Hood finishes fourth in Heptathlon; Abernathy improves to 21sth in Decathlon
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Photos courtesy of Christie Hood
CABOT — Fourth after the first day, Bryant senior Haley Hood held that spot through the second day of the 2016 Arkansas Heptathlon on Thursday as she completed her stellar high school track career.
Junior Jadyn Lewis, fifth after the first day, slipped to ninth on the second day. Junior Bree Hood wound up 49th.
Meanwhile, in the 2016 Decathlon, Bryant’s Landon Abernathy, a junior, moved up from 27th on day one to 21st. Senior Matthew Bagby finished 41st.
Little Rock Parkview’s Jada Baylark won the Heptathlon and Crossett’s Trevean Caldwell overcame first-day leader Mark Odom of Cabot to win the Decathlon.
The final three events in the Heptathlon were the high jump, the shot put and the 800-meter run. Haley Hood ran a 2:24.98 in the 800 and cleared 5’1” in the high jump. He shot put went 27’4 ¼”.
Lewis ran a 2:27.83 in the 800. She cleared 3’11 ¼” in the high jump and threw the shot 25’2 ¾”.
Bree Hood cleared 4’1 ¼” in the high jump, threw the shot 21’6 ¼” and ran a 2:43.14 in the 800.
“I was extremely proud of our three young ladies that competed over the last two days,” said Bryant coach Danny Westbrook. “I feel like they represented our school and community very well. It is not a usual thing that two ladies from the same high school get a top 10 medal in the heptathlon.
“Coach Keith Dale our sprint coach deserves all the credit for these girl’s success,” he added. “He is a former multi-event athlete from college and spent long hours working with them on the different events.
Dale added, “These girls have worked extremely hard all year. From long hours during school, after school, and even time spent with personal trainers. These girls have pushed themselves again and again to reach their goals. I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to represent our school”
Rivercrest’s Sydney Lane who finished fifth overall, had the best high jump at 5’7 ¼”. Eden Crow of Genoa Central had the best shot put at 35’3 ½”. Grace Risenhoover of Rogers ran the best 800, finishing in 2:24.78.
The second half of the Decathlon included the 110 high hurdles, the discus, the pole vault, the triple jump and the 1,500-meter run. Abernathy had one of the best times in the hurdles with a 15.98. His discus throw went 81’11” and his triple jump covered 35’5 ½”. He cleared 9’0 ¼” in the pole vault then finished up with a 5:06.15 in the 1,500.
Bagby ran a 20.85 in the hurdles and completed the 1,500 in 5:04.87. In the discus, he threw 69’9 ¾” while his triple jump went 32’10”. In the pole vault, he cleared 7’6 ¼”.
Caldwell surged to win by turning in the best efforts in the hurdles at 15.00 and the triple jump at 44’8”. Hayden Hampton, who finished third overall, turned in the best discus throw at 125’8 ¼”. In the pole vault, Zach McWhorter of Springdale Har-Ber cleared 14’6”. The top time in the 1500 was 4:18.36 turned in by Patrick Hill of Heber Springs.
