Mississippi Today (https://mississippitoday.org/author/rickcleveland/)
Rick Cleveland, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Today’s sports columnist since 2016. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s in journalism, Rick has worked for the Monroe (La.) News Star World, Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger. He was sports editor of Hattiesburg American, executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers. Rick has been recognized 11 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year, and is recipient of multiple awards and honors for his reporting and writing.
When you average 341 yards per drive and lead a tournament in putting statistics, you might just lap the field. That’s what young Joaquin Niemann did last week at The Greenbrier and what he hopes to do this week at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
“It’s easily the best field in the history of our tournament,” said the tournament’s executive director. This week marks the Sanderson Farms Championship tournament’s first time as a stand-alone PGA event.
Mississippi State’s Billy Stacy was a special athlete, a big guy who could run and jump, and, if not for football, might have been an Olympic hurdler. For the NFL Cardinals, he was a Pro Bowler as a defensive back.
In these FBS-FCS matchups you should know that David sometimes beats Goliath and gets a big paycheck while doing so.
Hill did what he did with remarkable versatility and panache. He juked. He bull-dozed. He sped. He powered. He spun. He leaped. He stutter-stepped. He hurdled.
“Universities – not just in Mississippi but elsewhere – have looked the other way or not looked at all as fans have smuggled their stash into stadia for as long as the games have been played. Prohibition never worked – in sports or real life.”
Kylin Hill shows out for State; Memphis uses Mississippians to defeat Ole Miss; and Southern Miss downs Alcorn with special teams, defense.
These days, Reese divides her time between the demands of training for this autumn’s world championships and next year’s Olympics and raising her 11-year old son, Alex Wildee, whom she adopted three years ago.
Sunday, 21-year-old Andy Ogletree, a grocer’s son from the tiny community of Little Rock in Newton County, became the first Mississippian to win the United States Amateur Championship.
A total of 7,191 golfers worldwide tried to qualify for the U.S. Amateur. Of those, 256 made it to Pinehurst, 64 qualified for match play and now they are down to eight. Two are Mississippians.
After a terrible start, Jake Mangum is now doing what he has always done: hit then all where they ain’t.
Women from 17 countries, five continents and 33 U.S. states have congregated at Old Waverly to compete for the U.S. Women’s Amateur golf championship. Youth is being served in Clay County.
The newest exhibit at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum will showcase the sport’s history here and at least one professional hockey player born and raised in Mississippi will be on hand for the dedication.
Half of Greenwood might be in town Saturday when one of the first five golfers (and the only woman) inducted into the Mississippi Golf Hall of Fame last year takes her rightful place in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
Rockey Felker on Susan Felker: “She had no idea what she was getting into … but she was the perfect coach’s wife. She held our family together. She was a rock.”