Ten Guard-circulation area track and field athletes earned invitations to compete in the Meet of Champions at Lake Hamilton High School in Pearcy on Wednesday.
Twelve athletes are invited for each event of the Meet of Champs. The seven classification state champs (1A through 7A) are automatically invited.
Athletes with the next-best five performances in state meets are invited to fill out the field. Athletes are not required to participate.

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Bad Boy Promotions has added another fight to the June 13 card, promoter Brandon Foster announced.
Orlando Utsey of Atlanta, Ga., by way of Little Rock, is scheduled to get in the ring for his first professional bout.
Utsey is a 3-time Golden Gloves champion. As of press time, his opponent had not been confirmed.
The card now has a total of eight bouts. Kendrick “The Apostle” Releford is the featured boxer for the main event. Local fighters are also on the card labeled “Night of Future Champs.”

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LOCUST GROVE — The rain stayed at bay and they got in a night of racing on Friday at the Batesville Motor Speedway.
It was the first time in three weeks the thunder in the grove came from the roar of engines instead of the skies. When the dust settled, Andy Carpenter, Kevin Grizzle, Tyson Franks, Nathan Harris, Skip Lane and Jason Wilkey were carrying home the hardware for their feature wins.

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In other state meets, Saturday, Trinity Christian swept the 1A team titles, Mansfield’s girls and Prescott’s boys won the 3A crowns, Texarkana’s girls and Lake Hamilton’s boys won the 6A championships and Bentonville’s girls and Fort Smith Southside’s boys won the 7A titles.

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PARAGOULD — The Batesville Lady Pioneers did so much more here Saturday while winning still another  Class 5A State Track and Field Championship.
Along with their fifth straight state title, they also:
• Defended the four state championships they won in events last year;
• added on three more state championships;
• set a Class 5A state record;
• finished as runners-up in five events (including two 1-2 finishes);
• and scored 146 points — the highest point total in school history for a state track competition.

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It’s been fun, and just part of it has been about winning four straight state championships.
Talking with some of the seniors who played a big part in the Batesville Lady Pioneers’ run of success in track and field, the chicken-or-egg, which-came-first question comes to mind.
Saturday in Paragould, the Lady Pioneers will try to make it five championships in a row at the Class 5A State Meet.
Among the 14 Lady Pioneers who qualified for the meet are seniors Symone Conley, Betsy Ives, Madison Neely, Chelsea Tate, Lizzie Walton and Kelsie Wilson.

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PEARCY — Two Southside athletes earned points in the Class 4A State Track and Field Meet here Thursday at Lake Hamilton High School.
Carolyn Fowler placed seventh overall in the pole vault with a vault of 7 feet, 8 inches. The winning vault was 10-8 by Valley View’s Alex Pevtosa.
Heather Bostock crossed the line eighth in the 3,200-meter run, one minute and 50 seconds behind the winner, Dover’s Charla New, who broke the tape in 12 minutes, 46.70 seconds.
The team titles were won by De Queen’s boys and Nashville’s girls.

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Local golfer John Vinson qualified for the Arkansas Governor’s Cup team with a fourth-pace finish on the Arkansas State Golfer’s Association seniors points list last season.
Vinson teamed up with other Arkansas golfers today at the Chenal Country Club, Bear Den Mountain Course to represent Arkansas as it battles it out against Mississippi in the Ryder Cup-style format.

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Batesville Pioneers Price Holmes, Grant McChesney and Nick Dailey were recently recognized by the Arkansas Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame at a banquet in North Little Rock, according to a news release from Eddie Bradford, an organizer of the event.
The seniors were among 50 Arkansas high school football players honored for their accomplishments as scholar athletes and citizens.
Head football coaches nominate the athletes. Among the requirements for  nomination is a grade-point average of 3.0 or better.

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Thursday 
High school track and field: Southside at Class 4A State Meet in Hot Springs (Lake Hamilton High School), 11 a.m.

Friday
Auto racing: points racing at Batesville Motor Speedway (Locust Grove), grandstands open at 5:30 p.m., racing, 8

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By Paul Glover
Guard Sports Editor
Batesville Coach Stuart Smith didn’t try to complicate things.
“Some other team will have to step up and have some great performances, and we would have to falter,” was his straightforward answer when asked what would have to happen for the Lady Pioneers to not win their fifth straight state track and field championship.
They really are that much of a favorite in the Class 5A State Meet in Paragould on Saturday, and it has very little to do with the previous four state championships.

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GENOA — Indoors and outdoors, Emily Carroll is among the fastest Arkansas high school distance runners in the state.
The Melbourne Lady Bearkat followed up the indoor state championships she won in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races back in February by winning the same races in the Class 2A State Meet here Wednesday.
The junior finished the 1,600 meters in five minutes, 42.03 seconds — 13 seconds ahead of Amanda Mazzone of Johnson County Westside.
Carroll won the 3,200 in 12:44.81 — 14 seconds in front of Katy Carter of Magazine.

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