The Mena High School Athletic Awards were held on Monday in the Performing Arts Center.
Cross Country
The Senior Bearcats had a very competitive season while being crowned meet champions 2 times and finishing as the District Champions. Our LadyCats Competed at a high level as well with top finishes by Rylie McClara, Ava Fields and Samara Jaynes.
BOYS
All Conference
Trevin Plunkett
Cooper Plunkett
Tucker Hartin
Second Team All Conference
Brayden Atchley
Silas Mcityre
Zane Mcmellon
All State
Cooper Plunkett
Trevin Plunkett
GIRLS
All Conference
Ava Fields
Rylie McClara
Second Team All Conference
Samara Jaynes
GOLF
Girls golf had a great year. They finished District runner up and qualified for the state Tournament. Boys Golf had a good year with several boys scoring low rounds at tournaments. Coach Hunter stated that he is extremely proud of both teams.
All District
Madi Lyle
Emmi Hines
Evan Leonard
Volleyball
2022 Ladycat Volleyball had another great season. The Ladycats finished with an overall record of 33-4, and went 16-0 in conference. The Ladycats advanced to the state tournament and lost a heartbreaker in the state semifinals 3 sets to 1. The JV Ladycats under Scott Wright also had a great season, winning a large % of their matches including defeating a 5a varsity team in the Lakeside tournament.
* Coach Brad Lyle said: "This was one of my most enjoyable seasons as a coach. This team was unified from the start and worked hard everyday. We had very little drama and all the girls put team first. There was no “I” on this team. I am very proud of them"
2022 Mena Ladycats Season
Record: 33-4
Conference Record: 16-0
Paris Tournament Gold Division Champions
Lakeside Tournament Gold Division Runner-Up
Advanced to the Semi-Finals of the 4A State Tournament
Individual Honors:
All-State:
Madi Lyle
Emmi Hines
Katie Valdovinos
Carmen Puckett
All-State All-Tournament Team:
Madi Lyle
Emmi Hines
All-Conference:
Emily Leonard
Avery Cannon
Emily Maechler
Emma Threlkeld
Caroline Cannon
Reese Montgomery
All-Star Game Selection:
Madi Lyle
All-Star Game Nominee:
Emmi Hines
Cheer
The 2022-2023 Cheer season started off strong at Team Camp over the summer. At camp, there were multiple All-American nominees and we had 2 girls selected for the All-American team. They were Kiylee Hughes and Shantal Tecson. The team also won second place in the Game-Day competition division. The competition team competed in two competition this year, and the sideline team worked tirelessly from March of 2022 through the end of basketball season in February of 2023. We are looking forward to a strong program and season in the 2023-2024 year. All awards are voted on by the team
Leadership Award: the senior that had the best organization, dedication, and work-ethic.
–Cloey Massey
Teammate Award: the senior who had the best attitude, positivity, and greatest influence.
–Joey Decker
MVC (Most Valuable Cheerleader) - the All-Around and overall best cheerleader from the 2022-2023 year based on these qualities: Cheers, Stunts, Jumps, Dance, Tumbling
–Shantal Tecson
Football
The 2022 Mena Bearcat Football opened their season with exciting , nail biting wins and competed well as they entered back into the 7-4A football conference. Led by a small, but determined Senior class and many underclassmen contributors, the Bearcats were able to match their win total from the previous season and qualify once again for the state playoffs….despite being one of the youngest teams in the state.
1st Team All Conference
Jayden Felix
Jair Hernandez
The following awards were voted on exclusively by members of the 2022 football team.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Brody Peters
The Offensive Player of the Year AND William G Spencer Football Player of the year :
Jayden Felix
Wrestling
The inaugural Mena Wrestling season laid a great foundation for much more success for many more years to come. These young men and women competed amazingly hard and showed up everyday to a sport they did not know anything about and competed. From week 1 to Week 15 they improved every week and saw serious improvement.
All region & state qualifiers:
Tripp Hensley
Cody Short
Guice Anderson
Brody Peters (1st in the 4a South)
Carter Cossey
Nate Needham
All State and State Finialist
Brody Peters (3rd)
Boys Basketball
The Senior Bearcats had a very competitive season. The Bearcats will graduate 6 Seniors this year. Senior Trevin Plunkett, Alex Rocha, Silas McItyre, Aaron Lay, Daniel Machado, Toby Watkins. Toby Watkins has signed with Champion College to continue his playing career.
All Conference
Trevin Plunkett
Toby Watkins
Honorable Mention
Brayden Atchley
Alex Rocha
Silas McIntyre
All State Honorable Mention
Toby Watkins
Team Awards (Voted on by Team)
Best Offense: Toby Watkins
Best Defense: Brayden Atchley
Coat of Many Colors: Silas McIntyre
Out Standing Boys Basketball Elks Jim Rackley: Toby Watkins
Girls Basketball
2022-23 Ladycat Basketball had a very successful season. The Ladycats finished with an overall record of 15-12, and went 9-5 in conference. The Ladycats advanced to the regional tournament for the 6th consecutive year. The JV Ladycats also won several games this season.
* Coach Brad Lyle said: "This was a very interesting year from the beginning. These young ladies took a very challenging situation and turned it into a great experience. I am very proud of what each one of them has accomplished. I also want to thank Coach Fryar, I could not have asked for a better assistant coach for this season.”
2022-23 Mena Ladycats Season
Record: 15-12
Conference Record: 9-5
Qualified for the regional tournament
Individual Honors:
All-State nominee:
Emily Leonard
All-Conference:
Emily Leonard
Madi Lyle
Emmi Hines
2nd Team All-Conference:
Carolyn Cannon
Payton Clark
Kensey Rosson
All-Star Game Nominee:
Emily Leonard
Track
The 2023 Track season was a great success due to the hard work, effort, and time spent in and out of the track program. We would like to thank our Administration, Athletic Directors, fellow spring sport Coaches, maintenance workers, Cafeteria workers, and the countless volunteers for making our season the best it could be for our athletes. We would also like to thank Mrs. Coach Dover and Coach Johnson for the many hours at practice and meets building up our Jr. high and Sr. high athletes.
Mena Completed in the Indoor State Track Meet this year for the first time in several years and we look forward to building up our indoor track season in the years to come. We are also participating in the Decathlon and the Meet of Champions for the first time in several years. We hosted the Bearcat Relays at home this year and won both the boys and girls Sr. high divisions. The Ladycat Track program also was Conference Champions this year for the first time since 2002!
To achieve All Conference, Athletes must finish top three in an event at the Conference meet. Please come down to receive your All Conference Honor. Our All Conference Track Athletes are:
Elijah Smith – High Jump &; Long Jump
Reese Montgomery – Triple Jump
Caroline Cannon – Discus
Chloe Sullivan – Shot Put
Karley Sharp – 4x800 Relay, 800 Meter Run, 1600 Meter Run
Jocelyn Hernandez – 4x800 Relay
Rylie Bentley – 4x800 Relay
Rylie McClara – 4x800 Relay
Alana Bishop – 100 Meter Hurdles &; 300 Meter Hurdles
Elliott Dugan – High Jump
To Receive All State, Athletes must finish top three in an event at the State Track Meet. Our All State Track Athlete this year is State Champion, Elliott Dugan in the High Jump. Elliott also competed at the Meet of Champs placing 6th overall.
We want to thank all the track athletes this year for the hard work all spring long and would ask if you participated in the conference track meet to please stand up and be recognized for your contributions to a great season.
Boys Soccer
The 2023 Bearcat Soccer team had one of the best seasons in recent memories! They finished with an overall winning record and finished in the top half of their conference. This team showed great determination in the face of adversity throughout the entire season. We would like to give a special thanks to Brad Watson who displayed tremendous leadership within this program in helping lead this team.
All Conference
Thluang Cung
Hudson Vacca
(ha-eed) Hernandez
Jayden Felix
Honorable Mention All Conference
Jaxon Baber
Brenden Heath
All State
Tristen Miller
Girls Soccer
The 2023 soccer season was a promising season of ups and downs. After a strong debut, the Ladycats played an adversity filled non conference schedule in which they markedly improved. That improvement eventually led to finishing conference with 3 of 5 wins, and a district tournament quarterfinals win to solidify them a place in the State Tournament for the first time in almost a decade. Perhaps the most exciting thing is that they will return 12 girls that started at some point in this past season.
Individuals recognized for their performances during conference play were
All-State Sophia Vacca
All-Conference Jaden Roberts and Kaelyn Nichols
Honorable Mentions Brinley Blake, Rylie Bentley, and Anabelle Peters
Recipients of this year's team awards were “Best Ball Control” - Gabby Cross
The “Hustle Award” - Kate Wilson
“Most Improved” - Isabel Vacca
The future is bright for this young and talented team.
Baseball
The Bearcat Baseball team ended up finishing 6th in conference. This young team continued to make strides as the season progressed and displayed great character and leadership throughout, ending the season with a few big wins. The future is bright with many returning starters coming back next year.
All conference: Brody Peters and Rhett Brotherton.
honorable mention all conference: Michael Sullivan, Sean Sullivan, Aaron Ferguson.
Softball
The Mena Ladycat Softball team had an outstanding year. They finished 16-10 including 7-0 in the regular season against our conference foes. They won the Conference Championship for the first time since 2016. Coach Hunter stated that he is very proud of our team and our season.
All State
Emmi Hines
Kensey Rosson
Abi Koppein
All District
Carmen Puckett
Addison Thomas
Lily Rowland
Jayden Cox
BFI SCHOLARSHIP
The Bearcat Foundation continues to pursue goals of partnering with the Mena Public Schools with assistance in areas of equipment, facilities and supplies. Thanks to the generous members and supporters, since 2007, BFI has gifted over $521,500 to the Mena Schools . A very important part of their mission is to provide a scholarship for graduates of Mena High School, and today, they are happy to present the BFI scholarship for the 11th year.
The Foundation scholarship differs from others in that it is scored and judged on a blind basis. All applicant’s names, family names, and commonly identifiable accomplishments are omitted from the application once received in an effort to eliminate any possible bias in the scoring process. The applicants are scored based:
academic achievement,
community involvement,
extracurricular achievement,
and the compelling nature of the essay that is written for the scholarship.
The committee is anonymous and does not consist of any foundation board members. All scoring is done separately by each member of the committee. The scholarship is $2,000 per student.
This 2023 winners of the Bearcat Foundation Scholarship are: Emmi Hines and Emily Leonard
Frank Mosley Outstanding Senior Girl Athlete
James C Copher Outstanding Senior Boy Athlete
The Frank Mosley Outstanding Girl Athlete and the James C Copher Outstanding Boy athlete are longstanding awards given to our most outstanding and deserving Senior boy and girl athlete. These athletes must be involved in multiple sports and display great character in the sport, their school and the community. The awards are voted on by the head coaches from each sport, the athletic director, the assistant athletic director, high school principal and a Mena Public School Staff Member. This impact that this year’s winners have had on Mena athletics will be felt for many years to come.
This year’s James C Copher award winner excelled in both Football and Soccer all while maintaining a strong GPA at the top of his class. He is also a member of the JAG competition team which competed in Orlando this spring.
This year's James C Copher Award winner is: Jayden Felix
This year’s Frank Mosley award winner is a 4 sport athlete who excelled on the field, court and in the classroom. She not only is a leader within each athletic program that she participates in but she is also involved as a student leader on the campus on Mena High School involved in FBLA,NHS,NEHS,STUDENT COUNCIL AND JAG. She will also be continuing her athletic career at the next level, signing a letter of intent to play collegiate softball.
This year’s Frank Mosley award winner is: Emmi Hines
The Bearcat Foundation is excited to start a new tradition for our graduating seniors this year. In years past, BFI would present each Senior an honor plaque for all athletes completing a minimum of two varsity athletic letters. This year we will present the qualifying athletes with a medal to wear with their cap and gown.
The qualifications are based on the completed varsity athletic letters at Mena High School. Seniors receiving a gold medal have represented MHS in at least four athletic letters, and the silver medal represents a minimum of two athletic letters. A “Letter” is determined by a completed season. If a Senior Has moved into to the Mena School District for their Senior Season, they are eligible for a silver medal. Bearcat Foundation acknowledges the hard work our athletes put in while representing MHS and we are proud to honor you all during your graduation ceremonies. As your name is called please come up to receive your medal.
Bearcats
Aiden Beck-Gold
Gabe Corcoran-Gold
Tristan Crane-Gold
Colby Davis-Gold
Joey Decker-Silver
Michael Escobar-Gold
Jayden Felix-Gold
Aaron Ferguson-Silver
Brenden Heath-Gold
Aaron Lay-Gold
Malachi Ludlow-Gold
Joseph Mclellan-Gold
Silas McIntyre-Gold
Tristan Miller-Silver
Trevin Plunkett -Gold
Alex Rocha -Gold
Christian Stewart-Silver
Toby Watkins-Gold
Ladycats
Avery Cannon -Gold
Emmi Hines -Gold
Emily Leonard -Gold
Madi Lyle -Gold
Emily Maechler -Gold
Cloey Massey-Gold
Olivia Ortiz-Gold
Carmen Puckett -Gold
Emma Threlkeld -Gold
Katie Valdovinos -Gold
Mackenzie Vincent-Gold
Londyn Wagner-Gold
Addison Wood-Gold