Bryant qualifies 3 for State
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
CONWAY — Candice James and Brooke Higgs of the Bryant Lady Hornets and Blake Zuber of the Hornets achieved automatic qualifying standards for the Class AAAAA State Track Championships with their performances at the Conway Wampus Cat Relays on Thursday, April 10.
Higgs not only topped the qualifying time in the 800 meters but set a new school record with a time of 2:21.9.
Zuber inched closer to the Bryant High School record in the pole vault of 14 feet by clearing 13 feet, 6 inches. He won the event with teammate Greg Prewett finishing second with a vault of 13 feet.
James ran a 12:20.3 to qualify in the 3200 meter run, finishing second at the meet.
“We really didn’t load up in several events so we didn’t score well as a team,” commented Lady Hornets coach Danny Westbrook, “but we had some great performances.”
As a team, the Lady Hornets finished fifth with 44 points. Conway won the team title with 123 points.
For the Hornets, senior Mark Pagan turned in a second-place performance in the 800, with a time of 2:06.06. Junior Bryan Ballew was third in the 1600 in a personal best time of 4:45.5. He was also fifth in the 800 in 2:10.15. Zack Roberson earned a sixth-place finish in the 3200, running an 11:03.9.
“Blake and Bryan continue to perform well and it was great to see the seniors have a good day,” commented Hornets head coach Steve Griffith. “The distance crew is starting to bounce back from spring break and I believe the three guys that scored plus Cody Walker who was seventh in the 1600 and 3200, will continue to knock their times down in preparation for the AAAAA-Central meet at the end of the month.”
For the Lady Hornets, Nicole Sample finished second in the 1600 with a time of 6:11. Rachel Burnette cleared 7-6 in the pole vault to place third and the 1600 meter relay team of Jennifer Long, Higgs, Britain Owens and James took third in 4:24.03.
Brenda Reed picked up fifth-place points in the shot with a toss of 29-4 and Owens was fifth in the 300 hurdles in 52.2. In the 400 meter relay, Reagan James, Lauren Harris, Jessica Norris and Whitney Wingard turned in a time of 56.4 to place sixth.
The Hornets planned to split their squad on April 15. The vaulters were set to compete at Pulaski Robinson while the remainder of the team and the Lady Hornets competed at Beebe.
The two teams will finish the regular season at the Sheridan relays on April 24. Prelims for the conference meet are April 29 with the finals the May 2 in Conway. State prelims are May 9 in Conway with the finals May 17 in Hot Springs. The Meet of Champs is May 21 in Cabot.
