CaMPUS - University of Arkansas at Monticello

SPorTS
CHAMPIONS
(From left, first row)
Beth Johnson, Kara
House, Chasity
Deselle, Katie
Bowman, Maggie
Sands, Jennifer
Hickman, Summer
Huddleston, Preslie
Long, (second row)
Coach Alvy Early,
Kayla Jackson, Katie
Slaughter, Haleigh
Winnon, Brittany
Eitel, Randa Perry,
Sydney Tipton,
Taylor Russell,
Sara Matthews, Assistant
Coach Kayla
Temple.
18
GAC Champions!
lvy Early proved once again this
A spring that he just may have this
coaching thing down.
Completing his 33rd season at UAM,
Early guided the Cotton Blossoms softball
team to the 2012 Great American Conference
championship in the league’s first
year of competition, then added the
league’s postseason tournament title as
well. Early guided the Blossoms to a 40-14
overall record and a 21-5 mark in conference
action.
The Blossoms won the regular season
title on the season’s last weekend, then
won four games in a row without a loss to
win the tournament championship.
Early was the GAC Coach of the Year
while Kayla Jackson was named the GAC
Pitcher of the Year after compiling a 31-6
record to go with a 1.07 ERA. Jackson, a
senior from Hallsville, Tex., who doubled
as a first baseman when not pitching,
was a terror at the plate as well, batting
a team-high .374 while leading the GAC
with 42 runs batted in. She also tied for
the league’s home run title with 11.
Jackson was one of two Blossoms
named to the All-GAC first team. She
was joined by the GAC Freshman of the
Year, third baseman Sara Matthews and
outfielder Maggie Sands.
Designated hitter Taylor Russell,
shortstop Jennifer Hickman, and Jackson
were named to the All-GAC second team,
Jackson as a first baseman to go with her
first team designation as a pitcher.
Weevils Get Four
our members of the 2011-12 Boll
FWeevil basketball team earned postseason
honors from the Great American
Conference this spring.
Senior guards LA Farmer and Sergio
Crowe were both named to the All-GAC
first team while junior guard Kori Forge
was selected for the second team while
senior forward Ricardo Hall earned honorable
mention honors.
Farmer was the GAC scoring leader,
averaging 20.6 points a game, while Forge
and Crowe were third and fourth respectively
in scoring with averages of 17.0 and
15.7 points a game.
Hall was 13th in scoring with a 12.6
point average. UAM posted a 21-9 overall
record in Allen Sharpe’s second season as
head coach.
Wants To Coach
otton Blossoms basketball player
CTaylor Clark has been selected by
the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association
(WBCA) to participate in the “So
You Want To Be A Coach” program.
For qualification, the player must have
exhausted her final year of basketball
eligibility or have graduated within the
past year, must be nominated by her
head coach, and must be an active WBCA
member. Each participant is selected
based on academics, contributions to
women’s basketball on and off the court,
professional resume and a written recommendation
from their head coach.
Coach Tanya Ray is excited by Taylor’s
selection. “I am thrilled that Taylor was
chosen to participate in such a prestigious
program,” said Ray. “She told
me from the first day I met her that she
wanted to be a coach and the ‘So You
Want To Be a Coach’ program will give
her the training needed to get a jump
start on her career. Taylor has worked
hard on the court and in the classroom
and has always been a great role model
for this program.”
The “So You Want To Be a Coach”