GIRLS SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR
HANNAH DAVIS, FAYETTEVILLE
Hannah Davis provided all the vital intangibles necessary to help lead Fayetteville girls soccer to one of its most memorable seasons in recent history.
Davis, a senior defender and team co-captain, helped guide a unit which was stingy all season long and allowed just five goals in 7A-West Conference play. Named the league’s Most Valuable Player by 7A-West coaches, she also scored six goals and added three assists and Fayetteville (16-4-1) earned a share of the 7A-West Conference championship with eventual state champion Bentonville.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Davis said. “We worked really hard and accomplished a lot of our goals. The final thing wasn’t what we wanted to not win the state championship. But to win the conference championship was a great accomplishment.”
As important as Davis’ play on the field was, her team leadership was perhaps the most important aspect of her game to the Lady Bulldogs. On a team led by eight seniors, Davis — a Hendrix College signee — stood out.
“I think I have improved more skillfully this year,” Davis said. “But I’m proud how I’ve grown as a leader, too. I can tell the team looked up to me and respected what I had to say.”
-Vernon Tarver
GIRLS SOCCER NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
MERRILL LEAK, BENTONVILLE
One thing Merrill Leak could never be questioned about is her endurance.
The Bentonville sophomore was already in her second year of competition as a distance runner on the girls track team when she was moved up to the varsity soccer team this spring. She started the season as a defender but was moved up to a center midfielder while still concentrating on a defensive role.
What Leak did earlier this month is a testimony of her stamina because she played every minute of a Class 7A state soccer tournament semifinal match against Bryant that went into double overtime and eventually had to be settled by penalty kicks. She left Springdale Har-Ber that afternoon and went to Russellville for the Meet of Champs, where she ran a leg in the 4x800-meter relay and helped the Lady Tigers break the state overall record they had set the year before.
“It was hard, but it was good,” Leak said about keeping up with both sports. “I like having the two different sports because they balance out. I like the differences between them because I could practice both of them at the same time, and my coaches worked together to make that happen.”
Despite playing a defensive role, Leak still contributed in the scoring and finished the season with two goals and 10 assists. She also connected on all four of her penalty-kick situations, including one in the semifinal match against Bryant.
“Merrill could play any position and be successful,” Bentonville girls soccer coach Kristina Henry. “She reads the field well and is a very knowledgeable player of the game.”
-Henry Apple
GIRLS SOCCER COACH OF THE YEAR
BRENT CRENSHAW SILOAM SPRINGS
There’s a different dynamic of coaching girls in any sport, and Brent Crenshaw was reminded of that in his first season as soccer coach at Siloam Springs.
Crenshaw was hired to coach both the boys and girls soccer programs in June, but it had been since the 2006 and 2007 seasons at Broken Arrow, Okla., since he had been the head coach of a girls team. He had assisted with the girls at Owasso, Okla., in 2012 and 2013.
There was an added challenge with taking over the Siloam Springs girls team. The Lady Panthers had just won their second straight state championship in Class 6A with nearly their entire roster returning for 2016.
“I knew we had a lot of talent coming back too,” Crenshaw said. “So the challenge was there to keep them interested throughout the season.”
There were some bumps along the way — like losing five of seven matches down the stretch — but Siloam Springs (13-8-1) picked it up at the right time, winning three straight games to end the season, including a 1-0 victory over Russellville on May 20 for the Lady Panthers’ third straight state title.
“I knew that the potential was there,” Crenshaw said. “I didn’t want to take that for granted though, because I knew there were multiple teams in Arkansas that would give us their best night every time they saw us. I just knew I had a good opportunity here with some good players and didn’t want to waste that.”
It was Crenshaw’s first state championship of his career and later that day he got his second with the Siloam Springs boys team, which defeated Russellville 2-0 in the 6A boys title match.
-Graham Thomas