Congratulations to these yearbook, newspaper and literary magazine students for these 119 awards won Thursday and Friday at the Arkansas Scholastic Press Association Convention in Little Rock.

Top awards in state:

Randy Rutherford – Administrator of the Year

Veronica Heatherly – Designer of the Year

Austin Esry – Runner up to Designer of the Year

Caitlynn Kimbrough – first runner up to Business Manager of the Year

Courtney Taylor — second runner up the Writer of the Year

Kelsey Kehrees – Photojournalist of the Year

Wil Chandler – First Runner up to Photojournalist of the Year

Monica Kuykendall – Second Runner up to Photojournalist of the Year

Courtney Taylor – third place for JEA Journalist of the Year

By Rob Patrick

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Two teams going in opposite directions met at Taylor Field on Saturday afternoon. One, the Bryant Hornets, were coming off an exhilarating victory at North Little Rock to earn the championship of the 7A-Central Conference, the first for a Bryant team since 2005. 

Confident.

The other, the Pine Bluff Zebras, were coming off a doubleheader loss to 6A-South Conference rival El Dorado that not only prevented them from going to all but the last 30 minutes of their prom but left them on the outside looking in at post-season play.

Dejected.

The result was no surprise but the Hornets got a bit of a scare in another way when senior Tyler Sawyer was shaken up briefly on a play at the plate in the game-breaking six-run sixth.

Bryant continued to roll with an 11-0 win in six innings highlighted by another impressive pitching performance from freshman Jordan Taylor who finished with the three-hit shutout, fanning eight and walking just one. 

Brennan Bullock and Justin Blankenship each had two hits for the Hornets. Blankenship's included his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the first inning.

By Rob Patrick

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Twelve runs, 10 hits and one major bruise.

The Bryant Lady Hornets took one more step toward an outright 7A-Central Conference championship with a 12-0 thumping of the Little Rock Central Lady Tigers at Interstate Park on Friday. They're one win away from wrapping up the title and the No. 1 seed from the league to the State tournament in Bentonville but they'll have to go a long way to get it. They finish the season with a doubleheader at Van Buren on Tuesday, April 28. A sweep will make them undisputed champs, a split would create a tie for the title with North Little Rock but the Lady Hornets would retain the top seed because they beat the Lady Cats in both meetings this season.

Bryant improved to 18-7 overall and 10-2 in the league with the win over the Lady Tigers who were overmatched just as they had been when they lost to the Lady Hornets, 13-0, at Bryant back on March 3.

Jessica Cudd handled the pitching duties for the Lady Hornets. Usually the JV starter, Cudd whipped up a two-hit shutout, striking out 10 without a walk.

The Bryant High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America recently attended the State Leadership Conference in Little Rock, where several students brought home awards. Award winners included, from left, Bradley Aldridge, third place in Spreadsheet Applications; Tanner Ward, fourth place in Business Ethics team; Kara Cravens, fourth place in Business Ethics team; and Nathan Hill, first place in Cyber Security. Other award winners not pictured are Jonathan Bradshaw, fourth place in Business Ethics team; and Stephanie Friemel, fifth place in FBLA Principles and Procedures. Aldridge and Hill also qualified to compete in the National Leadership Conference to be held this summer in Anaheim, Calif.

LITTLE ROCK — Led by top performances from Sammil Watson, Brett Clemons, Kody Perlson, Kyle Hampton and Kendrick Farr, a group of 40 Bryant Hornets athletes took top honors at a simulated scouting combine at D-1 Sports Training competing against a group of Benton Panthers on Saturday, April 18.

The Bryant team ranking was in the 84th percentile, according the head football coach Paul Calley. Benton's group ranking was 52.

Both squads received a donation for their efforts. Bryant, by winning, garnered a $1,000 check. Benton received $500.

The athletes competed in 10, 20 and 40 yard sprints; vertical jump; standing broad jump; L-drill; Pro-Ag Drill; and bench press reps. 

Spring football practice commences for the Hornets on Monday, May 11 and conclude Friday, May 22. 

BRYANT, Ark. — The Bryant High School Band and the Band Booster Club will hold a benefit car wash from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, in the parking lot of Penfield Real Estate at the corner of Reynolds Road and Highway 5.

The event is part of an effort to raise funds to send the BHS Marching Band, the Legacy of Bryant, to a Regional Bands of America competition in Indianapolis, Ind., this November.

“It’s the first time for any band in Arkansas to qualify for a national-level competition and it’s a great honor to be able to compete at this level,” said Band Booster president Jan Patrick. “We have to raise over $20,000 by the end of the summer and have many activities planned.”

Kim Wilson, another booster club officer, extended thanks to the businesses that made donations to the silent auction held in conjunction with the All-Campus Concert, saying, “We would like to thank them for making the auction a great success.”

The sponsors included ATA Martial Arts, Arvest Bank, Army National Guard, Bryant Martial Arts, Colton’s Steakhouse, Carson Physical Therapy, Cracker Barrel, Casa Mexicana, Cakery Affairs, Eagle Hill Golf Club, Firehouse Subs, Gabe’s Grill, Hurricane Golf Club, Landers Chrysler Dodge Jeep, Luigi’s Pizza & Pasta, McAlister’s Deli, Merle Norman, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Papa Murphy’s, Pottery Worx, Rejuvenate Salon, Regions Bank, Razorsharp Car Wash, Starbucks, Tinsletown, Tahiti Tans, TaMolly’s and Union Bank.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Caleb Thomas broke the Bryant freshman record in the long jump at a meet at North Little Rock on Thursday, April 23. The leap covered 21 feet, 6 ½ inches.

With a thin group of thinclads this spring, Junior Hornets coach Bart Reynolds praised his crew, saying, “This is one of those years we have so few kids, I am kind of letting the kids have more input in what they want to run simply because we want them to have fun.”

Thomas, he added, has consistently provided highlights.

“Caleb has placed in the top three in the 100 and 200 meter dashes in every meet,” Reynolds noted. “He does well in the triple jump too.”

He continued, “Tyler Potts and Nick Hughes have worked hard for me this year running the 800 and 1600. Omar Gulley, Jonathan Parks, Sam Stoops and Caleb have done consistently well in the 400 meter relays in each meet. Omar and Jonathan have also competed hard in the high jump.

“I have one thrower, Ross Ragsdale, who has worked day in and day out in the shot put and discus and, perhaps, in the future will be very good simply because of his strong work ethic.

“Jacob Powell is a kid who is an unlikely hurdler but he wanted to do it and has continued to get better every week.”

The Hornets head to the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference meet in Cabot on Tuesday, April 28.

CONWAY — The Bryant 4x800 relay team of Skylar Oswalt, Kaitlyn Nickels, Ashlyn Lessenberry and Stacie Emmerling combined on a time of 11:03 to win the event at the Conway Junior Relays on Tuesday, April 21.

The Lady Hornets finished sixth in a field of 16 teams with 50 points, just six points behind fifth place Lakewood and nine behind fourth place Cabot North. Conway White won the meet with 107 points.

Nickels added a second-place finish in the 800 meter run, finishing in 2:36 with Emmerling close by, finishing fifth in 2:38.Emmerling also placed third in the 1600 meter run in a time of 6:06 with Nickels fourth (6:07) and Oswalt sixth (6:12).

Third-place points were also added by Autumn Rouse in the discus with a throw of 39 feet.

Bethney Smith scored in both the hurdles events for Bryant. She was fifth in the 300 meters with a time of 55.9, and sixth in the 100 meters, clocking in at 19.01.

Smith and Emmerling also teamed uup with Jahaira Juarez and Kiana Thomas in the 4x400. The team turned in a time of 4:53 to place eighth.

CABOT — After battling for 100 minutes (regulation plus two overtimes) to a scoreless tie, the Bryant Hornets and the Cabot Panthers went to an old-fashioned shootout to decide their final regular-season contest. Cabot hit four goals to Bryant's three on penalty kicks and thus survived with a 1-0 win in a game that was a bittersweet example of the Hornets' season in 2009.

In girls action, the Lady Hornets tuned up for State with a 1-0 win over Cabot's Lady Panthers improving to 12-8 overall and 6-8 in the league. They'll be the No. 5 seed from the 7A-Central Conference, opening State on Friday, May 1, at 1 p.m. against the fourth seed from the 7A-West back at Cabot.

"I was able to rest most of my starters for more than half the game," noted Lady Hornets coach Doug Maxwell.

The lone goal was a header by Haley Montgomery off a corner from Maggie Hart.

The Hornets' contest proved to be a gut-check with one defender out of action to start the game and a starting wing lost in the first few minutes due to injury.