Leader sportswriter
Local track teams finished up their conference schedules with their respective district meets last week, qualifying participants for this week’s round of state track meets.
The Lonoke Jackrabbits finished second in the 4A Region 2 meet at Heber Springs while a small Lady ’Rabbits group finished seventh and qualified one for the 4A state meet at Nashville tomorrow.
In 5A, Beebe took second place on the boys side of the 5A East district meet while the Lady Badgers brought home fourth place. Sylvan Hills finished seventh in both the girls and boys standings at the 5A Southeast meet in Monticello, while the North Pulaski Lady Falcons finished fifth and the Falcon boys team took eighth.
Lonoke senior Derrika Mays finished second in the shot put with a distance of 33-0.25, making her the only Lady Jackrabbit to qualify for state. Junior Regan Hart came within one spot of qualifying for the state meet when she finished third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 55.72.
Four Jackrabbits qualified for the state meet on the boys side, including triple-jump winner Blake Mack. The standout sophomore edged Clint Ligon of Heber Springs with a distance of 40-11.5. Eric Williams finished third in the 100-meter dash, which would have been one spot short of qualifying at district, but his fastest time at a conference meet earlier in the season gave him an automatic trip to the state meet.
Mack and Williams also teamed with Brent Sims and Kenny Johnson in the 4x100 relay, and won the event with a time of 45.25, just edging the Newport team for the victory.
“They had their best performances in conference,” Lonoke coach Tim Scarborough said. “As a coach, one of the things you look for is who is going to step up to the challenge. As a whole, the team stepped up, and I’m proud of them.”
The Badgers needed 10 more points to take top team honors at Paragould last week, finishing with 141 points to winner Nettleton’s 150 points.
Senior K.J. Maples won three events, including the 400-meter dash, winning with a time of 51.49. Maples also took the victory in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:37.85, and won a close contest to Sebastian Brown of Greene County Tech in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:46.22.
Badger runners swept the top-two spots in the 800-meter run, as senior Austin Dupio won with a time of 2:04.43 in front of junior teammate Jake Schlenker, who ran a 2:05.64.
Dupio also took fourth place in the 1,600 run, and Allen Kirk finished fourth in the 3,200-meter run.
The group of Jordan Huffstickler, Hunter Plante, John Diaz and Tanner Chapman won the 4x400-meter relay run with a time of 3:32.68. The team of Schlenker, Diaz, Plante and Alex Smith finished third in the 4x800-meter relay event with a time of 8:57.97.
Senior Dayton Scott dominated the high-jump event with a height of 6-6, a solid five inches ahead of Blytheville’s Anfernee Coleman, and was a close second in the triple jump with a distance of 44-1.75.
Huffstickler was third in the pole vault with a height of 12-6, while junior Jared Gowen won the discus throw with a distance of 134-9.
On the girls side, senior Alexis Miguel won the pole vault with a comfortable height of 8-6, six inches better than Batesville’s Sarah Stalker. Sophomore Madison Richie also got an event victory and state qualifying spot with a 16-7.5 winning distance in the long jump.
Richie was also third in the triple jump with a distance of 33-11.
Sophomore Katie McGraw finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:39.47, while freshman Trystan Taylor took fourth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:14.32. Senior Stormy Taylor ran third in the 3,200 with a time of 14:08.25, and junior Jamie Jackson finished fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 50.37. The relay team of McGraw, Taylor, Rachel Treece and Cecily Brock finished third in the 4x800 with a time of 11:02.12.
Lady Falcon junior Yasmine Wilson qualified for state in the girls field with a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash. Wilson ran a time of 13.09 to grab the final transfer spot. Wilson also qualified for the 400-meter dash, finishing a close second to Crossett’s Kyelah Hodges with a time of 1:00.26. Sophomore Reagan Lear qualified for the state 800-meter run with a second-place finish at the district meet with a time of 5:58.91. Lear was also runner up in the 3,200 event with a time of 12:48.04.
Senior Jacqueline Moragne also took a second-place finish with a 16-10 leap in the long-jump competition.
For Sylvan Hills, senior Jeremiah Persson won the boys 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:14.39.
Local track teams finished up their conference schedules with their respective district meets last week, qualifying participants for this week’s round of state track meets.
The Lonoke Jackrabbits finished second in the 4A Region 2 meet at Heber Springs while a small Lady ’Rabbits group finished seventh and qualified one for the 4A state meet at Nashville tomorrow.
In 5A, Beebe took second place on the boys side of the 5A East district meet while the Lady Badgers brought home fourth place. Sylvan Hills finished seventh in both the girls and boys standings at the 5A Southeast meet in Monticello, while the North Pulaski Lady Falcons finished fifth and the Falcon boys team took eighth.
Lonoke senior Derrika Mays finished second in the shot put with a distance of 33-0.25, making her the only Lady Jackrabbit to qualify for state. Junior Regan Hart came within one spot of qualifying for the state meet when she finished third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 55.72.
Four Jackrabbits qualified for the state meet on the boys side, including triple-jump winner Blake Mack. The standout sophomore edged Clint Ligon of Heber Springs with a distance of 40-11.5. Eric Williams finished third in the 100-meter dash, which would have been one spot short of qualifying at district, but his fastest time at a conference meet earlier in the season gave him an automatic trip to the state meet.
Mack and Williams also teamed with Brent Sims and Kenny Johnson in the 4x100 relay, and won the event with a time of 45.25, just edging the Newport team for the victory.
“They had their best performances in conference,” Lonoke coach Tim Scarborough said. “As a coach, one of the things you look for is who is going to step up to the challenge. As a whole, the team stepped up, and I’m proud of them.”
The Badgers needed 10 more points to take top team honors at Paragould last week, finishing with 141 points to winner Nettleton’s 150 points.
Senior K.J. Maples won three events, including the 400-meter dash, winning with a time of 51.49. Maples also took the victory in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:37.85, and won a close contest to Sebastian Brown of Greene County Tech in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:46.22.
Badger runners swept the top-two spots in the 800-meter run, as senior Austin Dupio won with a time of 2:04.43 in front of junior teammate Jake Schlenker, who ran a 2:05.64.
Dupio also took fourth place in the 1,600 run, and Allen Kirk finished fourth in the 3,200-meter run.
The group of Jordan Huffstickler, Hunter Plante, John Diaz and Tanner Chapman won the 4x400-meter relay run with a time of 3:32.68. The team of Schlenker, Diaz, Plante and Alex Smith finished third in the 4x800-meter relay event with a time of 8:57.97.
Senior Dayton Scott dominated the high-jump event with a height of 6-6, a solid five inches ahead of Blytheville’s Anfernee Coleman, and was a close second in the triple jump with a distance of 44-1.75.
Huffstickler was third in the pole vault with a height of 12-6, while junior Jared Gowen won the discus throw with a distance of 134-9.
On the girls side, senior Alexis Miguel won the pole vault with a comfortable height of 8-6, six inches better than Batesville’s Sarah Stalker. Sophomore Madison Richie also got an event victory and state qualifying spot with a 16-7.5 winning distance in the long jump.
Richie was also third in the triple jump with a distance of 33-11.
Sophomore Katie McGraw finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:39.47, while freshman Trystan Taylor took fourth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 6:14.32. Senior Stormy Taylor ran third in the 3,200 with a time of 14:08.25, and junior Jamie Jackson finished fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 50.37. The relay team of McGraw, Taylor, Rachel Treece and Cecily Brock finished third in the 4x800 with a time of 11:02.12.
Lady Falcon junior Yasmine Wilson qualified for state in the girls field with a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash. Wilson ran a time of 13.09 to grab the final transfer spot. Wilson also qualified for the 400-meter dash, finishing a close second to Crossett’s Kyelah Hodges with a time of 1:00.26. Sophomore Reagan Lear qualified for the state 800-meter run with a second-place finish at the district meet with a time of 5:58.91. Lear was also runner up in the 3,200 event with a time of 12:48.04.
Senior Jacqueline Moragne also took a second-place finish with a 16-10 leap in the long-jump competition.
For Sylvan Hills, senior Jeremiah Persson won the boys 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:14.39.
