Track: All-American Rollins Inducted Into Springdale HOF

 FILE PHOTO MICHAEL WOODS Paige Farrell was a four-time state champion in the 400 meters and won the state title in the 800 meters as a senior at Springdale. Her state record of 55.54 seconds in the 400 meters still stands. Farrell was also a four-time All-American, a four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and a member of five school record-setting relay teams at the University of Arkansas.
FILE PHOTO MICHAEL WOODS Paige Farrell was a four-time state champion in the 400 meters and won the state title in the 800 meters as a senior at Springdale. Her state record of 55.54 seconds in the 400 meters still stands. Farrell was also a four-time All-American, a four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and a member of five school record-setting relay teams at the University of Arkansas.

Paige Farrell-Rollins was always going to be a first-ballot inductee into the Springdale High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Charlie Smith made sure of that.

Springdale High Athletic Hall Of Fame

Induction Ceremony: 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, Springdale High cafeteria

Info/Tickets: 479-750-1680

Inductee^Graduation Year

Jerry Delozier^1953

Jerry Brewer^1958

Ron Baker^1963

Rick Fine^1979

Afton Scott^1984

Craig McKee^1991

Aaron Adams^1991

Paige Farrell-Rollins^2004

Meagan Pless^2004

Bill Carter^Meritorious Service

Smith, a former long-time Springdale basketball coach and a member of the eight-person hall of fame selection committee, took it upon himself to submit an application for Rollins to assure the 2004 graduate was recognized in her first year of eligibility.

"She's certainly deserving because she was a great high school track athlete at Springdale and then she went to the University of Arkansas and did a great job down there for the Lady Razorback track team," Smith said. "And so it was a no-brainer that she be inducted in the first year that she was eligible."

And he has a valid point. Rollins is one of the most highly decorated Springdale athletes in school history.

At Springdale, she was a four-time state champion in the 400 meters and won the state title in the 800 meters as a senior. Her state record of 55.54 seconds in the 400 meters still stands.

She continued her career with even more success at Arkansas, where she was a four-time All-American, a four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection, a member of five school record-setting relay teams and a qualifier for the 2008 Olympic trials.

"I definitely was not the most God-gifted speed person there, but if coach wanted me to do something, I would do it," she said.

And Rollins, who is now married to Springdale School of Innovation principal Joe Rollins with a 2-year-old daughter, Kinley, had her share of impactful coaches to help her reach her potential over the years.

She had a solid foundation at home, where she received early guidance from her father Robert Farrell, a receiver who lettered at Arkansas from 1976-79. And she had friendly competition growing up with her brother, Josh, who would go on to play golf at Arkansas.

"He takes credit for my speed because he says I was always chasing him around when I was little," Rollins said. "We've always been really close. We're just a very close tight-knit family."

Her father recognized Rollins' track potential as she reached high school and hired former Olympian Reuben Reina as a personal track coach. Reina, who later became a volunteer coach at Springdale, played a key role in Rollins' progression into one of the top Springdale track athletes in school history.

"I always say that you wanted to hate him, but you couldn't because he had the sweetest smile," Rollins said. "He would be pacing me through a workout that I was dying in wanting to fall over, just smiling as he's running beside me like he's on a warm-up jog. He is so dedicated and disciplined. There's black and white, no gray."

She had her pick of a number of colleges and almost wound up at Kansas, but in the end chose to continue the family legacy and run for the home-state school. In Fayetteville, she was coached by head women's coach Lance Harter and assistant Lonnie Greene, who took her under his wing.

His training paid immediate dividends as Rollins dropped 10 seconds off her 800 time in just her freshman year. Greene now coaches the men's and women's teams at Purdue, but Rollins holds out hope he winds up back in Fayetteville in the future.

"I told him that I hope he's coaching in 18 years, because I want Kinley to run for him one day," Rollins said.

In the meantime, Rollins is coaching young runners. She's turned her focus toward impacting the lives of young girls through working as a personal track coach and leading a Sunday School class at Cross Church in Springdale.

"I'm not doing it as a career move, but I do it because I love it," Rollins said of coaching track. "I just think if you honestly want to get better, see a future and have goals, I want to help you get there. I think I will always be involved in track in some way because I love it. And I will always want to be involved with junior high, young high school girl lives. I just think it's a big time where you can change the shape of your future.

"And I'm so grateful for the people who supported me and I want to do that for people. It sounds like I'm running for Miss America, but it's true."

Foremost on the list of the girls she wants to impact is her daughter.

Kinley already accompanies her mother to track lessons. They also often work on high knees together and sometimes use a crack in Rollins' parents' driveway as a starting point to work on block starts.

"Never too early," Rollins said. "Luckily, I think she's going to have long legs like her daddy."

And maybe her mother's athletic ability, too.

"Me and my brother grew up around athletics with my mom and my dad," Rollins said. "It wasn't like they pushed us into it. They loved it, so we loved it. I want her to be the same way."

Sports on 07/20/2014

Upcoming Events