Correction: Ted Crass has been hired as director of basketball operations for the UALR men’s basketball team. His position was listed incorrectly in the story below.
FOOTBALL Former Wonder Boy Dempsey dies at 83
Don Dempsey, an All-America student-athlete, distinguished alumnus and former coach and faculty member at Arkansas Tech University, died Monday. He was 83.
Dempsey, a native of Booneville, was an All-America center and linebacker after helping the Wonder Boys win the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) football championship in 1954.
He became head football coach at Mountain Home High School in 1955, and in his first two seasons the school posted back-to-back overall records of 9-2, winning the 1A Conference championship in 1955 and finishing as conference runner-up in 1956.
Dempsey returned to Arkansas Tech as assistant football coach and physical education instructor in 1959 and became the Wonder Boys’ head football coach in 1967. Arkansas Tech won AIC football championships in three of Dempsey’s first five seasons (1968, 1970 and 1971) as head coach. Dempsey’s 54 victories rank No. 4 on the Wonder Boys’ all-time victories list.
Dempsey also served as head baseball coach at Arkansas Tech from 1959-70. He was the first Wonder Boys baseball coach to earn 100 career victories, and his 1964 team won the AIC title.
After his retirement from coaching in 1975, Dempsey remained on the physical education faculty at Arkansas Tech until 1996 and served as a longtime color commentator on radio broadcasts of Arkansas Tech’s football games. He retired from that post at the end of the 2004 season.
He was inducted into the Arkansas Tech Hall of Distinction in 1995.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at First United Methodist Church of Russellville. The family will receive friends from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Shinn Funeral Service of Russellville.
BASKETBALL Herbert conference’s NCAA Woman of Year nominee
Megan Herbert, a former University of Central Arkansas women’s basketball standout and three-time Southland Conference Player of the Year, has been selected as the conference’s 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee.
More than 140 NCAA female student-athletes across NCAA Divisions I, II and III have been selected for the honor by their conferences and independent schools. A total of 455 female student-athletes were nominated.
In August the NCAA Woman of the Year selection committee will select from that pool the top 10 honorees in each division, and in September the committee will announce the top nine finalists (three from each division) and the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from that pool of finalists to determine the 2013 NCAA Woman of the Year.
The winner will be announced on Oct. 20, and the NCAA will honor the top 30 nominees.
Herbert was first team All-Southland for the fourth time and won the league’s Player of the Year award for the third consecutive year after averaging a league-best 19.8 points per game and finishing second in rebounding at 11.5 per game, with averages of 21.3 and 11.7 in Southland games.
The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their college careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership.
Crass named graduate assistant
Ted Crass, who spent the past five years as a student manager and then a player for the UALR men’s basketball team, has been named a graduate assistant.
Crass, a Little Rock Central graduate, started his career at UALR as a team manager in 2008 before joining the team as a player in 2012.
Crass graduated in May with a degree in speech communications and will oversee academics and living arrangements, team travel arrangements, video exchange and community outreach programs.
GOLF 10 to represent Arkansas at Fore States event
The Arkansas Women’s Golf Association will send 10 women to represent Arkansas on Thursday and Friday in the 19th annual Fore States Cup Matches at Twin Hills Country Club in Joplin, Missouri.
States involved in the competition include Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. Four-ball and foursome matches will be played Thursday. Individual singles matches will conclude the competition Friday.
Representing Arkansas in the competition are: Tanna Richard of Fort Smith, Pam Spikes of Maumelle, Summar Roachell of Conway, Grier Bennett and Katie Speir of Hot Springs Village, Micah Radler of Fayetteville, Brenda Carr and Brenda Alexander of Bentonville, Tracy Duncan of Blytheville and Doris Herren of Cave Springs.
OUTDOORS Crow named AGFC deputy director
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has named Col. Jeff Crow, chief of the agency’s enforcement division, as the agency’s deputy director.
Crow began his law enforcement career in 1986 as a wildlife officer with the Game and Fish Commission. In 1996, he accepted a position with the Arkansas State Police, where he served in patrol, investigations and training and on the department’s SWAT team. As a trainer, he was responsible for recruit and in-service training, focusing on critical skills, use of force and leadership development.
After 25 years in law enforcement, he accepted a position as a law enforcement instructor for the University of Arkansas’ Criminal Justice Institute, and in 2012 he took over the AGFC Enforcement Division.
SWIMMING Dolphin-Laser team wins state championship
The Arkansas Dolphin-Laser swim team of Little Rock won the male, female and combined titles as they swept the Long Course State Swimming Championships with a total of 1,251.5 points over the weekend at Creemore pool in Fort Smith.
RAC/Aquahawgs of Fayetteville finished second, and Northwest Arkansas Aquatics of Bentonville came in third.
The Dolphins-Laser team broke three individual and four relay state/ LSC records. Individual record-breakers were Andrew Rogers in the boys 10-and-under 200-meter freestyle (2:26.63) and the boys 10-and-under 100-meter butterfly (1:12.37), and Ryland Sun in the boys 11 and 12 50-meter backstroke (31.71).
The 11-and-12 boys relay team set records in the 400-meter relay (4:28.53) and 200-meter medley relay (2:15.93), while the 13-and-14 girls team broke the 200-meter medley relay mark (2:09.41).
The RAC/Aquahawgs girls also set a state and LSC record in the 15-18 and open division in the 200 meter free relay with a time of 1:53.47.
Sports, Pages 23 on 07/31/2013