The Blackhawk boys and girls varsity track teams competed in Gravette last week as the thin-clad season gets in full swing.
Rain and cold weather has hampered practices and meets thus far in 2013.
Close to a record number of athletes are participating in this year’s junior and senior programs.
The girls had the best result in Gravette, finishing seventh in the 14-team competition with 40 points. Sophomore Mikhaela Cochran led the team with 19 points scored, followed by sophomore Emma Pitts who tallied 16. Anna Morgan scored a point as did Gloria Vargas and Casi Caton.
The meet winner for the girls was Berryville with 88, followed by Jay with 84, Gentry 64, Gravette 60, Haas Hall 55, Lincoln 53, Pea Ridge 40, Siloam Springs 37, Greenland 35, Huntsville 28, Decatur 19, Elkins 13, West Fork 11, Prairie Grove 10 and Elkins 3.
The boys didn’t fare as well, finishing in a tie for 12th, scoring 15 points to deadlock with Eureka Springs. Justin Averette put on a credible showing, scoring most of the ’Hawks’ points by tallying 9 points.
Lloyd Kalberloh scored 3.5, Logan Rose 1.5, and Dayton Winn and Nick Mooneyhan with a half point each.
The meet winner for the boys was Siloam Springs with 111, followed by Gentry with 99, Jay 64, Elkins 54, Farmington 53, West Fork 52, Haas Hall 50, Gravette 49, Decatur 39, Prairie Grove 25, Greenland 19, Eureka Springs 15, Pea Ridge 15, Lincoln 6 and Huntsville 4.
The girls results were as follows: 100 - Emma Pitts, 6th (13.30); Gloria Vargas,11th (14.08); 200 - Pitts, 5th (30.25); Natalie Cordoza, 13th (32.79);
400 - Anna Morgan, 9th (1:10.2); Vargas, 13th (1:16.7); 800 - Morgan, 9th (3:02.5); 1600 - Morgan, 9th (6:47.6); Denise Church, 15th (8:07); 3200 - Cordoza, 9th (16:58); Autumn Brewer, 10th (17:42); 300 hurdles - Mikhaela Cochran, 4th (58.70); Pitts, 8th (1:07.5); high jump - Pitts, 4th (4-6); Morgan, 8th (4-2); long jump - Cochran, 6th (13-2); triple jump - Pitts, 7th (28-5); Morgan, 10th (27-5); shot put- Cochran, 5th (25-10); Discus - Cochran (79-4); and the 4x100 relay - Caton, Vargas, Pitts, Cochran (58.35), 3rd.
The boys results were: 100 - Logan Rose, 8th(11.98); Nick Mooneyhan, 18th (12.48); 200 - Justin Averette, 4th (24.47); Loyd KLalberloh, 6th (24.74); 400 - Averette, 5th (56.92);
Nathan Merritt, 20th (1:11.1); 800 - Merritt, 17th (NT), Justin Stamps, 20th (NT); 1600 - Stamps, 10th (NT); high jump - Rose, 9th(5-2); long jump - Kalberloh, 9th (18-0); shot put - Will Klein, 14th (34-3);
Justice Jenkins, 26th (28-6);
Discus - Klein, 17th (78-0); Jenkins, 25th (61-1); and the 4x100 relay - Dayton Winn, Kalberloh, Mooneyhan and Rose, 7th (47.13).
This will be the final season the boys and girls will have to be without a place to work out and host meets. The 2014 season will see the opening of the new track and field complex being built along with the new football field west of the high school. Running in streets and parking lots has been the practice arena for the track ’Hawks since the program was established.
Baseball Hogs bounce back
After being ranked as the best collegiate team in baseball to start the season, the Arkansas Razorbacks were upset by a rather lowly team, then went out west and lost four straight in a tournament in Arizona. Losing the first conference series to Mississippi had the diamond Hogs tumbling off the rankings in some venues while falling to the 20s in others. Then the Hogs made a startling comeback by sweeping South Carolina on the road in a shocking upset.
The Gamecocks were the NCAA champions in 2010 and 2011 before settling for second place nationally in 2012.
South Carolina loses few games and rarely loses a game at home. Being swept at home had not happened to them in many, many years.
So how good are the Hogs this year? Well, they could end up being the best as they were predicted to do.
A very solid pitching staff gets them the chance and if the offense keeps picking things up, they way very well end up being the best Razorback team ever.
They are playing at Alabama this weekend. Arkansas is currently in third place in the SEC West, one game behind the second place Crimson Tide.
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Editor’s note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports, Pages 8 on 04/03/2013