By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Beebe Badgers were a close second behind Heber Springs last Friday at the Sarah Low Relays at HSHS. The hosting Panther boys racked up 91 points while the Badgers were just three points shy of that mark. Jacksonville also turned in a good showing, scoring 68.5 points to finish in sixth place out of 22 teams participating. Sylvan Hills had 31 points for ninth place and North Pulaski totaled 20 points to finish in 11th.
Beebe’s Connor Patrom won the 400-meter race with a time of 50.94, and he finished second, just .1 seconds behind Batesville’s Justin Gallant, in the 200m. Jacksonville’s Jaylon Tucker and Danial Curley were third and fourth in the 200m, while Sylvan Hills’ Qunicy Flowers was sixth.
Gallant also won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.62. That was only .05 seconds ahead of Tucker. Flowers was right behind Tucker while fellow Bear Keyundra Hardimon was fourth and Red Devil Treseasn Lambert was fifth.
Two Red Devils placed behind Patrom in the 400m as well. Quinlan Britt and Dameion Smith were sixth and seventh.
Jacksonville won the 4x100m relay. The Red Devils’ team of Lambert, Tucker, Curly and Damon Thomas finished with a time of 43.98, beating second-place Batesville by almost a full second. Sylvan Hills’ team of Kadarius Wilson, Tre West, Hardimon and Flowers finished third and North Pulaski’s team of Christopher Johnson, Joe Aikens, Ny-Gel Cross and Michael Johnson finished in fifth place, which was good for four team points.
Beebe took second place in the not-so close 4x400. The Badger unit of Patrom, John Diaz, Justin Burlison and Keishaun Davidson was eight seconds behind Heber Springs. Jacksonville was fourth and Sylvan Hills seventh in that event.
Beebe, Sylvan Hills and Jacksonville finished third, fourth and fifth in the 4x800 as well.
Marcus Burns took second and teammate William Peterson third in the 300 hurdles. Peterson was also fourth in the 110m hurdles while Diaz took third in the 800 for the Badgers.
North Pulaski’s Aikens, Sylvan Hills’ Malik Strong and Jacksonville’s Curly were three parts of a seven-way tie for second place in the high jump, two inches below Cameron Wilkins of Vilonia.
Lambert won the triple by bounding 43 feet, seven inches. Strong was seventh and Curly was eighth in that event.
Beebe’s Race Payne won the shot put and teammate Jesse Crisco won the discus throw. Payne’s toss of 50-7.75 was three feet farther than second place David Jackson of North Pulaski. Beebe’s Dusty Skinner was fourth at 43-4. Payne was also fourth in the discus throw. His toss of 114-11 was well short of Crisco’s 133-7.
Thomas took fifth and Aikens seventh in the long jump to round out the local scoring.
The Lady Badgers finished third with 80.5 points and Heber Springs was second with 91.5, but both were far behind Vilonia’s winning score of 146. The Lady Bears finished sixth with 52 points, Jacksonville was eighth with 28 and North Pulaski 12th with 5 points.
Jacksonville’s Antrice McCoy won the 100m dash with a time of 13.04. Beebe’s Kassidy Elam and Paige Smith were sixth and eighth in that event.
Beebe’s Taylor McGraw won the 800m with a time of 2:33.28, wile teammate Tori Colbert was fifth. McGraw was also third in the 200m dash while Sylvan Hills’ Mya Graham was fifth and Smith eighth. Beebe’s 4x100 relay team edged out Jacksonville by .87 seconds for first place. The team of Jabria Coleman, McGraw, Elam and Madison Richey finished in 53.05 while Jacksonville’s unit of Dyshaii Doyne, McCoy, Nastassia Williams and Amber Lockhart finished in 53.92. Sylvan Hills’ team of Graham, Aljahnay Duncan, Ariona Flemons and Justis Jakes took third. The Lady Bears were also second in the 4x400. Graham, Jakes, Duncan and Cassidy Zgonc made up that unit. Beebe was fifth in the 4x400 and Jacksonville was eighth. Beebe and Sylvan Hills also finished third and fifth respectively in the 4x800 relay.
Zgonc took second in the 400m race while Flemons was seventh and Beebe’s Trystan Taylor eighth.
Beebe’s Breanna Johnson took third in the mile while Taylor again finished eighth. North Pulaski’s Rachel Mason took fourth in the two-mile while Sylvan Hills’ Abigail Persson was eighth.
Duncan took third for Sylvan Hills in the 100m hurdles while Richey was seventh and Lady Bear Nia Savage was eighth. Elam took fifth in the 300m hurdles while Savage took seventh.
Richey took second in the long jump with a leap of 16-4 while Doyne took fifth and Lockhart seventh for Jacksonville. Richey was also third in the high jump while Duncan finished tied for fourth.
Elam and McGraw took fourth and fifth in the triple jump.
Sylvan Hills’ Ke’Jana Taylor was fourth in the shot put and Jacksonville’s Alayah Johnson was fifth and Sylvan Hills’ Sa’Maya Farmer was seventh.