2024-2025 Athletic Awards Mena High School

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SPORTS

As members of our Madden NFL25

Esports teams, Elijah Smith and Nathan Needham both competed against other schools in the state to make it to the Final Four. They’ve demonstrated more than just skill, but also heart, determination, and commitment to

their game. Elijah and Nathaniel have been the kind of teammates that a coach of any sport hopes to

have—encouraging, dependable, and always putting the team first. In the heat of competition, when the pressure was high and the odds seemed stacked against them, they didn t back down.They leaned in. They encouraged each other and reminded everyone around them what real

friendship looks like.They’ve dealt with challenges that were personal, physical, mental and come out stronger. They

pushed harder, stayed focused, and turned every setback into a stepping stone.Their ability to stay positive, support one another, and keep their spirit alive—even in the

toughest moments, when things did not turn out as expected, has made a lasting impact on their coaches. They’ve shown us that success isn’t just about wins, it’s about resilience, respect, and Dedication. Elijah and Nathaniel, we’re proud to recognize you tonight, and even more proud of the young men that you are. Please come down to be recognized.

Tennis

Tennis returned to the Mena athletic lineup in 2024 after a five year hiatus. Nine ladies and five gentlemen picked up rackets and decided to give tennis a try even though no one had ever competed in a match. Through the summer heat, each player worked hard to get better and learn the rules of the game. August brought the first match and an opportunity to step on the court against someone other than themselves. By October, each student-athlete had improved significantly and each were ready to compete in the district tournament. Out of seven first round matches, five advanced to the second round. Though none advanced to the state tournament, each gave their all and made Mena proud. Coach Rowland would like to express his gratitude for each student athlete who chose to play tennis, and especially those seniors who decided to give tennis a try. Players voted on a "best teammate" award for both squads and the players selected Abi Comeaux for the Ladycats and Brody Peters for the Bearcats.

Cross Country

The Mena XC team competed at a high level across the state in the 2024 Season. The boys and girls teams

had runners each meet that achieved personal P.R’s and each athlete improved each time they competed.

All-Conference Girls

Allison Howard

Ava Ruth Fields

Jasmine Parker

Chandler Hendrickson

All Conference Boys

Eli Swall

Jo Jo Hernandez

Jackson Thompson

Mason Gortemiller

Madox Plunkett

GOLF

Boys and Girls golf teams had another successful season. The boys team was runner up in district , and finished 4th overall in state.

All District- Rhett Brotherton

3rd Place in 4A and 9th Overall in all classifications in earning All State and a District Medalist - Richie Davis

Volleyball

The Ladycat Volleyball team finished with an outstanding record of 31-7. The girls were named Conference Champions, Regional Runners-Up, and fell short in the Semi Finals of the State Tournament against Wynne.

The JV Ladycats finished with an impressive record of 8-2.

All-Conference:

Kate Wilson

Pascha Wistrand

Abigail Comeaux

Jayden Cox

Jaden Roberts

Bailey Heald

All-State:

Reese Montgomery

Addison Thomas

Karley Sharp

Chloe Hooper

All-State Tournament Team:

Reese Montgomery

Karley Sharp

Cheer

The 2024-2025 Cheer season started at Team Camp over the summer. The team achieved a superior rating from NCA. The competition cheer team had 22 cheerleaders who were new to cheer or had not cheered in many years. They worked hard and placed 8th at state which was up from 19th the prior year. They improved their score by nearly 30 pts. The team worked hard from March of 2024 through the end of the basketball season in February of 2025. Thank you for your support of the cheer program. We are looking forward to a strong program and season in the 2024-2025 year.

All awards are voted on by the team

Leadership Award: Cheerleader who had the best organization, dedication, and work ethic.

–Brakiah Burk

Teammate Award: Cheerleader who had the best attitude, positivity, and greatest influence.

–Isabel Vacca

MVC (Most Valuable Cheerleader) - the All-Around and overall best cheerleader from the 2024-2025 year based on these qualities: Cheers, Stunts, Jumps, Dance, Tumbling

–Gia Fagan-Hobson

Football

The Mena Bearcat Football team had a historic season in 2024. Picked to finish 6th in their conference and not ranked at the state level before the season, The Bearcats won 10 games for just the 4th time in school history which included a 9-0 start to the season , conference runner up and hosting and winning their first round playoff game. They were also ranked in the top 10 to finish the season in most state recognized team polls.

All Conference

Elijah Smith

Kalib Cox

Jimmy Glenn

Guice Anderson

Ryder House

Tripp Hensley

Kaielor Hastey

Hunter Cannon

4A All State Honorable Mention

Carter Cossey

Mason Sullivan

4A All State

Michael Sullivan

Sean Sullivan

Max Rocha

Brody Peters

Jair Hernandez

FCA ALL STAR GAME

Brody Peters

AAA All Star Game

Kalib Cox

Jair Hernanez

-Jair was also listed on many postseason individual awards lists across the state and accomplished numerous top 10 state records for both tackles in a game and kicking. He will be kicking next year at Arkansas Tech

The following awards were voted on exclusively by members of the 2024 football team.

Defensive Player of the Year:

• Jair Hernandez

The Offensive Player of the Year and William G Spencer Football Player of the year :

• Brody Peters

Wrestling

The Mena Bearcat & Ladycats had very good seasons,

Our Ladycats wrestling team competed extremely hard with every team they versed and had a very respectful record in team duals. 4 Girls on our Team Qualified for the State Tournament. These ladies earned the distinction of being All Region Wrestlers:

Lanie Taylor, Paisley Burger, Sydney Jones, & Evergrace Anderson

Our Bearcats wrestling team finished the 2025 wrestling season as back to back 4A South Regional Champs as a three year program. And finished 6th in the State Tournament as a team

11 of our wrestlers qualified for the State Tournament. By doing this they earned All Region Status.

Wyatt Head, Cody Short, Andrew Threlkeld, Auden Woods, Tripp Hensley, Chance Hughes, Beck Vacca, Jace Hankammer, Brody Peters, Guice Anderson, & Carter Cossey.

At the State Tournament we had two wrestlers reach the podium, earning the All State rank.

Tripp Hensley 3rd Place & Guice Anderson 4th Place

Now Coach Valencia would like to honor a special Senior. This young man wrestled all three years for this team, This year at the Regional Tournament he ended up in the losers bracket and wrestled for fifth place, knowing he had no shot of going to the state tournament some kids may have not tried and just gave up, but not this young man. He wrestled his last match as a Mena Bearcat Wrestler into triple overtime and got the 1 point win. This helped our team win the Regional Championship by 1 point! We would like to recognize this young man by awarding him the Team Mate of the Year Award. Nate Needham!

We would like to take a minute and recognize Tripp Hensley, Cody Short, Guice Anderson, Brody Peters, Carter Cossey, & Nate Needham. These were the first group of Wrestlers that qualified for the State Tournament and the last time we will get to recognize them for it as a group. Please give them a round of applause for their historic accomplishment.

Boys Basketball

The Mena Bearcat Basketball team had one of its most successful seasons in recent years. This years team was led by Seniors Cooper Plunkett, Sean Sullivan, Kalib Cox, and Dillion Lawrence. The 2024-25 Bearcats were the 4 seed in the 4A West/Central Region and lost by 1 possession to #1 seed Shiloh in the Regional Tournament. Cooper Plunkett reached 1000 Pts. for his career and Daeton Miller was named 1st Team all tournament player at the Choctaw Nation Inivtational and named MVP of game 2 at the Lendal Thomas Classic in Harrison. We would like to thank our parents, student athletes, and our coaches, Coach Luttmer, Coach McCourtney, and Coach Johnson, as well as our Volunteers Bobby Blasingame and David Miller for a successful season and your unwavering support.

Elks Jim Rackley Award Senior Cooper Plunkett

Best Offense Sophomore Daeton Miller

Best Defense Senior Sean Sullivan

Spirit Award Sophomore Tevor Hall

Most Improved Senior Dillion Lawrence

Teammate Award TIE: Sophomore Jo Jo Hernandez and Kalib Cox

Coat of Many Colors Award Junior Jackson Thompson

Most Charges in School History Senior Kalib Cox with (92)

All STATE HONORS Senior Cooper Plunkett

All-STAR 1st TEAM Senior Cooper Plunkett

All-STAR Honorable Mention Senior Sean Sullivan

All Conference Senior Sean Sullivan

Sophomore Daeton Miller

Sophomore Jo Jo Hernandez

Senior Kalib Cox

2nd Team All-Conference Sophomore Owen Simpson

Junior Jackson Thompson

Junior Levi Neufeld

Girls Basketball

The 24’-25’ Ladycat Basketball team can be described with two words toughness and fight. Two games stood out this season the most. The first Conference game against Clarksville, and the second game against Pottsville. The Clarksville game was a win, and was hard fought all the way to the final buzzer and, the Pottsville game ended with us losing but it was a 2-point game in the final 2 minutes

with a team ranked in the top 10, you could see the toughness our girls showed. We would like to thank all the coaches who stepped up and stepped in to help this season. Coach Buckley, Coach Peters, Coach McCourtney, Coach Luttmer, and Lastly a big Thank you to Coach Johnson. Awards for this season go as

follows.

All-Conference

Isabell Cross

Chloe Hooper

Kate Wilson

All-Conference Honorable Mention

Laney Ghilchrist

Elliott Dugan

All-Star Nominee

Isabell Cross

Ladycat Charges award

Laney Ghilchrist

Bearcat & Ladycat Track & Field

Indoor Track

The Indoor State Track Meet was a great success this year. We had two state champions in Elliott

Dugan-High Jump and Brynlee Bahr-Pole Vault and the girls scored 47 team points to finish 7 th in 4A.

Outdoor Track

The outdoor season featured many personal records and continued success. After the end of a

great Jr High season most 9 th graders were moved up to varsity track to compete at our home track

meet and Senior high conference track meet. To become an All-Conference track athlete, you must

finish top 3 in an event at the conference meet itself. Our All-Conference members this year are:

Karley Sharp - 4x800 Relay

Jasmine Parker - 4x800 Relay

Alaina Gilbert - 4x800 Relay

Mallori Brotherton - Shot - Conference Champion

Reese Montgomery - Discus - Conference Champion - 4x200 Relay - 4x400 Relay

Kate Wilson - 4x400 Relay

Chloe Hooper - 4x200 Relay - 4x400 Relay

Mollie Sharp - 4x800 Relay

Makenna Lee - Shot

Paeyton Hostetler - 4x100 Relay

Maddison Fowler - 4x400 Relay - 4x200 Relay

Paisley Burger - 4x200 Relay - 4x100 Relay - Pole Vault

Kendra Hughes - 4x100 Relay

Brynlee Bahr - 4x100 Relay

Elliott Dugan - Long Jump

Our All-State Members are:

Elliott Dugan- State Champion in High Jump

Brynlee Bahr State Runner-up in Pole Vault

At this time we would like to recognize a special feat of winning a state championship 3 years in a

row! Elliott Dugan has dominated in High Jump and next year will be going for the sweep, winning

High jump all four years of her high school career. Elliott will be competing in the Meet of

Champions tomorrow at Harding University.

Decathlon/Heptathlon

Lastly, we are taking a group of athletes to Fayetteville to compete in the decathlon and heptathlon

May 21 st and 22 nd . These athletes go through a tough two-day schedule, competing in several

events per day. Please come up when your name is called: Elijah Smith, Mason

Thompson, Maddison Fowler, and Elliott Dugan. Good Luck at the Decathlon and Heptathlon!

State Weight Meet

Tycen Baber finished first overall as a state champion in the 123 weight classification at the state weight meet for all classifications held in Lake Hamilton. Tycen Please come up to be recognized.

Soccer

Soccer team and individual awards will not be given at this time due to both teams competing in the state tournament late this week. We would like to highlight both teams accomplishments and wish them luck this week.

The Bearcat Soccer team gained its first winning season in several years and qualified for the state playoffs for the first time since 2019.

The Ladycat Soccer team earned Conference Runner Up for the first time in over a decade and have advanced to the state tournament

BASEBALL

The 2025 Bearcat Baseball Team had an incredibly successful season, and their hard work, determination, and growth both as athletes and as individuals were evident every step of the way. This year, the Bearcats showcased not only their skills on the field but also their commitment to becoming better every single day.

With an overall record of 14-7, including an impressive 8-2 mark in conference play, the Bearcats clinched their first regular-season conference title since 2011. This accomplishment is a testament to their dedication and teamwork. Additionally, the team’s perseverance carried them to the district tournament, where they finished as runner-up. For the second consecutive year, the Bearcats also made it to the regional tournament, a proud milestone for the program.

Coach Morris would like to extend a special thank you to Coach Rowland for his unwavering commitment throughout the season. His hard work and support played a significant role in the team’s success.

Thank you to all the seniors, for committing their time and effort into the program, you left this program better than you found it.

All-State:

• Rhett Brotherton

• Brody Peters

1st Team All-Conference:

• Michael Sullivan

• Evan Leonard

• Tripp Hensley

• Drake Dollar

Best teammate award

• Cooper Plunkett

Leadership Award

• Rhett Brotherton

Newcomer of the year

• Collin McClure

SOFTBALL

The Ladycat softball team had a successful year ending up with 16 wins and 5 losses.

The team won the regular season conference title for the second time in 3 years. They also won the district tournament title for the first time in several years. Beating the Pottsville apaches 5-4

Coach Hunter would like to say thanks to all the parents and supporters who followed the team this year. Coach Hunter would also like to give a special thanks to the greatest assistant coach ever, Tia Fryar!

Awards are as follows

4A All state

Abi Koppein

Addison Thomas

4-4A All District

Lily Rowland

Jayden Cox

Laynie Powell

Emmi Hensley

4-4A Honorable Mention All District

Lainee Garrett

Avery Montgomery

Alaya Richard

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 given over $554,000 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 13th 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 2025 winners of the Bearcat Foundation Scholarship are Rylie Bentley & Abi Koppein.

The McMillan Award and the LADYCATS award are both given out to a male and female athlete who has shown tremendous character and courage in the face of adversity, rather it be on or off the field or court. These awards are not given out every year, only when the Mena coaching staff recognizes when the above qualities are met at an above and beyond measure.

The 2025 Orville McMillan Award goes to Nathan Needham

The 2025 LADYCATS award goes to Laney Gilchrist

The Frank Mosley Outstanding Girl Athlete and the James E 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, 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 E Copher Award winner is: Brody Peters

This year’s Frank Mosley award winner is: Reese Montgomery

The Bearcat Foundation is excited to continue the tradition for our graduating seniors of presenting 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 consecutive athletic letters in their given sport or sports, and the silver medal represents a minimum of two consecutive athletic letters (including their Senior Season). Seniors who move into the district for their Senior Season are eligible for a Silver medal with a completed season. 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. When your name is called please come up to receive your medal.

GOLD

Rhett Brotheton

Evan Leonard

Brody Peters

Hunter Cannon

Carter Cossey

Kalib Cox

Kaielor Hastey

Jair Hernandez

Nathan Needham

Elijah Smith

Michael Sullivan

Sean Sullivan

Cody Short

Cooper Plunkett

Mason Sullivan

Addison Thomas

Karley Sharp

Jaden Roberts

Reese Montgomery

Bailey Heald

Abi Comeaux

Rylie Bentley

Marlene Celcilio

Laney Gilchrest

Kaya Denton

Isabell Cross

Lainee Garrett

Abi Kopein

Lily Rowland

SILVER

Lonny Kuakahela

Tara Hart

Isabell Vacca

Destiny Hogan

Gia Fagan Hobson

Rori Monk