By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
PEARCY — Beebe’s James Anderson and Searcy’s Kristen Celsor won the high jump competition at the Meet of Champs at Lake Hamilton High School on Wednesday.
Anderson’s leap of 6 feet, 9 inches edged out Chris Gragg of Warren. Celsor won with a jump of 5-5.
Cabot’s Amber Rizoff took sixth (5-2), while Searcy’s Shalisha Anthony was 10th (4-8).
The Meet of Champs features the winners of each event in all seven classifications from the state track meets last week, plus a select group of extras.
Abundant Life’s Hannah Pastor, who set the 3A state meet record in winning the triple jump last week, finished sixth on Wednesday with a jump of 35-5, four inches better than her state meet jump. Pastor also took fourth in the 400 meters (1 minute, 27-hundredths of a second).
The Cabot boys earned a second-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay (3:24.68) and third in the 3,200-meter relay (8:13.22).
The Cabot girls finished second in the 3,200-meter relay (9:57.82).
Emily Carpenter of Cabot was fourth in the 3,200 meters (11:48.57), while Cabot’s Brandon Tucker was fifth in the boys 3,200 (10:09.32).
Reilly McAfee of Cabot took home a sixth in the 800 meters (2:25.42), while Searcy’s Kyle Campbell was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.36). Taking seventh place in the long jump was Searcy’s Josh McFalls (20-9.25). Anthony also took seventh in the 200 meters (26.20).
Searcy senior star and University of Arkansas signee Whitney Jones missed the Meet of Champs after sitting out the state meet with a hamstring injury. Jones won four Meet of Champs events last year. Jones is planning on defending her heptathlon title next week at Cabot. Jones has won the event the past two seasons.
