Central Arkansas Christian’s athletic program recently completed one of the most successful years in Mustang Mountain History.
With state championships in girls golf and girls soccer, a runner-up finish in girls basketball, semifinal showings in boys soccer and baseball and quarterfinal runs in volleyball and football, it was the best year at Mustang Mountain since 2005-06. That year, CAC teams won state titles in boys tennis and golf, girls basketball and soccer and softball and finished runner-up in football and girls track.
“Good coaching, good opportunities, a lot of good kids who worked hard,” athletic director Doug Killgore said. “And as with most small schools, a key to that is having kids participate in multiple sports. There were a lot of three-sport people on both the boys’ and girls’ side. That is a critical component — having kids get out there and play and not specialize.”
Mustang football coach Tommy Shoemaker said he had enjoyed the broad success.
“It was fun,” he said. “I enjoyed getting to watch the girls in the soccer state championship. I’ve never really watched a lot of soccer before, and it was a lot of fun.”
A chronological look at the year for the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs:
GIRLS GOLF — The Lady Mustangs easily rolled to the first girls team state golf championship in school history, the Class 4A state title, at the Country Club of Arkansas.
After finishing runner-up for the first time in 2014, Max Weiner’s Lady Mustangs put up a team score of 242, easily the class of the field. Pocahontas finished second at 301.
Katelyn Dunstan of Baptist Prep earned medalist honors with 73, but CAC put golfers second, fourth, sixth and 12th for the easy team win. Junior Allie Weiner, the defending state champion, finished runner-up with 75 to earn a return berth to the Arkansas High School Girls Overall Championship at Pleasant Valley Country Club, where she shot 84 and finished seventh.
The Overall brings together the top three finishers from each of the seven state championships.
“I would definitely prefer being runner-up individually and winning as a team,” a jubilant Weiner said following the state tournament. “I was happy to win for the seniors that are on our team. They really deserved it. This feels awesome. I feel like we should hang our banner for everybody to see.”
CAC freshman Josie Roberson, who had won the 4A-2 district title with a 66 at Cooper’s Hawk in Melbourne, finished fourth with 81. Senior Alexa Goodlow tied for sixth with 86. Senior Cheyenne Butler finished 12th with 91.
“I’m so proud of how these girls have played this year, and to cap it off with a state championship is awesome,” Max Weiner said. “I’m excited about sending our two seniors out with state championship rings.”
CAC golfers finished 1-2-3-6 to win their third consecutive district title, taking the 4A-2 championship by 54 strokes at Cooper’s Hawk.
BOYS GOLF — Steve Quattlebaum’s Mustangs fired a team score of 284 to finish fourth in the 4A-2 District Tournament at Cooper’s Hawk in Melbourne. CAC finished behind behind Heber Springs (239), Lonoke (258) and Stuttgart (273). Senior Nick Pierce shot 82 to finish fourth and qualify individually for the Class 4A State Tournament. He shot 93 there at the same course.
TENNIS — Alex Hart and Ryan Dillard reached the final of the Class 4A state boys doubles tournament, where they fell to Smith Ney and Skyler Hudson of Shiloh Christian. Hart and Dillard had knocked off Ty McDonnough and Jared Wren of Pocahontas in the first round, 6-2, 6-1; Endrew Eveld and Jacob Halter of Subiaco in the quarterfinal, 6-2, 6-1; and Glenn Hartness and Zack Backus of Nashville in the semis, 6-3, 6-3. Hart and Dillard then lost in the first round of the Overall to Tate Snider and Mason Mitchell of Jonesboro, 6-2, 6-0.
Also in the state boys tournament, the Mustang team of Harrison Hodges and Jake Speck reached the quarterfinals, knocking off Reagan McGaha and Mason Keeling of Clinton in the opening round, 7-5, 6-3. CAC tied for third in the team standings.
In the Class 4A state girls doubles tournament, Lady Mustangs Taylor Elder and Jordan Rumbach reached the quarterfinals, beating Cara Monk and Kaelyn Pearson of Pottsville in the opening round, 6-1, 7-5; before falling to Kessie Jenkins and Caylee McGuire of Southside Batesville in the quarters in three sets, 6-7 (10-8), 6-1, 6-1.
VOLLEYBALL — Ken Roberts’ Lady Mustangs equaled the best-ever finish in school history when they reached the quarterfinals of the Class 4A State Tournament at Mena.
The Lady Mustangs finished 17-4 overall after a four-set loss to Berryville.
In three seasons at the helm of the CAC program, Roberts has led his team to the quarterfinals twice (2013 and ‘15).
The Lady Mustangs had finished runner-up in the 4A-Central conference race but won the district tournament.
“I told them in the dressing room after we lost that at our first practice, if you’d told us we’d win the (district) tournament and one game in the state tournament, we’d have taken it,” Roberts said. “Tears now, and that’s a good thing because that means you felt like you could’ve done better.”
As the top seed from the Central, the Lady Mustangs knocked off Ashdown, fourth from the West, in the opening round at state, 25-21, 25-13, 25-15.
Seeded second in the district tournament after finishing runner-up to unbeaten Southside Batesville, CAC beat Clinton, the third seed, in the semifinals and, in the championship, avenged three consecutive losses to Southside, dating back to the 2014 district tournament. This time, CAC prevailed in a five-set thriller, 15-25, 21-25, 25-21, 27-25, 15-9.
CROSS COUNTRY — The Mustangs finished 20th in the Class 4A State Meet at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs with 526 points. Junior Bryan Wornock led CAC, covering the 5K course in 20:04 to finish 60th. Other Mustang finishers included senior Evan Caspary, 87th in 21:16.30; senior Dylan Smith, 124th in 25:22.00; freshman Reed Wallace, 125th in 25:26.10; and sophomore Ryan Tyrell, 130th in 27:23.60.
FOOTBALL — Tommy Shoemaker’s Mustangs put together the best season at Mustang Mountain since 2005, finishing 11-2 and reaching the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
The record was Shoemaker’s best at CAC. Tim Perry’s 2005 squad finished 13-2 with a state runner-up finish to Nashville, one year after a 13-2 state championship run in 2004.
“I’ll always think of this as one of my favorite teams I’ve ever had,” said Shoemaker, in his 19th season overall. “They were just a lot of fun to coach, and I always knew they were going to play hard, and they were always going to get out there and compete. It’s just a great group of young men.
“We’ll really miss our (13) seniors. They did a tremendous job, leadership-wise, and of setting the tone for our team — just how we prepare and how we go about doing things and playing with passion. They set a really high standard.”
After being a preseason pick to finish fifth in the 4A-2 by league coaches, the Mustangs claimed the outright conference championship, the first since 2007 and just the fourth in school history. Perry, who coached Shoemaker in high school in Alabama, brought conference championships to Mustang Mountain in 2003, ‘05 and ‘07 — and the Class 3A state title in 2004.
The only disappointment of 2016 was the final game, when the Mustangs were stopped more by the weather and field conditions than the Pea Ridge Blackhawks, 3-0 in overtime in the quarterfinals. An all-day rain, part of the deluge that covered the state the day after Thanksgiving, left the CAC field in poor condition.
“Those were probably the worst conditions, field-wise and turf-wise, that I’ve ever coached in,” Shoemaker said. “We couldn’t beat the weather or the field.”
The loss snapped a 10-game Mustang winning streak. CAC reached the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2007 and won its first playoff game since 2012 when it beat Malvern in the opening round, 42-39. The Mustangs knocked off Gosnell in the second round, 41-14.
WRESTLING — Keith Almond’s Mustangs finished seventh in the Class 1A-5A State Championships with 134 points, seven points behind Little Rock Christian at UALR’s Jack Stephens Center.
The Mustangs were led by seven wrestlers who placed in their weight classifications.
“Sometimes our expectations are a little higher (than the finish), and that’s a good thing,” coach Keith Almond said.
Junior Braden Quesinberry was the top individual Mustang finisher with his runner-up finish to Adrian Brown of Little Rock McClellan in the 170-pound weight classification. Seniors Cody Reynolds (138) and Brent Johnston (285) took third; senior Jon Andrews was fourth in 195. Freshman Zach Davidson was fifth in 106; freshman Haydn Burton took fifth in 113 and senior Shane Almond was fifth in 160.
GIRLS BASKETBALL — Despite its long state tournament run being in danger midway through the conference schedule, Steve Quattlebaum’s team reached the Class 4A state championship game, falling to Riverview for the fifth time this season, 64-58.
The Lady Mustangs rallied from a 12-point second-quarter deficit to pull within 58-57 with 41.5 seconds left, but the undefeated Lady Raiders hit six of eight free throws down the stretch to allow them to successfully defend their state title, 64-58, at Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs.
CAC closed 24-12 after its fifth appearance in a state championship game in the last 11 seasons. Quattlebaum led the Lady Mustangs to state titles in 2005, ‘06 and ‘07 and the state final in ‘14.
“I told the kids after the game that I would’ve loved to have won that game, I would’ve been really, really ecstatic if we’d won, but I couldn’t have been any prouder of them because I thought they competed harder than maybe any team we’ve ever had here,” Quattlebaum said.
“They refused to quit. That was a team that could’ve beat them 20 points easily had they not shown the fight they did. That makes it a little easier. Little things got us beat in the end, but man, I thought it was a great game.”
The Lady Mustangs are the last team to beat Riverview — in January 2015. The Lady Raiders finished 38-0.
Christyn Williams, the Lady Mustang sophomore star who counts UConn among her 20+ scholarship offers, led all scorers with 35 points. She was 11 of 26 from the field (three of six from 3-point range) and 10 of 14 from the foul line. She added eight rebounds and two blocks.
But two days afterward, she lamented to a reporter that she hadn’t blocked out on a late Riverview free throw — and blamed herself for the loss, Quattlebaum said.
“She’s in here saying, ‘I lost that game,’” he said. “I told her, ‘No, we’re not even in that game if you hadn’t done what you’d done earlier.’”
CAC, which won 11 of its final 14 games, finished fifth in the 2-4A conference race and reached the semifinals of the district tournament and the East Regional final. The top four from the district tournament advanced to the regional.
CAC beat Lonoke in the quarterfinals of the district tournament to reach the regional. As the fourth seed from the 4A-2, the Lady Mustangs dropped Pocahontas, winner of the 4A-3, in the opening round of the regional to secure their return to the state tournament. CAC beat eStem in the semifinals, 54-50; before falling to Riverview in the championship, 65-51.
At the state tournament at Malvern, the Lady Mustangs beat Huntsville, 44-31; Star City, 47-46; and Berryville, 45-31; to reach the championship game.
The Lady Mustangs, who have reached the state tournament every year since 2000, will try for their 17th consecutive appearance in 2017.
WIlliams, who averaged 29.3 points, 10.1 rebounds. 2.38 steals, .95 blocks and .81 assists, was named the 2015-16 Gatorade Player of the Year for girls basketball in Arkansas. She left last week for the 2016 USA Women’s U17 World Championship Team Trials in Colorado Springs.
BOYS BASKETBALL — With the summer 2015 departure of former Mustang coach Matt Hall to Russellville, Quattlebaum retook the reins of the boys program. This go-round, he led the Mustangs to a 10-16 mark after they started 1-12.
Their season ended in the opening round of the Class 4A East Regional with a 66-57 loss to Jonesboro Westside — one win short of qualifying for the Class 4A State Tournament.
“I’m really, really proud of them,” Quattlebaum said. “Certainly they are not one of the most talented teams we’ve had, but they probably overachieved as much as any team at CAC has in a long time. To make it to the regionals, to be one of the last 24 teams playing in (Class) 4A — that’s quite an accomplishment.”
Bradley Spencer, who served as an assistant to Steve Quattlebaum, was named head boys coach following the season. Spencer, a senior guard for Harding University in the 2012-13 season, handled many details as Quattlebaum served his second stint atop both the boys and girls programs at Mustang Mountain.
TRACK — Sydney Hughes ran 6:04.62 in the Class 4A State Meet at Nashville to finish 10th in the girls 1,600.
SOFTBALL — Amy Zini’s young softball squad finished 5-13 overall (2-5 in 4A-2 conference play) after a 15-0 loss to Lonoke in the opening round of the district tournament at Stuttgart.
BASEBALL — Hayden Cruce’s first CAC squad lost its first six games before reeling off 17 consecutive wins to take the 4A-2 conference and Class 4A East Regional titles before falling to Shiloh Christian in the Class 4A state semifinals.
The Mustangs closed 17-7.
“I can’t say that I expected a state semifinal finish,” said Cruce, third baseman on the Mustangs’ 2004 state championship team under Darren Gowen. “I knew we were going to be a good team. This is an extremely good group of young men that worked extremely hard. They are very coachable, and their mentality — with our tough 0-6 start, they never hung their heads, kept doing things the right way, the way we asked them. I knew we were going to be good.
“But to win 17 games in a row in baseball just doesn’t happen very often. To not have an off-day in those 17 games, that’s extremely impressive and shows the type of young men we have.”
Because of rain, the district tournament did not finish.
In the regional at Lonoke, CAC knocked off Highland, fourth from the 4A-3, 3-2; Jonesboro Westside, second from the 3, in the semifinals, 8-2; and Gosnell, winner of the 3, in the championship, 7-3.
At the state tournament at Ashdown, CAC had a first-round bye before beating Crossett, fourth from the South, 8-5, in the quarterfinals. Shiloh Christian, winner of the North, beat the Mustangs in the semis, 10-0.
GIRLS SOCCER —Carter Lambert’s squad won the sixth state championship in Lady Mustang soccer history, avenging last year’s final loss to Gentry with a 4-1 victory at the University of Arkansas’s Razorback Field for the Class 4A title.
The Lady Mustangs had previously won state championships in 2006, ‘07, ’08, ’12 and ’13; finished runner-up in 2009 and ’15; and reached the state semifinals in 2010, ’11 and 14.
“Last year, we were all disappointed that we lost the final to Gentry because we wanted to win for Josie (Bates, the Lady Mustang keeper) after she lost her dad to cancer before the semifinal,” Lambert said. “We purposely didn’t talk about that this year until after the final, but all our returning players knew we had some unfinished business.
“Winning a sixth championship was great, but nothing compares with sending Josie and the rest of our seniors off with ‘a state title for Steve.’ We thank God for giving us that opportunity.”
CAC closed 16-4-1; Gentry finished 14-4. Lady Mustang senior Lynley Childress scored two goals and was named MVP of the championship game.
The Lady Mustangs dominated the 4A-2 Conference, taking the top seed to the state tournament at Harrison. There, they rolled over Monticello, fourth seed from the 4A-4, 6-0; Shiloh Christian, third from the 1, 2-0; and Warren, tops from the 4, 4-0.
BOYS SOCCER — Andy Stewart’s first CAC squad reached the semifinals of the Class 4A State Tournament at Harrison before falling to Dardanelle, 3-0.
CAC, which finished 13-5, took second in the 4A-2 conference behind Mena. At the state tournament, the Mustangs knocked off Episcopal Collegiate, third from the 4A-4, 3-1; and Green Forest, fourth from the 1, in the quarterfinals, 4-0.
“Really good season,” Stewart said. “I think from where we started to where we got to was really impressive. We had a really good group of seniors. I couldn’t ask for anything more out of them. We had a couple of things that didn’t go our way in the state tournament, but you get one shot.”
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