Garland County Locker Room

Going strong since 2018, Henderson State University’s esports program gives students a chance to play video games competitively while getting a college education. Esports continues to grow across the state of Arkansas, and the Reddies offer scholarships to their esport athletes. The program awarded $20,000 in scholarships to students during the 2020-21 season while competing in a variety of different games. Krishnan Collins recently spoke with HSU esports coach John Price and esports athlete Jesse De La Cruz about the ins and outs of the university's esports program.

Soccer in the Spa City is trending up as the Hot Springs Soccer Association reports good numbers and a positive trajectory with the start of the spring season.Around 145 players signed up for micro soccer, and 95 athletes signed up for the HSSA’s travel clubs this spring. The classic team, the highest level team the association fields, currently holds 14 players for the 12-and-under team.Krishnan Collins recently spoke with HSSA president Edgardo Argueta about the upcoming season, the growth of the program and what the HSSA hopes to see the program become in the future.

Hot Springs natives Stephen Browning and Mark Davis are competing in Major League Fishing’s REDCREST 2022 with a prize of $300,000 on the line in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this week.Both professional anglers, Browning and Davis started fishing from a young age and were influenced by their surroundings on their way to becoming professionals in the sport.Krishnan Collins recently spoke with both anglers about how they got into fishing, how they went pro and their thoughts on the MLF pro tour this season.

The state basketball finals at Bank OZK Arena drew an attendance of 42,780 fans over three day’s worth of games, including two sold-out contests.The state championship games were split into six two-game sessions for two sessions a day based on classification between Thursday and Saturday. The Class 4A championship games played Saturday night between Nashville and Farmington on the girls side and Magnolia and Blytheville on the boys side both sold out.Krishnan Collins recently spoke with Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison and Arkansas Activities Association Assistant Executive Director Derek Walter about the three-day event.

Garland County will be well represented at the 2022 Arkansas Activities Association All-Star volleyball game in June. Fountain Lake’s Sophie Skinner and Lake Hamilton’s Audri Winfrey made the West All-Star roster, and Lakeside head coach Rhonda Thigpen was named head coach of the West All-Star team. Lakeside’s Madi Belle Landry was also included on the roster as a manager. Krishnan Collins recently spoke to Thigpen as well as Lake Hamilton head coach Karen Smith and Fountain Lake head coach Tina Moore about the players on their teams that are representing their respective schools and Garland County.

Seeing a five-overtime high school basketball game is not something that happens very often. Fortunately for Jessieville and Lake Hamilton, which both had games that went to five overtimes, they ended up on the right side of them. Something even more rare is a five-overtime game in the state tournament, which is where the Wolves got to experiences their 52-minute marathon game. James Leigh recently sat down with Lake Hamilton seniors Chase Jessup and Demetrius Sharp and juniors Zac Pennington and Charter Harris, as well as head coach Scotty Pennington, to get their perspective on what will likely be a game none of them will ever forget.

Lake Hamilton great and Ouachita Baptist University freshman Aspen Thornton eclipsed the 500-point mark in her career before finishing her first season as a Tiger with 608 points, and Thornton led Division II women’s basketball with 23.4 points per game.Thornton hit 500 points in OBU’s 80-56 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma State Feb. 12, and the Hot Springs native was not even aware she was close to hitting that milestone.Krishnan Collins recently spoke with Thornton about surpassing the 500-point milestone, how she achieved at such a high level as a freshman and what she hopes to see next season.

Karl "Supergoat" Meltzer was a newcomer to the LOViT 100 this year, but that did not keep the top ultra-marathon runner in the world from crushing the previous course record.Meltzer finished the 100-mile course in 19:36:36, snapping the record of 21:01 set in 2020 by Pierre Loic Deragne. The win also marked the 46th 100-mile win of Meltzer's career.Race director Dustin Speer said that the win gave him and the rest of the race committee the chance to see how the course compared to others across the country.James Leigh spoke to Meltzer about his win, his thoughts on the course and plans for the future, and he also spoke to Speer about the overall event.

This weekend, an estimated 75-100 runners are expected to take to the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail (LOViT), a 40-mile trail that extends from Denby Bay in Montgomery County to Avery Recreation Area at Blakely Dam.The eighth running of the LOViT 100 Endurance Run consists of two separate races — a 100-mile endurance race that is capped at 34 hours and a 100-kilometer race that is capped at 21 hours. This is the ninth year the race has been scheduled, but due to high water one year, the National Park Service rescinded the permit for the race.The 100-mile race starts Friday at 5 p.m. at the East Cove Pavilion with the 100-kilometer race starting at 6 a.m. Saturday. The race started in 2014 as a 100-kilometer race that started at Crystal Springs Resort and in 2015, it was expanded to include the 100-mile race and started at Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa.

Winning one marathon over the age of 50 is an impressive feat, but Spa Pacers President and Hot Springs resident Jerry White went beyond that and won back-to-back marathons in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Maui, Hawaii. The 51-year-old runner crossed the finish line at the Colorado Springs Marathon with a time of 3:01:59 on Oct. 2, 2021, and he won the Maui Oceanfront Marathon with a time of 2:56:52 on Jan. 16.

Jason Armitage is the type of person who does things because he feels that it is the right thing to do.He has volunteered time helping out with races across the area, and he also helps out the cross country and track and field programs at Lake Hamilton — either with setting up races or giving his own version of play-by-play of the top runners at the state cross country meet at Oaklawn.While he may feel he is just doing the right thing, others see it as going above and beyond, and because of his volunteer work, the Road Runners Club of America recently named him the 2021 National Outstanding Volunteer of the Year.James Leigh recently spoke with Armitage about how he got into running, how he got involved with the Spa Pacers and what this award means to him and this community. He also talked about how others who might be interested in running could get started.

Eddie Lamb is a name that is synonymous with basketball in Garland County.He started his coaching career at Lake Hamilton in 1993 before moving to Jessieville and eventually Lakeside, and in the nearly 30 years he has been coaching professionally, he has racked up a record of 1,004-375 following Thursday’s 51-47 win over Lake Hamilton.The Lakeside Rams defeated Texarkana on the road on Jan. 27 to earn Lamb his 1,000th win, and following the game, the players celebrated with him in the locker room.Lamb was recognized for his achievement between the varsity games Thursday night at Lakeside Athletic Complex.James Leigh spoke with Lamb prior to Thursday's recognition ceremony about his thoughts on reaching the momentous milestone of 1,000 wins, how he got to where he is, and what his plans are for the future.

The Hot Springs High School basketball program retired the jersey of Lady Trojan legend Sha Hopson during a ceremony at Trojan Arena before Hot Springs’ games against Lakeside Jan. 28.A 1990 graduate of Hot Springs High School, Hopson went on to play for the University of Arkansas, Grambling and played professionally overseas.Hopson died in March 2021, and her classmates created the initiative to honor her with a jersey retirement.

Lake Hamilton cross country star Olivia Pielemeier added another award to her rapidly expanding trophy cabinet when she was recently named the 2021-22 Gatorade Arkansas Girls Cross Country Player of the Year.Just a junior, Pielemeier captured the Class 5A individual state title in November, and she trimmed her 5K time down to 18:14.95, 16 seconds under her initial goal for the season. Pielemeier joins Josie Carson as the only two Lake Hamilton girls cross country athletes to be awarded Gatorade Player of the Year.Krishnan Collins spoke with Pielemeier and Lake Hamilton head cross country coach Brandon Smith about the award and what it took for the junior to achieve this level of success as a cross country runner.

Returning for the second time after a break in 2021, South Central Arkansas Fellowship of Christian Athletes is hosting Courts of Faith at Lake Hamilton’s Wolf Arena Feb. 16.While FCA has hosted Fields of Faith for many years at Lakeside High School, Courts of Faith is a newer event that is set up much like Fields of Faith.Krishnan Collins recently spoke with SCAFCA Multi-Area Director Micah May about the upcoming event.

Of all eight schools in the 5A-South, Lake Hamilton and Lakeside are the only ones to have played more than two games. Both Lake Hamilton’s boys and girls teams are 3-0 in conference play while Lakeside’s teams are both 2-1.As the teams prepare to makeup games over the next two weeks to reach the midpoint of conference play, the coaches from the two schools weighed in on their thoughts on where their teams are at this point.James Leigh spoke with Lakeside head boys coach Eddie Lamb and Lady Rams head coach Jay Williams while Krishnan Collins spoke with Lake Hamilton head girls coach Blake Condley and Wolves head coach Scotty Pennington.

With most of the teams in the county feeling the effects of COVID-19, either within their own program or their opponents’ programs, coaches at Cutter Morning Star and Hot Springs have been trying to make sure to keep their athletes healthy and prepared as the season nears the midpoint.James Leigh spoke with Hot Springs head coaches Antoni Lasker and Josh Smith and Krishnan Collins spoke with Cutter Morning Star head coaches Beau Brickell and B.J. Rogers about how they feel their teams are progressing as the season nears its midpoint.

With basketball across the state nearing the halfway point of the season, many coaches are starting to make sure that their teams are progressing in the right direction in hopes of continuing their season past mid-February.James Leigh and Krishnan Collins spoke with several area basketball coaches about how the coaches feel their teams are progressing as the season nears its midpoint.

Cutter Morning Star’s Eagle Field is getting a giant revamp. After the Eagles’ first year in eight-man football, the school is replacing its grass field with artificial turf, adding new lights, adding new seating to the away side, putting in a new scoreboard, replacing the goalposts and installing a new press box. Cutter Morning Star head coach Matt Kinsinger said the goal is to improve facilities, and the turf might bring some attention to the school when new, prospective students move into town.

Garland County basketball teams will host three different tournaments after Christmas from Dec. 28 to Dec. 30 in preparation for the upcoming conference season.Lakeside is hosting the Spa City Tournament, and Arkadelphia, Benton, Maumelle Charter, Mountain Pine, Mount Saint Mary’s, Nashville, Robinson, and Strong are competing in the event.Jessieville will host the Larry Ray Memorial tournament, and Bigelow, Caddo Hills, Cutter Morning Star, Mount Ida and Scott Charter will be playing in the event.The Lake Hamilton boys basketball team looks to continue its stellar start to the season when the Wolves host the Kameron Hale Invitational.

Making the Jessieville boys baseball team was just the first step for Violet Mendez, and now she has continued to advance in her baseball journey recently with two more milestones.Mendez was invited to the Girls Baseball Breakthrough Series at the Texas Ranger Youth Academy and participated in the event in November. The event included 32 of the nation’s best girls baseball players aged 14-17, and the athletes participated in drills on and off the field.Mendez also received an invite from American Girls Baseball to participate in the All-American Women’s Baseball Classic in January.

Ron Moquett is someone that needs no introduction for anyone with knowledge of racing at Oaklawn. The trainer of top-notch horses such as Man in the Can and Whitmore, Moquett has come a long way since he won his first $10,000 maiden and $50,000 stake. The 50-year-old trainer is careful about what horses he trains, not necessarily looking for the top horses but those horses that he feels he can help reach their potential.

Lake Hamilton's boys and girls basketball teams took the four-hour trip to Branson, Missouri, last weekend, and they both walked away with the hardware after winning all three of their respective games against Branson, Mountain Home and Mt. Vernon.James Leigh spoke with both boys head coach Scotty Pennington and girls head coach Blake Condley about the tournament and how they think their respective teams are shaping up this season.

Staton Flurry may be young, but he has been around horses and Oaklawn for as long as he can remember. The 31-year-old thoroughbred owner and Spa City native grew up tending his family’s parking lots across from the racetrack, and he quickly fell in love with the sport.

Mountain Pine faced off against the Strong-Huttig Bulldogs on Thursday in the first eight-man state football championship recognized by the Arkansas Activities Association. The Red Devils gave their all, but Strong-Huttig took a 66-60 double-overtime victory. James Leigh was at the game and spoke to head coach Sam Counce about how he felt his team performed on the biggest stage the team had played on.