the first inning before the Lady Rams responded with a 3-run inning. Lakeside scored 2 in the third and 3 in the fourth before Mount Ida scored its second, and the Lady Rams added 5 runs in the bottom of the sixth to secure the win.
Erika Bittinger got the win for Lakeside, allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, off 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 11.
Sports on 03/15/2020