By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Beebe, Lonoke, Jacksonville and North Pulaski all participated in Friday’s Beebe Badger Relays which was dominated by members of the 5A East Conference.
The Lady Badgers finished in second place with 70 points, 15 points behind first place Blytheville. The Badgers also finished with 70 points which was good for third place behind overall winner Greene County Tech, and second-place Nettleton.
The Lonoke boys also had a strong showing as they finished fifth overall with 44 points. Sprinter Eric Williams provided six of those points as he finished third overall in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.57. Fellow Jackrabbit sprinter Brent Sims finished seventh with a time of 11.73.
Williams also placed in the 200-meter run, finishing sixth overall with a time of 23.93. Jacksonville’s Danial Curly placed seventh in the run, finishing with a time of 23.99.
Beebe’s Hunter Plante gave the Badgers five points in the 400-meter run with a time of 54.61, which was good enough for a fourth-place finish. Caleb Bailey of Lonoke finished sixth in the event with a time of 55.29.
The hosts Badgers dominated the 800-meter run. John Diaz won the event with a time of 2:08.43, and Jake Schlenker finished third with a 2:10.39 time. Jeffrey Norwood of Lonoke placed fifth with a time of 2:11.45, and North Pulaski’s Cedric Grant finished seventh with a 2:17.84 time.
“They’re real special just because, it’s one thing to have kids that are good at what they do, but they work hard for what they get,” said Beebe boys coach Mark Pinkerton about Diaz and Schlenker. “They have great attitudes and they’ve earned their success.”
Lonoke’s Tykel Gray took second in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:00.66. Allen Kirk of Beebe finished third, timing in at 5:02.22. Kirk also ran the 3200-meter, finishing third with a time of 11:15.51.
The Lonoke 4x100-meter relay team of Williams, Sims, D.J. Burton and Blake Mack finished second and one tenth of a second from qualifying for the state meet with a time of 44.30. To qualify for the state meet in the 4x100-meter relay, a time of 44.20 is needed.
“The guys were pretty bummed about that,” said Lonoke boys coach Tim Scarborough, “but, you know, we’ll have one more opportunity when we go to Heber Springs the week before district. So hopefully we can get some good weather and we can go ahead and pull that off.”
Beebe took second in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:43.46. Lonoke finished fifth with a time of 3:59.53, and North Pulaski’s time of 4:12.96 was good for seventh place. The respective schools also placed the same in the 4x800-meter relay.
A.J. Christiansen of Beebe won the high jump with a jump of 6-3. The win qualifies Christiansen for the state meet. Jacksonville’s Curly placed sixth in the event with a jump of 6-0. Beebe picked up additional points in the pole vault thanks to Brandon Lercher’s 11-9 clearing, which was good for second place.
Curly and Lonoke’s Williams tied for fourth place in the triple jump at 40-4. Mack placed seventh in the event at 40-1. North Pulaski sophomore David Jackson won the shot put with a throw of 45-1. Beebe’s Race Payne finished fifth in the event with a throw of 40-9.
In the discus, Beebe took three spots in the placing. Jared Gowen finished second with a throw of 119-1. Jackson Snelson finished fourth with a throw of 107-9, and Jessie Crisco finished fifth with a distance of 106-5.
In the girls’ division, Beebe’s Madison Richey placed in every one of her events. Richey won the long jump with a length of 15-8 1/2. She placed second in the high jump, clearing 5-0, fifth in the triple jump with a length of 32-5, and fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.73.
“She’s always strong in the overall (points),” said Lady Badgers coach Cari Rector of Richey. “She was third best in the overall (individual) high-points.”
Rector was also happy with her 4x800-meter relay team, which won with a time of 10:55.74, as well as freshman Taylor McGraw, who won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:36.41.
“I was really proud of them,” Rector said of her relay team. “They had a good time there. Taylor McGraw won the 800, and she’s a ninth-grader. She’s done really well. This is her second track meet. We had a good showing in all the relays, and I was very pleased.”
The Lady Badgers also placed in every other relay event. They placed second in the 4x100 relay with a time of 52.57, and third in the 4x400, with a time of 4:33.57. Katie McGraw and Erin Langley placed sixth and seventh overall in the 400-meter run. Katie McGraw finished with a time of 1:09.83, while Langley finished in 1:10.62.
Rachel Treece, also from Beebe, placed in the 800-meter run, finishing eighth with a time of 2:46.16. Lonoke’s Haiden Jeter took sixth in the event, timing in at 2:44.04. Jamie Jackson was fourth in the grueling 300-meter hurdles, clocking in a 50.93 time for the Lady Badgers.
Cecily Brock and Sydnye Shuttleworth added the final points for the Lady Badgers by taking sixth and seventh in the 3200-meter run. Brock timed in at 14:37.73 and Shuttleworth finished in 14:47.68. North Pulaski’s Meghan Crimmins also placed with a time of 14:57.53, which was good for eighth.
