Butch Ard is entering his 14th season as the head coach of the cross country and track & field programs at Mississippi College.
The 2017 men's cross country team finished fourth at the GSC Championships with the women's cross country team finishing fifth. The Choctaws compiled a 13th place finish at the NCAA Division II South Regional with the Lady Choctaws ninth.
The cross country teams placed a combined 18 on the GSC Honor Roll while Will Young was named the GSC Men's Cross Country All-Academic Team. Sam Darnall, Jordan Pritchard, Young, Kaleigh Akers, Madeline Campbell, Abbie Easter, Rachel Smith and McKenzie Hargrove earned USTFCCA Academic All-South Region accolades.
Pritchard, Tyler Braswell, Campbell and Hargrove earned All-GSC honors with Campbell named the GSC Female Freshman of the Year.
Men's track finished the season with a fifth place finish at the GSC Championships with the women in sixth earning a sixth place finish.
Luke Hodnett, Young, Kiana Grant and Andrea McDonald were named to the GSC All-Academic Team for track and field while 25 combined student-athletes were named to the GSC Academic Honor Roll.
McDonald was named among the GSC Top 10 student-athletes for the 2017-18 season and earned spot at the NCAA Division II National Championships in the triple jump. The junior was also named the GSC Female Co-Field Athlete of the Year.
In his 12 cross country seasons, he led the men’s team to four American Southwest Conference championships (2002, 2003, 2004 and 2009). In 2002, the Choctaws had their highest finish at the region meet, taking seventh place. He also led the women’s team to ASC titles in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2012. Besides team championships, MC has also had 23 members of the men’s cross country team earn First Team All-ASC, while placing 17 members on the Second Team squad. The Lady Choctaws have fared well also, placing 19 members on the First Team and 19 members on the Second Team. During his first 12 years of guiding the MC cross country teams, coach Ard has been named conference men’s coach of the year three times and women’s coach of the year three times.
In the Fall of 2004 and 2005 Matthew Manning became the first Choctaw to compete in the NCAA DIII National Cross Country Championships. Manning's personal-best for an 8k race in cross country came in his senior year with a time of 25:05. In 2013, freshman Ryan Campbell finished 20th in the National Christian College Athletic Association national cross country championships in a time of 26:22.
On the women’s side Rachel Hardin set a Lady Choctaw and American Southwest Conference record in the women’s 6k with a time of 23:12. She also finished 18th in the South Region in 2005. In 2009, Jennifer Cooper became the first Lady Choctaw to compete in the NCAA National Cross Country Championships, based on her 7th-place in the NCAA South/Southeast Region meet in Greensboro, NC. Jennifer’s personal-best time of 18:35 in the 5k still stands as the top time for the Lady Choctaws.
In addition to his cross country duties, coach Ard has worked to restore a MC track & field program with a long tradition of excellence. In his first 12 seasons, he has guided the Choctaws and Lady Choctaws to improved conference and national rankings, seeing 20 track athletes qualify for the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships. In 2007, Al Winsley brought home All-American honors in the Long Jump, Triple Jump and High Jump. That year, the men's track & field team finished the year with a #18 national ranking. In 2008, Winsley posted a personal-best in the high jump of 2.22m (7’3”) and became the first Choctaw to quality for the Olympic trials since Larry Myricks (4-time Olympian) in 1976. Winsley went on to be named NCAA Men’s Field Athlete of The Year for indoor and outdoor seasons in 2008.
The women’s program also had success over the first 12 seasons. Bridget Foreman (2007 graduate) qualified and competed in the NCAA outdoor track and field championships all four years, and also made an appearance in the NCAA indoor championships her senior year. Liz Laubenberg finished her career in 2011 with back-to-back trips to the NCAA National Championship in the women’s 400m Hurdles. In 2013, Jessica Hodges (So) qualified for the NCAA DIII Championships in the Pole Vault, with a jump of 12 Feet. Overall, in his first 12 seasons, coach Ard has had 30 men receive all-ASC honors, with 16 conference individual event champions. The women’s team has posted 18 all-ASC members and nine individual champions. In 2008, coach Ard was also named ASC men’s track coach of the year.
Coach Ard previously built powerhouse programs at each of his coaching stops prior to MC, most recently at Tupelo High School. While at Tupelo his men and women's track teams captured the Mississippi High School Athletic Association class 5A cross country championships in 2001. For his work, he was named the Mississippi Girls cross country Coach of the Year.
The Tupelo track teams also excelled under coach Ard with the boy's team earning the 1998 state championship and Coach Ard was named the Mississippi Boy's Track Coach of the Year. He was also selected as the 1998 NFHS National Girls Track Coach of the Year. In four of his five years at Tupelo, his men's teams finished in the top 15 in the nation, finishing as high as 10th in 1999.
Before arriving at Tupelo, Ard coached track and cross country at St. Andrews Episcopal School from 1995-1997. Again, he quickly established St. Andrew's as one of Mississippi's top high school programs. His girl's team won the 1996 State 2A track championship, their first-ever championship. In 1996, Ard was named Mississippi girls Cross Country Coach of the Year and in 1997 he was named the Mississippi girls Track Coach of the Year.
In 21 years of coaching, Ard has played a huge role in developing 27 All-Americans in track & field and cross country and two individual national champions. In 2010, Ard was voted into the Hinds Community College Sports Hall of Fame, where he competed from 1979-1981.
Ard competed in track and football in high school at McCluer Academy. During his high school career, he was a state champion in track in the 400m Dash and Long Jump. He was also a bronze medalist in the 400m and a silver medalist in the Long Jump in the AAU National Junior Olympics. In his high school football career, he earned All-Conference honors, as well as Offensive MVP honors in the state All-Star game. Ard attended Hinds Community College, and while there earned All-American honors in Track and Field.
He is married to the former Dawn Dear, and they have two children: Phil, a US Marine with two tours of Iraq, and Adrienne, a 2008 graduate of Mississippi College with a degree in Psychology.
