COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Former Hog co-captain Roth dies
Jim Roth, a co-captain on Arkansas’ 1954 Southwest Conference championship team known as the “25 Little Pigs,” died Thursday at Hillcrest Nursing Home in Harrison. He was 81.
Roth, a Stuttgart native, played tackle and was a three-year starter for Arkansas from 1952-1954. As a senior, he helped the Razorbacks to an 8-3 record, a No. 10 ranking in The Associated Press poll and a Cotton Bowl berth against Georgia Tech after Arkansas had gone 3-7 in 1953.
Roth also played on Stuttgart High School’s 1949 state championship team.
After graduating from Arkansas, Roth worked in management for JC Penny Company in Little Rock, Newport News, Va., and Pine Bluff and then was co-owner of a clothing store in Harrison.
Visitation for Roth will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at First Christian Church in Harrison. A celebration of life service will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the church.
ASU to unveil facilities plans
Arkansas State will unveil during a 2 p.m. news conference Tuesday the program’s largest individual gift as well as plans for further improvements at Centennial Bank Stadium.
The news conference will be open to the public and will be held on the stadium’s west side concourse. The gift is being made by long-time supporter Johnny Allison, a 1969 ASU graduate who lives in Conway, and will be used for its “Centennial Expansion” to improve the west side of the stadium, which Athletic Director Terry Mohajir has said will include a new press box and suites.
ASU broke ground in the spring on an indoor practice facility to the north of Centennial Bank Stadium and has plans for a football operations center, projects that will cost an estimated $28 million.
FISHING
Hackney takes lead in Bass event
Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La., jumped from fourth to first place in the Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake in Union Springs, N.Y.
Hackney, a native of Star City, weighed in five fish on the second day for 23 pounds, 1 ounce for a two-day total of 43-6 and leads Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, by 3-2.
Kevin Short of Mayflower is third at 39-4. Short caught 19-14. Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., is fifth with 39-1. Jacob Powroznik of Port Haywood, Va., is sixth with 38-14.
Mount Ida’s Mark Davis dropped from a tie for second to eighth with a two-day total of 37-1. After weighing in 20-7 on Thursday, Davis weighed in 16-10 Friday. Mike McClelland of Bella Vista is 15th at 33-10 after weighing in 15-14 Friday.
SOCCER
ASU defeats Murray State
Samhia Simao scored two goals and Loren Mitchell added another as Arkansas State opened the 2014 season Friday with a 3-2 victory over Murray State at Cutchin Field in Murray, Ky.
The Red Wolves’ goals came in the first 57 minutes of the game with Simao opening the scoring on a penalty kick in the 25th minutes.
Murray State rallied with two goals by Julie Mooney in the 67th and 88th minute.
Sara Wicks made eight saves for the Red Wolves. Savanna Haberman made four saves for Murray State.
Arkansas State hosts Tulsa on Sunday.
TENNIS
UCA hires Wharton
Casey Wharton was hired as the women’s coach at the University of Central Arkansas on Friday, taking over for Jeff Borengasser, who resigned earlier this summer.
Wharton comes to UCA from Longwood University in Farmville, Va., where he was the coach last year. Previously, he was an assistant at Longwood and at Mary Hardin-Baylor in Texas, where he played college tennis.
GOLF
UALR adds four
UALR Coach Jake Harrington has announced the addition of four men’s players for the 2014-2015 season.
Joining UALR are Brady Edwards, Beau Hanson, Matthews Samen-Curtis and Limus Jason Yip.
Edwards comes from Glendale (Ariz.) Community College, where he had a scoring average of 73.8 and never finished outside the top 20 in his tournaments. He was runner-up at the 2014 Regional Championships.
Hanson transferred from Odessa (Texas) Junior College, where he had a 74.22 scoring average and earned All-Western Junior College Athletic Conference and honorable mention All-America honors.
Samen-Curtis, born and raised in Germany, spent the past five years in Queensland, Australia, where he was the 2013 Queensland Boys Amateur Champion.
Yip played for Barker College in Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia. He went undefeated in 2014 and was the NSW CIS Cup Champion in 2012.