Shelby County Today

June 19, 2019 - The Panola team racked up many awards along the way for their successful year including, the Men's National Championship, Bullriding National Championship - Daylon Swearingen, Bareback Reserve Champion - Tyler Johnson, of Athens, TX, Men's Rookie of the Year - Daylon Swearingen, Tiedown Rookie of the Year - Macon Murphy, of Keatchie, LA, and Bullriding Rookie of the Year - Daylon Swearingen, 

The Men's team that represented Panola College at the CNFR included Daylon Swearingen - Bullriding, Tyler Johnson - Bareback, Macon Murphy Tiedown, Logan Cook of Alto, TX - saddlebronc, Clayton Lowery of Wills Point, TX - teamroping, and Ross Freeman of Kountze, TX - bullriding.

The Panola Men's team, which also won the Southern Region, was well represented in the events. Daylon Swearingen, won the Bull Riding National Championship. He was 5th in the southern Region. Daylon also took home the honor of the Men's Rookie of the Year and the NIRA Alumni Award of Rookie of the Year in Bullriding. Sophomore, Bareback Champion of the Southern Region, Tyler Johnson, finished as the Reserve Champion in the bareback. Logan Cook, the Southern Region's All Around Champion, had qualified in saddle bronc and tie down. This was Logan's third year in a row to qualify for the CNFR, and ended up 10th in the saddlebronc after getting bucked off in the finals. Coming into the finals the cowboy was sitting 2nd in the nation. Then he had a tough go in the tie down and finished 29th. Freshman Macon Murphy qualified for the CNFR after finishing 3rd in the Southern Region. Macon had a trouble in the first two rounds but showed out in the third round as he won the round with a quick 7.7 sec roping, which was the fastest time of the entire rodeo. Macon was also honored by the Alumni for the Tiedown Rookie of the Year award. Team Roper heeler Clayton Lowery and his partner Kasen McCall from SFA finished 4th in the Southern Region and were selected by Coach Collins to be part of the team to represent Panola College. They qualified for the finals in the 8th spot and ended up 12th after missing in the finals. The final team member was sophomore Ross Freeman who placed 4th in the Southern Region. Freeman qualified for the Finals in the 11th spot after only riding one bull in the first three rounds. He was unsuccessful on Finals night. 

"The team is made up of six incredible young men. I know exactly what type of effort and will that each one of them will give each day. We are so proud of them and what they have accomplished," said Coach Jeff Collins.

June 3, 2019 - The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been awarded to the Panola College Business Office by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, ant its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

The CAFR has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the CAFR.

The GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving approximately 17,500 government finance professionals with offices in Chicago, IL and Washington, D.C.

Photo: (L to R) Christina Oldham, Denise Welch, Shannon Baker, Mandy Harris, Karie Lindsay, Kasi Broussard, Ruth Brooks, Kathy Thames, and Alan Howard.

May 21, 2019 - Panola College is proud to announce the names of those students named to the President’s List for the fall 2018 semester. To qualify a student must complete a minimum of 12 semester hours with a grade point average between 3.8 and 4.0. Only courses applying toward an associate degree or certificate are included in the computation.

Louisiana

• Bossier City – Chase Hodges
• Keithville – Yvonne Combs
• Logansport – Kurston Smith
• Mansfield – Jacqueline Files, Kamryn Ford

Texas

• Arlington – Joy Jekayinoluwa
• Avinger – Donna Maples
• Beckville – Ethan Collins, Michael Mize
• Carthage – Shauna Aycock, Christopher Blackmon, Delaina Blackmon, Nash Coultas, Trinity Dayton, Britney Everitt, Krysta Hammock, Esther Hernandez, Kortney Landreneaux, Kristina Mayo, Wayland McLemore, Taylor Mills, Addison Pope, Yareli Salinas Flores, Elva Saucedo, Kaci Williams
• Center – Juan Apolonia, Jonathan Ariza, Kori Bailey-Metcalf, Luz Gomez, Perla Mateos, Jacob Mitchell, Jeniece Moore, Eugene Nunez, Kaylee Parker, Angela Perkins, Nicklaus Powell, Brant Redmon, Sadie Sanchez, Maggie Sims, Mallory Sims, Whitney Thomas
• Cooper – Jacie McGraw
• Cypress – Hayden Collins
• Dallas – Victor Chinaka
• DeBerry – Edward Oden
• Garrison – William Edwards, Shane Iversen, Kirsten Mayfield, Daniel Quetzala
• Gary – Samantha Hay
• Hardin – Ryan Snell
• Henderson – Ezekiel Collins, Reyna Mejia
• Jefferson – Corben Johnston, Lara Padgett
• Joaquin – Sydney Cheshire, Cassie Cox, Milagros Luna, Trista Mustard, Julia Prewitt, Destini Whitehead
• League City – Hannah Floyd
• Marshall – Taylor Clayton, Dominique Espinoza, Somali Fletcher, Robert Kantee, Devin Knighten, Jacob Lambright, Anna Marulli, Leneve Williams
• Midland – Jurnee Williams
• Milam – Brittany Gregory
• Mt. Enterprise – Amber Jones
• Nacogdoches – Emily Hannah, Samantha LaRoche, Mahiko Moreno, Phillip Najvar, Isaac Patterson, Ariel Rodriguez
• Orange – Michael Lee
• Point – Justin Gonzales
• Pollok – Amanda Granger
• Seguin – Michelle Cherry
• Tatum – Macalan Amick, Troy Greene, Lucero Luna
• Tenaha – Christian Ashton, Alan Flores, Katelyn Martinez, Miguel Mendoza, Alayna Scull
• Texarkana – Joe Murray
• Waskom – John Carter, Christy Corliss
• Woodlawn – Cassidy Lonsway

Nigeria

• Lagos – Ibrahim Akande, Boluwatife Babalola, Samiat Fashola

Belarus

• Minsk -- Maryia Adashchyk

Canada

• Mississauga, Ontario – Thomas Grilli

Kenya

• Nairobi – Abigael Joseph

May 14, 2019 - The Panola College Rodeo Team went back into action April 26-27 in Wharton, Texas, and wow was it great!

Panola College Sophomore, Tyler Johnson, dominated the Bareback Riding. Tyler won the event with an 82-point bareback ride. The win just pushed Tyler into more of a commanding lead in the regional standings. Tyler Johnson is the Southern Region Champion Bareback Rider, and will be moving on to the CNFR, in Casper, WY. Coach Collins says “Tyler has worked toward this goal for 2 years. Last year he shattered his leg and was unable to qualify. Tyler will be there and I promise he has done his homework, if you’re going to beat Tyler you better be prepared. He’s definitely on a mission!”

Logan Cook, the 2018 and 2019 All-Around Champion, does it again! Cook won 3rd in the Saddle Bronc Riding were he finished the year in the number 2 position. Logan will be attending his 3rd CNFR, in both the Saddle Bronc Riding and the Tie down Roping. Logan has won both his All-Around titles by competing in 3 events, Tie Down Roping, Saddle Bronc Riding and Team Roping. Jeffrey Collins says “Logan is simply amazing, he can ride, rope and do anything a horseback you ask him to do. He will win a National Title and many more to come. We will miss him when he is gone, and this team is a whole lot better because of his presence here at Panola. I think when you look up the word “cowboy” in the Dictionary there should be a picture of Logan Cook, or as we call him Cookie.”

Jackson Williams took the title home in the Steer Wrestling with a 5.1 second run. Jackson is a Sophomore that will graduate and move on to AUM (Arkansas University at Monticello). Jackson’s win pushed him to 5th position in the Southern Region Standings. Williams weighs about 145 and has been placing in most of his events, and it’s an extremely physical event that is generally dominated by heavy weights.

Macon Murphy, Tie down Roper from Keatchie, La., won 3rd place with a 9.3 second run. Macon has been fighting for a spot in the top three in the regional standings all season. The points he earned at Wharton pushed him into the number 3 position, and he is moving on to the CNFR. Coach Collins says “Macon is a determined hard working young man. His horse is always in good shape and well attended to also. I expect great things from both of them. The great thing is he is just a freshman, and we get him back next year!”

Daylon Swearingen won 3rd in the Bull Riding to clinch a spot at the CNFR as well. Daylon was out first semester with an injury, and had to make up for lost time. Swearingen ended up the season 5th overall in the Bull Riding, enough to qualify as a team member. Daylon is a Sophomore and will be returning next year to compete in all three rough stock events the Bareback Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, and the Bull Riding. Daylon also finish 2nd in the Bareback Riding with an 81-point ride. The two placings totaled together helped him to win the All-Around title at that rodeo. 

Campbell Grove, Sophomore moving on to Sam Houston State University, won 3rd in the Girls Barrel Racing. Campbell has been winning on a fairly young horse named P, a 5-year-old. Coach Collins says “Campbell is a great kid that has been a great asset to our program here, we will miss her. I know she has a great future in our sport, and in life. She is an amazing young lady and I am glad we got to be a small part of her life.”

The Panola College Ponies are the 2019 Southern Region Men’s Team Champions! That means 6 men are moving on to the CNFR. Those men are pictured above: Daylon Swearingen - Bull Riding; Logan Cook - Saddle Bronc Riding and Tie Down Roping; Macon Murphy - Tie Down Roping; Ross Freeman - Bull Riding; Tyler Johnson - Bareback Riding; and (not pictured) Clayton Lowry - Team Roping.