The 4A-1 Senior District Track and Field Championships were concluded Tuesday at Gravette High School.
Both the boys and girls were favorites going into the meet, with both squads of Blackhawk athletes having the top performances in nine of the 17 events to be contested. The top two finishers in each event, along with the 'Hawk athletes who had pre-qualified earlier, will be headed to Pocahontas Tuesday for the 4A State Championships.
There will also be five athletes in each event added to the state finals from among the six districts individual and relay finishers that did not make the top two. Milesplit Arkansas will determine the five names after the district results are all in the books.
The 4A-8 District is first up on Monday, April 23. Tuesday had three district meets scheduled with the 4A-1 at Gravette, the 4A-3 at Pocahontas and the 4A-7 running at Robinson. The last two districts will be held today, Wednesday, April 25, with the 4A-4 at Waldron and the 4A-2 at Heber Springs.
Freshman Blakelee Winn was the top ranked athlete in five events for the 4A-1 District, leading in the long jump (17'2"), 200 (26.30), 400 (1:01.0), 100 hurdles (16.23) and 300 hurdles (46.01). Kynley Burton was the top seeded high jumper (5'0") with Shelby Dunlap leading the league in the triple jump (34'9"). Defending district, state indoor and state outdoor vault champion Cassidy Mooneyhan was the overwhelming favorite in that event. The Lady 'Hawks' 4x100 was the top seeded team in the sprint relay event (51.21).
Boys athletes Drew Winn and Cooper Elliott were the standard bearers in two events each. Winn led all boys in the long jump (20'7") and high jump (6'0") with Cooper Elliott setting the pace for the 100 (10.90) and 200 (22.64). Justin Koon had the best time in the 110 hurdles (16.15) with Kenny Dorsey leading the way in the district 300 hurdles (42.89). Zach Woods was the top district pole vaulter (12'6") with the 4x100 relay (43.26) and 4x400 relays (3:34.65) sitting in the top spot prior to district.
As far as prequalifying goes, Pea Ridge girls leads the state with early entries in 10 events, with Winn, Dunlap and Mooneyhan all qualifying individually as well as the 4x100 relay. Robinson has prequalified in five events for the second most with two athletes and one relay with Crossett and Pocahontas prequalifying in four events each.
Heber Springs and Cave City have prequalified the most events on the boys side with six each. They have one relay making muster with Heber qualifying four individuals and Cave City three. The Blackhawks have three prequalified individuals in Cooper Elliott, Conner Escajeda and Jordan Witcher with the 4x100 relay also having their ticket stamped.
Analyzing the data available to me as of press time, in the girls race for state supremacy, it would seem that it will be a battle between Pea Ridge, Robinson, Crossett and Pocahontas high schools. The host Pocahontas girls have been climbing the rankings every week and are now in third.
The Robinson girls have the strongest running crew in the state with 78 projected points in the track events, but the Lady Senators are poor in field events with only 12 points expected there. Pocahontas has as strong a team on the track as the Lady 'Hawks, but is handicapped by weak scoring in the field events. Crossett has more balance but is fourth in track event strength. Pea Ridge has the best balance, with the defending indoor champs hoping to come out of the field event portion of the meet with a healthy lead then using an improving running game to take the top spot.
Pea Ridge had never won a state trophy in outdoor track.
The boys race would seem to come down to five teams, Pea Ridge, Ashdown, Nashville, Crossett, Heber Springs and Cave City. Ashdown is the current No. 1 ranked team in 4A, going into the state finals with a decided edge in field events over the 'Hawks. Nashville is close to Ashdown in field event strength but has not gotten much going in the track events so is not a likely contender. Cave City is ranked fourth but will probably not score a single point in field events with all their strength concentrated in distance events. Crossett, as they always are, has some balance between the track and field but will be hard pressed to score as high as 60. It seems that it will come down to Ashdown and Pea Ridge.
Track predictions are wildly unreliable with unexpected performances by athletes skewing projections with injuries, disqualifications or absent athletes also weighing heavily in final totals.
The state team champion will be the team that has the best athletes on May 1, and the entries a team can bring to the meet, the greater chances of overall success. It is very likely that the Blackhawk contingent will be a large one following the district championships, and with a large pool of potential scorers comes a greater chance of ultimate success.
4A Girls track
State rankings
Top 10
as of April 21, 2018
1. Pea Ridge^109
2. Robinson^78
3. Pocahontas^57
4. Crossett^40
5. Ozark^37
6. Ashdown^38
7. Shiloh^33
8. Hamburg^34
9. Gosnell^26
10. Prairie Grove^26
Individual state rankings
*means pre-qualified for state
100 Meters
1. Z'kiah Kuyland, Gosnell^11.83*
5. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^12.87*
200 Meters
1. Z'kiah Kuyland, Gosnell^24.80*
4. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^26.30*
400 Meters
1. Tiana Wilson, Hamburg^59.55*
800 Meters
1. Kennedy Timmens, Ozark^2:28.94*
1,600 Meters
1. Mary Kate Cronin, Robinson^5:30.30*
3,200 Meters
1. Bekah Bostian, Prairie Grove^11:59.03*
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
4x800 Meter Relay
1. Robinson^10:49.16*
High Jump
1. Kaylyn Smith, Monticello^5'1"*
2. Kynley Burton, Pea Ridge^5'0"
Pole Vault
1. Cassidy Mooneyhan, Pea Ridge^11'4"*
7. 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"*
4. Blakelee Winn, Pea Ridge^34'1"
Discus
1. Chastery Fuamato, Gentry^122'10"*
4. Meredith Mitchell, Pea Ridge^94'2"
Shot Put
1. Chastery Fuamato, Gentry^40'9"*
4A Boys track
State rankings
Top 10
as of April 21, 2018
1. Ashdown^85
2. Pea Ridge^77
3. Crossett^55
4. Cave City^54
5. Nashville^53
6. Heber Springs^47
7. Gentry^37
8. Robinson^33
9. Shiloh^21
10. Fountain Lake^21
Individual state rankings
100 Meters
1. Cooper Elliott, Pea Ridge^10.9*
5. Conner Escajeda, Pea Ridge^11.17*
200 Meters
1. Cooper Elliott, Pea Ridge^22.64*
4. Jordan Witcher, Pea Ridge^23.15
400 Meters
1. Joe Schroeder, Shiloh^50.05*
2. Conner Escajeda, Pea Ridge^50.83*
4. Jordan Witcher, Pea Ridge^51.35*
800 Meters
1. Kendall Townsley, Cave City^2:02.74*
7. Shaed Cates, Pea Ridge^2:11.98
1,600 Meters
1. Parker Ables, Heber Springs^4:34.03*
3,200 Meters
1. Parker Ables, Heber Springs^9:53.18
110 Hurdles
1. Jordan White, Nashville^15.43*
5. Justin Koon, Pea Ridge^16.15
6. Kenny Dorsey, Pea Ridge^16.30
300 Hurdles
1. Amarion Partee, Gosnell^40.11*
8. Kenny Dorsey, Pea Ridge^42.49
4x100 Relay
1. Pea Ridge^43.26*
2. Crossett^43.37*
4x400 Relay
1. Crossett^3:32.90*
2. Pea Ridge^3:34.65*
4x800 Relay
1. Cave City^8:38.5*
5. Pea Ridge^8:59.81
High Jump
1. Timquorian Johnson, Stuttgart^6'6"*
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"*
Girls enter 4A-1 District Tournament as top seed, boys second
The boys and girls will be hoping to qualify for the Regional playoffs this week as the District Tournament is set to start this week in Lincoln. The top four teams will be set to play in the 4A North Regional next week with the top four from that tourney then moving on to the State Tournament.
The girls clinched the 3A-4A-1 Conference championship last week with the boys finishing in the third position in their race, behind Shiloh and Elkins. Seedings were announced this weekend, with the girls named the top seed and the boys second.
4A-3A-1 Softball
Conference standings
1. Pea Ridge^12-0
2. Lincoln^10-3
3. West Fork^6-5
4. Gravette^7-3
5. Elkins^7-5
6. Prairie Grove^4-7
7. Gentry^4-9
8. Greenland^0-14
4A-1 Softball
District rankings
1. Pea Ridge^18-4
2. Gravette^14-5
3. Lincoln^14-7
4. Berryville^17-5
5. Huntsville^7-8
6. Prairie Grove^5-15
7. Gentry^6-13
4A Top 25
State rankings
School^Record^Region
1. Pottsville^19-1^North
2. Bauxite^23-2^South
3. Nashville^20-3^South
4. Harrisburg^17-2^East
5. Pea Ridge^18-4^North
6. Gravette^14-5^North
7. Brookland^14-8^East
8. Stuttgart^18-5^East
9. Southside^12-5^East
10. Lincoln^14-7^North
9. Trumann^10-5^East
10. Arkadelphia^15-6^South
11. Ashdown^17-10^South
12. Trumann^11-5^East
13. Arkadelphia^17-6^South
14. Berryville^17-5^North
15. Dardanelle^16-10^North
16. Lonoke^14-7^East
17. Star City^17-9^South
18. DeWitt^11-6^South
19. Westside^10-9^East
20. Ozark^11-11^North
21. Baptist Prep^10-7^East
22. West Fork^8-7^North
23. Crossett^10-9^South
24. Monticello^11-12^South
25. Warren^10-7^South
4A-3A-1 Baseball
Conference standings
1. Shiloh^8-0
2. Greenland^7-1
3. Pea Ridge^6-2
4. Prairie Grove^4-4
5. Elkins^4-4
6. Gravette^4-4
7. Gentry^3-5
8. Lincoln^1-7
9. West Fork^0-8
4A-1 Baseball
District rankings
1. Shiloh^15-5
2. Huntsville^21-4
3. Pea Ridge^15-6
4. Berryville^12-9
5. Gravette^7-12
6. Prairie Grove^10-14
7. Gentry^4-16
8. Lincoln^5-18
4A Top 25
State rankings
School^Record^Region
1. Malvern^19-4^South
2. Nashville^19-4^South
3. Shiloh^15-5^North
4. Southside^15-2^East
5. Ashdown^19-7^South
6. Monticello^16-6^South
7. Pottsville^15-5^North
8. Baptist Prep^16-8^East
9. Crossett^17-7^South
10. Highland^16-3^East
10. Dardanelle^12-5^North
11. Booneville^13-5^North
12. Robinson^17-9^South
13. Dardanelle^14-5^North
14. Huntsville^21-4^North
15. Ozark^16-5^North
16. Brookland^12-7^East
17. Pea Ridge^15-6^North
18. Central Ark^13-8^East
19. Arkadelphia^10-9^South
20. Westside^12-6^East
21. Star City^14-9^South
22. Heber Springs^14-9^East
23. Pocahontas^12-10^East
24. Waldron^11-8^North
25. Fountain Lake ^1-4^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 04/25/2018