By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader staffwriter
During Friday’s annual Beebe Badger Relays, a ceremony was held commemorating the school record-holders of Beebe High School’s track and field events. The majority of the school’s record-holders were present for the ceremonial event, which included various age groups, some of which are current members of the Badger and Lady Badger track teams.
The longest standing records in either the boys’ or girls’ division are held by Bobby Pruitt, who set school records in both the 800-meter run and the 1600-meter run in 1967.
Pruitt’s record 800-meter time of 1:58.00 and 1600-meter time of 4:19.60 have stood the test of time, and still mean a lot to him to this day according to his wife, Kim Pruitt, who was there to represent her husband, who was out of state for a softball tournament.
“He was very disappointed that he couldn’t be here, but he wanted someone in the family to be here for him,” Kim Pruitt said. “Track’s always been an important part of his life. He went on and ran at the University of Arkansas and held the mile record there for several years. He ran a 4:07.00 in college and continues to run today and be very active.
“(The record) means a lot to him, but he encourages athletes to do their best and he looks forward to one day that he can be here and see someone break the record. He wants them to do their best, and he says ‘records are meant to be broken.’”
Tony Lockhart, who went on to play football at the University of Arkansas after his high school career, was also part of the ceremony. His four records have stood since 1997. He is the school record-holder in the 400-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the 110-meter hurdles, and he shares the 100-meter dash record with his younger brother, Dwayne Lockhart, as both timed in at 10.71.
Dwayne Lockhart tied his brother’s record in the 100-meter dash in 2003, and he also set the long jump record that year with a length of 23-9.
Also honored in the boys’ individual events was 300-meter hurdles record-holder Benji Lindsey (1982), 3200-meter record-holder Chris Roberts (2006), high jump record-holder James Anderson (2008), triple jump record-holder Dayton Scott (2012), pole vault record-holder Reese Totty (2011), cross country 5K record-holder Jacob Hendricks, and shot put and discus record-holder William Dismang (1996).
The 4x100-meter relay team of Dane Grant, Shane Smith, D.J. Jones and Aaron Raney set the school record that stands today in 1994 with a time of 44.8. Grant, Jones, Raney and Bennie Pickens set the 4x200-meter relay record the year before that with a 1:34.2 time.
In 1991, the 4x400-meter record was set by Mark Bivens, Chris Ulsperger, Jason Loyd and John Greer, and last year, the 4x800-meter relay team of John Diaz, Jake Schlenker, K.J. Maples and Austin Dupio set the school record and won the state championship with a time of 8:09.86.
Diaz and Schlenker are both on the Badger track team this year, and reflected on what it was like to not only win state in the respective event last year, but to also set the school record in the process.
“It felt really good,” Diaz said. “We found out about it at (the state) track meet. It was a bit of a shock to us. It was a surprise to us that we came in first overall (at state), but we knew that we had a strong 4x800 team.”
“The first thing was winning state,” Schlenker said. “That was what made us happy in the first place. But as far as breaking that record, I kind of couldn’t believe it, because that wasn’t really our goal. We kind of thought that was out of reach at the beginning of the year, but we got it.”
Nearly all of the relay record-holders in the girls’ division were in attendance. The 4x400-meter team of Sandy Hansen, Lesley Rose Smith, K.C. Cagle and Beth Huffstickler set the record in 1982 with a time of 4:04.47.
Geraldine Fuller, Diana Alexander Layrock, and Sharonda Harris are all part of two record-holding relay teams. Those three along with Tanya Skasick set the 4x100-meter mark in 1988 with a time of 50.8. The trio also holds the record in the 4x200-meter relay, along with Carolyn Harris, with a time of 1:48, which was also set in 1988.
Alexander is also the Lady Badgers’ high jump record-holder with a height of 5-6. In 2000, the 4x800-meter team of Jordan Burns, Katrina Tucker, Amanda Sexton and Cari Allen set the school record with a time of 10:04.11.
Allen is currently the Lady Badgers’ track coach, but is now known as coach Rector, and she encourages her current 4x800-meter team to push themselves to challenge the time her team set more than a decade ago.
“Back then it was called the 3200-meter relay,” Rector said. “At that time we were the top-placing group at the Meet of Champs that was from Beebe. I’ve coached the Beebe girls since 2006, and each year I want them to beat my time. I would love to see some girls that I coach beat that time.”
Current Lady Badger track standout Madison Richey holds two school records. Her 3733 point total in the heptathlon last year was good for the school record in that event, as well as her triple jump length of 34-5, which was also set in 2012.
Alicia Allen’s cross country 5K time of 21:58.46 was set in 2006 and still stands to this day. Nita Young holds three school records that were all set in 1981. She holds records in the 100-meter hurdles, the 200-meter dash, and the long jump.
Jordan Kelly’s time of 12.72 set the school mark in the 100-meter dash in 2007. Brandy Ballard (1999) still holds the time for the grueling 300-meter hurdles with a time 45.54. Hansen also holds the mark for the 400-meter dash with a 60.50 time.
Jordan Burns set the 800-meter dash record in 2000 with a time of 2:28.38. In the distance races, Taylor Brock set the 1600-meter record, timing in at 5:51.64, and Tracie Blair holds the 3200-meter record with a time of 12:52.83, both of which were set in 2007.
Sharon Griggs set the shot put record in 1990 with a distance of 36-8. Jennifer Reeder holds the discus record with a distance of 118-1, which was set in 1999, and Alexis Miguel’s 2011 pole vault clearing of 9-2 is the school record in that event.
