Bruins, Raptors, Eagles all win state championships in various sports

By CAROL STUART
Brentwood Home Page
The year started off with a new football coach at Ravenwood, but by April the Raptors had yet another football coach, and then 2011 ended with Brentwood Academy looking for a new football coach.

Ralph Potter leaves BA

In between, Brentwood High School made the Class 6A quarterfinals after upsetting two district opponents in the playoffs.

All three high schools in the Brentwood city limits brought home state championships in a number of sports, as well as saw alumni do well.

Here are Brentwood Home Page’s top sports news stories for 2011 in chronological order (tomorrow we’ll take a look at our top sports feature articles for the year):

RHS coach Joe Rietveld

Ravenwood football coaching carousel: January saw the hiring of one coach from out-of-state, Virginia’s Del Smith, to replace Tom Shuman, but by spring break Smith resigned before moving to Tennessee. RHS then brought in Joe Rietveld from Indiana in April, giving the new Raptors coaching staff a late start heading into the fall season.

BA state wrestling champ, RHS third in duals:  Brentwood Academy’s Amos Mason took the city’s only state wrestling title, although Brentwood High and Ravenwood both had several medalists. The Raptors also had their highest finish in the state duals, taking third place in the team tourney.

Strong basketball showings: The Bruins and Lady Bruins both won the district tournament championships, and the BHS boys team made the sectional round before falling one game short of the state tournament. The Ravenwood girls advanced to the sectionals for the first time before their postseason run was over, and the Raptors boys made the region semifinals.

Preds Cup victory for BHS: The club hockey team from Brentwood High triumphed in the Preds Cup championship in a Battle of the Woods final against defending champion Ravenwood.

Wade breaks ‘Blind Side’ record: Track and field brought many of the big moments in spring sports at area schools, and one of the major achievements was Steve Wade’s discus throw that broke the mark previously set at BA’s meet by Blide Side subject Michael Oher. It also was retiring BA track coach Charlie Harper’s last time coaching in the meet named in his honor.

Raptors’ first state for boys soccer: Ravenwood battled back from elimination in a district semifinal against Franklin to win on a golden goal in overtime, beat Brentwood for the district title, and reached the region final. RHS then made the boys state tournament for the first time.  

Perfect game for Beyke: The Lady Raptors had another postseason run in softball, although falling short of their second state berth, and Ashley Beyke pitched a perfect game in the regional.

Lazas family keeps state decathlon title: BHS junior Jake Lazas turned in a dominating performance to win the Class AAA state decathlon championship, won the previous two years by older brother Kevin.

Lauren Caballero, Sean Karl, Iris Hao

RHS tennis state championships: The Lady Raptors repeated as AAA state team tennis champs in memory of their long-time coach A.W. Speake, who died the previous fall. Lauren Caballero (doubles) and Sean Karl (singles) also won their second straight individual state titles.

BA, BHS boys state track titles on last event: It was a dramatic finish for both the Brentwood High (AAA) and Brentwood Academy (DII) to win their state championships on the final relay race. It was a repeat for the Bruins and sent Eagles coach Charlie Harper out a winner.

BA grad wins AAU national decathlon: Samford signee Josh Davies, who helped BA to the state track title, won a national championship in July when he captured the AAU decathlon over Jake Lazas.

Pan Am Jr. gold for Kevin Lazas: Brentwood’s strong decathlon contingent captured another championship when BHS grad and University of Arkansas student-athlete Kevin Lazas won the gold at the Pan-American Junior games.

College kicking records for former Bruins: Another BHS alum, kicker Brian Davis, broke Sun Belt Conference and school records during a game this fall for the Arkansas State football team.

Lady Raptors volleyball repeat: Ravenwood never lost to a Tennessee opponent all season on the way to becoming two-time state champions in October. Sophomore Kat Hutson was named tourney MVP, an award that went  to her sister Madelyn the previous season.

RHS girls soccer team returns to state: The Lady Raptors won a hard-fought district semifinal battle with the Lady Bruins on a PK shootout, then advanced into the state tournament again.

Bruins reached the 6A quarterfinals after two upsets

Bruins win two upsets in football playoffs: Brentwood dropped its district opener to Independence and lost to district runner-up Franklin in the regular-season finale, but shocked both the Eagles and Rebels in the playoffs on their way to the 6A quarterfinals.

3 cross country state championships: The BHS and BA boys and the RHS girls all captured the team titles at the state cross country meet in November.

BA stadium plans: Brentwood Academy released plans but no timetable for making major renovations to its football facility.

Shuler picked for Army Bowl: BA offensive lineman Graham Shuler, who has committed to Pac-12 school Stanford, was selected to play in January’s Army All-American Bowl high school national all-star game.  

BA’s Potter returns to McCallie:  After five years with the Eagles, head football coach and athletic director Ralph Potter resigned from Brentwood Academy in December to become head coach again at the McCallie School, where he previously was also a player and assistant under his father.