PRESS RELEASE
ARKANSAS TRACK AND FIELD HALL OF FAME
CONTACT: Donna Lampkin Stephens, (501) 472-1576; stephens@conwaycorp.net
March 10, 2025
30th ARKANSAS TRACK & FIELD HALL OF FAME INDUCTION BANQUET SET FOR MAY 30
The Arkansas Track & Field Hall of Fame will induct its 30th class during a 6:30 p.m. banquet on May 30 in the Silver City Ballroom of the Wyndham Riverfront Hotel in North Little Rock.
"We have an outstanding group representing the class of 2025," said John Steward, president of the ATFHF. "Seven of the inductees are connected to Arkansas as track and field athletes, coaches and officials. The experience of the inductees ranges from junior high to the professional ranks. Two have origins in the Little Rock area, one is still pursuing competition at the professional level, three are active coaches and two currently work with youth."
The class includes Buzz Andrews, a Hope High School and Ouachita Baptist University record-holder whose track and field coaching career has spanned 53 years; Charles (Chuck) Hemingway, who dominated cross country and the mile run during his junior and senior years at Little Rock Central and went on to the University of Arkansas as a distance runner; Sydney Conley, an All-America sprinter and jumper at Fayetteville High School and the University of Kansas; Robert Ricks, a standout at Little Rock Mills and the University of Central Arkansas, where he earned NAIA All-America honors from 1989-92; Chris Phillips, a state and Meet of Champs champion hurdler at Crossett, Golden West Invitational 400 hurdles champion and seven-time NCAA champion at the University of Arkansas; Stephanie Foreman Adams, the 2008 Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year for Arkansas from Lake Hamilton and first Arkansas girl to break the 13-foot barrier in the pole vault who went on to win eight Sunbelt Conference pole vault titles for Arkansas State; and Steward, the Vilonia girls coach since 2006 who has coached more than 35 individual state champions in track and cross country, with 17 athletes continuing their careers at the college level.
Tickets for the banquet are $50 per person ($52 if purchased by credit card) or $400 for a table of eight. Tickets may be purchased at www.atfhof.org or by mail to Leon White, 34 Margeaux Dr., Little Rock, 72223, and must be received by May 26 to be guaranteed. Checks should be made payable to ATFHF. For ticket questions, email leonandbethwhite@gmail.com. Tickets may be picked up at the ATFHF registration desk after 5 p.m. May 30.
For more information about the banquet, contact John Steward at (501) 351-4114.
Browse the following slides for more information on this year's hall of fame class (photos and biographies courtesy of the ATFHOF).