Photos courtesy of Julie Shelby
Taylin Billins (Photo courtesy of Julie Shelby)
RUSSELLVILLE — The Bryant Lady Hornets competed at the Russellville Cyclone Invitational Friday and came away with a third place team finish on Friday. The Lady Hornets finished with 62 points. Bentonville won the team title with 121 followed by Springdale Har-Ber with 75. Cabot was fourth with 50 points.
The meet is regarded as the most competitive team competition of the regular season with 13 of the 16 Class 7A schools attending as well as several top teams from other classifications. There were 24 scoring teams at the meet.
The Lady Hornets were once again led by senior Melinda Murdock who scored 18 points. Murdock finished second in the 800-meter run (2:23) and third in the 100-meter hurdles (16.4). She was also a member of both sprint relay teams.
Senior Leah Ward added 15 points with a State-qualifying leap of 17’6” in the long jump for fourth place and a jump of 35’7” in the triple jump for third. She was also a member of both sprint relay teams.
Sophomore Haley Hood scored 14 points highlighted by a personal best and State-qualifying jump in the high jump of 5’2”. Her jump was good for third place. She also finished seventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.2. She was also a member of all three of the Lady Hornet’s relay teams.
“I was very proud of how we competed tonight especially considering the level of competition,” said Bryant coach Danny Westbrook. “This meet brought together all the best track and field teams from the state and we held our own.
“We added two more State qualifiers with Leah’s long jump and Haley’s high jump, he noted. “We now have six events qualified for State.“
Bryant’s 4 x 800-meter relay team of Taylin Billins, Caitlyn Bell, Hannah Shelby, and Hood finished second with a time 10:25.1.
The 4 x 400-meter relay also finished second with a time of 4:09.7. Member s of that relay were Ward, Hood, Rachael Owens, and Murdock.
The 4 x 100-meter relay team of Owens, Ward, Hood, and Murdock took fourth place with a time of 51.3.
Other scorers were:
Jenna Freeman – Discus – 6th place – 98’8”
Taylin Billins – 1600-meter run – 7thplace – 5:41.9
Caitlyn Bell – 3200-meter run – 7thplace – 12:15
The Lady Hornets will compete next at the Wampus Cat Invitational in Conway on Thursday, April 10. Some of the team will compete at the Benton Panther Relays.
