by Rob on Sep 7, 2009 at 12:03 AM Little did we know . . . When the 1999 football season began, the Bryant Hornets program was coming off its 13th consecutive season without a winning record. But there had been some excitement in 1998 despite a 3-7 overall record and a 1-6 mark in the AAAA-South Conference. Young head coach Daryl Patton had been promoted to the high school job after a successful run as the Bryant Mustangs Junior High head coach that was capped by a 8-1 season in 1997. Patton brought a wide-open offense with him and the athletes that had put together that fine Mustangs season. They were inconsistent as many teams are when the talent is inexperienced and the system is new. A 49-28 win over Little Rock Cathlic and a 37-21 win over Malvern (when Malvern was producing great running backs), had been offset by games in which the Hornets scored just 3 points against Sheridan and got shutout two weeks in a row against Pine Bluff and El Dorado. In 1999, the athletes from the 8-1 Mustangs team became juniors. They combined with a senior group that had gone 5-3-1 for Patton in junior high plus an influx of talented sophomores that had produced a 7-3 record for new Mustangs coach Scott Neathery. Those groups of players jelled. Patton and the other high school coaches did too and it all coalesced into the greatest season of Bryant football to this day. The Hornets went 11-0 before losing in the second round of the Class AAAA playoffs. Since then, football hasn’t been the same as it was before. In fact, no Hornets team has posted a losing record since. As a tribute on the 10th anniversary of that landmark season, I’m running the game stories from the now defunct Bryant Times describing each of those 1999 contests. I post them every Monday throughout the season. If you were around then, I hope these accounts bring back some great memories. If you weren’t, I hope they give you an appreciation for what that season was like. — Rob Hornets knock off 9th-ranked Cats By ROB PATRICK BRYANT TIMES CONWAY (Sept. 3, 1999) — The significance of the Bryant Hornets’ impressive 30-15 victory over the 9th-ranked Conway Wampus Cats Friday, is yet to be determined. It all depends on what happens from here on. That’s not to say the win, as sweet as any the Hornets have earned in awhile, is insignificant by itself. It was a doozy.
by Rob on May 6, 2009 at 11:10 AM CABOT — In a strong, deep conference for track, the Bryant Hornets stood fourth after the first day of competition at the 7A-Central track and field championship meet on Tuesday, May 5.With 49 points, Conway appeared poised to run away with the team title. Cabot was second with 34 points and Russellville third with 21. The Hornets finished the day with 16 points and were working to turn in their best times and get as many qualified for the Class 7A State meet as possible.To that end, the Hornets’ 4x800 meter relay team of Colton Klaus, Tyler Freshour, Brandon Mueller and Michael Smith turned in a season-best time of 8:37 to place fourth. Also scoring for the Hornets were Troy Smith in the high jump (4th in 5' 8"); Tanner Tolbert in the triple jump (5th in 41' 11"); and Jordan Murdock in the shot put (7th in 40' 9").
by Rob on May 5, 2009 at 11:55 PM By Rob Patrick BENTONVILLE — Lisa Stanfield lobbied hard to get the game played.  With rain falling for the sixth consecutive day in northwest Arkansas, officials at the Class 7A State softball tournament at Bentonville High School, having finally reached the semifinals, were considering postponing the last two games of the day on Tuesday. The quarterfinals had just been completed and the final four teams were all from the 7A-Central Conference, including Stanfield's Bryant Lady Hornets, who won the regular-season championship in that league, earning the top seed to the tourney. In a tournament that featured a 30-1 Fayetteville team as the odds-on favorite, suddenly it was Bryant in the cat-bird seat. And having the top seed proved to be more of an advantage than usual when it was decided that the game would be played between the Lady Hornets and the rival Conway Lady Wampus Cats. Earlier in the day, the Lady Cats had dodged the raindrops well enough to eliminate the host Lady Tigers of Bentonville 4-1. With Conway and Bryant in one semifinal, and Cabot, which upset Fayetteville in a game suspended on Monday night and completed Tuesday morning, along with defending State champion North Little Rock in the other, there was the thought that the games could be postponed and to avoid forcing the four teams to travel so far again or stay another night, they could play at a neutral location in central Arkansas to determine which two teams would return to play the State title game in Fayetteville on Saturday. Having already played, Conway was lobbying for that decision and the chance to take on Bryant afresh on another day at another place. "For one thing, we've been playing in this mess all week and there was no reason not to keep playing," Stanfield related. "I would've been fighting the same fight that Conway was fighting if I was in their position. They had to do what they had to do and I've got to do what I've got to do and push to play. It was tense. I think it was the right thing to do. And I think, tonight, we were the better team anyway. "Being able to see live pitching (on Monday in a 12-2 win over Springdale Har-Ber) and then come out rested, and having had time to review my notes on Conway, it was really nice to come in fresh," she added. "We really didn't feel the rain coming in fresh like that." Yes, the game was played and, behind the five-hit shutout tossed by senior Christen Kirchner and a 14-hit attack on offense led by Jessie Taylor and Kayla Sory, the Lady Hornets earned a spot in the Class 7A State championship game this Saturday at noon with an 8-0 win over Conway.
by Rob on Apr 24, 2009 at 12:37 PM 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.
by Rob on Apr 17, 2009 at 10:23 AM CABOT, Ark. — At the Cabot Panther Relays Thursday night, the Bryant Lady Hornets andthe Conway Lady Cats continued their duel for supremacy in the 7ACentral Conference. With three events remaining in the meet, Bryantheld a slim two-point lead. Conway then proceeded to score 34 points inthose final three events to secure the meet championship with 109points. The Lady Hornets took runner-up for the second straight meetwith 89 points. North Little Rock was third with 67 points. There were18 total teams in the meet.
by Rob on Apr 17, 2009 at 9:19 AM  By Rob Patrick CONWAY, Ark. — In 20 games this season, Bryant Hornets pitchers had surrendered just five home runs but three of them were hit by the Conway Wampus Cats. Those came in the wild contest between the two rivals on March 17 in which Conway scored five times in the top of the eighth to take a 9-4 lead and Bryant scored six in the bottom of the inning to win, 10-9. In fact, the Hornets hadn't given up the long ball since then going into Thursday's return engagement at The Field at Conway High School. The Wampus Cats broke that streak with a pair of long balls. And this time, right-hander B.J. Lowe, aided by some improved defense, made them stand up for a 4-1 win. The Hornets came into the game in first place in the 7A-Central Conference. With North Little Rock's 10-0 victory over Little Rock Catholic, the Charging Wildcats, 7-3, pull even with the Hornets (8-4) but lead on the loss side. Conway improved to 7-4 followed by Catholic (6-5), Van Buren (5-5 after a 7-0 win over Russellville), LR Central (6-6), Cabot (4-6) and Russellville (1-11). Bryant plays Cabot and North Little Rock in its final two conference games next week as they vie for one of the top two spots in the league and the first-round bye that goes with them at the Class 7A State Tournament. Despite Thursday's loss, they officially clinched a bid to the State Tournament thanks to Cabot's 3-2 win over Little Rock Central.
by Rob on Apr 16, 2009 at 11:25 PM  By Rob Patrick CONWAY, Ark. — The Bryant Lady Hornets took a huge step towards winning a 7A-Central Conference championship by avenging their lone loss in league play on Thursday night. It wasn't easy or free of controversy or intensity or, as it turned out, some thrills as they blew open a hotly-contested extra-inning battle with six runs in the top of the ninth inning. The 10-4 win improved the Lady Hornets to 8-1 in league play, 16-6 overall. Conway dropped to 14-7 and 7-3. North Little Rock is 8-2 in the conference, Cabot 8-3. The Lady Hornets travel to North Little Rock on Thursday for another first-place showdown, after hosting Cabot on Tuesday. They still have a game against Central to play and two to be made up with Van Buren which came into the night with just three losses too. "Very intense," Bryant head coach Lisa Stanfield said of Thursday's contest. "That's the kind I like. It makes you want to play another game." The Lady Hornets trailed 4-3 going into what would've been their final at bat in the top of the seventh. Peyton Jenkins came through with a two-out RBI single to center to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
by Rob on Apr 16, 2009 at 11:24 PM  CONWAY, Ark. — Going into the night against the Conway junior varsity, the Bryant Lady Hornets JV sported a perfect 11-0 record. But this was the first time the Lady Hornets would see the Lady Wompus Cat JV team, since there was no JV game the last time the two varsity teams played.
The Lady Hornets would not be deterred this game either. Jesseca Cudd pitched a perfect game striking out 14 out of the 15 batters she faced. The only ball put into play was a soft liner to the Hornet third baseman, Peyton Jenkins. The only run that was needed came when Kelsie Works lined a hit to short center field and was driven in by Cudd. Ashley Chaloner then bunted Cudd home for the final run of that inning. The Lady Hornets finished the game winning 4-0 and to run their mark to 12-0. They are set to square off at the Benton Panther JV tournament this weekend if the rain stays away.
by Rob on Apr 13, 2009 at 12:21 PM CONWAY — The Bryant Hornets went in to the rain-delayed Conway Wampus Cat Relays short handed Friday, but came out with several personal record performances. With the Bryant School District not having classes on Good Friday, several of the Hornets were not able to participate because of previous commitments. The meet was originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed because of thunderstorms. The Hornets scored 23 points in the meet despite missing leading scorer Tanner Tolbert and not fielding either a 3200 or 400 meter relay team.Drew Persinger led the way for the Hornets with a personal record 13-foot clearance in the pole vault, good enough for third place.
by Rob on Apr 11, 2009 at 9:51 PM CONWAY, Ark. — In the two previous track meets of the 2009 season, the Bryant LadyHornets and the Conway Lady Cats have battled to a one-two finish withBryant being victorious in both. On Friday night at the Conway WampusCat Relays, the Lady Cats reversed the finish order, defending their hometurf with a strong performance. Conway took their home meetchampionship scoring 155 points with Bryant finishing runner-up with 136points. Russellville finished a distant third with 75 points. “My hat is off to Conway," said Lady Hornets coach Danny Westbrook. "They came out and competed and performedextremely well tonight. I think we must have made them mad afterwinning those two previous meets. "We were healthy and have no excuses," he added. "We just seemed to be a little flat and, as a whole, lacked thecompetitiveness that we’ve had before. I hope we can get that fixedbecause one of our goals for this season is to win our conferencechampionship and Conway definitely stands in the way of accomplishingthat goal.” Jordan Chadwick was the leading scorer for the Lady Hornets with 26points. Morgan Seelinger added 18 points.
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