 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 leonandbethwhite@gmail.com. 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.
0 Comments
|
RSS Feed