Girls coach makes comeback

Heather Wade's girls track and field program took a hit in 2017. After all, they plunged all the way down to -- second place.

Last year's runner-up finish in the 4A-1 District Track Meet was the first time in four years that the Lady Blackhawks didn't win the championship. In Coach Wade's first season as the skipper of the varsity track program in 2014, they took an unexpected district championship. They took the title again in 2015 and again in 2016. It seemed that the coach was destined to never lose a district title.

Last season, Gravette's Lady Lions had a great year in track and field, claiming the 2017 4A-1 championship to end Coach Wade's streak at three. This year, it would appear that the Lady 'Hawks are headed back to the top with a vengeance.

The Lady 'Hawks shocked track and field observers by running off with the 4A State Indoor Track Championships. It wasn't just that they won, but that they won big, effectively clinching the meet halfway through the running events. Most times, it takes the last event or two to settle things.

Currently, the Lady 'Hawks are the top ranked team in the state, already having pre-qualified nine entries for the state meet coming up next month in Heber Springs. For 2018, the Blackhawks are prohibitive favorites to win the district championship and are a probable favorite to add an outdoor title to match their indoor championship.

With all the scoring being done by underclasssmen, it would seem that the Blackhawk girls are setting the stage for a long run at the top. Top being the top of the district as well as possibly the top of the state.

The top two teams with the best chance for winning the outdoor state title right now are Pea Ridge and Joe T. Robinson High School out of Little Rock. Counting just running events, the Lady Senators have a 73-59 edge over Pea Ridge in possible scoring at the state meet. The 'Hawks, however, hold a 53-14 edge over the Senators in possible field event scoring, which is why the Blackhawks are ranked at the top.

The reason for the Blackhawks' strengths is their great depth. There are a lot of girls out this year and they are pushing each other to get better, and Coach Wade has done an outstanding job in putting them where they need to be to get maximum scoring.

Second-ranked Robinson is very strong in the running events but their lack of power in the field events will hurt them. Third-ranked Pocahontas has been jumping up the rankings weekly, with their scoring evenly split between field and track. Fourth-ranked Ozark is nearly all running events with sixth-ranked Ashdown nearly all field events. Seventh-ranked Shiloh is not projected to score at all in the field events. Eighth-ranked Hamburg has all their points tied up in one individual, Tiana Wilson, who is leading the state in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 400-meter.

State meets can be wildly unpredictable (like Pea Ridge at the indoor meet). Injuries, the addition of junior high athletes to rosters, event disqualifications, and the like can radically alter a team's point totals.

Team rankings are just an indicator of whom have the best chance to do well at the state meet. One athlete teams like Hamburg have no chance for team titles, but balanced teams like Pea Ridge, Pocahontas and Robinson have the inside lanes to grab the glory.

The 4A-1 District High School meet is set for Tuesday at Gravette stadium. Like any other sport, fan participation can often make the difference in pumping up athletes to do their best. The field events start at 2 p.m. with the running events to begin around 5 p.m. or so. The meet will likely continue until perhaps 7 p.m. or 8 p.m., so come on out and support the Lady 'Hawks bid for history.

4A Girls state

Track team rankings

Top 10

as of April 15, 2018

1. Pea Ridge^112

2. Robinson^87

3. Pocahontas^56

4. Crossett^42

5. Ozark^41

6. Ashdown^36

7. Shiloh^35

8. Hamburg^30

9. Lonoke^22

10. Gentry^20

Individual state rankings

*means pre-qualified for state

100 meters

Tiana Wilson, Hamburg^11.86*

4. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^12.87*

200 Meters

1. Tiana Wilson, Hamburg^24.96*

4. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^26.30*

100 Meter Hurdles

1. Natalie Toney, Pocahontas^16.13*

2. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^16.23*

3. Shelby Dunlap, Pea Ridge^16.32

300 Meter Hurdles

1. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^46.01*

3. Shelby Dunlap, pea Ridge^48.79*

4x100 Meter Relay

1. Pea Ridge^51.21*

4x400 Meter Relay

1. Shiloh^4:26.54

2. Pea Ridge^4:28.25

High Jump

1. Kynley Burton, Pea Ridge^5-0

Pole Vault

1. Cassidy Mooneyhan, Pea Ridge^11-4*

4. Tori Scrogham, Pea Ridge^8-6

Long Jump

1. Keiunna Walker, Lonoke^17-8*

2. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^17-2*

Triple Jump

1. Shelby Dunlap, Pea Ridge^34-9*

2. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^34-1

Discus

1. Chastery Fuamato, Gentry^117-11*

3. Meredith Mitchell, Pea Ridge^94-2

New Blackhawk coach continues winning ways

If Asa Poteete's Blackhawk tracksters win the 4A state title next year, it won't be his first time in the winner's circle.

Poteete's 2017 Tulsa Union Redskins won Oklahoma's 6A class last season, the highest classification in the state. His charges scored more than 100 points to break a string of state titles by Oklahoma track power Edmond^North.

He joined his former Union colleagues Stephen Neal and Bryan Claytor by accepting a position here as a football coach and head track coach. Neal and Claytor came over the previous year.

The Blackhawk boys track program kind of bottomed out a few years ago, routinely finishing last in the conference. In 2014, the 'Hawks finished seventh in the 4A-1 and sent one entry to state but didn't place.

In 2015, the 'Hawks took a team fifth place in the district, sending the 4x100 relay to state, with that relay placing seventh to earn the first points (2) in a state meet in quite a long time. In 2016, the 'Hawks were fourth in team points in district, sending their 4x400 relay to state. They took fourth to score 4 points in the state finals.

In 2017, things began to look brighter as the 'Hawks rose to take second in the district meet, sending athletes who scored in three events at state (100-meter, 4x100-meter, 300-meter hurdles) to rack up a school record 9 points for a 4A state meet. Look for the Blackhawks to score a whole lot more than 9 points at this year's state.

Fast forward to 2018, and the boys surprised 4A track fans by showing potential championship mettle, taking third in the state indoor meet in February. The 'Hawks were a photo finish in the 55 hurdles away from scoring just one more point that would have given them the second place trophy.

Starting out with the 2nd ranking this spring for outdoor track, the Hawks have steadily improved and now sit on top of the rankings as the top team.

4A Boys state

Track team rankings

Top 10

as of April 15, 2018

1. Pea Ridge^88

2. Ashdown^69

3. Crossett^59

4. Nashville^58

5. Heber Springs^48

6. Gentry^43

7. Cave City^41

8. Robinson^34

9. Shiloh^31

10. Fountain Lake^24

Individual state rankings

100 Meters

1. Cooper Elliott, Pea Ridge^10.9*

4. Conner Escajeda, Pea Ridge^11.17*

200 Meters

1. Cooper Elliott, Pea Ridge^22.64*

4. Jordan Witcher, Pea Ridge^23.18

400 Meters

1. Joe Schroeder, Shiloh^50.05*

2. Conner Escajeda, Pea Ridge^50.83*

800 Meters

1. Kendall Townsley, Cave City^2:04.77*

5. Shaed Cates, Pea Ridge^2:11.98

110 Hurdles

1. Jordan White, Nashville^15.43*

6. Kenny Dorsey, Pea Ridge^16.30

300 Hurdles

1. Jordan White, Nashville^41.67*

5. Kenny Dorsey, Pea Ridge^42.49

4x100 Relay

1. Crossett^43.37*

4. Pea Ridge^44.59

4x400 Relay

1. Pea Ridge^3:34.65*

4x800 Relay

1. Cave City^8:38.5*

7. Pea Ridge^9:16.45

High Jump

1. Timquorian Johnson, Stuttgart^6-6*

8. Drew Winn, Pea Ridge^6-0

Pole Vault

1. Kalob Carpenter, Nashville^14-0*

2. Zach Woods, Pea Ridge^12-6

4. Lance Nunley, Pea Ridge^11-6

8. Aden Christenson, Pea Ridge^10-6

Long Jump

1. Quincy Johnson, Robinson^22-3*

7. Jordan Witcher, Pea Ridge^20-5

Girls win two,

boys two of three

in diamond action

The 4A fifth-ranked Lady Blackhawk girls softball team won both their league contests last week. The Ladyhawks crushed Gentry 12-0 then outlasted Gravette 5-4 to stay undefeated in league play.

The girls played Lincoln Monday and will play Greenland Wednesday and Elkins Thursday at home before wrapping up the regular season with a game next Monday with West Fork.

The boys blew out Gentry 12-0 then whacked Elkins 15-4 but stumbled a bit in a 9-2 loss to Greenland last week. They had a league game scheduled with Lincoln Monday and will end their regularly scheduled season with a game with 7A Springdale Thursday on the road.

Action in their respective district tournaments will begin next week.

4A-3A-1 Softball

Conference standings

1. Pea Ridge^9-0

2. Lincoln^7-2

3. West Fork^5-2

4. Gravette^5-3

5. Prairie Grove^4-6

6. Gentry^3-6

7. Elkins^3-6

8. Greenland^0-10

4A-1 Softball

District rankings

1. Pea Ridge^15-3

2. Gravette^11-5

3. Lincoln^11-6

4. Berryville^15-4

5. Huntsville^4-8

6. Gentry^5-9

7. Prairie Grove^3-13

4A TOP 25

State rankings

School^Record^Region

1. Bauxite^17-2^South

2. Pottsville^14-1^North

3. Nashville^17-3^South

4. Harrisburg^14-2^East

5. Pea Ridge^15-3^North

6. Stuttgart^16-2^East

7. Brookland^12-8^East

8. Gravette^11-5^North

9. Trumann^10-5^East

10. Arkadelphia^15-6^South

11. Ashdown^13-9^South

12. Lincoln^11-6^North

13. Batesville SS^9-5^East

14. DeWitt^9-5^South

15. Berryville^15-4^North

16. Lonoke^11-7^East

17. Ozark^11-9^North

18. Star City^15-9^South

19. Dardanelle^12-10^North

20. Westside^8-9^East

21. Crossett^8-7^South

22. Baptist Prep^5-6^East

23. West Fork^7-5^North

24. Monticello^8-11^South

25. Warren^8-6^South

4A-3A-1 Baseball

Conference standings

1. Shiloh^6-0

2. Greenland^6-1

3. Pea Ridge^5-2

4. Prairie Grove^4-2

5. Elkins^3-3

6. Gravette^3-5

7. Gentry^2-4

8. Lincoln^1-5

9. West Fork^0-6

4A-1 Baseball

District rankings

1. Shiloh^12-5

2. Huntsville^15-3

3. Pea Ridge^14-5

4. Berryville^10-7

5. Prairie Grove^10-11

6. Gravette^5-11

7. Gentry^3-11

8. Lincoln^5-16

4A Top 25

State rankings

School^Record^Region

1. Malvern^17-4^South

2. Nashville^17-3^South

3. Shiloh 12-5^North

4. Ashdown^17-7^South

5. Southside^12-2^East

6. Monticello^12-5^South

7. Pottsville^12-5^North

8. Baptist Prep^15-6^East

9. Highland^14-2^East

10. Dardanelle^12-5^North

11. Crossett^16-6^South

12. Ozark^16-4^North

13. Huntsville^15-3^North

14. Robinson^13-8^South

15. Pea Ridge^14-5^North

16. Central Ark^11-6^East

17. Booneville^9-5^North

18. Heber Springs^14-7^East

19. Arkadelphia^8-8^South

16. Central Ark^9-6^East

17. Booneville^7-5^North

18. Robinson^11-8^South

19. Westside^9-4^East

20. Brookland^9-7^East

21. Westside^10-5^East

22. Star City^14-4^South

23. Waldron^9-7^North

24. Pocahontas^11-9^East

25. Fountain Lake^11-4^South

•••

Editor's note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].

Sports on 04/18/2018