GYMNASTICS Grable finalist for national award
Two-time national champion Katherine Grable is among the final four candidates for the Honda Sports Award, given annually to the top female athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports.
Grable, the SEC’s gymnast of the year, capped her senior season by becoming the first Arkansas gymnast to earn a national championship. She won national titles on the floor exercise and the vault Sunday and finished second in the all around competition at the NCAA Championships in Birmingham, Ala.
Other finalists include the 2013 Honda Award recipient Bridget Sloan of Florida, Kim Jacob of Alabama and Emily Wong of Nebraska.
GOLF
UCA golfer atop leaderboard
Central Arkansas junior Pep Angles shot his second consecutive 4-under-par 68 on Tuesday and remained atop the leaderboard at 136 at the Southland Conference men’s championship at Stonebridge Ranch Country Club in McKinney, Texas.
Angles, the conference’s reigning player of the year, holds a two-stroke lead over Sam Houston State’s Zach Cabra, who turned in back-to-back 69s on the Pete Dy Signature Course and is at 138 heading into today’s final round.
San Houston State leads the field at 582, followed by Stephen F. Austin (592), Southeastern Louisiana (594), UCA (596), McNeese State (598), Lamar (604), Houston Baptist (610), Abilene Christian (612), Oral Roberts (623), Incarnate Word (624), Nicholls State (634) and New Orleans (638).
UAFS men finish sixth
Junior Dylan Lovell shot a 9-over-par 225 to lead the Arkansas-Fort Smith men’s team to a sixth-place finish Tuesday in the Heartland Conference Championship at Summit Rock Golf Club in Austin, Texas.
UAFS shot a 67-over 931 (318-306-307) and finished 59 strokes behind champion St. Edward’s. The Hilltoppers shot an 8-over 872 (293-286-293) to win the six-team event by 10 strokes over runner-up Dallas Baptist, which shot an 18-over 882 (291-302-289).
Lovell shot rounds of 76-73-76 and finished tied for 14th. Dallas Baptist’s Garrett Fey, St. Mary’s Chris Contreras and St. Edward’s Enrique Livas all shot 2-under 214 and finished tied for first after three rounds. Fey won the sudden-death playoff with a par on the second hole to earn medalist honors.
UAFS women finish fifth
Junior Taylor Arnold shot a 7-over-par 151 to lead the Arkansas-Fort Smith women’s team to a fifth-place finish Tuesday in the Heartland Conference Championship at Summit Rock Golf Club in Austin, Texas.
UAFS shot a 66-over 642 (325-317) in the six-team event and finished 50 strokes behind champion St. Edward’s. St. Edward’s tied with Dallas Baptist after two rounds with a 16-over 592. St. Edward’s shot rounds of 293-299, and Dallas Baptist shot rounds of 288-304. The Hilltoppers won the first hole in the sudden-death playoff to win the title.
Arnold shot rounds of 78-73 and finished seventh. St. Edward’s Haley Haught and Dallas Baptist’s Kirsten Pike tied for first after two rounds at 2-under 142. Haught won the first hole of the sudden-death playoff to earn medalist honors.
BASEBALL Jenkins signs with ASU
Little Rock Parkview pitcher Cole Jenkins has signed a national letter of intent to play baseball at Arkansas State.
Jenkins, 6-2, 174 pounds, is a four-year starter at Parkview. The left-hander has 50 strikeouts in 29 innings this season after striking out 59 last season.
Southern Arkansas tops Harding
Jackson McCurdy’s two-run double in the second inning gave No. 13 Southern Arkansas the lead for good as the Muleriders defeated Harding 5-1 Tuesday in a nonconference game in Magnolia.
Trevor Rucker had four singles for SAU (33-14), which finished with 14 hits. Colton Strother went the distance while giving up one run.
Zac Stewart went 2 for 3 with two singles for Harding (26-19).
Delta State takes 2 from HSU
Delta State swept Henderson State in a midweek doubleheader Tuesday, winning 5-1 and 11-0 at Clyde Berry Field in Arkadelphia.
HSU (17-28) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Andy Kovarik hit a home run to center field, but Delta State (32-9) scored three runs in the fourth inning, with the big hit a two run triple by Ricky Velez. The Statesmen added runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Starting pitcher Casey Greene and reliever Will Robertson held the Reddies in check. Greene allowed four hits in 5 2/3 innings while Robertson retired the final four hitters.
Delta State pounded out 15 hits in the second game while limiting the Reddies to five hits. Tadarious Hawkins went 2 for 3 for the Reddies.
SOFTBALL Hamilton signs with Lyon
Emily Hamilton of Paragould has signed to play softball at Lyon College in Batesville.
Hamilton competed in multiple sports over the past four years at Paragould High School. In addition to playing softball, Hamilton participated in basketball and volleyball as a freshman.
Harding splits with Delta State
Harding split a nonconference doubleheader Tuesday in Cleveland, Miss., defeating Delta State 7-3 in the first game before losing the second game 7-2.
Amber Rollins pitched a complete game in the opener, giving up three runs while striking out six. Every player in Harding’s lineup had at least one hit in the game.
Delta State took advantage of three hits and an error to take a 3-0 lead in the third inning of the second game. It added another run in the fifth and three more in the sixth on three hits and two errors.
VOLLEYBALL Lyon adds player
Kaitlyn Craine of Independence Community College in Kansas has signed a national letter of intent to play for Lyon College.
Craine, a 5-7 defensive specialist/libero, was a 2012 graduate of Springdale Har-Ber High School who signed with Independence County out of high school. She had 221 digs and 111 kills last fall.
Sports, Pages 23 on 04/23/2014