Defending champion Hornets fall short of repeat at 7A-Central meet
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Photos courtesy of Cynthia Austin
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — The Bryant Hornets’ 4×800-meter relay team of Jake Dreher, Josh Nelson, Hunter Ulmer and Logan Kretsch won their event at the 7A-Central Conference track and field championship meet on Thursday with a time of 8:27.43.
That was the lone first-place finish of the meet for the Hornets who placed sixth in the team standings with 61 points. Conway won the team title with 150.
Earning second-place finishes were Kaine Villareal-Hurst in the pole vault (12’7”) and Bresner Austin in the 1600 meter run (4:37.65).
Also placing in the top six and earning a trip to next week’s 7A State meet, which will be held in Bryant, were:
Kaine Villareal-Hurst in the 400-meter dash (3rd in 52.66)
Chris Barrientos in the 1600-meter run (4th in 4:39.71)
the 4 x 100-meter relay team of Dionte Collier, Braden Williams, Diante Woodson, and Randy Thomas (4th in 43.80)
Michael Chatmon in the discus (5th at 119-10.5)
Bresner Austin in the 3200-meter run (6th in 10:19.58)
and the 4 x 400-meter relay team of Randy Thomas, J’lun Herron, MacKenzie Martindale, and Kaine Villareal-Hurst (6th in 3:39.30).
Other scorers for the Hornets were:
Hunter Ulmer in the 800-meter run (7th in 2:09.07)
Randy Thomas in the 100-meter dash (7th in 11.44)
Sam Perryman in the 300-meter hurdles (8th in 43.65)
Josh Nelson in the 800-meter run (8th in 2:09.42)
and Randy Thomas in the 200-meter dash (8th in 23.62).
“Obviously this was not the finish we were hoping for,” said Hornets head coach Steve Oury. “Last year, we had a lot of things go our way in winning the championship and, this year, it just seemed that we couldn’t catch a break.
“We did have a few very good performances,” he noted. “The 4 x 800 team did a great job in getting the victory. Kaine Villareal-Hurst had a nice meet, picking up a second place in the pole vault and a third in the 400. Bresner Austin ran really well and qualified for State in both the 1600 and 3200 as a freshman.
“On the flip side, we had Chris Barrientos collapse just short of the finish line in the 1600 after having a large lead and then being unable to compete in the 3200,” the coach continued. “He was really pushing the pace and was trying to run a fast time and it just didn’t work out. He gave a great effort and just ran out of gas. Diante Woodson was running well in the 400 and fell to the track with an injury. I just hate it for him because he is a senior and is such a good kid and a hard worker.”
Oury summarized, “We lost several key performers as the season progressed for various reasons, so we knew defending our title would be a tall order. Now we just need to put the conference meet behind us and do our best to prepare for the State meet. It will be nice for the kids who qualified to be able to compete on their home track at the State meet. We have some good young talent in our program, so I think we will be back in the years to come.”
The State meet is Thursday, May 3.
