Sophomore Mikhaela Cochran and the 4x800 girls relay team scored at the 2013 4A State Trackand Field Championships in Heber Springs last week.
Cochran flung the discus 84 feet 6 inches to claim the eighth spot in that event while the girls relay team of Rilee Patrick, Anna Morgan, Casi Caton and Savannah Cypert ran their best time of the year (11:22) to also claim an eighth-place ribbon. The 2 points the girls scored in the meet placed them 31st in the final team standings, among the 48 schools in 4A.
The meet ended the track and field season for all but two Blackhawk athletes. Cochran and Emma Pitts are slated to be the first ever Pea Ridge athletes to enter the state heptathalon set to be held May 15-16 in Fayetteville.
Both boys and girls 4x100 relay teams did not place after running slower times than they did in the district qualifying meets.
Cochran finished just out of the money in the high jump, finishing with a best jump of 4-8. The next height of 4-10 could have earned her a possible third place as all six athletes ahead of her finished with that height, with the one with least misses earning the third place spot.
The big story of the meet in Heber Springs was the overwhelming performance of Crossett’s girls in winning the girls’ championship. The 5A champions in 2012, this was Crossett’s first season in 4A . They were heavy favorites to win the meet.
Crossett scored 189 points to win by 127 points over runner-up Heber Springs. The host school was second with 62, followed by Nashville with 44, Ashdown 41, Monticello 32, Maumelle 31, Lakeside 27, Central Arkansas 25, Berryville 24, Waldron 22, Lincoln 17, Dardanelle 17, Valley View 12, Gravette 12, Gentry 10, Gosnell 9, Bauxite 8, Robinson 8, Stuttgart 8, Booneville 7, Malvern 7, Newport 6, Southside Batesville 5, Brookland 5, Lonoke 4, Prairie Grove 4, Ozark 3, Highland 3, Warren 3, Pea Ridge 2, Dollarway 1. Ten schools failed to score.
The Lady Eagles of Crossett scored 78 points in just the field events to clinch the meet early on. The new 4A championship girls won the 100, 200, 400, 100hurdles, 300 hurdles, 4x100 relay, 4x400 relay, discus, shot put and the long jump. They had a 1-2-3 sweep of both the 100 and 200 dashes and their 4x100 relay team recorded a time of 47.3 which is best time by any team in Arkansas this year, regardless of classification. They were just 0.3 of a second off the all-time record set by Pine Bluff in 1984.
Three other athletes from the 4A-1 are entered including Bailey Bills and Naconna Dunlap of Gentry and Nikki Thordson of Lincoln. A total of 79 athletes from across the state will be competing in the annual event.
With all the school classifications combined into one competitive format, the event features competition in seven events with point values being assigned to each event. The athlete with the highest point total over the two day event is declared the winner with awards going down through 10th place.
The first events include the 100-meter hurdles, long jump, discus and 200 dash. The meet will conclude the next day with the high jump, shot put and 800-meter run.
Sports, Pages 7 on 05/08/2013