FORT SMITH – UAFS Athletics and Riggs CAT of Fort Smith will host Buckets of Hope donation drive on Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. at Stubblefield Center during the Lone Star Conference volleyball matches.

UAFS Volleyball team will match up against St, Mary’s on Friday and St. Edward’s on Saturday. Admissions to the volleyball games will be FREE with a canned food or baby supply donation which will be collected at the front-door ticket office at Stubblefield Center. All donations will benefit local Community Services Clearinghouse, Earthbound Angels and Lions Pride Pantry.

For more information, contact Christy Williams at 479-788-7022.

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FORT SMITH – The University of Arkansas- Fort Smith cross country teams took the titles at Saturday’s Fort Smith Invitational. The Invitational, only the second hosted by UAFS in school history, opened the the 2019 season for the Lions and Lady Lions.

Senior Kandace Young set the pace in the women’s five kilometer competition, earning individual honors with a time of 20:52. Freshman Kari Sosa and Junior Morgan Fagen finished second and third with respective times of 22:01.01 and 22:20.08. Senior Cami Hedstrom finished fourth with a time of 22:31.3 while Freshman Megan Thompson rounded out the field at fifth finishing with a time of 22:58.6.

Senior Will Phillips earned the individual title in the men’s eight kilometer competition running the race in 28:30.2. Freshman Shad Cates and Senior Oliver Perezfinished second and third with respective times of 30:08 and 30:22.4. Freshman Nathaniel Gonzalez finished fourth with a time of 31:19.2 while Alfredo Gallegos, also a Freshman, finished fifth with a time of 31:33.5.

UAFS’ travel to Joplin, Missouri on Saturday, Sept. 21 to compete in the Missouri Southern State University Stampede.

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FORT SMITH – The Harding volleyball team battled but came up short at Arkansas-Fort Smith as the Lady Bisons fell 3-1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-19, 26-24) in non-conference action. The loss snapped a three match winning streak.

RECORDS

Harding falls to 13-5 overall and Arkansas-Fort Smith improves to 12-6.

SET ONE HIGHLIGHTS

Up 10-9, Arkansas-Fort Smith went on a 6-1 run to take a 16-10 lead in the first set. The Lady Lions went on a 9-3 run to close the set 25-14.

SET TWO HIGHLIGHTS

Trailing 12-5, Harding went on a 12-5 run to tie the set at 17. With a 22-21 lead, Harding forced an attack error and had a kill to lead 24-21. After an Arkansas-Fort Smith block, the Lady Bisons got the set win on a kill by Emily Clayton.

SET THREE HIGHLIGHTS

The third set stayed close in the opening points until Arkansas-Fort smith went on a 5-1 run to lead 16-11. Harding tried to battle back but couldn’t get any closer than three as the Lady Lions won 25-19.

SET FOUR HIGHLIGHTS

Arkansas-Fort smith took a 12-6 lead early until Harding went on a 6-0 run to lead 19-17. The teams exchanged 3-0 runs until the Lady Bisons took a 24-23 lead off a kill by Sara Smith. A Harding service error tied the set and then back-to-back kills by the Lady Lions gave them the set victory 25-24.

TEAM STAT

Arkansas-Fort Smith led at the net, hitting .284 with 64 kills. Harding hit .172 and had 55 kills. The Lady Lions forced 24 Lady Bisons attack errors.

Harding who leads the Great American Conference in blocks, had three while Arkansas-Fort Smith had 10.

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Harding was led by sophomore outside hitter Emma Reeves, who had a career-high 14 kills. She also led the team, hitting .481 on 27 attempts.

Zoe Hardin added 12 kills for Harding and the reigning GAC Offensive Player of the Week Emily Clayton had 11.

Taylor Lake led the Lady Bisons defense with 21 digs and Bianca Trevino had 10.

Arkansas-Fort Smith was led by Kennedi Coleman who had 20 kills and hit .314. Erin Black had 55 assists for the Lady Lions and Emily Tripp led the defense with 37 digs.

UP NEXT

Harding will travel to Oklahoma this weekend for a pair of GAC matches. The Lady Bisons will face Southwestern Oklahoma at 6 p.m., on Friday and then face Northwestern Oklahoma at 2 p.m., on Saturday.

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Christian University Athletic Director Curtis Janz said Friday he will resign to become the athletic director at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Janz has served as OC’s athletic director since January 2009 and has led the athletic program through a long period of sustained success both on the field and in the classroom. He will work at OC until the end of the month before beginning his duties at UAFS – like OC a member of the Heartland Conference – on Aug. 1.

“Oklahoma Christian has been my home for more than 30 years as a student-athlete, assistant coach and as athletic director,” Janz said. “I value the relationships that have been built over those years, especially with the athletic staff and coaches.

“OC will always be special to me because it is the place I grew into the person I am today. So many people have invested in me – Dan Hays, Max Dobson, Stafford North, Stephanie Findley, Randy and Tom Heath and so many others. I will always be in their debt.”

OC President John deSteiguer said the departure of Janz – who has been associated with OC in some form since 1983 – will leave a void.

“Curtis is a great man and friend,” deSteiguer said. “Integrity, relationships, culture-building – these are only a few of his many strong talents. And Curtis’ story is quintessentially OC – he came to OC as a student, his life was changed, and as a result, he has changed the lives of many others. He will be missed – and he will continue to be loved and respected by many here, including me.”

Janz played an important role in OC’s athletic history, having successfully guided the university through the difficult and sometimes-arduous NCAA Division II membership process. OC just finished its first academic year as a full NCAA member and seems poised for success in the future in Division II.

Janz first came to Oklahoma Christian in 1983 as a member of Hays’ first basketball team at OC. Janz graduated in 1986 and stayed at OC to serve first as a graduate assistant under Hays, then as a full-time assistant coach starting in 1988.

He spent 19 years in that role, directing recruiting, monitoring the academic progress of players and helping with the on-the-floor coaching and game preparation for the Eagles. He also worked extensively with the highly successful OC Cage Camps each summer. Janz left coaching in August 2009 so he could focus on his duties as athletic director, a job he started the previous January.

The 52-year-old native of Wichita, Kan., has overseen a growing athletic department that includes 16 sports and was responsible for fundraising and setting the vision for the department. The latter element is something which he took particular care in doing.

OC has enjoyed much athletic success during Janz’s tenure, winning six of the university’s seven national titles during that time – three in men’s golf (NAIA 2009 and 2011, NCCAA 2012), two in men’s cross country (NAIA 2011, NCCAA 2012) and one in men’s tennis (NAIA 2012).

Under Janz, OC posted three straight top-10 finishes from 2010 to 2012 in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup for NAIA schools, which measures the across-the-board success of college athletic departments.

OC student-athletes also have excelled academically in recent years. During the 2015-16 academic year, Oklahoma Christian athletes had an overall grade-point average of 3.26. OC won the Heartland Conference’s overall academic championship in 2013-14, with the university’s female student-athletes taking top honors in the conference in 2014 and 2016.

“We have accomplished so much – six national championships in the last eight years and progressing though the NCAA Division II membership process to full members – but I am most proud of the culture we have in the athletic department,” Janz said.

“We have become a family; we care about and value each other as people first. It has always been my desire to teach student-athletes to compete athletically, academically, socially and spiritually. We have been very successful doing that as a department.”

Janz received his master’s degree in 1988 from the University of Central Oklahoma. He is an active member of the NCAA Division II Athletic Directors Association and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

Janz is the co-author of a textbook, “Basketball Skill Progressions,” with Jerry Krause of Gonzaga University and James Conn of Central Missouri State University. The text has been adopted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as a component of its Youth Basketball Instructional Packets. In 2003, Janz received the second annual AFLAC National Assistant Coaches of the Year award.

Curtis is married to Kathryn Janz, who grew up in Elk City. She works for Keller Williams Realty.  They are the parents of a teenage daughter, Delaney.

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