State sports briefs

— Crews search for ex-Mulerider

A search for a former Southern Arkansas football player was suspended Tuesday after crews spent parts of two days searching Lake Catherine in Garland County.

The Garland County sheriff’s office said James King, 19, of Malvern, who spent last season as a freshman wide receiver for the Muleriders, went missing at about 6 p.m. Monday while swimming with friends.

The sheriff’s office said King and friends were in the Diamondhead community on Lake Catherine on Monday when he attempted to swim from “one area of the lake to another.”

“They were on a sandbar and were going to swim across [to] some cliffs,” said John Fogleman, King’s football coach at Malvern High School.

Crews from the sheriff’s office, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and the Lake Hamilton Fire Department searched the lake with divers and side scan sonar, according to a sheriff’s office release.

The search was suspended Monday due to darkness and was restarted at about 7 a.m. Tuesday before being suspended again at 2 p.m.

Last year, King caught 29 passes for the Muleriders for 402 yards and 2 touchdowns. In an Oct. 22 loss at Ouachita Baptist, he caught 10 passes for 171 yards and returned 6 kickoffs for 144 yards.

But King left Southern Arkansas after spring practice with the intention of walking on at Central Arkansas, where he would have to sit out a season per NCAA transfer rules.

“He was a great kid,” Southern Arkansas Coach Bill Keopple said. “A super athlete, really good receiver. Just a good kid all around.” - Troy Schulte FOOTBALL UCA picked to finish third

Central Arkansas was picked to finish third in the Southland Conference’s coaches and sports information directors preseason polls Tuesday during the league’s media day in Lake Charles, La.

The Bears, who finished 9-4 and advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs last season, received 38 points in the coaches poll and 37 in the SID poll. They received one first-place vote in the SID poll.

Defending conference champion Sam Houston State was picked to win the Southland in both polls, receiving seven of eight first-place votes and 49 points in each poll. Stephen F. Austin was picked second in both polls and received a first-place vote in the coaches poll.

UCA opens the season at Mississippi on Sept. 1.

  • Jeremy Muck Mann takes Hall post

Travis Mann has been named interim coach at Little Rock Hall, according to Junious Babbs, interim athletic director of the Little Rock School District.

Mann coached the Warriors to an 8-32 record in 2006-2009 before leaving to serve in the Army National Guard in Germany.

Mann replaces Rod Stinson, who left earlier this month after one season to return to Pine Bluff as an assistant coach.

Babbs said Mann’s hiring will be approved Thursday by the school board. The position will then be advertised again following the season, Babbs said. Hall also has an interim principal this year, John Daniels, who preceded Mann as the school’s football coach.

Also, Marvell has named Dwight Vincent its new head coach.

  • Robert Yates CROSS COUNTRY ASU announces schedule

Arkansas State’s men’s and women’s teams announced their schedules Tuesday, highlighted by five regular-season meets.

The cross country season will begin Sept. 1 in Memphis at the Memphis Twilight run followed by a trip to Little Rock on Sept. 7 for the UALR Invitational. The Red Wolves will run a split squad Sept. 29 with its top female runners competing in the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic, while the remaining female runners and men’s squad will compete at the Rhodes College Invitational. The regular season will conclude Oct. 13 with the University of Arkansas Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville.

TRACK AND FIELD 7 Razorbacks named to all-academic team

Arkansas had seven men named to the NCAA Division I allacademic team, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Razorbacks are represented on the list by Lane Boyer, Kyle Dunn, Brede Ellingsen, Nathanael Franks, Scott Gillespie, Noah Kittelson and Duncan Phillips.

Boyer (4.000, geology) was the SEC outdoor champion at 5,000 meters and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American in June. Dunn (3.852, computer science) competed at the NCAA West Preliminary in the 400 hurdles and had a season-best time of 51.26 in the event.

Ellingsen (3.458, transportation) was the Drake Relays champion in the high jump with a season-best clearance of 7 feet, 1 3/4 inches. Franks (3.897, chemistry/physics) finished sixth at the SEC Indoor Championships in the heptathlon with a season-high score of 5,424 points. Gillespie (3.636, marketing) was part of the Razorbacks’ distance-medley relay that won an SEC indoor title.

Kittelson (3.373, biology) advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships with an indoor best of 7-3 1/4 in the high jump. Phillips (3.320, history) finished seventh at 1,500 at the NCAA Championships and was the SEC champion in the event.

Sports, Pages 21 on 07/25/2012

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