Bentonville High School

Choral program

The Bentonville High School Chamber Choir

Bentonville High School's choral program totals 11 choirs, including the Chamber Choir, A Cappella (mixed choir) and A Cappella Women (known as Bella Voce). These are BHS's premiere choirs and membership is by audition only.

The Chamber Choir, under the direction of Terry Hicks, won the 2007 and 2012 "Best in Class" (Mixed & Overall - Medium Chorus) award and Sweepstakes Trophy at the All-State Choir Festival.^[11] The Chamber Choir traveled to New York City in March 2007 to sing at Carnegie Hall in the 4th annual National High School Choral Festival. This experience was chronicled in a two-part series^[12] on National Public Radio. The Chamber Choir has won international acclaim, touring Germany in 2010, Ireland in 2014, Scotland/England in 2017 and an upcoming tour of Europe in 2019, giving performances throughout these countries.

Other choirs at BHS include Sophomore Select, Concert Men, Concert Women, and four freshmen choirs.

Band program

The Bentonville High School band performed at the 2007 Fiesta Bowl parade in Arizona and performed in Disney World in the summer of 2005 and during spring break of 2009. They marched in the National Independence Parade in Washington, D.C. on the Fourth of July in 2009.

During the concert season, the band consists of four concert bands: the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band, and the award-winning Bentonville Pride Marching Band. The entire band program includes approximately 350 students. It is the top high school band in the state. The Bentonville Pride Marching Band has received top rankings in invitational contests at the Owasso Invitational, Broken Arrown Invitational, Union High School's Renegade Review and Golden Regiment Invitational. The band won overall at the Broken Arrow Invitational, placed 6th in St. Louis at the Super Regional competition, and placed 20th as a semi-finalist at Indianapolis Grand Nationals in 2015, with their show "Reality Invades". The Pride is the first marching band in the state to place in finals at any Bands of America Super Regional, as well as the first band in the state to reach the semi-finals at Bands of America Grand Nationals. The Pride continues to go to St. Louis and Indianapolis to perform in domes used by the NFL. The concert bands have had a successful scoring record, ranking all 1s in All-Region in 2009 and 2010. The Pride was named 2016 5A State Marching Champions at the first ever Arkansas Marching State Championships.

Orchestra program

The Bentonville High School orchestra program comprises three orchestras, Concert, Symphonic, and Chamber. Symphonic and Chamber orchestras are under the direction of Jesse Collett. As an audition-only orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra has performed in several Heritage Music Festivals, winning the gold and sweepstakes awards consecutively since 2012 and many awards prior. As of 2014, the Bentonville Orchestra Program (encompassing grades 6-12) is one of the fastest growing orchestra programs in Arkansas. Both the Symphonic and Chamber orchestras consistently rank all 1s during the All-Region performance assessment.

Football

The Bentonville Tigers have consistently performed as one of the top teams in 7A football. They have won five state championships, in 2001, 2008, 2010,2013 and 2014. The Tigers beat conference rival Fayetteville Bulldogs in December 2010. They played at the War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the final score was 49-28. This game wrapped up a perfect season for Bentonville. The Bentonville Tigers were also conference champions from 2010, marking an undefeated season for them in 2010.^[15] Bentonville also played for 7A state championships in 2011 and 2012, but lost both those games to Fayetteville, 29-28 in OT in 2011 and 31-20 in 2012. In the 2013 season, Bentonville took on Cabot for the class 7A State Championship game after defeating the Conway Wampus Cats in the semi-finals.

On September 20, 2013, Bentonville played Trinity High School (Euless, Texas) at home. Trinity edged Bentonville 21-13. The game was considered a test as to whether an elite Arkansas team from its largest classification (7A) can compete with an elite Texas team from its largest classification (5A).^[16]

Volleyball

The Lady Tigers have won five state championships, in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2014.^[14] have won state championship titles with the girls' team in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009; the boys' team won its first title in 1982, and have since won four consecutive state titles in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.^[14]

Swimming and diving

The Bentonville swimming and diving program is the most successful in Arkansas history, with 29 state championship titles. As of 2013, the boys have won a state-record 14 state championships including nine consecutive between 2005 and 2013; the girls have won a state-record 15 state championships since 1991.^[14]

Golf

The Bentonville golf team posted an undefeated 10-0 record for the 2011 season. This included a playoff victory against Springdale Har-Ber.

Tennis

The Bentonville tennis squads have won state championship titles with the girls' team in 1993, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2014, 2015, and 2016; the boys' team won state titles in 1997, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.^{[14][17][18][19][20]}

Soccer

In 1998, the Arkansas Activities Association began administering soccer. Since its inception, the Bentonville Tigers soccer squads have won seven state championship titles in the spring with the girls' team, in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. The boys' team has won state titles in 2005, 2014, 2015 and 2016.^[14] Bentonville boasts the 2014 Gatorade Arkansas Girls Player of the Year award winner,^[21] and the 2017 Gatorade Arkansas Boys Player of the Year award winner.^[22]

Wrestling

Bentonville has one of the state's most successful scholastic wrestling programs, which formed across the state in 2008–09. The Tigers became the first two-time state wrestling championship team, with titles in the 2008–09 and 2012–13 school years.

Baseball and softball

The 2002 Bentonville baseball team won the school's first state baseball title.^[14] The 2015 Bentonville baseball team won the 7A state championship title, beating Conway High at Baum Stadium.

In May 2016, the softball team won their first state title.

Track and field

The Bentonville track and field teams have found success in recent years with 7A Classification state championships for the girls' teams in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2015.^[14]

The Jungle

The Jungle is Bentonville High School's student section. It consisted of approximately 300 students in the 2009-2010 season and 500 in the 2010-2011 season. The Jungle is known for being the loudest and largest student section in the 7A West, winning the "Best Student Section" title awarded by Sportstalk: The High School Show in 2010. The Jungle is run by a crew called the "Men In Black" who lead the crowd and carry the flags onto the field. The Jungle is present in most athletic events, with at least 40 members at all volleyball games.

The Running of the Colors

At the beginning of the 2006 football season, it was decided that the team would be led onto the field from the field house by three students bearing flags with the letters B, H, and S on them, while wearing clothes that were washed improperly so as to make the colors run. The tradition was continued beyond the graduation of its three first members.

BHS Tiger football team entering the field at the beginning of a home game

The Bentonville-Rogers rivalry

Bentonville's fiercest rival is with cross-county Rogers High School, whose mascot is known as the "Mountie". The Tigers traditionally play the Mounties as the first and last regular season soccer game, and the first and last conference basketball game. Bentonville High School won the 2007–08 game. Bentonville beat Rogers in the 2008–09 game at Rogers' brand-new stadium.

Bentonville-Fayetteville rivalry

In the past five years, the Bentonville-Fayetteville rivalry has picked up in intensity. The football programs of both schools are at the top of the state. There have been many close games in the regular season, and they have met in the State Championship in four of the last five years, with both teams winning two games each. This rivalry has spread to other sports, including golf and soccer.