"The De Queen Leopards will launch Spring Football Practice on Thursday. The Arkansas Activities Association allows member schools to conduct up to a week of practices in full pads during the Spring semester. Coach Chris Vereen has had over eighty athletes participating in the off-season program. He's anxious to see what some of these athletes can do on the field. Realistically, Coach Vereen expects about 65 to suit out this Fall. This will be Coach Vereen's fourth year at the helm of the Leopards. During his first season at De Queen, only 26 athletes participated in football. So, Coach Vereen and staff have done a great job of getting the numbers up. Expectations are high too. The upcoming Senior, Junior, and Sophomore classes all won Conference Championships in Junior High. The current 20 game Cub winning streak was started by the upcoming Seniors, and continued for the past two undefeated seasons. The Leopards are coming off a 5-6 season that ended in the first round of the State Play-offs 34-27 at Dardanelle. It was the first play-off trip since 2003. The Leopards return All Conference performer Greg "Fatty" White who rushed for 877 yards and 11 touchdowns as a Sophomore. Zack Taylor started much of the year at Quarterback. Other offensive weapons returning include all-purpose back Jamario "Scooter" Ervin,  Fullback Shane Higgins, Running Back J.J. Hendrix, Tight End Sam Willis, and Split Ends Grant Dooley and Matt McLelland. Returning Starting Offensive Linemen include Dustin Bakenhus, Jose Alvarez, and Jason Buenrostro. The Leopards plan their annual Black and Gold Intrasquad Scrimmage on Thursday, May 22nd."

    "In State Tournament Baseball and Softball action this week:

    "The De Queen Leopards and the Ashdown Panthers both saw their seasons come to an end Saturday in the Class 4-A State Baseball Tournament in Jonesboro. De Queen was defeated by Gosnell 10-2, while the Panthers dropped a 6-3 decision to Rivercrest."

    "In the Class 4-A softball action at Nashville's City Park: The Ashdown Pantherettes rolled into the finals with a 2-1 win over Arkansas Baptist Monday. With two outs in the seventh inning, Sydney Tipton drove in Morgan Thrash with the winning run. It'll be Ashdown's first return to the title game since a 2004 loss to Booneville. The Pantherettes will meet Highland at noon Saturday at the University of Arkansas' LadyBack Yard in Fayetteville. Catch the action live on your #1 Country 92.1."

    " In Class 3-A baseball action at Harding Academy and Harding University in Searcy: Horatio, the defending state champs, was eliminated by Corning Friday 8-3." 

    "In Class 3-A softball action at Regional Park in Pine Bluff: Horatio's Lady Lions defeated Benton Harmony Grove 6-1 in first round action Friday. However, the Lady Lions' outstanding season came to an end Saturday after a 6-2 setback at the hands of Elkins. The Lady Lions fell behind 6-0, before scoring a pair of runs in the fifth on an Elkins' error. Ashley Pettigrew was charged with the loss."

     "In Class 2-A baseball action at White Hall High School in Pine Bluff: The Dierks Outlaws advanced to Friday's championship with an impressive 10-1 thrashing of Hampton Monday. The Outlaws compete for the State Title Friday at 7:00 at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville. Catch it live on your #1 Country 92.1."

     "In Class 2-A softball action at Rector High School: The Foreman Lady Gators and the Dierks Lady Outlaws advanced to Saturday's final with wins Monday. The Lady Gators, now 26-4 on the year, downed Junction City 8-4. Foreman will return to the title game for the fourth straight year. They've brought home the big trophy each of the past two seasons. The Lady Outlaws defeated Parker's Chapel 5-3 in the other semi-final Monday. The Lady Gators and Lady Outlaws square off at 4:00 Saturday at LadyBack Yard in Fayetteville in action you can hear live on your #1 Country 92.1.'

     "The Class 4-A State Track Meet will be held Wednesday at Nashville High School. After last Thursday's impressive showing in the 7-4A Conference Meet in Mena, Coach Chris Vereen's De Queen Leopards will be one of the favorites to take home the State Championship Trophy Wednesday. The Leopards' depth in the Distance Races and Relays paid off in the Conference Meet as De Queen defeated its nearest competitor, Ashdown, by about 40 points. The Leopards won the State Cross Country Championship last Fall, and they'd love to add the State Outdoor Championship to their mantle Wednesday. Coach Vereen has several athletes qualified to compete in different events, including some Ninth Graders who stepped up in the Senior High Conference Meet. The more qualifiers you have, the better the opportunity to score points. The Lady Leopards finished second in the Conference Meet last Thursday. The girls will again be chasing Nashville for Wednesday's team title. The host School for Wednesday's State Meet, Nashville, is paced  by Jasmine Ellis, who has claimed numerous high-point awards in meets this Spring."

     "The Arkansas Activities Association named their All-State Soccer Teams. Two Leopards and three Lady Leopards received All-State honors. For the Leopards, Jose Tapia and Joe Villareal were named to the Class 4A All State Team. Maria Cisneros, Pamela Hernandez, and Paola Martinez were named to the All-State Girls Team."

     "Leopards head football coach Chris Vereen is still searching for a non-conference opponent to open the 2008 season this Fall. The opening was created when Glen Rose, the 2007 Class 3A State Champ, declined to renew a two year series with De Queen. Heavener, Oklahoma also declined to renew its series with the Leopards. Coach Vereen landed Camden Harmony Grove to replace Heavener in week two on the schedule. However, nothing has developed for the opener. Coach Vereen has had discussions with Helena-West Helena, Daingerfield, Texas, and Mayflower. At this point, the Leopards are still looking. Since we're in April, it now appears that Coach Vereen will have to watch carefully to see if a small school drops their football season due to lack of athletes. That would then create an opening for the team that was scheduled to play the school that dropped football. Another option would be to play the Junior Varsity squad from a larger school district on the Tuesday night prior to the scheduled Friday night opener. Either way, it would be tough for the Leopards to be idle the opening week. Coaches say that the most improvement a football team will make is between their first and second games. With that in mind, the Leopards need to play somebody.....anybody."