BENTONVILLE — As is the case for the first day of the Class 7A State baseball tournament, today's games to open the Class 7A State softball tournament have all been moved to one location due to inclement weather. All first-round games were set to be played at the Tiger Athletic Complex in Bentonville instead of half there and half at Memorial Park.

Play was scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with Springdale Har-Ber, the fourth seed from the West, playing against Van Buren, the fifth seed from the Central. Following games were set for 5:45, 7:30 and 9:15 p.m.

As of now, the schedule on Saturday remains the same through there is an 80 percent chance of rain in Bentonville. Bryant, the top seed from the Central, is set to open against the winner of the Har-Ber vs. Van Buren contest at noon at Memorial Park.

Here are the updated brackets:

By Kirk Stewart

Pop Warner once said, “You play the way you practice.” Kayla Johnson evidently practices like a state champion.

Kayla has been participating in gymnastics since she was six years old. Last year was her first year to compete in the State. She not only participated, but placed in the top 10 in all the events. This year she entered the Gymnastic State Meet in Pine Bluff on March 27. She placed first on the Balance Beam, second on the Uneven Bars, third on Vault, and fourth on Floor.

After tallying all of the high scores she received in all four events, Kayla, at age 10, placed first in the “All Around” in Level 5 which is stiff competition with other 10 year olds.

Kayla is a student of Davis Elementary in Donna Peters’ fifth grade class and a gymnast at River City Gymnastics.

Kayla and her family are transplants from Hot Springs and have been part of the Bryant community and Davis Elementary for the past 3 years.

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Bryant Lady Hornets locked down the No. 5 seed from the 7A-Central Conference to the Class 7A State Tournament in Cabot with a 1-0 win over the North Little Rock Lady Cats on Thursday.

It was the Lady Hornets' fifth consecutive shutout and eighth of the year as they improved to 11-6 overall and 5-6 in league play going into the final week of the regular season.

Bryant visits Little Rock Central, one of three teams vying for the conference championship (along with Conway and Mount St. Mary's), on Monday, April 20, then host the Lady Tigers on Senior Night on Tuesday before finishing up at Cabot on Thursday, April 23.

Katie Moore accounted for the long goal of the evening, scoring off the ricochet from a shot by teammate Amber Moskow midway through the second half.

Last year, Deborah Shaw of Bryant was the level 5 state champion on beam. Thisyear, as an eight year old, she has won the overall level 6 competition after coming back from a break in her thumb when her brother accidentally fell on it.

The break required surgery and one pin with six weeks in a cast plus two more weeks of recovery before she could return to a full workout schedule.However, in order to compete at the state meet, a certain all-around score must be achieved to qualify.

Deborah had only competed in two meets before she broke her thumb. Fortunately, she had achieved a score high enough to qualify in her first meet. However, the recovery from her surgery left only about two weeks before the state meet.

Out of all the 8 year olds competing in gymnastics in Arkansas, Deborah achieved the highest level placement of all of them, Level 6. So most of her work was done before the State Meet simply by achieving that placement. By the time she got to the State Meet, she had already beaten all of the other 8 year olds in thestate.

Deborah's goal at the state meet was to achieve her highest all-around score of the year. Not only did she achieve that goal, but she scored the third highest all-around score of her whole level 6 team. The only two girls to outscore her on the team were two 12-year-olds.

Deborah won the 8 year old level 6 competition by taking first in all events and the all-around. Her level 6 team took third place. They missed second place by a tenth of a point.

—Stephanie Shaw

By Rob Patrick

When asked what they thought it was going to be like to run out onto the floor at the Class 7A State Tournament at the Stubblefield Center at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith this Wednesday afternoon, the reaction was the same.

Both Taylor Hughes and Anna Simpson grinned.

You see, it’s been a long time coming for the duo, the only seniors on the Lady Hornets team this year. It’s something they’ve never done before.

“It’s going to be kind of cool,” Hughes said.

“I think it’s going to be a little scary,” Simpson replied. “It’s going to be so exciting. We have no idea. The last time I even went to a State game, I was like in eighth grade and my sister (Sydney) was a sophomore. I don’t know, just the whole atmosphere’s going to be — it’s going to be great just to know that you’re in there with the best. You’re not one of the teams stuck at home. You made it.”

And, indeed, this year they have made it.

The Lady Hornets, 19-6, will play the Springdale Har-Ber Lady Wildcats in Fort Smith at 4 p.m., on Wedesday, March 4. They are not only the No. 3 seed from the 7A-Central Conference, but they were in contention for a league championship all year and, actually finished in a tie for second.

All that after the team didn’t win a single conference game a season ago and, two years ago, when Hughes and Simpson were sophomores, winning just three league contest.

All of which makes this trip even sweeter.

LITTLE ROCK — Jordan Combs knocked eight seconds off of his best 500-yard freestyle time to swim a new personal record in that event. His 5:47.84 was good for 13th place as the Bryant High School swim team finished up the 2009 season at the Arkansas State High School championship meet at UALR on Saturday, Feb. 28.

According to Bryant coach Angel Dale, the girls 200 and 400 yard freestyle relay teams also trimmed time from their best as they earned points at the meet.

“All of our swimmers did a great job this weekend,” Dale related.