​Front Row:  Nate Krig, Diane Treadway, Jim Patchell
Back Row:   John Mackey, Andrew Irwin, Lonnie Greene, Whitney Jones, Rod Newton

The Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame will induct its 29th class during a 6:30 p.m.
banquet May 31 in the Silver City Ballroom of the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in
North Little Rock.

All of the eight inductees are connected to Arkansas as track and field athletes or
coaches.

​“This year’s class features two highly successful active collegiate coaches and two
retired high school coaches with a combined total of more than 100 years of
coaching tenure in Arkansas schools,” said Ernest Miller, president of the ATFHF.
“In their careers they produced, and are still producing, championships and
guiding athletes to successful careers. This class is also strong on sprints/jumps
with inductees having strong collegiate careers.”

The active collegiate coaches include Lonnie Greene who spent 16 seasons as a
sprint, hurdles and jumps coach for the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks. During his
tenure in Fayetteville his athletes set over 25 school records while helping the
team to several SEC Championships. Since leaving Arkansas he has served as
Head Track Coach at Purdue University and is currently the Head Track Coach at
the University of Kentucky.

Jim Patchell is a Heber Springs native and graduate of Arkansas State University. While at A-State he was a sprinter and hurdler and upon graduation began his career as a grad assistant working with sprints and hurdles. Before returning to his alma mater in 2011, he had coaching stops at Tulane University and Campbell University in North Carolina. Since arriving at A-State is teams have won several Sun Belt Conference Championships.

Retired high school coaches include Greenwood native John Mackey who had a
coaching stop at Corning before moving to Mansfield for the remainder of his
coaching career. In 2010, his program won the Lowell Manning Award for
outstanding girl’s track program in the State of Arkansas, and twice Mackey was
named the AAA Girl’s Track Coach of the Year.

Diane Treadway was recruited in 1981 to run both cross country and track at Arkansas College, now known as Lyon College. While representing AC, she earned NAIA All-American honors in both cross country and outdoor track. In a long coaching career at Batesville High School, she had a run of seven consecutive State Championships in girls’ cross country.

The class also includes Nate Krig, a three-year letterman at the University of
Central Arkansas and an Honorable Mention All-American in 1969. While at UCA
he set personal school and AIC Records in the 100, and 220- yard dashes. He was
inducted into the UCA Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Andrew Irwin, Mount Ida H.S. and University of Arkansas pole vaulter. At Mt. Ida he was two time Meet of Champions winner and set the National High School Indoor record of 17’09.25”. At the UA he was three- time SEC Indoor Champion and two- time SEC Outdoor
Champion setting the school record of 18’09.25."

Whitney Jones, Searcy HS and University of Arkansas was an outstanding sprinter/jumper at the HS and Collegiate level. AT Searcy she was three-time State Champion in the 100m, 200m, Long Jump, and Triple Jump, and at UA she was a fifteen-time All-American and four-time SEC Champion.

Also to be honored is Rod Newton, Crossett HS, Wallace State College, and
Mississippi State University. At Crossett HS he was two-time High Jump State
Champion and State Meet High Jump record holder at 7’ ½”. While attending
Wallace State he was a two-time JC All-American in the in High Jump and at MSU
he set the school record in the high jump at 7’4 ½” while earning All-SEC Honors.
He participated in the 2000 US Olympic Team Trials.

Tickets for the banquet are $50 per person ($52 if purchased by credit card) or
$400 for a table of 8. Orders for tickets should be mailed or emailed to Leon
White, 34 Margeaux Drive, Little Rock, AR 72223, [email protected]
and must be received by May 26 to be guaranteed. Tickets may be picked up at
the ATFHF registration desk after 5 p.m. May 31.

​For more information, contact Miller at (501) 472-7599.

Our 2023 Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame Inductees
Front row, l to r):  Mark Segovis, Bobby Pruitt , Bryan Compton
Back row:  Lennox Adams, Phillip Herndon, Steve Oury, and Rex Nelson

The Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame will induct its 28th class during a 6:30 p.m. banquet June 2 in the Silver City Ballroom of the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock.

This year’s class was extremely athletic in their competitive years,” said Ernest Miller, president of the ATFHF. “These inductees held lots of records at the state, school and national level.”

The class includes Lennox Adams, a triple jumper from Ouachita Baptist University; Bryan Compton, assistant coach at the University of Arkansas; Phillip Herndon, a hurdler/sprinter from Little Rock Central and Villanova; Robert (Red) Nelson, a long-time supporter and meet starter from Arkadelphia; Steve Oury, a distance runner from North Little Rock Northeast and the UA and long-time track and cross country coach at Bryant; Bobby Pruitt, a distance/cross country runner from Beebe and the UA and long-time coach at Jacksonville; and Mark Segovis, a distance/cross country runner from Little Rock Parkview and the University of Central Arkansas.

Adams, a three-time All-American and 1988 Olympian representing St. Vincent, won Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference and NAIA Indoor triple jump championships in 1987, ‘88 and ‘89. He won the NAIA Outdoor title in ‘88 and finished runner-up in ‘89.

At Arkansas, Compton has coached 86 All-Americans, six national pole vault champions and four Olympians, including one silver medalist. In 2016, three of his athletes (Sandi Morris, Tina Sutlej and Lexi Weeks) represented their respective nations in the Rio Games.

Herndon was a national high school champion and six-time state champion at Central and won the high-point award at every meet in 1968. He equaled the national indoor record of 7.1 seconds in the 60-yard high hurdles. At Villanova, he was a member of the 1970 NCAA Indoor Championship team.

After lettering in track and field, football, basketball and baseball at what is now OBU, Nelson spent decades promoting track and field in the state. After a coaching stint at Newport, he returned to Arkadelphia in 1951 as a partner in Southwest Sporting Goods Co. In that role, he came to know virtually every high school and college coach in the state as he sold athletic goods. He never turned down an invitation to start a track meet at any level.

Oury was a three-time high school state champion on the track and an all-state in cross country. After competing in both sports at UA, he was the Road Runners Clubs of America Male Runner of the Year for the state in 2000. At Bryant, he led the Hornets to the Class 7A state title in 2015 and conference titles in 2003, ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘14, ‘15, ‘17 and ‘21. He has coached 39 state champion individuals or relay teams and two Nike National Champions in the pole vault. He was named Arkansas All-Preps Track and Field Coach of the Year in 2015 and serves as vice president of the Arkansas Track Coaches Association. 

Pruitt was a three-time state cross country champion at Beebe in the mid-1960s and four-time winner at the state track meet and Meet of Champs. As a Razorback, he held three school records, was a two-time team captain and was named the school’s track athlete of the year as a senior in 1971. As a coach, he led Jacksonville to a state championship in 1982 and a runner-up finish in ‘83.

At UCA, Segovis was a dominant middle-distance runner in the AIC, earning all-conference honors eight times. He was a three-time NAIA District 17 cross country champion and set UCA records in five events. He remains on the AIC all-time list in the 1,500, mile, three-mile and 5,000 meters.

Tickets for the banquet are $50 per person ($52 if purchased by credit card) or $400 for a table of 8. Checks should be made payable to ATFHF. Orders should be mailed to
Leon White, 34 Margeaux Drive, Little Rock, AR 72223.

For ticket questions, email [email protected]. Tickets may be picked up at the ATFHF registration desk after 5 p.m. June 2.

​For more information about the banquet, contact Miller at (501) 472-7599.