Senior Sara Kahle and junior Mikhaela Cochran were named to the 2013 All-Northwest Arkansas volleyball team. The All-NWA team is composed of players from all schools in the 5A, 4A and 3A classifications.
The pair led the Lady 'Hawks to their most productive season since the sport was adopted by Pea Ridge schools a few years ago. A conference title, a near regional title and a first round victory in the state tournament highlighted the season before losing to eventual and perennial state champion Valley View.
The two, along with senior Jerika Schooley, were named to the Arkansas 4A All-State Volleyball team earlier. That trio was in the program with volleyball when it was first begun and the ladies earned the distinction of having the first triple all-state designees for any sport in the Blackhawks' known history in the same season.
Cochran was recently voted the team's most valuable player for the season past with Kahle receiving accolades and the award for being the best player on defense for the Blackhawks. Since the season's end, Cochran has been busy playing for the Pea Ridge basketball team while Kahle is still playing volleyball on the club level.
Cochran led the team in digs (77) and blocks (40) with Kahle setting the standard in kills (141). My personal observation of games played proved that opposing squads made it a point to direct action away from those two all-stars.
I had the honor of getting to coach both Cochran and Kahle back when they were elementary athletes, though not in volleyball.
Kahle was a very good power forward for my fourth-grade Little 'Hawk basketball girls who finished 18-2 that season. Cochran ran elementary track for several years, developing skills and most importantly, the stamina and endurance that has helped establish her as one of the best multi-sport athletes in northwest Arkansas.
The pair have been fine individuals and excellent students away from the playing fields and have provided excellent leadership capabilities for Pea Ridge's emerging girls athletic program. Thoughtful people, students and athletes, I am not by no means surprised by their successes.
I hope Kahle can continue playing on into college as I believe she can take her play to the next level.
Cochran had the distinction of being the only junior cited for inclusion for the All NWA team, so we can expect even greater things for her next year.
Bowls and tournaments
I can understand the plethora of collegiate bowl games that are played every year, as there are so many now that reading the list, there were some that I never even heard of.
The Little Caesars Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl, the Belk Bowl, the Advocare V100 Bowl and the Heart of Dallas Bowl are all venues that I admit to never running across before. There are some bowls that are already over that I hadn't been aware of until the posting of the final score.
I can understand the proliferation of the bowls because bowls mean money, even the insignificant meaningless ones. Cable TV has an insatiable appetite for programming and what's cheaper to broadcast and take up more time than a football game. With all the sports junkies in our fair land, adding more and more bowls is a no-brainer.
On the high school level, during this time of year has seen a rising deluge of basketball tournaments. While I can see the value of getting some games in while the students are out of school for the holidays, I don't think any of the venues are particularly strong money makers.
In my day, the holiday basketball tournaments were called just that, holiday tournaments. They differed in name by where they were played. The Neosho Tournament, the SMS Tournament and the Benton County Tournament were all competitions named for where they were.
In a recent Democrat-Gazette edition, I read results from the Bill Frye Invitational, the Lendel Thomas Classic, Goldfish Classic, Spa City Shootout and the Coke Classic. You have to read the fine print to know where they were playing. I can understand promoting a product, city or perhaps honoring some person but there is one competition title I don't get.
Recently, Fayetteville's boys and girls were playing in the finals of a holiday tournament in Mountain Home -- the Arkansas Bail Bonds Tournament.
I could understand a bail bonds tournament if NBA players were in the competition since so many of them have use of a bail bondsman on many occasions. However, I have a hard time seeing the advertising potential of a bail bondsmen pitching to high school athletes and their fans. On the other hand, all the competitors were from the large school classifications so maybe it might be a good investment after all.
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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 01/08/2014