ATHLETICS

The University of Central Arkansas’ Division of Athletics and student-athletes maintained high performance throughout the year. The university’s football team, for instance, had 13 All-Southland Conference selections, including Tyler Hudson being named Freshman of the Year. The team was also selected to participate in the Football Championship Subdivision Kickoff event in the first game of the season on ESPN. Women’s cross-country team members Gracie Hyde and Erin Woodward were named to the Southland All-Academic Team. Freshman softball pitcher Kayla Beaver tossed two no-hitters — making her collegiate debut with a no-hitter against Jackson State in February. Beaver followed that up with a perfect game against Alcorn State in March. Softball coach David Kuhn reached the 700-win milestone in February with the Bears’ 3-0 win over South Dakota. Academically, student-athletes maintained a 3.20 overall GPA, an increase from last year’s 3.17 GPA. The percentage of A’s and B’s among student-athletes was also higher in spring 2020 than in spring 2019. The men’s and women’s cross-country teams won the Academic Honor Award for highest team GPA. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the division had to respond quickly to the rapidly changing ways the virus was affecting athletics across the country in the spring. In midMarch, the Southland Conference canceled spring sports events, including championship games. Sports affected by the cancellation included basketball, tennis, beach volleyball, baseball, golf and softball. UCA Athletics remained in communication with conference leadership to act on the best course of action and ensure the safety of student-athletes. Games that were completed this season count toward students’ records, and the seasons are marked as incomplete. The only other time UCA sports were delayed or canceled occurred during World War II.

| ROBERT ROCHELL

FOOTBALL ◊ The Bears won their fourth Southland Conference championship and second in the past three years, going 7-2 in league play. ◊ The American Football Coaches Association named junior cornerback Robert Rochell a First-Team All-American. ◊ The Bears qualified for NCAA Division I Playoffs for the fifth time in the past nine years, earning the No. 8 national seed, the second time in three years to earn a national seed. ◊ Offensive lineman Hunter Watts signed a free agent deal with the NFL’s Denver Broncos.

VOLLEYBALL ◊ Senior Abbie Harry, junior Emily Doss and sophomore

Madi Bowles picked up All-Southland Conference honors. ◊ Doss claimed a pair of SLC Player of the Week honors, while Harry was selected for the award once. ◊ Doss and junior Bailey Waddington were both named to the SLC All-Academic team. ◊ The team finished the regular season on a seven-match winning streak to qualify for the eight-team SLC tournament for the 10th consecutive season.

BASEBALL ◊ Junior pitcher Gavin Stone threw the third no-hitter in program history while striking out 13 against Southeastern

Louisiana in March, earning three different national Player of the Week honors along with the Southland Conference

Pitcher of the Week Award. It was one of just four nohitters thrown in Division I baseball in 2020. ◊ Senior pitcher Conner Williams led the nation in saves with six. ◊ Stone, from Lake City, Arkansas, was drafted by the Los

Angeles Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB Draft in June. MEN’S SOCCER ◊ The team won the Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship in the program’s first season in the league, its third straight season to win a conference regular season or tournament championship. ◊ The Bears claimed nine All-Sun Belt honors, including

Niklas Brodacki winning the third conference Player of the Year Award in his four-year career, and Ross Duncan winning his third Coach of the Year Award in the past four years. The Bears had three First Team All-Sun Belt selections and five named to the Second Team. ◊ Brodacki, who broke the program record with 50 career goals, the most for any active Division I player in 2019, was named to the United Soccer Coaches’ All-Southeast

Region team. ◊ The Bears had three players — Brodacki, Soren Jensen and Marc Olsen — combine for five Sun Belt Conference

Player of the Week awards.

WOMEN’S SOCCER ◊ Freshman forward Emma Hawkins earned All-Southland

Conference honors after leading the Bears in both goals and assists with five each, finishing the season with 15 points, just the second UCA freshman in the last decade to finish a season with double-digit points. ◊ Junior midfielder Hadley

Dickinson was selected to the Southland All-

Academic team with a 3.35 GPA while pursuing a degree in marketing.

Dickinson was second on the team with four goals and three assists on the season.

| JARED HAMILTON | TAYLOR SELLS

| JARON HAMILTON MEN’S BASKETBALL ◊ The program was featured in the ESPN documentary series “The Last Dance,” which spotlights the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls team that featured alumnus Scottie Pippen.

Pippen won six NBA championships, was a seven-time NBA All-Star, a 10-time

NBA All-Defensive Team member and seven-time All-NBA performer during his 17-year career. ◊ Junior guard Rylan Bergersen earned All-Southland Conference honors. ◊ Sophomore forward Eddy Kayouloud was named Southland Conference Player of the Week in December. ◊ Junior guard DeAndre Jones broke the program career assists record in January in a win over McNeese and enters his senior season with 452-111 more than the previous record.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ◊ Senior guard Taylor Sells became the program’s first player to be a two-time

Southland Conference All-Defensive Team selection and also earned Third Team

All-Southland honors after being one of just three players to average at least 10 points, four rebounds and three assists per game in conference play. ◊ The Bears broke the program record for fewest points allowed in a Southland game by defeating Lamar 53-29, holding the Cardinals to 17.2% shooting and out-rebounding the defending league champions 62-28. ◊ Head coach Sandra Rushing eclipsed the 550-win mark for her career, finishing her 31st season as a collegiate head coach with 557 victories.

MEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY/TRACK AND FIELD ◊ Jaron Hamilton was named Academic All-Southland Conference with a 3.82 GPA.

Hamilton also earned SLC Cross-Country Athlete of the Week honors in September. ◊ The Bears won the UCA XC Challenge with five runners finishing in the top 10. ◊ The team had four All-SLC honors during the indoor season, with Zachary Jewell landing on the First Team by winning the 60m at the Southland Championship with a school-record time of 6.75 and finishing second in the 200m with a school-record time of 20.98.

WOMEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY/TRACK AND FIELD ◊ The Bears won its first Southland Conference cross-country championship, with three top 12 finishes in a meet hosted at Beaverfork Lake in Conway. ◊ Senior Erin Woodward, sophomore Gracie Hyde and freshman Tamara Reeves earned All-Southland honors, and coach Beau Theriot was named the Southland

Coach of the Year.

◊ The Bears had four All-Southland performers during indoor track and field season, with Sierra Temple earning First Team honors and being named the league’s Freshman of the Year, senior Ajah Criner and Hyde garnering Second Team honors, and

Reeves picking up Third Team honors.

MEN’S GOLF ◊ Sophomore Josh Turnock and freshman Blaine Calhoon tied for second at the

LaTour Intercollegiate in Mathews, Louisiana, as the Bears were runners-up, finishing ahead of 10 teams from Conference USA, the Sun Belt and the Southland.

WOMEN’S GOLF ◊ Sophomore Elin Kumlin earned First Team Southland Conference All-Academic honors with a 3.85 GPA and a team-best 75.92 stroke average.

TENNIS ◊ The Bears finished the shortened season on an eight-match winning streak (tied for second best in program’s Division I history) and were one of two teams undefeated in Southland Conference matches at the season’s conclusion, finishing 4-0 in league play. ◊ The team picked up a pair of SLC Player of the Week awards, with sophomores

Fuka Nonoyama and Chunxi Xin each claiming one accolade. ◊ Nonoyama was named to the SLC All-Academic team, sporting a 3.81 GPA.

SOFTBALL ◊ Senior outfielder Kayla Crutchmer broke the program record for career steals with 102 and finished the abbreviated season as the Division I national leader in steals with 31 for the season. ◊ The team took home four Southland Conference Player of the Week awards in the shortened season, with Kayla Beaver and Jordan Johnson each claiming a Pitcher of the Week Award and both Lauren Brooks and Crutchmer being voted as Hitter of the Week.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL ◊ The team finished the shortened season with a 7-1 record, sweeping six duels and ending the season winning 35 of 39 matchups — and a .897 winning percentage. ◊ Sophomore Faith Hasness was selected to the Southland Conference All-Academic team with a 3.93 GPA and a 7-1 duels record with partner Evelyn Griffith.

2019 SOUTHLAND CHAMPIONSHIP, WOMEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY

2019 SOUTHLAND CHAMPIONSHIP, FOOTBALL