Hornets strong in relays at Meet of Champs
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
Photos courtesy of Cynthia Austin
PEARCY — The Bryant Hornets were represented in four events Saturday at the Meet of Champions at Lake Hamilton High School. The 4 x 800-meter relay team of Jake Dreher, Josh Nelson, Hunter Ulmer, and Logan Kretsch ran a season-best time of 8:22.24 to earn a fourth-place finish. The 4 x 100-meter relay team of Dionte Collier, Braden Williams, MacKenzie Martindale, and Randy Thomas placed fourth with a time of 43.61.
In the boys 3200-meter run, freshman Bresner Austin earned a fifth-place finish in a time of 9:55.52, with junior Chris Barrientos just behind him in sixth with a time of 9:55.94. Kaine Villareal-Hurst competed in the pole vault, placing 10th with a clearance of 12-10.
“We begin each year with team and individual goals, so making it to the Meet of Champions is always one of the main goals we have,” stated Hornets coach Steve Oury. “I was proud of all the boys who qualified.
“The 4 x 800-team did a great job,” he noted. “The 4 x 100 had a couple of bad handoffs and Braden Williams strained a hamstring during his leg, so we were fortunate to get the baton around the track. Randy Thomas made up about three places to pull us in to fourth place.
“Both Bresner Austin and Chris Barrientos fought hard in some tough conditions for distance running,” the coach concluded. “They can take the momentum from this season in to cross country season in the fall.”
