BASKETBALL Johnson added to UA women’s staff
Chris Johnson has been hired as an Arkansas women’s basketball assistant coach to complete the full-time staff.
Johnson, 36, is a Houston native and was a TCU assistant the past three seasons.
“Chris has the total package,” Arkansas Coach Jimmy Dykes said in a news release. “He is a proven recruiter and is a good X’s and O’s coach. I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Johnson was the girls’ head coach at Lutheran High School-North in Houston for one season before going to TCU. He was an assistant coach at Houston Westside High School for three seasons and was the executive director and head coach of Cyfair Premier Basketball, an AAU program in Texas.
Johnson played at Houston Baptist, where he was a two-time NAIA All-American. He graduated in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in business and Spanish.
Johnson joins Christy Smith and Tari Cummings as full-time assistant coaches at Arkansas. Amber Shirey is director of basketball operations.
Texas all-stater signs with ASU
Arkansas State women’s Coach Brian Boyer has signed forward Lauren Bradshaw of Mesquite, Texas.
Bradshaw, 6-2, averaged 12.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game last season and was named all-state.
She is the fifth player to sign with ASU and first in the current signing period. Akasha Westbrook, Christyal Holloway, Aalliyah Warren and Ogo Obinabo signed during the early period in November.
UCA women add junior college guard
Shelton State (Ala.) Community College guard Kendara Watts has signed with the Central Arkansas women’s team.
Watts, 5-10, averaged a team-high 15.9 points and 5.4 rebounds for Shelton State last season. She shot 50.2 percent from the field, 34.7 percent on three-pointers and 81.6 percent on free throws.
UCA signed three players this week, Watts, Bellaire (Texas) guard Angel Williams and Pearl River (Miss.) Community College forward Shanta Echols. eStem guard Olivia McWilliams signed in November.
Patterson to play at Williams Baptist
West Memphis forward Jasmine Patterson has signed with Williams Baptist.
Patterson, a 5-10 forward, was an all-conference selection and helped the Lady Devils win 7A/6A-East Conference championship.
ATHLETICS Moya hired as associate AD
FAYETTEVILLE - Elvis Moya has been hired as Arkansas’ associate athletic director for marketing and fan development, Athletic Director Jeff Long announced Thursday.
Moya worked at Texas Tech for the past nine years, most recently as director of marketing and fan promotions. He graduated from Texas Tech in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in mass communications.
Long said Moya’s hiring is part of Arkansas’ continuing efforts to pursue innovative marketing and enhance the game experience for fans.
BASEBALL NLR infielder signs with UALR
Chandler Thompson, a second baseman at North Little Rock, has signed to play for UALR in the 2015 season.
A four-year varsity player, Thompson is currently leading the Charging Wildcats in batting average and runs batted in. Chandler has committed only four errors during the last three seasons.
GOLF Arkansas Tech’s Surtevall wins GAC honor
Arkansas Tech junior Rebecka Surtevall was named Great American Conference player of the year Thursday for the third consecutive year.
Surtevall, who earned medalist honors during the GAC tournament, won four of 11 tournaments, had 10 top-10 finishes and nine top-five finishes. She had a scoring average of 74,95
In addition, Arkansas Tech’s Caroline Fredensborg was named GAC freshman of the year.
Fredensborg averaged 80.18 strokes per round. She had one top-10 finish. Henderson’s Schultz GAC coach of the year
Henderson State Coach Forrest Schultz was named coach of the year by the Great American Conference on Thursday.
Schultz was hired as the men’s and women’s coach in July 2013 after being the assistant golf professional at Hot Springs Country Club for the past three years.
Under Schultz, the Lady Reddies finished in the top three in six of the nine tournaments they participated in, including three victories.
The men had six top-10 finishes and won the SAU Mulerider Classic and the Dave Falconer Memorial. They also won the GAC tournament.
UCA’s Angles named to Palmer Cup team
Central Arkansas’ Pep Angles was named to the European team for the 2014 Palmer Cup.
Angles, from Barcelona, was one of 10 players named to the European team based on the Palmer Cup rankings. The United States and European teams will participate in a Ryder Cup-style competition June 26-28 at the Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England.
Angles will join Arizona State’s Jon Rahm, Central Florida’s Ricardo Gouveia, Erik Oja of Arizona, Tomas Detry of Illinois, James Ross of Houston, Paul Dunne of UAB, Grant Forrest of San Diego, Louis Tomlinson of England and Jack McDonald of Scotland.
TENNIS GAC announces women’s honors
Arkansas Tech’s Nozomi Matsuoka and Olga Leyshyna were named freshman and newcomer of the year while Harding’s Marco Ruiz was named coach of the year.
Matsuoka and Leyshyna combined to go 23-8 in singles matches and 28-6 in dobules matches. Matsuoka was the fifth-ranked player in the Central Region.
Under Ruiz, Harding won its first regular-season conference title since 1994.
In addition, Southern Nazarene’s Masha Andrianova was named player of the year.
Boskovic leads GAC men
Ouachita Baptist’s Marko Boskovic repeated as men’s player of the year. Harding’s Mathaus Spiering was named freshman of the year.
Boskovic went undefeated at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles. He is the No. 1-ranked singles player in the Central Region and the No. 19-ranked player in the nation according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Spiering went 15-2 in singles, including 10-1 at No. 1 singles with a 6-1 record against regionally-ranked players and 2-0 against nationally-ranked opponents. He is ranked fifth in the region in singles.
In addition, Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Nathan Heimes was named newcomer of the year and its coach Shawn Hamill was named coach of the year.
Sports, Pages 19 on 04/18/2014