Stories from Thursday, August 30, 2012

There will be a meeting Thursday night at 6 o'clock in the Health Room at the high school gym for anyone interested in being part of the Wildcat Booster club that is starting back up.

The following are the results of the NEA Youth Football Leagues games played last week. Fourth and fifth grade games: Marked Tree 28 Cedar Ridge 6; Earle 18 EPC 0; Wynne 12 Augusta 6; Rector 28 Gosnell 0; McCrory 32 Cross County 16; Harrisburg 22 Manila 0; Trumann-Newport was postponed due to rain. Sixth grade games: Marked Tree 42 Cedar Ridge 0; EPC 8 Earle 0; Wynne 18 Augusta 6; Gosnell 22 Rector 0; Cross County 28 McCrory 0; Harrisburg 14 Manila 12; Trumann-Newport was postponed due to rain.

The Trumann Lady Wildcats volleyball team recently won third place at the Cave City tournament this past Saturday. In pool play the Lady 'Cats beat Bay 25-17, 25-18 and Southside 23-25, 25-21. In tournament play they downed Highland in the first round 25-10, 25-17. In the second round we beat Newport 25-18, 25-21 before falling to Walnut Ridge in semi-finals 24-26, 21-25. For the tournament, Hannah Walters was 42/44 serving, 5 aces, 32 kills and 22 digs, Kelly Guthrie, 29/33 serving, 21 kills and 22 digs, Macey Davis, 47/51 serving, 10 aces, 34 assists, 4 kills and 5 digs, Scarlett Davis, 40/43 serving, 4 aces, 8 kills and 16 digs, Morgan Taylor, 35/37 serving, 4 aces, 7 kills 12 digs, and Courtney Toddy, 32/36 serving , 2 aces, 21 assists and 6 digs. Hannah Walters made the all-tournament team. In other action, the Lady Wildcats hosted Ridgefield Christian this past Monday. Ridgefield Christian beat the host team in five sets, 25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 18-25, 13-15. Hannah Walters was 25/26 serving, 5 kills, 16 digs, Kelly Guthrie had 7 aces and 9 digs, Macey Davis had 9 assists. The Junior Lady Wildcats won their match in two sets. The Lady 'Cats travelled to Brookland on Tuesday and lost in four sets, 25-19, 14-25, 25-23, 22-25, 13-15 making u 5-3 (1-1) on the season. Kelly Guthrie was 18/18 serving, 4 aces, 16 kills, 18 digs, Hannah Walters was 15/16 serving 13 kills, 11 digs and Macey Davis was 17/18 serving with 22 assists. The Junior Wildcats lost their match making their record 2-2 (0-1).

In our last of a four part series, we meet the coaches from Harrisburg High School. Keith Davis enters his 20th year of coaching with 13 of those being the head coach. He has spent his entire coaching career at his alma mater. Davis graduated in 1986 and went on to earn his degree from ASU in 1991. Davis's coaching staff includes Sean Hammond, Andy Barrett and Scott Carpino. Davis and his wife Sarah have two children, son Zach and daughter Hannah. Sean Hammond is the head coach of the Junior Hornets and begins his 23rd year in coaching. Hammond is a 1985 graduate of Jonesboro High School and a 1990 graduate of ASU. Hammond has coached at Marked Tree and Wynne also. Hammond's assistant coaches for the season will be Scott Carpino and Andy Barrett. Hammond and his wife Corinne have two children, daughter Taylor and son Walker.

Trumann held a city wide pep rally this past Friday at Wildcat Field. The pee wee teams up to the high school team were introduced to the city. Seven individuals were honored for their contributions to school and their achievements after high school. Joe Hollimon was honored but was not in attendance. Hollimon graduated from Trumann in 1971 before playing his college ball at AUS. Hollimon had a stellar career in the Canadian Football League winning five Grey Cups with the Edmonton Eskimos. Elbert Shelley was also honored but was unable to attend. Shelley graduated in 1982 and continued his career at ASU. Shelley was then drafted by the Atlanta Falcons where he played for 10 seasons. Shelley made the pro bowl team four times. William Carter was the first to presented with a plaque for his 40 years of service on the chain gang at the football games. Rick McKenzie was honored for being the voice of the Wildcats for the past eight years. McKenzie will be replaced in the box by Ronnie Dye. Wayne Hinds was honored for is six touchdowns and extra point he scored while amassing 317 yards rushing against Marked Tree in 1955. Hinds was called "Wing-footed Hinds" in the paper back in those days. Jimmy Creecy was next to be honored for breaking the 56-year old scoring record set by Hinds. Creecy scored seven touchdowns against Paragould last season. Creecy rushed for 307 yards in that game. Hinds presented Creecy with his plaque. Lynn Greenwell was the last to be honored. Greenwell spent 41 years in the Trumann School district with 25 of those being the head football coach. When asked about his success as a coach, he was reluctant to speak about himself. He said his philosophy was, "Take care of the kids. Work them hard and things will be fine. Kids will do what you expect out of them." Asked about motivating his players Greenwell said, " It wasn't really about stressing winning or losing, but I asked the players to do the best they could."