BATESVILLE – Lyon College has announced that it will lift the moratorium on its  men’s and women’s cross country programs and restart them in the fall of 2017, seven years after suspending those programs, Director of Athletics Kevin Jenkins stated Monday.

Lyon has begun a nation-wide search for a new head coach for the programs and hopes to name the leader by mid-February, Jenkins said. The coach will then be looking to fill squads of 12 student-athletes on both the men’s and women’s teams and compete for the American Midwest Conference championship in November.

“One of the reasons we placed a moratorium on the programs is because there was a lack of teams in the TranSouth Athletic Conference,” Jenkins explained. “We were a member of that conference in 2009, but there were only four men’s teams and four women’s teams and we were the only conference member from Arkansas.

“But a lot has changed since then. We’re now a member of the very strong American Midwest Conference and there were 10 men’s teams and 11 women’s teams this past fall. There are also both men’s and women’s teams from (AMC members) Central Baptist College and Williams Baptist College in Arkansas. The AMC also hosted the NAIA National Championships as well, indicating the conference’s commitment to excellence in this sport, to go along with the other 16 championship sports.

American Midwest Conference schools who currently sponsor men’s and women’s cross country include Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee, Lindenwood University at Belleville in Illinois and Columbia College, Hannibal-LaGrange University, Missouri Baptist University, Park University, St. Louis College of Pharmacy and William Woods University in Missouri, in addition to CBC and WBC in Arkansas. Stephens College, an all-women’s college, also competes in the AMC.

Only Harris-Stowe State University and Lyon were AMC members who did not field cross country squads in 2016.

“(Lyon) is very excited about the return of cross country to our fast-growing athletics programs here,” Jenkins added. “Our goal is to have 24 student-athletes on these squads and to begin challenging for an AMC championship next fall.

“Cross country is a sport that we feel we will now have an excellent opportunity to recruit some outstanding student-athletes. And because it is more of an individual sport, it won’t take long to begin challenging for a conference title.”

In the fall of 2016, 89 men competed for the AMC men’s championship’s eight kilometer race, with Columbia claiming the team title for the third straight year and William Woods placing second. Both teams qualified for the NAIA Meet held in Elsah, Ill. There were 77 conference runners in the women’s five kilometer race. Missouri Baptist won it’s first-ever AMC title, with Park placing second. Both teams advanced to the national championships.

The reinstatement of the two cross country teams, in addition to restarting football and beginning men’s and women’s wrestling programs in the past three years, will bring the number of intercollegiate sports sponsored by Lyon to 14.

The post Lyon to restart cross country programs in 2017 appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

BATESVILLE – The Lyon College football program is reporting a change in its head coaching position just five days before the 2016 team reports for training camp. Lyon Director of Athletics Kevin Jenkins announced Friday that Kirk Kelley has resigned as head coach and former Scot associate head coach Kyle Phelps has been named the new head coach of the program. Both changes are effective immediately.

Lyon reinstated football three years ago after discontinuing the program in 1951. The Scots practiced in 2014, but did not play any intercollegiate contests. Last season Lyon posted a 0-11 season in its first season, finishing 0-6 against competition in the Central States Football League.

Kelley resigns after being named the head coach of the Lyon program in August 2013 and serving for three years. He is leaving Lyon to pursue other professional opportunities.

“We appreciate the willingness of Coach Kelley to come back and help us start the football program here at Lyon and know he had a tough job building the program from scratch,” Jenkins stated on Friday. “We wish him and his family good luck in the future in all their endeavors.”

Phelps, who played under Kelley in the Lyon baseball program, was Kelley’s first hire after Kelley was named head coach. Beginning his fourth year as the football recruiting coordinator, Phelps was named associate head coach before the 2015 season. He also served as defensive line coach for the Scots.

“We’re excited about Kyle assuming the role as head coach and believe the program will continue to grow and move forward under his direction,” Jenkins added. “He has shown excellent recruiting ability since joining our football staff and he has done an great job of assisting Coach Kelley.

“We have a lot of confidence in Kyle and we’re looking forward to the 2016 season and the excitement that will come with it. We are committed to continuing to build a respectable program and I think that’s what we’re going to do.”

Phelps is a native of Brandon, Fla. He graduated from Lyon and obtained his Master’s degree from Oklahoma Wesleyan University this spring.

He said he is looking forward to the challenges of continuing the development of the Lyon football program, now under his direction.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” Phelps stated. “I played in the baseball program here and graduated from Lyon and I love this place. All I can do is take the opportunity and try to continue to move the program forward and hopefully make the school, my family and the community proud. I’ll continue to work hard like I’ve done since I came back here and to help us continue to move in a positive direction.”

Phelps said he is excited about the return of the nucleus of the coaching staff, which includes the promotion of Del Howard to defensive coordinator in the spring, along with incoming offensive coordinator Shawn Daniel from Midland University.

“Having the coaching staff we have coming back is huge for the program,” Phelps commented. “Going into my first year as head coach, I’m going to lean on those guys a lot. The promotion of Del to defensive coordinator is tremendous. He was here last year as our defensive backs’ coach and has a great history of playing at the University of Missouri. He has played in Big 12 championship games and I think the guys really respect him. We saw a lot of improvement in our defense in the spring.

“Shawn will do a great job as offensive coordinator. He was at Midland University and has coached in the CSFL at Southwest Assemblies of God University. I know he’s going to know the schools we’ll be playing against in our conference and he brings a little different style to our offense. He’s a tremendous man and coach and I’m looking to working alongside of him.”

The Scots are expected to welcome more than 100 players to training camp on Wednesday, as the team prepares for the second season of football. Lyon will open the 2016 season with the first collegiate football game in the country on Thursday, Aug. 25, at Pioneer Stadium when they host Wayland Baptist University in a non-conference affair at 8 p.m. The Scots will host six home games in 2016.

The post Kelley resigns; Phelps named Lyon head football coach appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

BATESVILLE – Lyon College has made a pair of coaching changes involving its intercollegiate soccer teams, according to Director of Athletics Kevin Jenkins. Michael Brookshire, who has been the head coach of the Scots men’s squad for the past four seasons, has announced his resignation to pursue other business opportunities. Lyon women’s coach Chris Bocanegra will now be taking over the men’s program, effective immediately.

Jenkins stated that a national search is currently underway to find a new women’s head coach at Lyon.

Bocanegra takes over the men’s program after serving as the top assistant for the men and women’s programs for three seasons (2012-14) and then taking over the head coaching position for the Scot women in 2015.

In his first season as head coach, Bocanegra led the Lyon women’s soccer program to a 12-6-2 overall record and 8-2-2 conference record. The team also made an AMC Tournament Semifinals appearance. The 12 wins matched a program best, which last occurred in 2013.

He takes over a men’s program that finished the season with an all-time best record of 14-3-1 and advanced to the NAIA National Championship Tournament for the first time a year ago. Lyon recorded a program-record 13 shutouts on the season and earned a No. 24 ranking at the end of the season. The Scots dropped their opening-round game to 13^th-ranked Union College, 1-0, in double-overtime.

A graduate of Southern Wesleyan University, Bocanegra was part of the NAIA Region Tournament in 2005 and in 2007 where SWU was a semifinalist losing to Auburn University of Montgomery that was No. 2 in the nation at the time. SWU was also the NCCAA Region Finalist in 2006 and 2008.

Not only did Bocanegra find success with his team, but he also received several accolades for his individual performance. In 2005 and 2006, he was named All-Conference by the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) and added selections on the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) All-Region Team for all four of his collegiate years.

After graduating from SWU, Bocanegra served as a head coach and an assistant director for two years for Easley Soccer Club in Easley, South Carolina. He currently holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) “C” Coaching License.

Bocanegra graduated with two degrees from SWU with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Sport Management.

Jonathan Rivera, who is beginning his second season at Lyon, will continue to serve as the top assistant for both the men and women’s teams in 2016.

The post Lyon’s Bocanegra makes move from women’s soccer coach to men’s soccer coach appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.