Both on the field and on the track, the Pea Ridge Lady 'Hawks proved to be a bit more than a match for the defending champion Berryville Bobcats, taking a narrow lead after the field events, and holding a narrow margin through much of the early running events. After Berryville took a brief lead, the Blackhawks surged back and had the meet on ice before the final event came onto the track outscoring their nemesis 154-144.
Berryville won last year's meet by a large margin with 137 points but even improving their total to 144 didn't save their throne as as a deep and inspired Pea Ridge squad mounted school record totals for a district competition. After the top two teams, third was Ozark with 115, followed by Gravette, 87; Gentry, 51; Prairie Grove, 45; Farmington, 31; and Lincoln, 2.
Pea Ridge piled up the large total despite claiming only one first-place finish, a testament to the depth of the scoring of the Blackhawk squad. In 11 events, at least two 'Hawks scored with three events having three scorers and one even having four.
The lone individual champion for Pea Ridge was junior Mikhaela Cochran who won the discus throw (92'8") and was also the winner of the meet's high point award, racking up 42 points as she led her team to the upset victory. Cochran also took second in the high jump (5'1") and 100 hurdles (17.9); third in the long jump (15'2"); and fourth in both the shot put (27'6") and 300 hurdles (53.07). Cochran qualified for state in the discus, high jump and 100 hurdles.
The Bobcats started the meet with a big advantage in the three jumping events, outscoring the 'Hawks 53-24. The 'Hawks then used their superiority in the throwing competitions to outscore their foe 37-5 in those three events, thus giving them an overall 61-58 edge after tabulating all the field events.
Pea Ridge scored in every running event to keep the 'Cats at bay, although never mounting enough of a lead to relax. Finally, after Berryville outscored the 'Hawks in the 4x100, the 400 and the 800, Berryville assumed their first lead of the evening at 124-120.
However, Berryville did not have a credible 300 hurdler in the next event and when Cochran claimed fourth followed by Keirara Bryant in sixth, the 'Hawks had 8 more points and the lead back at 128-124.
The 200 shaved a point off the 'Hawks' lead, but the meet was ultimately decided during the 3,200 run when Lexi Bradrick placed fourth; Kelsie Merritt, sixth; and Becca Cambell, seventh; all ahead of Berryville's best runner who finished eighth. The 10-point surge gave Pea Ridge an insurmountable 147-135 lead with one event left.
While none of the 'Hawk relay teams claimed firsts, they all qualified for the state championship finals by taking second places in all three events.
The 4x100 relay team of Vanessa Wing, Emma Pitts, Gloria Vargas and Ashtyn Mondy took second in 55.16 to punch their ticket. The 4x400 team of Vargas, Mondy, Wing and Melissa Landis finished second in 4:38.71 for their state final spot with the 4x800 relay team of Casi Caton, Rilee Patrick, Lexi Bradrick and Wing teamed up to complete their distance in 11:09.7 to make Pea Ridge the only school to send all three relays to state.
Qualifying individually for state beside Cochran was Wing who took second in the 400 with 1 104:7 clocking. Wing was also fifth in the high jump (4'5"). The other individual qualifying came in the field events with senior Jerika Schooley grabbing second place in the shot put with a 29'1" heave.
Other athletes scoring individually in the district championship include:
• Ashtyn Mondy, fourth 100 (13.71), sixth 200 (29.24) and eighth triple jump (30'7");
• Emma Pitts, fifth 100 (13.74), third 200 (28.38), third 400 (1:05.37);
• Casi Caton, fifth 800 (2:50.89), eighth discus (67'11");
• Keiara Bryant, sixth 300 hurdles (58.3), eighth 100 hurdles (20.32);
• Rilee Patrick, seventh 800 (2:54.0), eighth 1,600 (6:34.1);
• Lexi Bradrick, fourth 1,600 (6:24.6); fourth 3,200 (14:03);
• Kelsie Merritt, sixth 3,200 (15:07);
• Becca Campbell, seventh (15:11),
• Liz McGowan, third shot put (28'7"); third discus (84'5"); and
• Savannah Cypert, fifth high jump (4'5") and eighth shot put (25'1").
The team hauled 41 ribbons back from the meet, divided up among the 15 athletes who placed in at least one event. Ten athletes qualified for inclusion into the 2014 4A State Track and Field Championships this week in Heber Springs.
Sports on 05/07/2014