By RAY BENTON AND JASON KING
Leader sports staff
Local track teams represented the area well at the Badger Relays track meet at Beebe High School on Thursday.
The host Badgers showed the best of local entrances with a fifth-place finish for the boys and a seventh-place finish for the Lady Badgers. The Badger team combined for an overall fifth-place finish with 108 total points.
Of the 32 teams on each side, North Pulaski took home a 15th place for the boys and 18th place for girls, but fell to 20th place in the final overall standings. Carlisle was one of the smallest teams at the event as a Class 2A participant in a meet which featured mostly 5A and 4A schools, but the Bison track group performed strong with 17th and 18th place finishes for the boys and girls teams respectively to finish 22nd overall.
Vilonia took boys, girls and overall victories at the meet with an overall score of 192 points for a runaway win over Mills University Studies, which was a distant second place with only 138 total points.
Sophomore Madison Richey finished in a four-way tie for first place in the high jump by clearing the 4-10 mark, and she finished fifth in the long jump for the Badgers with a distance of 15-5 while junior Jamie Jackson finished sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 32-8.50. A third Badger to convert basketball success onto the track field was senior Alexis Miguel, who ended in a three-way tie for third place in the pole vault event with Harding Academy’s Maggie Cox and Batesville’s Sarah Stalker. The trio reached the 8-foot mark as three of only eight finalists in the event.
In timed track events, Jackson finished fourth in the 300-meter high hurdles with a time of 51.18 and Richie was 10th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.50.
The Lady Badgers also had top-10 finishes in all three relay events.
On the boys side, Steven Savage finished third in the discus throw with a distance of 116-8. The Badgers and Vilonia dominated the event with three finishers each in the top 10, including Badgers Tyler Love in fifth (115-8) and Jared Gowen in seventh (114-11).
Love was also third in the shot put event with a distance of 36-7. Senior Dayton Scott easily won the high-jump by clearing a height of 8-2, a solid two inches above Vilonia’s Lucas Edwards, and Scott also finished third in the triple jump at 42-0.50.
Jordan Huffstickler tied for fourth and Brandon Lercher finished sixth for Beebe in the pole-vault event, and the Badgers finished top three in two of the relay events, including a win in the 4x800-meter event.
Marcus Burns finished fifth in the 300-meter high hurdles with a time of 45.54 in front of Beebe teammate Dillon Bell in eighth place, while Alan Kirk finished ninth in the 3,200-meter run.
Kirk also finished eighth in the 1,600-meter run just behind teammate Austin Dupio, who finished sixth.
Senior K.J. Maples finished second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.66 while teammate Jake Schlenker finished sixth.
Yasmine Wilson finished sixth in the 400-meter dash for North Pulaski with a time of 1:03.60 and finished seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.62 while Reagan Lear finished eighth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:08.75.
Falcon teammate Jacqueline Moragne was ninth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.47 while Courvoisiea Allen finished 10th in the 100-meter boys dash with a time of 11.88.
For Carlisle, Bo Weddle finished fifth in the boys 200-meter dash with a time of 24.11, and was ninth in the 100-meter event with a time of 11.77.
Erica Reynolds finished third in the discus throw with a toss of 88-2 in one of the more closely contested events of the meet.
Domeneque Brown of Rivercrest barely won the event with a distance 91-11 over Batesville’s Pamela Okolo, whose toss measured in at 91-05. Reynolds took third just in front of Kirby Smith of Des Arc who reached an even 88-0.
On Monday, the Beebe boys team took third place behind Vilonia and Heber Springs. North Pulaski also turned in a good showing, finishing in ninth place.
The Badgers racked up 89 total points.
Dupio took second in the 800 meters with a time of 2:04.88 while Maples placed fourth in the 400 meters.
Jake Schlenker and Alan Kirk got points in the 1,600, finishing third and seventh place. Kirk also took second in the 3,200 meters with a time of 11:04.65.
The most exciting race of the event was the 4x100-meter relay. The top six teams finished within a half second of each other. The Vilonia team won the race with a time of 45.47. North Pulaski finished fifth, coming in at 45.87.
The Beebe boys won the 4x800 relay with a time of 8:32.43, and took third in the 4x400.
Scott won the high jump and triple jump at Batesville as well, and took third in the long jump. He cleared 6-3 in the high jump and went 43 feet in the triple jump. Lercher cleared 11 feet in the pole vault for sixth place.
Jared Gowen and Steven Savage took first and fourth place respectively in the discus throw. Gowen’s winning throw travels 125-2.
For the North Pulaski girls, Wilson and Moragne finished second and fourth respectively in the 100-meter dash.
Beebe’s Madison Richey finished fifth in the same race. The Lady Falcon duo also finished third and fifth in the 200 meters. Wilson also took fifth in the 400.
Richey also took second in the long jump, third in the triple jump and fifth in the high jump.
Lear took fifth in the 1600 and fourth in the 3200 while Miguel was fifth in the pole vault.
Beebe took third in the girls 4x100- and 4x800-meter relays, and fifth in the 4x4oo.
