Around 11:45 a.m. Saturday, Siloam Springs soccer coach Chuck Jones was in high spirits just moments after the Lady Panthers' girls soccer team won its second straight Class 6A championship with a 1-0 win over Searcy.
Fast forward nearly two hours later and Jones was in tears, consoling players from the SSHS boys soccer team, which fell 2-1 to Russellville in the 6A boys finals.
Indeed, it was a range of emotions from one end of the spectrum to the other for all associated with the Siloam Springs soccer program.
But at the end of the day, win or lose on both sides, it was a great day for Siloam Springs soccer.
For five straight years now, the Siloam Springs soccer program has been represented by at least one team in the state finals, and twice now, they've had both teams in the championship games in the same year.
Judging by the talent on the field and what's coming up through the ranks, I'd bet the farm that streak will continue at least for a few more years.
Give Bowen credit
We haven't mentioned his name much over the last few months, but Jason Bowen still had a lot to do with the success of the soccer programs this year.
Bowen coached Siloam Springs to boys state titles in Class 5A in 2011 and 2012 and a girls state championship in 2014. He was placed on administrative leave in early March and tendered his resignation as a coach/teacher around a week later, citing medical reasons.
I remember talking to Bowen a little bit after that and him saying it would be very difficult to watch the teams play this year. Remember these were two programs he basically built from scratch.
Bowen called me the day before the state semifinals in Searcy and told me he was traveling down to watch both teams play in the semifinals. He and his family were also in attendance at Razorback Field on Saturday for the state finals. No doubt he's happy both teams were able to finish strong.
Bowen will forever be remembered as the man who put Siloam Springs soccer on the Northwest Arkansas map.
Decisions to make
And they may have already been made. We'll soon find out.
Chuck Jones, who was Bowen's assistant coach for several years, was supposed to be the SSHS boys track coach this season. When Bowen went on leave, the school district went to Jones and asked him if he would take over as head coach for both boys and girls soccer. Being the ultimate team player, Jones agreed to do so and the track program made its own adjustments in his absence.
Now what? Will Jones return to the track program? Will the district hire a new soccer coach to coach boys and girls? Two coaches, one for boys and one for girls? Will Jones stay with soccer? It seems like it would be his decision to make.
I've said this whole time it's harder to find a quality soccer coach than it would be to hire a track coach. With that being said, there are several fine coaches already with track that could do the job.
What happens remains to be seen, but for now Jones is a state championship soccer coach and we'll just leave it at that.
-- Graham Thomas is the managing editor for the Herald-Leader. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Sports on 05/27/2015