A trio of Siloam Springs athletes signed letters of intent Wednesday to extend their playing career to the next level in a signing ceremony held inside the Panther Activity Center.
Senior track athlete Ryke Beever signed with University of Central Missouri, while football standout J.D. Horn inked with Lyon and baseball player Josh Hunt made it official with Southwest Baptist (Mo.) University.
Beever has been a two-sport standout at Siloam Springs in track and swimming, but he'll get the chance to focus on track at UCM, where he's been recruited to run the hurdles.
Beever runs the 110- and 300-meter hurdles for the Panthers track team.
"I think Ryke is just one of those kids that coaches look for -- maybe a diamond in the rough," said head boys track coach Chuck Jones, "I think they see his potential. He's long and he's lean."
Beever has recorded best times of 17.07 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles and 43.41 in the 300-meter hurdles.
He said he would like to bring those times down to the 16s and 41s, respectively, in both events before his high school season ends. He'll transition to the 400-meter hurdles at the collegiate level.
"I think he'll transition well to the 400 hurdles," Jones said. "He has run the quarter (mile) some, ran the-mile relay some. He's a good quarter guy. I think he can even be better at the 400. The longer the distance the better it could be for him."
Beever said he's enjoyed getting to know about Central Missouri and its track program, which is coached by former U.S. Olympian and decathlete Kip Janvrin.
"I was a good match for the school," Beever said. "I read a little bit about the coach. He was a fantastic athlete, ran in the Olympics. I went up to visit and just really loved the school."
Horn, meanwhile, is the second Siloam Springs football player to sign with Lyon in the last two years.
"I'm very excited to keep playing football," Horn said. "That's been the main goal from day one. I've wanted to be a football player in college, big or small. It's really a dream come true."
Horn was a 6A-West all-conference wide receiver for the Panthers in 2016. He led the team with 52 catches for 675 yards and five touchdown receptions.
Horn had three 100-yard receiving games, including an eight-catch, 149-yard performance against El Dorado in Week 8 in front of the Lyon coaches.
"Their coach was here the night of the El Dorado game, and he was really excited about J.D. after the game," said head football coach Bryan Ross. "He said they were going to offer him."
"It's a big deal. A kid works hard to put themselves in position to continue to play. It's nice to be rewarded like that. J.D. had a goal and achieved that goal. I'm happy for him and glad we can have another kid from our program go on and continue playing."
Horn, who is in the middle of track season, said he'll begin his workout program for Lyon next Monday.
"I'm looking forward to it," Horn said. "Really excited to see what God has in store for me."
Hunt has been a big role in the success of the Panthers baseball program the last two years.
He's started at first base and pitched for the Panthers. He was also the Panthers' top scorer in boys basketball for the 2016-17 season.
Head baseball coach Alan Hardcastle said Southwest Baptist will want to continue to utilize Hunt's 6-foot-5 frame at first base and maybe some on the mound as well.
"They like his size and height and see promise there," Hardcastle said. "Basically what the coach is saying is get him there on campus and see what he can do."
Going into Thursday's game against Clarksville, Hunt was batting .275 with 13 RBIs. He's also thrown 15.2 innings on the mound.
"Josh is having a wonderful year," Hardcastle said. "Strikeouts are down, he's been making solid contact. He's hit the ball hard. Unfortunately, it's just been right at guys a lot of times. Playing great at first base, and he's been doing a great job there for us."
Hunt said he's excited to continue his baseball career.
"It's just been an awesome process," he said. "Southwest Baptist, they've been amazing. The coach is awesome. I just love them so much. ... I went up to a camp last fall and I had a good appearance. The coach really liked me and I liked him. They were pretty much the first ones that came to me that really offered me anything. I stuck with it and I'm really blessed to get it."
Sports on 04/16/2017