By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Nine schools participated in Thursday’s Lonoke Jackrabbit Relays, and the Lonoke boys totaled 115 points for second place, which was nine points shy of Maumelle’s 126. Maumelle also won the girls’ division, dominating the competition with 171 points, which was nearly 100 points more than second-place Stuttgart’s 82.
The Lonoke girls tallied 40 points in the competition, which was good for fifth place behind fourth-place Riverview. Haiden Jeter played a big role in helping Lonoke take fifth place according to coach Nathan Morris.
Jeter is steadily getting better in all events as the track season gets underway. She finished second in the 800-meter run Thursday, bettering her fifth-place finish in the event last week at Heber Springs.
Jeter also placed third in the high jump, second in the triple jump, and was part of the 1600-meter relay team that finished third along with Savannah Holman, Janice Chapman and Samaria James.
“She’s a pretty talented runner,” Morris said of Jeter. “She finished second in the 800 tonight and she finished fifth last week at Heber Springs, and she’s just now getting back into race shape. We feel like she can really do something at district in the 800.”
Holman, who’s a first-year participant, placed fifth in the high jump, sixth in the 100-meter hurdles, and fifth in the 300-meter hurdles. Chapman placed fifth in the shot put and sixth in the 100-meter dash. James also placed in the triple jump, finishing fourth.
The Lonoke boys had three first-place finishes Thursday. Chris Smith won the pole vault event. Jeffrey Norwood won the 800-meter run, and the 400-meter relay team of Eric Williams, D.J. Burton, Brent Sims and Blake Mack took first as well, which was no surprise to coach Tim Scarborough.
“That’s probably our best race throughout the track meet,” Scarborough said of his relay sprint team. “These guys made it to state last year. We’re looking to repeat there, but we’re looking to have a better showing at state. Although we made the finals, I think we got seventh in the state. So we’re looking to do a little bit better than that this year.”
Williams finished a nose-shy of first place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.43, which was easily enough for second. Mack and Burton provided Lonoke’s points in the high jump. Mack took fourth place and Burton finished just behind him at fifth.
Dylan Goforth had a solid showing in the field events as he placed third in both the shot put and discus throw. The 3200-meter relay team of Norwood, Tykel Gray, Robert Buchanan and Levi Ward took second place, while the 1600-meter team of Mack, Ward, Caleb Bailey and Stephon Carthron also finished second.
Gray finished third in the 1600-meter run, while Buchanan finished sixth. Dylan Walker took sixth in the 110-meter hurdles, and fourth in the 300-meter hurdles. Smith also placed in the 800-meter run, finishing fourth.
Carlisle was also at the event, and although it didn’t have enough participants to make a big impact in the overall team points standings, the participants it did have made a strong showing. John Reynolds won both the shot put and discus throw, and his sister Erica won the discus and placed third in the shot put.
John Reynolds also placed in the 800-meter run, finishing fifth. First-year participant Tim Pershbacher also provided the Bison with some points as he placed sixth in the 3200-meter run. John Reynolds’ solid day came as no surprise to coach Brandon Barbaree.
“Well John, he’s just a competitor,” Barbaree said. “He competed last year in the decathlon, and he almost placed at state in the discus last year. So I knew he’d do well in this meet and he’ll have a chance to place at state this year.”
Both Lonoke and Carlisle will compete in meets next week. Lonoke will be at Beebe on Thursday for the annual Badger Relays, while Carlisle will travel to DeWitt for the Dragon Relays.
