Hornets win two events at Meet of Champs; 4×100 sets new school mark again
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).
PEARCY — The undefeated Bryant Hornets 4×100 meter relay team faced their biggest test of the season at the annual Meet of Champions track meet on Saturday, May 8, at Lake Hamilton High School.
The 7A state champion Hornet quartet of Dillion Winfrey, Tanner Tolbert, Kendrick Farr, and Sammill Watson had the third fastest time from all of the different classifications’ meets held around the state, behind only Class 5A champ Crossett and Class 6A champ Watson Chapel.[more]
Winfrey ran a solid leadoff leg for the Hornets, handing off to Tolbert, who held his ground against Crossett’s fastest runner. Farr swung the race in Bryant’s favor on the third leg, giving anchor Watson a slight lead which Watson extended in the last 50 meters.
The Hornets’ winning time of 42.01 is a new school record by almost a half-second and was a third of a second ahead of second-place Crossett.
Earlier in the meet, Tolbert scored one of the biggest surprises of the meet, winning the long jump competition with a new personal record of 22′ 8″. Tolbert placed sixth at the 7A state meet in Fayetteville last week and only got in to the Meet of Champions after another competitor scratched from the event. His winning jump was on his third of sixth attempts and was into a slight headwind.
In the 200 meter dash, Kendrick Farr earned a fifth place finish in a time of 22.58. Also, Caleb Thomas placed 10th in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.58.
“This was a wonderful day for our track program,” stated Hornets head coach Steve Oury. “To have two first place finishes at the Meet of Champs is unbelievable. I couldn’t be prouder of a group of kids than I am of these five guys. They have worked hard all year.
“In the relay, they had perfect handoffs and were truly dominating, as they have been all season,” he noted. “Tolbert’s performance in the long jump was a surprise to a lot of the people at the meet, but it was no surprise to me or to Coach (Brad) Stroud, who coaches our jumpers. Tanner has not clicked in the jumping events this year as much as last, but we knew at any time that he could pop a great jump, and that’s exactly what he did. He did it when it mattered most, so now he can call himself the overall state champion.
“Kendrick ran a wonderful race in the 200, especially considering that he tripped coming out of the starting blocks,” Oury mentioned. “Caleb has been dealing with a slight hip injury and wasn’t as sharp as he has been lately, but he is just a sophomore, so hopefully he will get the opportunity to come back next year and the year after. Watson and Farr are the only seniors on this years’ team.”
Carla Thomas
So proud of you all! I certainly enjoyed photographing ya!