HOT SPRINGS — The Bethel Hornets track team wrapped up their year on Monday at Hot Springs Lakeside.
“We finish the year strongly with 19 first place finishes in the meet,” said Bethel coach Colton Bond. “Our seventh grade young men had a great meet with 14 first place finishes and our eigth grade had a personal best of five first place finishes.
“Overall I couldn’t be happier on the year,” he said. “From a seventh grade perspective, we were undefeated in our 4×100 and 4×800 relays. Jaden Ashford, Cason Trickey, and Dylan Witcher were all undefeated all year in the 100 and 200 meters. The final 100 and 200 heats Jaden and Cason decided to square off and push each other. The result was Jaden running an 11.75/23.87 and Cason running an 11.83/24.10. They along with Witcher have been very consistent in the sprints. Then those three with the addition of Aiden Hughes end up winning the 4×100 in a time of 49.85.
“Isaiah Rivera also had a personal best in the 100 winning his heat as well,” the coach noted. “Earlier Trickey and Hughes won their heats of the discus. Ashford and Witcher went 1-2 in the Long Jump with Ashford having a winning jump of 16’6″. Jacob Jones finally broke through in the High Jump winning the event and then was on the undefeated 4×800 team with Brandon Avila, Daniel Barrientos, and Peyton Brack.
“As the meet went on Ashford won the 100 hurdles. Hayden Moreau won the 300 hurdles in a gutsy stretch performance. Hughes, Barrientos, Avila, and Brack teamed up to win the 4×400 for the first time all year.
“Our goal for the meet was to go 1-2 in the relays for the night and that we did. From a coaching standpoint, I sure hope this group stays together in the future. From top to bottom, I felt like this is the deepest team depth wise that I have coached during my tenure at Bethel.”
Of the eighth grade team, Bond said, “We finally broke through and had a team high five first place finishes. It started with Cannon Starke winning the shot put in field events. Followed by Hunter Linn winning the 100 hurdles in a personal best of 15.44. Tyler Pinney and Xalen Curenton won their heats of the 100. Pinney also set a personal best and a school record with a time of 11.38 in the 100.
“Dylan Jones followed suit in the 300 hurdles as he battled with a young man from Lakeside to win by a narrow margin,” he continued. “This group has worked hard and everything they won, they earned. Last year, I remember thinking if we could maybe eke out a first and a handful of seconds it was a great day with this group. Since day one though, they have come, completed the workouts, trained on their own, and ended up getting better.
“As a program, we have had every student athlete break a personal record,” the coach mentioned. “Every student athlete has gotten better in their respected events and though they may have not won their heat, they got better. As a coach it is a great feeling seeing our student athletes meet their goals and find ways to succeed. From the weight room to the oval, our young men got after it and I couldn’t be happier.”
Here are the unofficial results:
8th Grade
High Jump
2nd Place- Canon Hill
3rd Place- Aidan Shaw
Shot Put
1st Place- Cannon Starke 35’1″
4th Place- Hayden Samuel
5th Place- Sean Walls
6th Place- Joey Cerutti
Long Jump
3rd Place- Tyler Pinney
4th Place- Gage Horn
8th Place- Gavin Shelby
Triple Jump
2nd Place- James Billingsley
3rd Place- George Terry
6th Place- Stephen Fuller
7th Place- Carter Moore
Discus
2nd Place- Cannon Starke
3rd Place- Justin Burney
5th Place- Hayden Meshell
6th Place- Cole Skelley
7th Place- Josh Dinkel
4×800
2nd Place- Ricardo Leos, James Billingsley, Mitchell Elmore, George Terry
4th Place- Justin Burney, Jason Apodaca, Tristan Shamlin, Carter Moore
100 Hurdles
1st Place- Hunter Linn 15.44
3rd Place- Vincent Zhou
4th Place- Dylan Jones
5th Place- Tyler Dobbs
6th Place- Kade Stewart
100
1st Place- Tyler Pinney 11.38
1st Place- Xalen Curenton 11.73
3rd Place- Aidan Shaw
4th Place- David Vivar
6th Place- Cannon Starke
7th Place- Landon Bowden
4×100
2nd Place-Aidan Shaw, Tyler Pinney, Gage Horn, Xalen Curenton
4th Place- Dylan Jones, David Vivar, Hunter Linn, Stephen Fuller
400
2nd Place- Canon Hill
4th Place- Mitchell Elmore
300 Hurdles
1st Place- Dylan Jones 48.52
2nd Place- Hunter Linn
3rd place- Kade Stewart
4th Place- Vincent Zhou
5th Place- Carter Moore
800
2nd Place- James Billingsley
3rd Place- George Terry
200
2nd Place- Xalen Curenton
3rd Place- David Vivar
5th Place- Gage Horn
7th Place- Cannon Starke
4×400
2nd Place- Aidan Shaw, Ricardo Leos, Mitchell Elmore, Canon Hill
4th Place- Hunter Linn, Jason Apodaca, Stephen Fuller, Gavin Shelby
