Mount Ida will see some of the best fishermen in the country as the Phoenix Bass Fishing League's Cowboy, Great Lakes, Mississippi and Okie divisions will finish out the 2021 season this weekend.
The Phoenix Bass Fishing League Regional Championship will be held on Lake Ouachita Thursday through Saturday and will feature the top 45 boaters and co-anglers as well as tournament winners in all four divisions. The anglers will battle it out for a top prize of $60,000, a Phoenix 819 Pro bass boat with a 200-horsepower Mercury outboard and more. Strike King co-anglers will compete for a $50,000 top prize as well as another bass boat and outboard motor.
Visit Hot Springs is hosting the three-day regional championship that will determine winners based on the heaviest three-day catch.
Anglers will take off at 7:30 a.m. from Mountain Harbor Marina in Mt. Ida, and weigh-ins will also be held at the marina starting at 3:30 p.m. Fans can attend the event or watch online at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
The top six finishers in the regional will qualify for the Phoenix Bass Fishing League All-American, which will be held June 2-4 at Lake Hamilton, hosted by Visit Hot Springs and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.
NPC MEN WIN CARL ALBERT INVITATIONAL
National Park's men's cross country team won the Carl Albert State College XC Invitational last week in Poteau, Okla., and the women's team also competed.
Matthew Farias led the Nighthawks with a fourth-place finished in 35:00 while Hot Springs grad Payton Hayes (35:42) and John Dykes (35:56) were seventh and eighth. Lakeside grads Caiden Ingram (38:24) and Ashton Dorathy (38:52) were 11th and 12th.
The Nighthawks beat Connors State College by 6 points for the win.
In the women's race, Lake Hamilton grad Meighan Mears was third with a time of 24:40. Elizabeth Dearyan (27:17) was 11th overall with Kya Schmidt (27:36) and Lake Hamilton grad Olivia Caraway (29:20) finishing 12th and 14th.
Both the men's and women's teams will compete in the NJCAA Region II Championship on Oct. 30 in Mena starting at 9 a.m.
EIGHTH-GRADE RAMS BLANK BOBKITTENS
Lakeside's eighth-grade football team (7-1, 5-0) took a 43-0 win over Hope Thursday night on the road after a 30-point first quarter in Hope.
Javarius Russell scored on a 16-yard pass from Wally Wolcott to cap the eighth-grade Rams' opening drive with 5:45 left in the opening quarter.
Deklan McKinney recovered the kickoff before Wolcott connected with Russell again on a 17-yard pass for a 14-0 lead after Beau Brock ran in the 2-point conversion with 5:15 left in the first quarter. Brock ran in the team's next score, a 50-yard run, to make it 21-0 after Sam Luse's kick.
Cannon Martin took down a Bobkitten running back in the end zone for a safety before Chris Ford made it 30-0 on a 27-yard run followed by Luse's kick with 1:01 left in the first quarter.
The eighth-grade Rams scored again with 4:45 left when Wolcott found Luke Wrublesky for a 17-yard TD pass for a 36-0 halftime lead.
Jonathan Prather scored the final touchdown with 5:00 left in the third as Luse's kick set the final.
Jeremyah Evans, Tucker Young and Martin led the team with five tackles each, and head coach Chris Brock credited the play of his offensive line -- Jagger Janske, Martin, Young, Tucker Arnold and Carter Lock -- to be key to the win.
Lakeside's eighth-grade and freshman teams host DeQueen Thursday in an attempt for an undefeated conference title.
HARDING TAKES GAC XC AWARDS
Harding's Dylan Douglas and Nieves Megias picked up the Great American Conference's men's and women's cross country weekly awards.
Douglas picked up a personal best in the 8K at the UAH Invitational with a time of 24:51.47 to lead the Bisons to a 14th-place finish in the 33-team event. Megias broke the 18-minute barrier for the first time in her career with a 17:57.1 at the UAH Invitational for a finish in 18th place as the Lady Bisons were 14th.
GAC NAMES FOOTBALL WEEKLY AWARDS
Harding's Cole Chancey and Oklahoma Baptist's Josh Cornell were named the GAC's co-offensive players of the week while Southern Arkansas' Brock Floyd earned the defensive award and Southern Nazarene's Josh Johnson was named the special teams player.
Chancey picked up his third 200-yard rushing game of the career with 231 yards and scored four touchdowns for the third time of his career in a 46-21 win at No. 9 Henderson State. Cornell caught five passes for 105 yards, scoring on four to set the school's single-game record for touchdowns as well as the all-time record for touchdown catches.
Floyd picked up 14 tackles and had a scoop-and-score to put the Muleriders on the board as SAU took a 34-17 win over Arkansas Tech. Johnson had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown (school record) to open Thursday's game against Southwestern Oklahoma State and added four tackles, three pass breakups and helped limit SWOSU to 1-for-16 passing in the second half.
HSU'S DENTON EARNS VOLLEYBALL AWARD
HSU's Brae Denton earned the GAC's defensive player of the week while Oklahoma Baptist's Malia Leatherland earned the offensive award and SWOSU's Allie Huang was named the setter of the week.
Denton had a total of 19 blocks in the Reddies' two five-set matches, picking up a career high 12 against East Central and added seven against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Leatherland had 14 kills and 11 digs against Arkansas-Monticello while hitting .314, and she hit .385 with seven kills in just two sets against SAU. Hoang had 29 assists and 13 digs against Harding before adding 33 assists against Arkansas Tech.