Lady Hornets surprise coach, competition with home meet triumph
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue 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 Julie Shelby and Jason Majors
The Bryant Lady Hornets track team kicked off their 2014 outdoor season Thursday, taking the team championship at their annual home track meet, the Hornet Relays. Bryant scored 103 points to outdistance a field of 21 teams. Lake Hamilton was runner-up with 77 points, followed by Cabot (74), North Little Rock (52), LR Central (39) and Mount St. Mary (39).
Talyn Billins (5) and Hannah Shelby. (Photo courtesy of Jason Majors)
The Lady Hornets were led by senior Melinda Murdock who scored 25 points. She won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:24.8 and finished second in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.6. Both of those times were state qualifiers. She also finished sixth in the long jump (16’0”) and was the anchor leg on both sprint relays that finished third.
Sophomore Haley Hood added 17 points. She jumped a personal best 5’0” in the high jump to take second. She was a member of the winning 4×800 relay team and also ran on both sprint relays that finished third. She added a seventh place in the 800-meter run.
Senior Leah Ward scored 14 points, taking third in the long jump (17’1”) and fifth in the triple jump (33’ 10”). She was also a member of both sprint relays that finished third.
Other first place performances came from Caitlyn Bell in the 3200-meter run (12:07.2), Jenna Freeman in the discus (104’0”) and the 4 x 800-meter relay team of Tayln Billins, Bell, Hannah Shelby, and Hood.
“Winning the team championship tonight was an unexpected surprise,” stated Lady Hornets head coach Danny Westbrook. “We lost some very high-scoring athletes to graduation last season and I expected us to be rebuilding this year. Nobody told these young ladies that. We won with a total team effort.
“This group works extremely hard everyday in practice and it paid off tonight,” he continued. “Melinda Murdock had an awesome meet, as did Haley Hood. Caitlyn Bell and Jenna Freeman both had outstanding performances in their events.
“Keith Dale (sprints), Beth Solomon (jumps), and John Orr (throws) are doing an outstanding coaching job,” the Westbrook noted. “They always have their groups ready to compete at the highest level.”
Bryant scoring efforts also included:
300-meter hurdles:
Jayla Anderson – 3rd – 50.4
4 x 100-meter relay:
Reagan Smith, Leah Ward, Haley Hood, Melinda Murdock – 3rd – 51.7
4 x 400-meter relay:
Hood, Smith, Ward, Murdock – 3rd – 4:16.3
1600-meter run:
Talyn Billins – 5th – 5:41; Hannah Shelby – 7th – 5:48
Shot:
Myah Thompson – 5th – 30’9”
Discus:
Myah Thompson – 5th – 84’2”
Bryant’s winning 4×800 team of, from left, Hannah Shelby, Caitlyn Bell, Haley Hood and Talyn Billins (Photo courtesy of Julie Shelby)
