Tuesday, September 24, 2013
FOOTBALL UCA at No. 13 in FCS polls
Central Arkansas is ranked No. 13 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision coaches’ and The Sports Network polls, which were released Monday.
The Bears beat Missouri State 17-13 Saturday in Springfield, Mo., snapping a two-game losing streak. They held Missouri State scoreless in the second half in their first victory since Aug. 29 against Incarnate Word.
UCA (2-2) is off this week before beginning Southland Conference play Oct. 5 against McNeese State at Estes Stadium in Conway.
North Dakota State is ranked No. 1 in both polls. Two Southland Conference teams are in the top 10 this week - Sam Houston State is No. 4 while McNeese State is No. 9.
Arkansas Tech’s Ketrich Harmon was named offensive player of the week by the Great American Conference when he rushed for 132 yards on 18 carries and scored three times in the Wonder Boys’ 49-7 victory at Southern Nazarene. Arkansas Tech gained 277 yards on the ground and scored all seven of its touchdowns on the ground.
Henderson State’s Keaton Stigger was named defensive player of the week after recording 11 tackles, including two for losses, in the Reddies’ 44-35 victory at Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Arkansas-Monticello kicker Jamie McGee was named special teams player of the week after making three field goals, including a career-long 43-yard field goal in the Boll Weevils’ 22-20 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State.
CYCLING LR Catholic graduate wins title
Little Rock Catholic graduate Zack Lavergne helped pedal the Colorado Mesa University cycling team to the top of the podium at last week’s Collegiate National Track Championships.
The CMU Mavericks took top honors in the team omnium division after three days of racing that began Thursday and wrapped up Saturday at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. CMU finished with 1,077 points. Runner-up Air Force Academy had 854.
Lavergne, an 18-year-old freshman from Ferndale, finished fifth in the points race, eighth in the scratch race and 18th in the individual pursuit against both Division I and II schools.
Though Lavergne has raced on the road for years, this was just his second attempt on the track, where bikes are stripped to a single gear, have no brakes and are pedaled around a banked, wooden track.
“Fifth-place in the points race is impressive for just his second time in a real race,” Coach Patrick Rostel said. “I’m proud of the whole team, and especially Zack. He surprised me a lot with his racing.”
Lavergne said his road experience helped on the boards, though the track has it own qualities.
“A lot of it is the same, as far as tactics go. A scratch race is mostly a criterium … [racing on] the banking is fun. You use it for acceleration and it changes the dynamics of the race.”
Next up for CMU and Lavergne is January’s national collegiate cyclocross championships in Boulder, Colo.
CROSS COUNTRY Arkansas, Kebenei earns USTFCCCA honor
Arkansas junior Stanley Kebenei has been named the USTFCCCA National Runner of the Week for Division I. The Nakura, Kenya, native navigated the 8,000-meter course in Joplin, Mo., in a first-place time of 23:25.75, finishing more than 28 seconds ahead of the field.
Competing in his first season of cross country for Arkansas, Kebenei paced a 1-2 finish for the No. 5 Razorbacks. He was followed by teammate Raymond Joseph and fellow top-10 performers, sophomore Cale Wallace in sixth place and freshman Aiden Swain in ninth.
VOLLEYBALL UALR’S Begic honored by SBC
UALR junior Edina Begic was named offensive player of the week for the third consecutive time by the Sun Belt Conference Monday.
Begic becomes only the second player in Sun Belt history (Florida International’s Yarimar Rosa in 2009) to be named player of the week for three consecutive weeks. This is also the seventh such honor for Begic’s career and passes former Trojans libero Amy Hafner (2007-2008) for the most conference player of the week awards.
Begic was named MVP of the Tiger Invitational this weekend with 50 kills in 10 sets played (5.00 kills per set).
UCA’s Nagy honored by Southland
Central Arkansas’ Jessica Nagy was named offensive player of the week by the Southland Conference.
Nagy is averaging 3.89 kills per set as the Sugar Bears picked up three victories last week. She had a match-high 11 kills against Abilene Christian on Thursday night, before turning in a match-high 15 kills against Louisiana Tech on Friday. Nagy closed out the week by hitting .444 and collecting nine kills against Incarnate Word on Saturday.
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/24/2013