Most folks work through a season hoping for a shot to qualify for a spot in their sport's state championship round, but the Blackhawk's Mikhaela Cochran got that part out of the way quickly this year as she has already earned a berth in the 2014 4A State Track and Field Championships to be held in Nashville May 8.
A junior, Cochran surpassed the 96-0 automatic qualifying standard in the discus event with a 100-0 throw early in the season and has also recorded a 5-0 effort in the high jump, just meeting the standard in that event. While meet results vary from year to year, sometimes widely, Cochran's best efforts this season in these two events would have placed her in the top three in the state finals of a year ago.
A multi-talented athlete, Cochran also competes in the jumps, hurdles, sprints and relay races and has been one of the key athletes on the Lady Blackhawks basketball, volleyball and cross country teams this year.
North region down south this year, as least for softball
The 4A North Softball Region will be down south this year as Mena High School will be the host.
The North Region consists of the 4A-4 and the 4A-1 Districts, with Mena a member of the 4A-4. The softball region will run May 9-12, barring rain or weather delays.
Meanwhile, the boys' baseball North Region will be up north, on the Lincoln High School campus west of Fayetteville. The Wolves will host the region over the same dates as the softball regional, May 9-12.
The state finals will be two weeks later.
Major league baseball off to same old same old
The more things change.... Although it's a new season in Major League Baseball, it looks a lot like last year and other years.
Through Monday, the Cardinals of St. Louis have had a long streak of -- one, whether winning or losing. They were 4-3, winning and losing every other game. That's OK, until they get hot and get back on top.
Meanwhile, out in L.A., the Angels $25 million a year for 10 years player they got in Albert Pujols is still not paying off as he is hitting .200 after six games. The Angels paid almost as much to get Josh Hamilton from Texas to come to L.A. but he has been ripping the ball this spring at a .500 clip so maybe that might pay off.
Pujols left St. Louis averaging .338, 40 home runs and 120 RBIs a year his numbers now are far below that. Another year or two at the current pace and early retirement will be in the offing.
The Cubbies of Chicago started the year with more frustration. The first two games were well fought, then lost in extra innings. When last I checked, they were back in the cellar.
At any rate, the Pirates look like they will be the team to beat for the Division, like last year, and perhaps the Dodgers for the League again, like last year. I don't think we will see Boston back in the World Series this year though. And, hopefully, not -- not the YANKEES.
Anyone wanna see the Naturals?
The Pea Ridge Intermediate School students are hoping area residents will buy tickets for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals baseball game on May 10 at the Arvest Baseball Park in Springdale.
The Naturals play in the in the Northern Division of the Texas League with Springfield, Arkansas (Little Rock), and Tulsa. The Naturals are owned by the Kansas City Royals with players on the local diamond hoping to advance to eventually play with their American League overseers.
Tickets for the game are on sale at Pea Ridge Intermediate School for $8 each ages 4 and up. Portions of the sale of the tickets will go to purchase equipment for the Intermediate School music program. Any student attending the Intermediate School can assist those interested in purchasing tickets or they can be obtained by visiting the school office.
The game will be against the Springfield Cardinals, the farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals. The game will start at 7 p.m. May 10 and drawings will be held to awards prizes and tours to fans who attend the game.
SEC teams shut out of national basketball title
I was hoping to see the SEC claim both spots in the NCAA championship game before Florida lost in the semi-finals. Then, I thought, the one remaining could pull off the overall win but alas, it was not to be as a few minutes ago as I was finishing my column, Connecticut bested Kentucky to take the crown.
Actually, Kentucky out-rebounded Connecticut and I think they out-shot them from the field but as is often the case in basketball, they were done in by free throws. Connecticut was 10 for 10 while the 'Cats were something like 11 for 23, I think.
I was kinda hoping Kentucky would win since the Hogs owned them this season, becoming the first team to beat the Wildcats twice in one season. I don't particularly like Kentucky, especially since they have adopted the strategy of getting all-freshmen teams of future NBA millionaires who play one season before leaving, actually not even spending 10 months in the Bluegrass state before bidding it adieu. It would have been nice if the Hogs could have claimed a pair of wins over the national champ. I guess we can claim a pair of wins over the national runner-up instead.
Over in the NIT, Minnesota met SMU for the championship of that tournament and, wouldn't you know it, Arkansas owns victories over both those teams this past season. Why didn't we go anywhere?
Back to Kentucky. The team that Kentucky had in 2012, that won it all, was gone in 2013. Those new freshmen in '13 turned out to be duds, not even making the NCAA tournament. They did make the first round of the NIT but lost. This year ended up much better but next year will be a whole new crew. I'd like to see a repeat of 2013 for 2015.
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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Editorial on 04/09/2014