Photos courtesy of Jason Majors and Julie Shelby
Photo courtesy of Jason Majors
SPRINGDALE — Melinda Murdock turned in a season-best time in the 800 meters and earned a second-place finish to highlight the Bryant Lady Hornets’ work at the 7A-West Conference track championships on Thursday at Har-Ber High School.
Bentonville, on the strength of a depth of talent and numbers, won the league title with 227 points. Har-Ber was a distant second with 133 points followed by Fayetteville (114). Bryant was fourth with 56 points beating out Rogers (38), Springdale (37), Van Buren (36) and Rogers Heritage (22).
“Anytime you compete against the teams in the West Conference you are in for some very tough competition,” acknowledged Lady Hornets coach Danny Westbrook. “Bentonville is just incredibly strong. I was extremely proud of how hard our girls competed. Melinda Murdock and Haley Hood both had outstanding performances.”
Murdock, headed to the University of Memphis next fall, led the Lady Hornets by scoring 19 points. Her time in the 800 was 2:17.02. She was also third in the 100 hurdles in 15.7 and added an eighth-place finish in the long jump at 15’11”.
She also contributed to a pair of the Lady Hornets’ relay teams. Taylin Billins, Haley Hood and Rachael Owens combined with Murdock in the 4×400 to earn a second-place finish. In the 4×100, Reagan Smith joined Murdock, Hood and Owens to finish fourth.
Photo courtesy of Jason Majors
The Lady Hornets were also fourth in the 4×800 with Billins, Caitlyn Bell, Hannah Shelby and Hood teaming up.
Hood, a sophomore, scored 16 points. She finished fourth in both the 400-meter dash (1:01.3) and the high jump (5’0”) to go with her work on the relay teams.
Owens, a junior, scored nine points by finishing fourth in the high jump (5’0”) and as a member of both sprint relays.
Freshman Jadyn Lewis contributed five points. She finished sixth in the long jump in 16’3”, which makes her a State qualifier. She also took seventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.5.
In addition, Jenna Freeman finished seventh in the discus with a toss of 92’7” and Jayla Anderson finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles.
Murdock, Hood, Owens, and Billins were all named 7A-West All-Conference by finishing in the top three in their events.
“We have qualified several athletes for the State meet next Thursday at Cabot,” Westbrook noted. “I believe we have some strong contenders for top places. I am also looking forward to a shorter bus ride. Traveling to Springdale for an all-day track meet is difficult.”
Photo courtesy of Julie Shelby
Photo courtesy of Jason Majors
