Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys and Golden Suns

Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys and Golden Suns
University	Arkansas Tech University
Conference	GAC (primary)
NCAA	Division II
Athletic director	Abby Davis
Location	Russellville, Arkansas
Varsity teams	12 (4 men's, 8 women's)
Football stadium	Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field
Basketball arena	Tucker Coliseum
Baseball stadium	Baswell Field
Softball stadium	Chartwells Women's Sports Complex
Other venues	Hull Building
Mascot	Jerry the Bulldog
Nickname	Wonder Boys (men) Golden Suns (women)
Colors	Green and gold[1]
Website	arkansastechsports.com

The Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys and Golden Suns are the athletic teams that represent Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Arkansas. They are a charter member of the Great American Conference of the NCAA Division II.^[2]

Conference affiliations

NAIA

• Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (1927–1995)

NCAA

• Gulf South Conference (1995–2011)
• Great American Conference (2011–present)

Sports sponsored

Arkansas Tech currently fields 10 sports at the NCAA Division II level.

Men's sports	Women's sports
Baseball	Basketball
Basketball	Cross country
Football	Golf
Golf	Softball
	Tennis
	Track & field
	Volleyball

Wonder Boys sports

Football

Main article: Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys football

Basketball

Tech's greatest men's basketball success came under the guidance of head coach Sam Hindsman, who led the Wonder Boys from 1947–66. Hindsman, who also won two AIC football titles at Tech during the 1950s, was ahead of his time with an up-tempo style that dazzled fans and opponents. Hindsman and the Wonder Boys won seven consecutive AIC basketball titles from 1949–55. In 1954 and 1955, Tech reached the semifinals of the NAIA National Tournament. Tech's only other NAIA Final Four berth in men's basketball came in 1995.

In all, Hindsman won 11 conference men's basketball titles and 355 men's basketball games to set school records that are unlikely to ever be eclipsed.

Tech returned to men's basketball prominence for the first time in more than a decade during the 2008–09 season. The Wonder Boys finished 23–9 overall, won their first-ever Gulf South Conference men's basketball title and qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament in men's basketball for the first time ever. The Wonder Boys defeated Benedict College 63–62 in their first-ever NCAA tournament game on March 14, 2009. Florida Southern ended Tech's season 95–92 in overtime the following evening.

The Wonder Boys won their second consecutive GSC Tournament title in 2010 and they returned to the NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament in both 2010 and 2011, reaching the regional semifinals on both occasions.

Basketball seasons

Coach	Year	Overall	Conference	All-American
R.K. Lindberg	1914–15	4–3	0–0
Totals		4–3 (.571)	0–0 (–)
Bill Cowan	1922–23	7–1	0–0
Totals		7–1 (.875)	0–0 (–)
E.O. Brown	1923–24	5–2	0–0
	1924–25	4–8	0–0
	1925–26	1–5	0–0
	1926–27	7–8	0–0
	1927–28	7–5	4–5
	1928–29	8–8	5–7
	1929–30	10–3	8–3
	1930–31	11–4	7–4
	1931–32	9–7	3–5
	1932–33	1–4	1–4
Totals		63–54 (.538)	28–28 (.500)
Truman McEver	1933–34	6–6	1–5
	1934–35	5–13	3–9
Totals		11–19 (.367)	4–14 (.222)
Henry Hudson	1935–36	6–6	2–6
	1936–37	6–8	1–8
	1937–38	9–5	5–3
	1938–39	5–9	3–8
	1939–40	4–16	3–13
Totals		30–44 (.405)	14–38 (.269)
Howard Godfrey	1940–41	5–11	5–11
Totals		5–11 (.313)	5–11 (.313)
Raymond Burnett	1941–42	7–14	0–0
Totals		7–14 (.333)	0–0 (–)
John Tucker	1944–45	14–8	13–3
	1945–46	14–5	8–3
Totals		28–13 (.683)	21–6 (.778)
Homer Spragins	1946–47	12–11	6–7
Totals		12–11 (.522)	6–7 (.462)
Sam Hindsman	1947–48	12–8	9–7
	1948–49	17–4	13–3 *
	1949–50	25–2 #	18–0 *
	1950–51	24–7 #	16–2 *
	1951–52	25–4 #	17–1 *
	1952–53	24–1 #	16–0 *	E.C. O'Neal
	1953–54	28–3 %	16–0 *	E.C. O'Neal
	1954–55	29–6 %	16–0 *	Donovan Horn
	1955–56	15–9 #	11–5
	1956–57	13–13	0–0
	1957–58	20–5	10–0 *	Ronnie Kennett
	1958–59	13–11	0–0
	1959–60	19–6	14–4 *
	1960–61	21–3	16–2 *	J.P. Lovelady
	1961–62	20–7	14–4 *	Kenny Saylors
	1962–63	19–9 #	11–7	Kenny Saylors
	1963–64	17–10	13–5
	1964–65	6–19	5–13
	1965–66	8–19	4–14
Totals		355–146 (.709)	219–67 (.766)
Deward Dopson	1966–67	12–14	8–10
	1967–68	14–13	11–7
	1968–69	19–9	13–5
	1969–70	22–10 #	15–3
	1970–71	20–5	16–4
	1971–72	12–16	12–8	Terry Hankton
	1972–73	4–22	2–16
Totals		103–89 (.536)	77–53 (.592)
Ted Lyons	1973–74	8–20	3–15
	1974–75	8–17	4–14
	1975–76	4–20	1–17
Totals		20–57 (.260)	8–46 (.148)
George Jones	1976–77	11–17	8–10
	1977–78	7–16	5–13
	1978–79	7–21	4–14
	1979–80	13–14	7–11
	1980–81	12–15	8–10
Totals		50–83 (.376)	32–58 (.356)
Danny Ebbs	1981–82	15–14	9–9	Joe Bob Wise
	1982–83	13–14	9–9
	1983–84	1–5	0–0
Totals		29–33 (.468)	18–18 (.500)
Wesley White (interim)	1983–84	9–12 (10–17 α)	7–11 (7–11 α)
Totals		9–12 (.429)	7–11 (.389)
John Widner	1984–85	22–8	12–6 *
	1985–86	9–17	6–14
	1986–87	12–14	8–12
Totals		43–39 (.524)	26–32 (.448)
Marty Barnes	1987–88	22–11	14–4 *
	1988–89	20–12	12–6	Alan Cozart
	1989–90	24–9	14–4
	1990–91	16–15	8–10	Maxie Mathis
	1991–92	20–12	11–7	Maxie Mathis
	1992–93	23–10	12–4 *	Maxie Mathis Eric Burnett
	1993–94	26–8	13–1 *	Thayer McKinley David Bevis
	1994–95	29–6 %	14–2 *	David Bevis
	1995–96	19–10 #	7–5	Chad Keaster
	1996–97	14–13	8–4	Bryan Hodges
	1997–98	9–17	6–6
	1998–99	9–17	5–7
Totals		231–140 (.623)	124–60 (.674)
Robert Thompson	1999–00	16–10	8–4
	2000–01	4–22	2–14
	2001–02	12–14	8–8
	2002–03	11–16	4–12
Totals		43–62 (.410)	22–38 (.367)
Rick McCormick	2003–04	7–20	4–12
	2004–05	10–17	3–13
	2005–06	11–16	2–14
Totals		28–53 (.346)	9–39 (.188)
Mark Downey	2006–07	6–21	1–13
	2007–08	18–11	8–6
	2008–09	23–9 #	9–5 *
	2009–10	30–2 #	13–1 *	Brandon Friedel
Totals		77–43 (.642)	31–25 (.554)
Doug Karleskint	2010–11	25–6 #	13–1 *
	2011–12	26–6 #	13–3 *	Johnie Davis
	2012–13	18–12 #	13–7
	2013–14	21–10 #	15–5 *
	2014–15	18–14 #	11–9 *
	2015–16	15–14	10–12
Totals		123–62 (.665)	75–37 (.670)
All-Time Records		1278–989 (.564)	726–588 (.553)
% National Tournament Final Four # National Tournament * Conference Champion α Full Season Record

Baseball

Tech won AIC baseball titles in 1950, 1964, 1976, 1981, 1985, 1988, and 1992. The Wonder Boys captured a share of the GSC West Division baseball crown in 1998. Tech won a school record 44 games in 2014 while winning the Great American Conference championship.

Baseball seasons

Coach	Year	Overall	Conference	All-American
W.A. Isgrig	1912	5–8–1	0–0
Totals		5–8–1 (.393)	0–0 (–)
E.H. Shinn	1913	10–4	0–0
	1914	5–9	0–0
	1915	3–2	0–0
Totals		18–15 (.545)	0–0 (–)
E.O. Brown	1923	1–4	0–0
Totals		1–4 (.200)	0–0 (–)
John Tucker	1940	2–3	0–0
Totals		2–3 (.400)	0–0 (–)
Raymond Burnett	1948	10–3	6–2
	1949	9–3	8–2
	1950	13–4	8–1 *
	1951	11–3	10–2
Totals		43–13 (.768)	32–7 (.821)
Sam Hindsman	1953	2–10	2–8
	1954	7–9	5–7
	1955	10–6	7–5
	1956	5–11	5–7
Totals		24–36 (.400)	19–27 (.413)
Raymond Burtner	1957	4–4	0–2
	1958	8–4	8–4
Totals		12–8 (.600)	8–6 (.571)
Don Dempsey	1959	3–9	3–9
	1960	2–6–1	2–6–1
	1961	10–10	5–5
	1962	14–6	7–3
	1963	10–11	6–6
	1964	14–7	8–4 *
	1965	12–10	6–6
	1966	11–9	7–5
	1967	3–15	1–9
	1968	7–10–2	5–7
	1969	13–8	6–6
	1970	8–11	6–4
Totals		107–112–3 (.489)	62–70–1 (.470)
Doyle Wallace	1971	16–15	8–8
Totals		16–15 (.516)	8–8 (.500)
Ted Lyons	1972	7–14	6–10
	1973	11–13–1	5–8–1
	1974	12–13	8–8
Totals		30–40–1 (.430)	19–26–1 (.424)
Rick Thone	1975	7–13	5–11
Totals		7–13 (.350)	5–11 (.313)
Robert Pledger	1976	22–14	11–3 *	Tommy Hester
	1977	13–12	8–6
	1978	10–10	6–8
Totals		45–36 (.556)	25–17 (.595)
Robert Campbell	1979	17–17	9–5
	1980	16–14	8–6
Totals		33–31 (.516)	17–11 (.607)
Jim Franks	1981	21–11	11–3 *
	1982	25–15	9–5
	1983	16–12	7–7
	1984	24–18	9–5
	1985	26–16	16–4 *
	1986	19–17	11–9
	1987	23–13	17–11
Totals		154–102 (.602)	80–44 (.645)
Dale Harpenau	1988	29–17	18–6 *
	1989	17–24	8–16
	1990	22–16–1	14–10
	1991	30–17	16–8
	1992	25–16	17–7 *
	1993	26–17	11–11
	1994	34–14–1	20–4
	1995	33–18	20–6
	1996	26–19	7–10
	1997	30–11–1	10–6
	1998	30–16–1	12–5 *
Totals		302–185–4 (.619)	153–89 (.632)
Billy Goss	1999	22–21	11–6
	2000	22–22	7–11
	2001	32–20	14–9	John Paul Davis
	2002	16–31	7–16
	2003	29–24	18–14
	2004	31–23	13–10
	2005	28–22	17–7
	2006	19–29	6–17
	2007	22–32–1	10–10
	2008	22–23	9–11
	2009	22–30	9–12
Totals		265–277–1 (.489)	121–123 (.496)
Dave Dawson	2010	35–19	14–6
	2011	32–19	13–6	Matt Johnson
	2012	26–27	13–11	Jonathan Finnegan Landon Sullins
	2013	32–21	18–12	Cesar Abreu
	2014	44–12	25–5 *
	2015	30–21	16–10	Patrick Castleberry
	2016	24–31	12–21
Totals		223–150 (.598)	111–71 (.610)
All-Time Records		1287–1048–10 (.551)	660–510–2 (.564)
* Conference Champion

Golf

Arkansas Tech's men's golf team was AIC champions in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995. Tech became the first school from Arkansas to win the GSC Championship in men's golf in 2004. The 1998 Wonder Boys reached the NCAA Division II National Tournament for men's golf. Tech made its sixth men's golf NCAA Division II Regional Tournament appearance and finished as GSC Tournament runner-up in 2009. Bill Bailey was a four-time All-AIC selectee in golf (1973–76). In 2021, the Wonder Boys won the NCAA Division II men's golf national championship, which was the third national championship won by an Arkansas Tech team, and the first for any Wonder Boys teams.

Golf seasons

Year Conference All-American 1964 5th 1965 7th 1966 1st 1967 1st 1968 1st 1969 1st 1970 1st # 1971 6th 1972 5th 1973 3rd 1974 4th 1975 8th 1976 8th 1977 7th 1978 6th 1979 5th 1980 6th 1981 9th

Year Conference All-American 1982 6th 1983 2nd 1984 1st 1985 3rd 1986 3rd 1987 3rd 1988 2nd 1989 2nd 1990 2nd 1991 2nd 1992 1st 1993 1st # David Dyer 1994 1st # 1995 1st # 1996 T-3rd 1997 T-5th 1998 3rd # 1999 4th

Year Conference All-American 2000 5th 2001 2nd # Jeff Jenkins 2002 5th # 2003 4th # 2004 1st # Nick Quast 2005 4th Nick Quast 2006 6th 2007 3rd 2008 5th 2009 2nd # 2010 4th 2011 8th 2012 2nd 2013 1st # 2014 2nd # 2015 3rd # 2016 2nd #

# National Tournament

Golden Suns sports

Cross country

Cross country seasons

Year Conference Regional All-American 1995 10th 1996 6th 1997 5th 1998 5th 1999 5th 14th 2000 3rd 6th 2001 3rd 8th

Year Conference Regional All-American 2002 10th 2003 3rd 7th 2004 10th 14th 2005 11th 16th Aoife Cooke 2006 11th 19th 2007 6th T-7th 2008 3rd 4th

Year Conference Regional All-American 2009 3rd 4th 2010 4th 2011 3rd 2012 7th 25th 2013 5th 27th 2014 7th 29th 2015 T-5th 30th

Volleyball

The Golden Suns volleyball program won AIC titles in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1987. The Suns captured GSC West Division volleyball crowns in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2008 and 2010. The 2000 team became the first from Arkansas Tech to qualify for the NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament.

Volleyball seasons

Coach	Year	Overall	Conference	All-American
Jim Yeager	1977	7–14	0–0
	1978	6–9	0–0
	1979	4–11	0–0
	1980	9–6	0–0
	1981	7–8	0–0
Totals		33–48 (.407)	0–0 (–)
Jim Dickerson	1982	10–6	0–0
	1983	26–4	12–0 *
	1984	32–5	12–0 *
	1985	34–7	13–1 *
Totals		102–22 (.823)	37–1 (.974)
Chris Poole	1986	21–15	11–3
Totals		21–15 (.583)	11–3 (.786)
Gaye Griffin	1987	25–8	12–0 *
Totals		25–8 (.758)	12–0 (1.000)
Natalie Alred	1988	18–18	7–5
	1989	17–17	6–6
	1990	17–18	5–7
	1991	25–15	7–5	Stacy Burnett–Mallett
	1992	20–17	3–7
	1993	5–21	1–7
Totals		102–106 (.490)	29–37 (.439)
Shannon Burks	1994	12–15	4–6
	1995	15–15	3–7
Totals		27–30 (.474)	7–13 (.350)
Tracy McWilliams	1996	17–18	3–7
	1997	26–8	10–0 *	Dong Mei Cui
	1998	24–17	7–3
	1999	34–7	10–0 *
	2000	36–5 #	12–0 *
Totals		137–55 (.714)	42–10 (.808)
Amanda Thiessen	2001	19–12	9–3
	2002	20–13	8–4	Ningning Liu
	2003	4–25	1–11
Totals		43–50 (.462)	18–18 (.500)
Kristy Bayer	2004	13–17	5–7
	2005	25–12	9–5
	2006	20–16	5–7
	2007	22–13	8–4
	2008	31–5	11–1
	2009	24–13	8–4
	2010	31–5	11–1	Sarah Von Lienen
	2011	35–4 #	16–0 *	Laura Farney
	2012	27–10	11–3
	2013	25–12 #	9–5
	2014	29–6 #	13–1 *
	2015	26–7	15–1 *
Totals		308–120 (.720)	121–39 (.756)
All-Time Records		798–454 (.637)	277–121 (.696)
# National Tournament * Conference Champion

Basketball

Arkansas Tech's two greatest moments of athletic glory were provided by the back-to-back NAIA Division I national championships captured by the Golden Suns basketball program in 1992 and 1993. The 1991–92 team finished with an overall record of 35–1. The 1991–92 Golden Suns won each of their final 28 games by 12 points or more, including an 84–68 win over Wayland Baptist University (Texas) in the national championship game. The Suns won their second consecutive national crown in 1993 by defeating Union University (Tenn.) 76–75. Joe Foley, Tech head women's basketball coach from 1987–2003, was the architect of both national championship teams.

Today, the Golden Suns basketball program ranks among the top five in NCAA Division II history in winning percentage and all-time wins. The Suns finished as NCAA Division II national runners-up in 1999, and they made it back to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in three years during the 2006–07 season. Tech made it back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament when the Suns qualified for the event again in 2008. Arkansas Tech captured consecutive NCAA Division II South Region titles and back-to-back GSC Tournament championships in women's basketball in 2010 and 2011.

Basketball seasons

Coach	Year	Overall	Conference	All-American
Jim Yeager	1977–78	5–18	3–15
	1978–79	24–4	16–2 *
	1979–80	29–2 #	17–1 *	Sherry Raney
	1980–81	29–3	16–2 *	Sherry Raney
	1981–82	20–6	13–5 *	Sherry Raney
Totals		107–33 (.764)	65–25 (.722)
Jim Dickerson	1982–83	22–7	10–2
	1983–84	23–9	10–4
	1984–85	23–8	11–5
	1985–86	23–3	17–1 *
	1986–87	29–6 %	16–2 *	Donna Brunson
Totals		120–33 (.784)	64–14 (.821)
Joe Foley	1987–88	29–5 %	14–2 *	Donna Brunson
	1988–89	35–2 %	16–0 *	Lanell Dawson Cindi Patton Kala Cooley
	1989–90	30–3	15–1 *	Lanell Dawson
	1990–91	28–6	14–2 *	Amanda Hill
	1991–92	35–1 !	16–0 *	Stephanie Strack Alison Setliff
	1992–93	31–5 !	12–4	Stephanie Strack Alison Setliff Dawn Grell
	1993–94	30–3 #	14–0 *	Stephanie Strack Alison Setliff Dawn Grell Carin Pinion
	1994–95	28–6 #	15–1 *
	1995–96	23–9 #	11–3	Kim Stephens
	1996–97	29–4 %	13–1	Heather Campbell Jennifer Richardson
	1997–98	26–5 #	12–2 *	Jennifer Richardson
	1998–99	31–7 %	11–3
	1999–00	24–7 #	13–1 *
	2000–01	23–8 #	13–3
	2001–02	25–6 #	13–3 *
	2002–03	29–4 #	14–2 *
Totals		456–81 (.849)	216–28 (.885)
Carin Pinion–McNabb	2003–04	13–14	6–10
	2004–05	10–19	5–11
Totals		23–33 (.411)	11–21 (.344)
Todd Schaefer	2005–06	15–12	7–9
	2006–07	22–10 #	11–3
Totals		37–22 (.627)	18–12 (.600)
Dave Wilbers	2007–08	26–6 #	12–2	Amanda Grappe
	2008–09	19–9	9–5	Amanda Grappe
	2009–10	31–3 #	12–2 *	Jenny Vining
	2010–11	30–3 #	13–1 *	Natalia Santos
	2011–12	22–4	13–3
	2012–13	23–7 #	17–3 *	Roselis Silva
	2013–14	17–11	12–8
	2014–15	23–7 #	16–4	Fatima Adams
	2015–16	27–4 #	21–1 *	Fatima Adams
Totals		218–54 (.801)	125–29 (.812)
All-Time Records		961–256 (.790)	499–129 (.795)
! NAIA National Champion % National Tournament Final Four # National Tournament * Conference Champion

Golf

Arkansas Tech won its first GSC championship in women's golf during the 2010–11 season.

Golf seasons

Year Conference All-American 2002 No Tournament 2003 3rd 2004 3rd 2005 3rd 2006 4th

Year Conference All-American 2007 2nd 2008 5th 2009 5th 2010 4th 2011 1st

Year Conference All-American 2012 2nd # 2013 3rd # Rebecka Surtevall 2014 2nd # 2015 1st # Rebecka Surtevall 2016 1st #

# National Tournament

Softball

Arkansas Tech won GSC West Division softball championships in 2008 and 2009 and finished as GSC softball tournament runner-up in both 2008 and 2009.

Softball seasons

Coach	Year	Overall	Conference	All-American
Kristie Betancur	2003	21–9	0–0
	2004	15–26	6–16
	2005	27–21	10–18
Totals		63–56 (.529)	16–34 (.320)
Gidget Pambianchi	2006	22–25	13–20
	2007	12–35	5–22
	2008	41–17	20–9
	2009	42–21	19–9
	2010	22–26	12–18
	2011	34–19	23–7
	2012	11–17	5–9
Totals		184–160 (.535)	97–94 (.508)
Kristy Bayer (interim)	2012	5–14 (16–31 α)	3–9 (8–18 α)
Totals		5–14 (.263)	3–9 (.250)
Kristina McSweeney	2013	26–23	19–15	Siarra Gomez
	2014	31–27	19–21
	2015	41–22 #	22–14
	2016	49–11 #	34–6	Jalissa Gum
Totals		147–83 (.639)	94–56 (.627)
All-Time Records		399–313 (.560)	210–193 (.521)
# National Tournament α Full Season Record

Tennis

The Golden Suns tennis program made four consecutive GSC Tournament appearances in from 2008–11 and established a new school record for tennis victories in a season (17) during the 2009 campaign.

Tennis seasons

Coach	Year	Overall	Conference	All-American
Natalie Alred	1993	3–10	3–9
	1994	4–8	4–6
Totals		7–18 (.280)	7–15 (.318)
Clarence Holley	1995	14–1	11–1 *
Totals		14–1 (.933)	11–1 (.917)
Tom Olsen	1996	4–13	1–8
	1997	3–10	1–5
Totals		7–23 (.233)	2–13 (.133)
Mark Dannhoff	1998	5–9	3–4
Totals		5–9 (.357)	3–4 (.429)
John Bateman	1999	6–12	2–4
Totals		6–12 (.333)	2–4 (.333)
Brent Good	2000	7–16	2–4
Totals		7–16 (.304)	2–4 (.333)
Shery Forrest	2001	9–17	3–5
	2002	14–11 #	4–4
	2003	12–11	4–4
	2004	5–16	3–5
Totals		40–55 (.421)	14–18 (.438)
Abby Davis	2005	7–16	3–5
	2006	6–19	2–5
	2007	6–16	1–5
	2008	11–10	3–3
	2009	17–5	4–2
	2010	10–6	4–2
	2011	10–7	3–2
	2012	17–5	6–0 *
	2013	12–6	5–1 *
	2014	16–6 #	5–1
	2015	18–5 #	5–1
	2016	11–13	4–3
Totals		141–114 (.553)	45–30 (.600)
All-Time Records		227–248 (.478)	86–89 (.491)
# National Tournament * Conference Champion

Notable athletes

• Tanner Marsh, Former Canadian Football League quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes.
• David Bevis, former professional basketball player.
• Ed Meador, former NFL defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams

References

1. Arkansas Tech University Academic Brand Identity & Visual Standards (PDF). January 15, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
2. Arkansas Tech University. "Arkansas Tech". NCAA.com. Retrieved March 20, 2016.

External links

• Official website