BENTON — River Gregory won the 400-meter dash and contributed a leg to a winning effort in the 4 x 100-meter relay to help the Bryant Hornets capture the team title at season-opening Benton High School Invitation track meet on Thursday.
The Hornets accumulated 125 points. Vilonia was second with 100 points with Lake Hamilton third with 92, Benton fourth with 90 and Sheridan fifth with 87.
“It was great to be at a track meet again,” said Hornets head coach Steve Oury. “I wanted to get as many of our athletes in an event as I could, so I was not necessarily expecting us to have a shot to win the meet. The boys competed hard, and we were fortunate to come out on top.”
Joining Gregory on the winning relay was Gabe Allen, Kyle Knox and Kaleb Knox. The quartet ran a 43.26 to beat out Lake Hamilton’s 1:37.39.
In the 400, Gregory ran a 52.64 to beat out Javis Williams of Lake Hamilton (54.37). Owen Lee and M.J. Ferguson also scored for Bryant in the event. Lee’s time was 54.59 and Ferguson’s was 54.60.
“The 4 x 100 relay was excellent,” Oury said. “They had good handoffs and ran an excellent time for this early in the season. River Gregory did a great job of taking control of the 400-meter dash, and Kaleb Knox’s 21’6” performance in the long jump qualified him for the state meet. This was a good way to get the season started.”
Knox’ leap was second to Daryl Searcy of Pulaski Robinson (23’0”). Gabe Allen covered 20’2” to place third.
Kaleb Knox’ twin brother Kyle Knox scored a second-place finish in the triple jump at 39’1”. Skylar Thomas of Russellville won at 39’2.5”.
Kyle Knox was also second in the 100-meters with a time of 11.60. Sheridan’s Aaron Webb won in 11.49. Bryant’s Brian Hare finished fifth at 11.92.
In the 800, Ammon Henderson was second, finishing in 2:04.46. Brayden Matyja of Vilonia won in 2:03.91.
Bryant’s Bresner Austin recorded a second-place finish in the 1600-meters. His time was 4:39.18 with only Josh Tibbs of Conway Christin (4:32.40) beating him out.
The quartet of Lee, Henderson, Gregory and Sam Herring combined on a 3:37.17 in the 4 x 400 relay. Vilonia won in 3:31.90.
The 4 x 800 relay team of Herring, Will Taylor, M.J. Ferguson and Hagan Austin finished third in 8:49.78.
The Hornets picked up third-place points from Allen in the 200. He finished in 23.74. Remulus Herrien’s 24.80 was just out of the scoring, in seventh.
Kaleb Knox added a fourth-place finish in the high jump, clearing 5’4” and, in the hurdles, Vincent Zou picked up points in both event. He was fourth in the 300 with a 47.43 and fifth in the 110 in 18.89.
Brady Bingaman’s 10:56.15 was good for sixth in the 3200 and Caden Hope’s pole vault of 9’6” was sixth in that event.
The Hornets are scheduled to compete again on Tuesday, March 9, at Little Rock Catholic. They’ll host the Bryant Relays on Tuesday, March 16.
All scheduled events are tentative.
