The Blackhawk junior girls track team brought home a district championship trophy becoming the first Pea Ridge team to take home a district track title in more than 20 years. The 4A-1 Junior District Meet was held April 19 in Gravette.
The meet was one of the most hotly recorded one in many years with four teams battling it out neck and neck well into the late stages of the event. Three different schools led in the standings in the final four events before the ’Hawks came up big in the 200-meter race to take the lead before the final event, the 4x400 relay. The ’Hawks then took second in that event to clinch the title.
Ninth-grader Ashtyn Mondy was the ’Hawks’ pacesetter for the meet, racking up 32 points with second place finishes in the 100 (13.63), 200 (29.21) and long jump (14-1) to go with a third place mark in the triple jump (27-4). She also anchored the schools district champion 4x100 relay quartet running with Kerstin Hobbs, Krystle Parmenter and Owens in a winning time of 54.83.
The 4x800 relay team started the ’Hawks out on the right foot by claiming the district title in that event to begin the running events. Team members were Katie Wilkins, Melissa Landis, Avery Dayberry and Jennifer Anthony who covered the eight-lap race in 11:44, just ahead of Gravette’s 11:46 effort.
With five events left in the meet, Gravette was leading the field with 84, followed by Ozark with 77, PeaRidge 75 and Gentry with 74. Erika Zamarron scored 4 points in the 400, but Gentry scored 8 points in that event as the Lady ’Hawks dropped back to fourth place with 79. Gravette still led with 86, barely ahead of Ozark’s 83, and Gentry’s 82 point totals.
Pea Ridge then scored 4 in the 300 hurdles (Kiera Bryant) to pass Gentry back into third place with 83 when the Pioneers failed to score. Ozark scored 8 in the event to take over the team lead with 91 as Gravette failed again to point in an event, remaining at 86.
Ozark then made a move to break from the pack, racking up 11 points in the 800 to pad their lead with 102 points. Pea Ridge used Anthony’s and Landis’s third and fourth place finishes in the event to score 11 points and surge past Gravette to take over second place overall with 94 markers. Gentrywas close behind with 92 while Gravette sank to fourth place with 91.
The next event, the 200-meter dash, decided the meet’s outcome as the ’Hawks scored a whopping 17 points to assume the lead with 111 points, leading Ozark with 108, Gentry 102 and Gravette 94.
Mondy took second, Parmenter fourth and Hobbs, fifth, to give the girls a 3-point edge going into the last event. A second place finish or higher in the 4x400 relay would ice the title and the team of Zamarron, Landis, Kalberloh and Hanson finished far ahead of third-place Berryville, taking second place just a second behind Gentry (4:53-4:54).
Team depth proved to be the key for the ’Hawks. Though they failed to win a single individual event, 14 different ’Hawks had a hand in racking up 27 ribbons.
Hobbs finished with 16 points(100, seventh; 200, fifth; 4x100, first; and High Jump, second), Parmenter with 13 (100, third; 200, fourth; and 4x100, first) while Jennifer Anthony also scored in double figures with 10 (800, third; triple jump, eighth; and 4x800, first).
Other scorers were: Landis 9 (800, fourth; 4x800, first); Maggie Fletcher, 8 (shot put, fifth; discus, fifth); Zamarron, 6 (4x800, first;
400, fifth); Dayberry, 6 (4x800, first; triple jump, fifth); Bryant, 5 (300H, fifth; long jump, eighth);
Wilkins, 4 (4x800, first; 1600, seventh); Kalberloh, 2 (4x400); Hanson, 2 (4x400); Owen, 2 (4x100);
and Catherine Hooten, 1 (discus, eighth).
Final team scoring was Pea Ridge 119, Ozark 113, Gentry 112, Gravette 98, Berryville 72, Prairie Grove 45, Farmington 32 and Lincoln 14.
Sports, Pages 7 on 05/01/2013