The creme de la creme, the cream of the crop, the best of the best, the tip of the top.
The 2016-2017 Pea Ridge Blackhawk boys have been piling up successes one after the other and if there were an All-Sports State Championship awarded to the 4A school with the best overall boys athletics program, the local athletes here would have all but clinched that honor for this year.
My tabulations show the 'Hawks with a very wide edge on the rest of the state's 4A schools with 91 points, 32 points ahead of second place Shiloh. Interestingly, our 4A-1 District has three of the top four schools in my listing, with Huntsville just 8 points behind Shiloh.
Every sport has a champion, of course, and some schools can field powerful teams in one sport (read Warren) but then not really have much to show for the other sports contested in the 4A classification. For any school to be competitive in everything is a testament to the unity, organization and dedication of that school.
There have been 4A finals so far this year in the sports of cross country, golf, tennis, football and basketball. The sports of bowling, indoor track and wrestling do not compete in just a 4A classification so I didn't figure those in my overall compilations. Baseball, soccer and track are yet to be completed. While baseball has not been completed, I used the latest MaxPrep poll to figure in those points. So, because the season is not yet final, the baseball points in the listing will vary with the up and down fortunes of baseball teams.
To get the results that I came up with, I decided to score the top 20 in each sport. Twenty points were awarded to each champion, 19 points to each second place, and so on down to 20th place and its one point. In sports like football and basketball, MaxPreps polls were used to fill in the spots for teams not making the state final. Sports like cross country and golf, all the state competitors were ranked by their finish.
Getting back to why Pea Ridge has become such a strong school athletically, it really relates to the culture of the school and how it has evolved over the past few years.
When I first moved to the Pea Ridge area, the school was a lot smaller and the athletes who represented each sport were generally the same kids. I did a survey in the late '90s and about 12 percent of the students were involved in athletics. That number has exploded since that time, and although I don't have any hard figures to deal with, I feel pretty sure that most students enrolled at Pea Ridge are involved in some kind of athletic endeavor.
I did a student survey back then asking students why they chose to compete in athletics and the answers were: 1) it gives me something to do; 2) it's fun; 3) my friends are doing it; and 4) it will get me into shape. Why none of those answers are wrong, per se, they are not the best of reasons.
Students should be involved in athletics, not because it gives them something to do, but because it gives them something to be. It gives them a chance to be a part of something bigger than themselves, a chance to work with others for common goals, which ultimately gives them a greater chance to be successful as an adult.
It is no coincidence that as the percentage of student involvement in the athletic program has risen, so has academic achievement. That has been a national phenomena for the past several decades. The truth is, raising student morale and increasing the connections they have with other improves the culture which permeates every thing they do as a group. A rising tide lifts all boats.
In the early history of the school, the 'Hawks were just a basketball/track school. Football came along in the 1960s and since those early times, the boys have now come to compete in cross country, indoor track, baseball, golf, cheer and most recently, cycling. The girls originally had a lot less participants in sports but that number has risen dramatically with the addition of the new sports of volleyball and cycling with the numbers up in track, cross country, basketball, cheer and softball.
What the boy and girl athletes have accomplished this year is amazing, especially compared to the level of play just a few short years ago.
There's an old time honored saying that "Success happens when opportunity meets preparation." I think that perhaps preparation attracts opportunity to come knocking on the door in the first place. Prepare to succeed and you will get the chance.
Pea Ridge has been preparing and they have been succeeding.
Arkansas 4A all-sports leaders
1. Pea Ridge Blackhawks 91
2. Shiloh Saints 59
3. Baptist Prep Eagles 58
4. Huntsville Eagles 51
5. Monticello Billies 50
6. Pottsville Apaches 49
7. Robinson Senators 47
8. Heber Springs
Panthers 37
9. Warren Lumberjacks 34
10. Dardanelle Sand
Lizards 33
11. Prairie Grove Tigers 32
12. Cave City Cavemen 30
13. Dover Pirates 30
14. Mena Bearcats 28
15. Batesville
Southerners 28
16. Ashdown Panthers 28
17. Hamburg Lions 28
18. CAC Mustangs 26
19. Berryville Bobcats 17
20. Pocahontas Redskins 17
Cardinal player sets record?
A newly re-signed St. Louis Cardinal baseball player may have set a major league record in a category that likely doesn't exist.
Stephen Piscotty, a rising star in the Cardinal organization, signed a six-year $33.5 million dollar contract on the day before the Cards' first home game. His spot in the history of sports annals came in the fifth inning of a game against rival Chicago.
The newly flush player was hit on the right elbow by an errant throw by the Cubs pitcher and went to first. When the next batter swung and missed at a third strike that bounced into the dirt, Piscotty took off for second. While sliding in, the catcher beaned Piscotty on his other elbow. To cap it all off, Piscotty broke for home from third when the ball was put into play just short of the dirt between first and second bases. When the second baseman saw Piscotty trying to score, he threw a bullet to the catcher who failed to catch it. The ball zipped past the catcher and right into Piscotty's noggin, with the Cardinal player winding up facedown in the dirt.
I doubt we will ever see a baseball player beaned three times in one trip around the bases again.
Aside from the variety of bruises, Piscotty was OK and played a couple of days later.
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Editor's note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 04/12/2017