Ridger Sports: Track teams showing some life

— After the past several years of lackluster results of Pea Ridge track and field teams, the sport has had a rebirth of sorts with the teams on all levels coming up with better performances and higher team standings.

The recent results of the junior and senior high thinclads in the meets in Eureka Springs shows the ’Hawks are on the way up, along with the improving girls softball program and the always good baseball program.

At the Highlanders edge-ofthe-mountain track complex recently, the varsity ’Hawks finished fifth in the 13-team affair with the Lady ’Hawks taking sixth. Of the 18 schools in the junior high competition, the Lady ’Hawks claimed the second place trophy with the boys taking 11th.

I have been searching the Internet for meet results and came across the Eureka Springs post.

In the high school boys competition, six ’Hawks scored individual points with all three relay quintets scoring as well. Five individual Lady ’Hawks placed as did two of the relays.

Varsity boys

The boys 4x100 team won theevent in 47.51 with Dalton Morgan, Logan Rose, Dayton Winn and Daniel Beard running legs. The 4x400 team of Justin Rouse, Israel Vargas, Lloyd Kalberloh and Sainsbury took fourth in 4:08.63 while the 4x800 squad took fifth in 10:08 with Chance Huett, Justin Stamps, Chance Henry and Nathan Merritt running splits.

The top individual finish was Daniel Beard’s second place finish in the 100 meter with a time of 11.98 and Dayton Winn’s runner-up finish in the 200 meter in 24.16. Taking fourths were Winn in the triple jump (37-0), Morgan Dalton in the 200m (25.03) and Justin Stamps in the 800 (2:29.16). Fifth placers were Stamps in the 1,600 (5:29.88) and Lucas Fancher in the shot put (37-4). Also scoringseventh was Kalberloh in the long jump (17-8).

Varsity girls

The top finisher for the girls was the 4x800-meter relay team which took second in 11:53.90. Team runners included Casi Caton, Natalie Flippo, Kaylee Nivens and Bailey Lessenberry. The Lady ’Hawks’ 4x100 took fourth with a team of Savannah Cypert, Lessenberry and Walker with a time of 61.67.

The top individual scorer for the ladies wasNivens who took second in the 3,200 meter in 14:46.7. Third places were won by Caton in the 800 meter (2:51.2) and Flippo in the 1,600 (6:30.7).

Fourth places were won by Nivens in the 1,600 (6:47.5) and Cypert in the triple jump (28-11). A fifth was scored by Lessenberry in the 200 (31.48) with Carly Sanders rounding out the scoring with an eighth place in the shot put (26-8).

Jr. high girls

With one of their top scorers from last year not coming out for track in 2012, I thought the girls might have a drop off but the Jr. Lady ’Hawks have been on a tear this spring with high finishes in every meet. Not since the early 1990s have the junior girls been bringing home trophies like thecurrent Lady ’Hawks.

At Eureka, the girls finished second in a 15-team competition, led by a first place finish in the shot put competition by Mikhaela Cochran with a toss of 35-3. Cochran also took fourth in the long jump (13-8) and a sixth in the discus (65-9) to lead the team in scoring.

The relay teams scored with the teams taking third in the 4x100 and fourth in the 4x800. The 4x100 team of Cochran, Emma Pitts, Minnie and Ashtyn Mondy ran it in57.50 with the 4x800 team of Jessica Anthony, Kalberloh, Cotton and Anna Morgan.

Morgan came up with second place in the 1,600 meter with a time of 6:10, a third place was won by Emma Pitts in the 100 meter (14:02), a fourth was taken by Ashtyn Monday in the 100 meter (14.17) with Pitts claiming a seventh in the triple jump (26-10) to finish the scoring.

Jr. high boys

The junior boys scored in but two events but their 9 total points placed them 11th in the 18-team boys division.

The only individual scorer for the boys was Thomas Lammey’s fifth place throw in the discus in 103-10. The other points scored was the fourth place 4x100 relay team of Rylee, Torres, Patton and Dunlap who finished in 51.07.

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Editor’s note: John Mc-Gee is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The TIMES. He can be con tacted through The Times at prtnews@nwaonline.

com.

Sports, Pages 7 on 04/18/2012