Lady Hornets freshmen cap unbeaten season with conference crown
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RUSSELLVILLE — The Bryant Lady Hornets freshman track team finished off an undefeated season by capturing the Central Arkansas Junior High Conference meet championship on Saturday. The Lady Hornets paced the 12-team field with 126 points.
Lake Hamilton was second with 94.5 points followed by Russellville West (77), Conway White (73), Russellville East (65), Searcy (59), Morrilton (42), Sheridan (19), Vilonia (13), Conway Blue (8.5), Greenbrier (3), and Benton (2).
In the process, Christen Kirchner, Amber Moskow and Ashley Petz added school-record performances, bringing the number of school records set by the team to six. Kirchner broke her own standard by clearing 10 feet in the pole vault which was good for third in the event. Moskow’s long jump of 15-8 3/4 was a record distance, good for second at the meet, and Petz ran a 27.9 in the 200 to set a new school mark and finish sixth.
The Lady Hornets won two events. Individually, it was Nicole Darland running a 5:51 to win the 1600 meter run. Lennon Bates and Brittany Hairston finished second and third, respectively, as the Lady Hornets swept the top three places in the event. Bates turned in a 5:57 with Hairston finishing in 6:00.
The other first-place performance came from the 3200 meter relay team in which Amber Westbrook, Darland, Bates and Samantha Wirzfeld combined to run a 10:43.
Moskow added a second place finish in the triple jump covering 32-0 1/2. She was also seventh in the 200 (28.1), sixth in the 100 (13.5) and fourth in the hurdles (17.0).
Tiffany Ward finished fifth (17.1) and Sarah Manning sixth (17.5) in the hurdles as the Lady Hornets built up points in that event.
In the 800, Darland turned in a second place finish in 2:33, followed by Hairston (4th in 2:42) and Bates (7th in 2:44).
Kirchner added second-place points in the shot (36-6), just off her record put of 37-1 1/2. She was seventh in the discus (74-11). Reba Chambers joined her in the pole vault scoring, clearing 7-0 to place fifth.
To go with Moskow’s second in the long jump, Petz leapt 14-5 3/4 to take eighth. Allison Lowery contributed fourth-place points in the high jump, clearing 4-8. Earlier this season, she set the school mark at 5-2.
Mikayla Speake was eighth in the 400, running a 67.11.
In the relays, Bryant was second in the 1600 with Sara Coker, Speake, Melanie Bergen and Darland combining on a 4:32. In the 400, the team of Manning, Bergen, Petz and Moskow finished third in a time of 54.9, just 0.7 off their record pace.
