FOOTBALL
Henderson State picked to win GAC
Apparently Great American Conference coaches think Henderson State’s reign atop the league standings will last at least another year.
Henderson State earned 10 of 11 first-place votes and 100 points in the GAC preseason coaches poll that was released Thursday, making it an overwhelming favorite to win its third consecutive league title. The Reddies enter this season having won 21 consecutive conference games dating to Sept. 17, 2011, and have finished the the past two seasons undefeated in the regular season.
The Reddies are ranked No. 9 in USA Today’s NCAA Division II preseason poll and return record-setting quarterback Kevin Rodgers, who averaged 400.6 yards passing and threw for 40 touchdowns last season.
Harding was picked second with 89 points and earned the other first-place vote. The Bison finished 9-2 overall, 8-2 in the GAC last season.
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.
GAC PRESEASON POLL
Henderson State (10);100
Harding (1);89
Ouachita Baptist;84
East Central (Okla.)
Southern Arkansas
SW Oklahoma State
Arkansas Tech
SE Oklahoma State
Arkansas-Monticello
NW Oklahoma State
Southern Nazarene
BASKETBALL
Thurman to be basketball analyst
Scotty Thurman is adding to his duties for the Arkansas basketball program.
Thurman, a former All-SEC forward on the Razorbacks’ 1994 NCAA championship and 1995 national runner-up teams, will become an analyst for the radio broadcast of Arkansas’ games this season while continuing in his role as director of student-athlete development for the team, Athletic Director Jeff Long announced Thursday.
Thurman, who has been a full-time member of the basketball staff for four years, is replacing Rick Schaeffer as analyst on the basketball broadcasts and will work with play-by-play announcer Chuck Barrett.
Schaeffer will continue to work on Arkansas’ football and baseball broadcasts, according to a UA new release.
Sun Belt releases conference schedule
The Arkansas State men’s and women’s basketball teams will host UALR on Jan. 29 and UALR’s teams will host ASU on Feb. 19, according to league schedules released Thursday by the Sun Belt Conference.
The league voted in June to remain at 20 conference games, with each team hosting league opponents and playing at each conference team. But, in a change from years past, all league games will be men’s and women’s doubleheaders.
UALR will open conference play Dec. 30 when it hosts Louisiana-Lafayette and will play home conference games against South Alabama (Jan. 5), Appalachian State (Jan. 10), Troy (Jan. 22), Texas-Arlington (Jan. 24), Louisiana-Monroe (Feb. 5), Texas State (Feb. 7), Georgia Southern (Feb. 14) and Georgia State (Feb. 26).
ASU’s first Sun Belt home game will be Jan. 3 against Appalachian State, and it also will host Georgia Southern (Jan. 8), Texas State (Jan. 17), Georgia State (Jan. 19), Troy (Feb. 5), Louisiana-Monroe (Feb. 21), Texas-Arlington (Feb. 26), South Alabama (March 5) and Louisiana-Lafayette (March 7).
SOCCER
NLR to host 2015 Region III Championships
Burns Park Soccer Complex in North Little Rock will host the U.S. Youth Soccer Region III (South) Championships next June, US Youth Soccer announced in a release Thursday.
The regional tournament is part of the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship Series, the country’s oldest and most prestigious national youth soccer tournament.
More than 200 boys and girls teams, ages under-13 through under-19, from the 12 Southern U.S. Youth Soccer State Associations (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Texas and Tennessee) will participate. An estimated 12,000 spectators are expected to visit central Arkansas for the tournament.
Motor sports
USMTS heads to Batesville
After 50 nights of racing, the United States Modified Touring Series will start its “postseason” toward determining one of the nation’s most prestigious championships tonight at Batesville Motor Speedway.
The Hunt for USMTS Casey’s National Championship kicks off at Batesville and will conclude at Sept. 18 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., after more than 20 additional races.
The opening ceremony will be June 18. Round robin play is scheduled for June 19-21. Quarterfinals will run from June 22-23 with the finals set for June 24-25.
Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., leads the points lead entering the postseason after collecting 11 victories. He is followed by Daniel Hisabeck of Adel, Iowa, Johnny Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., and Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas. Sanders has collected six consecutive USMTS victories, including last week’s World Modified Dirt Track Championship at Deer Creek.
Tonight’s event at Batesville pays $3,000 to win. Gates open at 6 p.m. and racing starts at 8 p.m. Adult grandstand admission is $15. Kids 14 and under get in free.
GOLF
UALR women on academic list
The UALR women’s golf team was honored by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association after having the seventh-best grade-point average in the NCAA for the 2013-2014 academic year. The Trojans led the Sun Belt Conference with a 3.74 GPA.
Texas-El Paso won the WGCA’s All-Scholar team GPA award with a 3.84. Arkansas was 18th with a 3.66.