MaxPreps Founder and President Andy Beal presents MaxPreps Cup to Bentonville High School

Video: Bentonville (AR) captures its second-straight MaxPreps Cup

MaxPreps, America's most popular high school sports media company, announced Bentonville (Ark.) as the winner of its annual MaxPreps Cup in July. On Friday, MaxPreps Founder and President Andy Beal was on hand to present the trophy to school officials at halftime of the Tigers' football game against Rogers Heritage.

"Bentonville High is impressive!" Beal said. "Its commitment to excellence spans athletics, academics and the arts. The sports program features committed student-athletes, remarkable stability with its coaches, community involvement, financial support and first-class facilities."

The MaxPreps Cup annually recognizes the top high school athletic programs in the nation. In prior years, the MaxPreps Cup was a virtual award. Friday's trophy presentation marked the first time that a school received an actual trophy.

Bentonville posted a national-best 10 state championships during the season to finish with 1,202 points. That total edged Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh, N.C.), which had 1,033 points, for first place overall. Carmel (Ind.) placed third with 948 points and six state championships. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) finished at No. 4 with 922 points and Darien (Conn.) ended the year at No. 5 with 908 points.



The Bentonville Tigers have now won the prestigious honor for the second year in a row. MaxPreps Cup winners represent the most successful high school sports athletic programs in the country. Prior winners include: Westminster (Atlanta) in 2012-13 and American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) in 2011-12.

In addition to Bentonville's astounding nation-leading 10 state titles were runner-up finishes in four other Arkansas Activities Association sports.

Bentonville's state championships included: football, girls volleyball, girls cross country, girls track and field, girls tennis, girls swimming, boys tennis, boys swimming, boys soccer and baseball.

The Tigers were runners-up in girls golf, boys cross country, boys basketball and boys track and field.

Bentonville has also won five MaxPreps Tour of Champions trophies over the years. One of the reasons for Bentonville's success is stability. According to Beal, a vast majority of the coaches are teachers and the athletic director says that he has had to hire just one new coach in any sport in the past four years. Additionally, the principal and nearly 30 teachers at the school are Bentonville graduates.

A rapidly growing school over the past 15 years, Bentonville has an enrollment of nearly 4,600 students. The school's dominance in Arkansas sports will be tested next year, though, when some of that enrollment will populate new school West Bentonville High School.



About MaxPreps
MaxPreps is America's most popular high school sports media company and is a business unit of CBSSports Digital. Founded in 2002, MaxPreps aspires to cover "every team, every game and every player" in high school sports. MaxPreps features schedules, results, standings, rankings, rosters, as well as stories, photos and videos from high school sports around the country. MaxPreps reported record-setting results in September 2015, serving over 12.5MM unique users on its website, mobile website and iOS mobile app. MaxPreps is an official partner of the Arkansas Activities Association and 20 other high school sports state governing bodies.

About the MaxPreps Cup
MaxPreps Cup rankings are compiled by giving schools points for finishing first or second at the state level. For states that don't have state competition, point totals are adjusted to award first- and second-place teams at the section level. Points are also awarded for size of playoff division (championships won at the large-school level are worth more than championships at the small-school level), size of state (championships for Texas, for example, are worth more than championships for less-populous states like Alaska) and type of sport (football championships are worth more than tennis championships).

National rankings are also included in the tabulation of points. The MaxPreps Computer Rankings for soccer, lacrosse and boys volleyball are utilized, while the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Rankings are used for boys and girls basketball, football, baseball, softball and girls volleyball. Dyestat's national rankings for cross country and track and field are also utilized along with The Mat's rankings for wrestling.