The boys and girls Blackhawk track squads put on a strong showing among a very large field of teams at the Lion Invitational in Gravette last week.
Both teams were fourth among 19 schools, with five 7A schools, a 6A squad and couple of 5A teams in the mix. Pea Ridge was the top 4A finisher in the meet with six of the fellow member 4A-1 schools in the competition.
Bentonville West won the boys meet with 145, with Bentonville second in 132, Rogers Heritage third with 70, and Pea Ridge in fourth with 57. Others teams included Farmington with 46, Springdale Harber 45, Grove 27, Van Buren 26, Gentry 25, Shiloh 25, Jay 14, Siloam Springs 12, Gravette 10, Providence 10, Elkins 9, New School 5, Greenland 3, and Prairie Grove 1.
Grove won the girls meet with 112, with Bentonville West in second with 94, Rogers Heritage third with 82, and Pea Ridge taking fourth with 64. Rounding out the field was Siloam Springs with 45, Shiloh 39, Van Buren 38, Jay 34, Providence 32, Greenland 29, Gravette 22, Farmington 18, West Fork 15, Prairie Grove 13, Ozark 10, Gentry 5, Lincoln 5, Cedarville 3, and Mansfield 2.
"Our athletes continue to work hard to put them into a position to perform well in their events," head girls coach Heather Wade said.
Lady 'Hawk Shelby Dunlap put on a show as she took top honors in a very crowded field of hurdlers. Dunlap whipped the field in the 100 hurdles by a half second, winning the event in 16.49, ahead of Rogers Heritage Brittany Ware who was second in 16.97. The 'Hawk star then took the 300 hurdles by nearly a second, taking the gold medal in 48.79, besting the 49.68 posted by Lauren Shell of Providence.
Dunlap also took second in the triple jump with a 34-1 mark and was seventh in the 200 with a 27.87. Her point total of 31 points led the team. She was also a member of the 4x100 relay which took 3rd in 52.34. She was joined by Gabby Adams, Jamison Toms and Cassidy Mooneyhan.
Mooneyhan was the other 'Hawk who took home an individual gold, winning the pole vault event in 11'0". The sophomore trackster has two state championship gold medals in the event.
Other individual scorers for the Lady 'Hawks include: Kynley Burton, third in the high jump (4'8"), Destiny Roughton fourth in the high jump (4'8"), Meredith Mitchell seventh in the discus (78'4"), and Tori Scrogham eighth in the pole vault (7'0").
Cooper Elliot led the boys teams with 16.5 points, taking second in the 200 (22.87) and third in the 100 (10.90). His times in those two events were the best times turned in by a Blackhawk athlete in decades. Both his marks have already qualified him for the 4A state finals in May.
The speedy Blackhawk also ran a leg on the victorious Pea Ridge 4x400 relay team, besting Bentonville West for the gold medal with a 3:34.65 mark. They were more than ten seconds ahead of the next best school from the 4A-1 distict. He was joined on the championship relay team by Conner Escajeda, Jordan Witcher and Shaed Cates.
Jordan Witcher had his best time of the year, running a 23.18 to take third in the 200. The senior sprinter is just .18 seconds away from an automatic state championship berth.
Conner Escajeda took home awards in four events including the 4x400 gold. He was also fourth in the 400 (52.05) and eighth in the 100 (11.17). Kenny Dorsey was a double winner in the hurdle events, taking fifth in both races. He clocked a 16.30 in the 110 high hurdles and a 44.43 in the 300 intermediate hurdles.
Drew Winn was the only Blackhawk athlete to score in the field events, as he took fifth in the high jump at 5'8".
The meet was held at the site of the 4A-1 District Meet which will occur next month. The top two finishers in each event in that meet, plus all athletes who have met the time/distance qualifications will move on to the state championship meet in May.
Sports on 03/21/2018