FOOTBAll TEAM. FIRST ROW, J . MOTe, J . Heath , K Cottrell , J . Smith , J . Citty , l. lambert, B. Thrasher, C. Peacock, W. Mays, R. Phillips, B. Tucker. SECOND ROW , Tra iner Higginbotham, B. Arnold , M. Walker, B. HunTer, G. Randolph , C. Sharp, l. Garnett, J. Figgins, R. Corter, J. Jock· son, J. Collier, G. Dumas, Assistant Coach Johnson . THIRD ROW, Assistant Coach Groover, Assislant Coach Knight, Trainer McKee, D. HaNey, R. Smith, P. Williams, S. Tote, D. Berryhill, R. Schenck, J . Escue , B. Smi th , J . Pate, W. Harrison, R. G riffin, Coach Allison.

FOOTBALL

Bisons return to gridiron after 28 years' absence

-

CO ·CAPTAINS Bill Thrasher and Jimmy Citty lead the Bisons on field for season opener against the Itawomba Warriors from fulton, Mississippi .

128

Harding College's young Bisons grew athletically in a hurTY this yea r with the addition of intercol· legiate football. Also, besides returning to the inter collegiate gridiron after a 28-year withdrawal. Hal" ding was admilled to the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference. Next season Harding will compete for the AIC crown with a full schedule of conference play in football, basketball, baseball, and track.

JTarding re-entered intercollegiate football ewel lently equipped with a new playing ficld, topnotch cq"-ipment, a modern field house, and a competent coaching staff. Heading the coaching staff was Carl Allison, former Oklahoma University great, who came to H arding from Clinton, Oklahoma. where he coached a Class A high school in football and baseball for four years.

Football officially began for Harding in Septem. bel' when more than 50 hopefuls turned out for the first practice. At that first meeting Allison told his men that this year would be a "year of experiences." ITe predicted correctly, as the Bisons won only one game io six starts. Besides a lack of experience, ITar ding was hampered by a lack of size, the line averag· ed only 187 pounds, and by a lack of good break away speed in the backfield.

DEFENSIVE standout, Roy Griffin 132). demonstrates his style with a fine tackle. It looks as if Bob Arnold (84) might get the wont end of the deal, however.

for a few more yards, Harding ·s Jerry Mote seems to have the distant Arkansas State goal in mind but finds the going a little rough. defense ond a hustling offense characterized Bison ploy in earning a thrilling 7 ·6 victory over the up-state rivals at Hording ·s new Alumni Field.

129

fliPPED up by Jim Gtty. a Mississippi College bock falls headlong into "double trouble ." Here. about to apply the finishing touch to this Choctaw are Johnny Collier (331 and Cliff Sharp (501. defensive regulars for the Bisons. Unable to contain the Miuiuippi team, the Bisons (olt 1.7·7.

130

,­.. However, after weeks of intensive practice, the Bi­

sons were ready for the season opener against Itawam­ba Junior College from Fulton, Mississippi, at the new Alumni Field in Searcy. The mud and rain along with opening game "jitters" and mechanical errors allowed Itawamba to beat Harding 19-0. In spite of their miscues, the team's courage and deter­mination pleased the coaches, and a capacity crowd viewing the game. In their next home outing the Bisons went out against a big, highly touted fresh ­man team from Arkansas State and came back the proud owners of a 7-6 victory, Harding's first foot­ban win in 28 years. The Harding tally came on a screen pass from Lewis Walker to left end Bob Tucker who picked up good interference and went in un­touched. The play, which covered 43 yards, was a favorite of the team and one they used to good ad­vantage, often picking up long yardage with it. The extra point proved to be the big mark, however, when the Indians came roaring back with a touchdown, but failed in their conversion attempt. In the other home game of the season powerful Southern State ground out a heartbreaking 42-14 win before a large homecoming crowd.

CAlL ALLISON, former Oklahoma University great, now head Bison foot· boll coach, leads his bocks in a defensive drill during a practice seU100

0

7

7

7

109

RESULTS

Opponents

Itawamba Junior College 19

Arkansas State Freshmen 6

Martin Branch University of Tennessee 33

Southern State 42

Delta State 60

Mississippi College 47

LlTIl E Ken Cottrell grimaces as he words off the out -stretched arms of a Mississippi College tackler and turns up-field for precious yardage. Deter­mination and drive, exemplified here by Ken, characterized all the Bisons.

Football lVoeEI (801 and "Randy" Randolph (65) kill on offensive thrust in Bison territory late in the third period by smothering this Itowomoo holfback. ra,n and inexperience blighted the hopes of a hus"ing Harding tea m for on opening gome win in the school's first football excursion in 28 years.

131

BASKETBAll TEAM. FIRST ROW: Timmy Rhodes, James Ford, Ken Nicholson. David Smith. SECOND ROW, Jim Cilty, Jim Redd ing, lorry Brakefield, David Simpson, leon Mcqueen , THIRD ROW: Coach Groover, SIeve Smith, Gerold Cosey, Jim Pratt,

132

JUBILANCE marking their faces. these Bi$Ons happily mob Coach Groover after pulling out a thrilling one·point victory over Hendrix.

HIGH above two Hendrix Warriors, larry Brakefield grabs another rebound '0 aid in the Herd ' s victory over the Conway team. Harding won 95-87.

BASKETBAll

Inexperience, lack of height hinder Harding's team

The tea m began practIcIng early in October preparing for the first game of the year. Opening in poor form, however, the Bisons were upset on Thanks­giving Day by John Brown University, 66-60. Then followed a week-end trip to Tennessee in wh ich the Bisons played hard to plit even, with a loss to Bethel College and a victory over Freed-Hardeman. Back in

Harding played the first conference game the season against Arkansas Tech, who eventually

the championship. Harding found a hot ''Vonder team that nigh t and were tagged with a 105-81

Several weeks later in a return game with Bethel CcJlllE'ge at Searcy, the Bisons turned in a memorable .... rform'.n r p. shooting and rebounding their way to

91-79 victory. Playing for Bethel was little Laverne Galmer. top small college scorer of the nation. Leon McQUI~en was the outstanding player of the game, bollVelrer. as he led all scorers with 30 points.

WAYLAID by two ASTC Bears , leon McQueen will make a trip fa the free throw line. The ASTC Bears edged out on inspired Bison learn by four points.

LEON McQueen knows 0 leam cannot win w ithout 'hot boll. Here, "Big Honk" goes all aul in on effort to retrieve one that has escaped as teammates look on.

133

JUMP shOOTing from inside, Jim Ciffy pumps in TWO more against Arkan­sas College. Improved in his scoring ability, Citry greatly aided the team.

134

Inability to develop offensive punch along with inexperience and lack of height contributed largely to a sub-par season for Harding in basketball. Although the Bisons did not do as well as was expected in pre­season predictions, they gained lots of experience over the 27 game schedule. Winning only seven of tlwse games, the team often displayed ability and hu<t\e which promised of better things to come.

Seven of the squad members were fresh men and only one man was lost by graduation, team captain Leon McQueen. Leon was highpoint scorer of the team and also finished among the top ten scorers of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference with a 14.6 season average. He also led the conference in shooting percentage on field goals. Jim Redding, Jim Citty and Gerald Casey, junior lettermen, also con­tributed a big part to the Bison's scoring. Redding, a transfer from Oklahoma Christian College finished the season very strong,averaging almost sixteen points per game. Outstanding freshmen were Steve Smith. David Simpson, and Larry Brakefield, all of whom often made the starting lineup. Rounding out tile squad were freshmen Jim Pratt., James Ford, Timmy Rhodes, David Smith, and sophomore Ken Nichol­son. Two Bisons received the honor of gaining hon­orable-mention on the aU-AIC team selections. These two were Leon McQueen and Jim Citty.

EASY does it. Harding·s speedy guard, Casey, calmly loys one up against the Scots in me consolation game of me Harding touma ment.

-t-... I .. ; game " jiMers" and mechanical errors allowed John Brown University to defeol Hard ing, 66 -60, before a capacity Thanksgiving Day crowd in

Memorial Field House. Ken Nicholson here bats one away from a driving JBU guard as lorry Brakefield rushes in to pick up the loose boll.

Basketball whols the use?" this Arkansas College player seems to soy as David Simpson (23) and J im Pratt surround one of his teammates in a fast bit of during Ihe tournament. larry Brakefield drives along the basel ine. goes up. and flips in two points against Ozarks in another shot of tourney ploy.

135

HOOKING oller a defender, Jim Redding displays the poise and ac­curacy which mode the slender junior a consistently high pointmaker.

Basketball

136

An innovation in the Harding bask~tbal! SC~II(' this year was an invitational tournament held at Rhodes Memorial Field House January 1-2. rlal'dill~_ Ouachita, Arkansas College and College of the Ozarks entered. In the opening game ITarding teed off against the Mountaineers of the College of the Ozark, a till' AIC contender, and were beaten 73-66. In the COli­

solation game with Arkansas College, a tall, fast Highlander team outrebounded and outshot the Bi sons to take a 79-65 victory. Powerful Ouachita, at the time number one team in the ATC, got hot in the last half to win the tournament by defeating Ozarks.

Christian Brother's College, a new opponent for the Bisons and a strong contender in the national NAIA tournament held a t Kansas City, Missouri, barely handed H ard ing a heart breaking 82-75 loss in one of the better games of the season played at M emphis. Throughout the remainder of the season Harding was a hot a nd cold ball club, rising to play grea t games against outstanding teams but failing to spur themselves to win ga mes against poorer op· position . With the aid of a new scholarship program and the ex perience gained by the squad, next year's Bisons hope to overcome this' dilemma and it is ccr· tain that they will do so.

BIG BISONS, Jim (illy 134) and leon McQueen, teomed up 10 score 25 and 30 points respectively while defeating Bethel in the fmest game of the season.

"JUMP BAll," says the referee even though James ford looks as If he disagrees with the call. However, it remained a jump ball

60 72 7b 81 51 51 91 46 811 74 74 77 7S 58 68 9S 86 511 64 71 71 76 liS 64 59

66 65

HESULTS

Johll Brown Univc l-s ity Bol hel Coll ege Freed-T [ardem an Arkansas T ech Arkallsas A&M H endrix Ilelhcl Co ll egc College of th e Ozarks )-I{,IIr1rr'soll Ouachita Arkall sas Coll cp;c SOlllllorll Stalc Christi a ll Brothcrs Arkansas A&M Arkansas Slate T eachers Il endri" John Brown U ni vcrsity Collep;e of the Oza r ks Helldersoll Arkan sas T C'c h Ollachita Arkansas Collcge Freed-T lardcma n Southcrn Statc Arkansas Slat.e TC'(l chcrs

nanling Tn v ita tional Tournament

Collep;c of the Oza rks Arkansas Coll ep;e

0 ppOllents

66 <)0 72

105 66 52 7<) 5<) R1 <)-1 <)6 RO 82 67 72 87 68 62 7r, R<) 7R RC, RO 73 76

73 79

MEN OF VISION, M. E. Berryhill , Joe Pryor, and Cli ff Ganus. comprise the fa culty a thletic comm itlee who wisely gu ide Ha rd ing ' , sports program

MOTIONING towa rd the Cou rl, Coach Hugh G roover 9,,' e$ David Si mpson some losl mmute st ralegy before sending him In lO the game. Ta k ing 0 reSI , J im (Ill y l IS tens In on the p lannmg.

137

1959 BASEBALL TEAM. FIRST ROW, Coach Harry Olree, Doyle Wood , Steve Mayf jeld. lorry Peebles. Jerry Escue. Ken N icholson , Huel Evons. Buddy McKee, Ed Higginbotham. SECOND ROW: Johnny Bryont, Ben Camp, Harold Norwood, Cliff Sharp, George Treadway, Joe Hightower, Jerry Mitchell. Jim Brown , Assi slant Coach Dick Johnson .

BASEBALL 1959

Hard hitting team finishes with .500 for season

138

Coach Harry Olree's baseball Bisons jumped off to a blazing start last season, compiling a string of eight consecutive victories before bowing to Arkansas Tech 1-2. Clutch-hitting by first baseman Gerald Casey, who batted .393 for the season, and the ex· cellent pitching of curve-bailer Larry Peebles backed up by Steve Mayfield accounted for this early success.

A good hitting and fielding group, Harding stomp­ed Southern Baptist in the season opener 12-4 but had more trouble quelling conference foe, Ouach ita, 3-2 the next time out. Continuing their win· ing ways the Bisons won a double-header from South­ern Baptist at Walnut Ridge and came home to take a twin-bill from Henderson 's Reddies by the identical scores of 4-3. Against Arkansas Tech, Ed Higgin­botham pitched the Bisons to a 5-4 victory in the opening game but Tech handed the Herd their first loss in the second game of the afternoun. After this loss, along with the departure of star shortstop Keith Boler, Harding could never quite regain her early season form but went ahead to record eleven wins against twelve losses for the year.

ATTEMPTING to squeeze in another run , Bison shortstop Keith Boler ac­cidentally pops up. Hard ing won this conlest w ith Southem Baptist 12·".

12

3

9

4

5

5

0

6

1

11

3

RESULTS

Harding-Opponents

4 Southern State 4 3

2 Ouachita Baptist 0 0

1 Southern Baptist 18 0

3 Henderson State 4 3

4 Arkansas Tech 1 2

4 Arkansas College

3 Ozarks 0 3

13 Ozarks 4 8

4 Henderson State 9 6

8 ASTC 0 23

6 Ouachita Baptist 2 15

away from a high, hard one, centerfielder Joe Hightower to the ground in a bit of fost action ogainst Southern Baptist.

- ....

--

KEITH BOLER bocks away from the plote with arms roised in a characteristic gesture of victory as Huel Evons, Harding outfielder, hustles home for the Bisons.

M IGHTY Cosey did not strike oul according to the Harding version of the legend. First baseman Gero ld Cosey got that dutch hit to beat OuachiTa 3·2.

TRACK 1959

Two cinder men take top honors • state meet

EFFORT dearly marks the foce of Harding speedster Wayne Gaither as he breaks the tope a winning step in front of a pursuing Henderson Reddie.

Although blighted by marked weakness in the field events and an over-all lack of depth, the 1959 cinder edition of Harding's Bisons compiled an en­viable record due to determination and desire. In Harding 's sophomore year of intercollegiate track competition, the thin-clads made their presence keenly felt in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference. Often having to overcome a staggering deficit due to the field events, Harding always placed high in the meets because of her nmning strength.

Culminating their careers by graduation, Roger Brown and Fred Massey led the talented array of runners. Roger, who was never beaten in two years of competition on Arkansas tracks, won the state championship in the mile run at Little Rock. Al­though Fred lost his specialty, the 880 yard run, he garnered points through the season. The brightest spot in the Harding picture was freshman hurdler, Lewis Walker, who took first place honors in the low hurdles with a time of 24.6 seconds to become the AIC champ. Ed Hightower was the only sure pointmaker in the field events. Sprinter Wayne Gaith­er greatly aided the team in the dashes and relays.

EXECUTION of a well-practiced exchange between Ed Hightower and " Ri p" Van Winkle pays off in the 880 yard reloy and the Bisons come home a winner. Making up for weaknesses in the field events by strong running ability, Harding was on able and respected foe in the Arkansas trock circuit.

140

-

,0 .;

III1rANDINIG in the field events for Harding , Ed Hightower goes high the air gening off a good one and w ins first place in the broad jump.

lISSe.n V i lie

ALL- VICTORIOUS Roger Brown, never de · feated in two seasons of Arkansas competi ­tion , w ins his final race, unchallenged.

RESULTS

Hendrix Ouachi ta Harding Hendrix Arkansas Tech Hard ing Henderson Harding ASTC H arding JBU ASTC Harding Harding Arka nsas Tech Henderson Harding Ouach ita AlC State Meet Hendrix AST C Henderson Ouachi ta Harding

Score

80 51 49 80 Yz 56 Yz 26 76 51 89 54 Yz 21

99 28 64 64 59 66 Yz 66 Yz

50 50 31 20 \12 18

ACE hurdler Lewis Wolker strides his way 10 victory at the stote A. I. C. meet held in little Rock. Trailing lew is lOp ASTC trocksler, Bill M elton.

14)

CLUB SPORTS continue to be the number one attraction of intramural athletics WiTh nearly all men 's social clubs competing for championships in vori ous evenTS such as sohball, ragtag football, volleyball , and basketball. APK seems to be the power this year, winning three of six club events offered

MEN'S INTRAMURALS

Sports program has high participation percentage

, "

Spirited rivalry marked the parLicipation of lIar­ding's clubs in ragtag football , so ftball, volleyball. basketbalL swimming, and track. With almost 100 percent participation by the clubs in these sports. Cec il Beck conducted one of the most successful and popular phases of the Ilarding sports program, club intra murals. An innova ti on this yea r was the division of the small and large clubs into two separate leagues. the American league for the smaller clubs and the Nationa l league for the larger ones.

Early last fall Sub T -16 trounced Galaxy, 17-2. for the National leagu e championship in so ftba ll while Koinon ia romped the Pioneers, 19-6, in Ameri­can league play. In a tional league ragtag power­laden APK swept to victory over Sub T -16 in the championship gam e, 27-7. Sigma Tau Sigma had no trouble with an undermanned Independent "1'''d''.1 overriding them for a victory in American league ra g ta g. Again putting in a strong bid for a National league crown, APK was defeated in the basketball fin als by a smooth TAG team, 70-50. TNT swept through the small club league without a loss and won a 78-66 victory over Sigma Tau for the champion·

DIGGING for home, Bud Gentry appears determined to score againST powerful Giants, undefeated champions of the intramural baseball season,

" MOLE" VALENTINE leaps high aTtempting TO STove off big Ge rold Ebker' s slam '" a close game between the jun iors and sen iors . Comp le tely domi nating closs ploy, the seniors won three titles,

APK also won thc volleyball ch ampionship in large club division with a victory over Lambda

wh ile T T won the Amcrican Ica~c crown defeating Sigma Tau. In club swimming it was

APK in the National lea~c, th ough th cy push(,d by the Pioneers, and, at las t, Sigma Tau

TNT in the American league. Always powcr­Sub T-16 captured the track and fi eld t it lc by

rmni~lg 9 of th c 16 cvcnts. Ncw records werc set in 440 ann 880 yard dash es, and the mile rc lay by Sub T runncrs. Waync Ga ither capturcd threc places on Track and Field Day in the 100, 220, 440 ya rd sprints sctting a ncw rccord in thc 440 a 51.6 clocking. Lewis W alkcr set a new rccord

the high hurdl~s with a time of 16.-1 seconds. Beck's r~gular intramural program a lso ma in ­

its popularity evcn th ough thc college was in full sca le intercollegia te competiti oll.

off the year's ca lendar of intra mura l events flail footba ll which provided footba ll enthusiasts a chance to participate. In championship play

Lions. led by Il amld Valentine and Ed High­defeated Davc Mcadow 's Col ts .

IOUGH AND TUMBLE rag tag footbo ll provided participants With a taste of the real t.llng , Here, John Don iel s tries on end run but loses his rag .

, / ,I'

, (' tI./f" ...., :. ~ ,

;' , / r

143

SOUTHWESTERN All ·STARS. FIRST ROW , Wilson , Mote, Kidd, Beene, Camp. SECOND ROW: Hicks , Mclory, Cooch Allen , Brooks , Conn, Gardner.

CAPTURING the trophy for outslanding play in this year's Bison oll·slor game was l. T. Beene of Ihe Southweslernen.

144

BATtliNG for the boll as it comes off Ihe nm ore two opposing OIl -stOfS . Waiting to gather up the loose boll if it should come their way are J . R. Bailey, lorry Peebles , and Tom Bridges .

JIMM Y ALLEN and Pete Word of 'he faculty ··Go·Goes" lower over th is unident ified player as they strain 10 caplure a rebound

Softball, one of the most popular events, was lelSilly won by the Orioles who dominated most of the

with their hitting and fielding ability. Little Bryant won the individual batting crown with

healthy .643 season average. In basketball the Go­IPIlers of the Big Ten conference dumped the Aggies

the Southwest conference 66-61, in the major championship playoff, but the underdog

So\lthwestern'~rs sneaked up on the favored Big Ten 1lI.I··Stlllrs. 59-58,in the annual Bison game. L. T. Beene

awarded the outstanding player's trophy. In league play the Elks topped the Gators, 68-

for the championship. In their all-star game the leaguers spilled the highly rated Pacific

standouts, 27-20. Baseball was king of the sports with extra large student participation.

Bennett Wood's Giants went undefeated to win the from a slugging Dodger team. Faculty domination ended in class sports this as the seniors won football, volleyball, and bas­

championships. The seniors upset the faculty a score of 26-7 in the ragtag game and also master­them in the volley ball tournament. The juniors,

"""enUH:'g champs, lost to the seniors in the basketball toulm'lment 87-82, in a double overtime game.

Certain special events were also offered to supple­the regular schedule and were known as Sports Last year the winner in these events,which in­

w •• ucu the "Up" contests, rope jump, rope climb, l ':~~~:~:~:distance kick, basketball golf and shooting I. and basketball " penuckle", was Gerald Ca­

I>e.ar<:v Jumor.

a brilliant intercollegiate and intramural career, Fred Money ... Track and Field Oay BBO.yard dash in 2: 1 0 for the Mohicans.

MILO HADWIN, recipient of lost year's outstanding intramural athleTe a­ward , makes a djfficult left-handed return in a well-matched handball game.

MEN'S INTRAMURALS

TIRING Ken Dunn of Sigma Tau Sigma hands the bolan 10 anchor-man Bill S'TI im on the 1051 leg of the mIle reloy, w"ich Sub T· 16 won in record time.

145

DUST I. kicked into the air by these HardIng ladie. 11) o. they . traln 10 hold Ihelr own In a tug ·of·war contest. A new girl '. event on Track and Field Day, it became very popular,

-.-­... ~ , .-~ , -

WOMEN'S INTRAMURALS

Outstanding leadership vitalizes life of activities

146

The women's intramural pmgram under the di­rection of Miss Joyce Hi ggs reached new heights in student interest and parti cipa Li on this year.

Last fall inll-amura l softba ll pmvided plenty of good competition a nd fun. Pitcher Jo Ann Tharp, first basema n Donna Fclici, and second baseman Marie Kee kept the India ns out in front of Sherry Huffstutler 's Phillies, to take fi rst place.

Interest in volleyba ll was high with thirteen of the women's soc ial clubs entering teams. The last few ga mes of the tourna ment were very good exhibi· tions of skill, tea mwork , and spirit. Pat Young's In· dependents, after having lost once to the Delta Chis, carne back to upset them by winning four out of six games and the Litl e of "cham ps."

Intramural basketball was characteri7.ed by en· thusiasm and the desire to win . Caml Hichardson's "Arabians" proved to be the most outstanding tea m. Lynn Prysock, Sa rah Bmwn, and Kathy West Were outstand ing players.

Individual skill tournaments were held in table­tennis and badminton. Sarah Brown climbed early in the tournament to the number one position and remained undefeated to become the table tenn is champion. Sylvia Johnson and Martha McGill tied for first place in badminton .

The annual Track and Field Day ends the intra­mural yea r. In 1959 Oeges came out on top with the Kappa Phis and WHCs not far behind. Kirsten Chris· tensen, a Ka ppa Phi, won the 100 yard dash and the running broad jump. The Oege 440 yard relay came in first, and Jeanne H ockett won the 50 yard dash.

COMPETITION ra n high in dub volleyball as lOP' notch '&am, vied for ,n. title. Tofebl $tor, Mariorie Hayes, here relurn s a serve to the Independent'

FIRST ROW, Anno Jo George, Joyce Johnson, Delores Val­Kemp, Wando Gwin, Ruth Browning SECOND ROW, Rachoel

Donna Felici, Pot Young, Maxine Smith, Rose Jones.

COMPETITION was the keynote of women·s basketball this year. Here, Maxine Smith suc­cessfully defends the boll against Betty Kemp.

RIGGS, women·s sports director, makes plans with her assistants . are; (left to right) Seostrunk, Hayes, Woodie, Cloud and Johnson.

DOT GARRETT, on outstanding tennis player, matches her opponent shot for shot in a well-played game. Dot seldom loses in intramural competition.

147