Bryant girls surprise with third at conference meet
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).
“I thought, as a team, we really over-achieved,” declared coach Danny Westbrook, after his Lady Hornets track team amassed 87 points to finish third at the 2008 7A-Central Conference championship meet at Bryant High School on Monday, May 5.
“The 7A-Central Conference is a pretty tough track conference and we held our own with some of the best teams in the state,” he continued. “After the prelims on Thursday, I projected the points for the finals and had us finishing fifth. To get third was a surprise and I think it is just a credit to the hard work and competitiveness of our team as a whole.”
Pine Bluff won the league championship with 145 points with North Little Rock second at 101.
The Lady Hornets were sparked by sophomore hurdler Jordan Chadwick who accounted for a team-high 16 points. Her second-place finish in the 100 meter hurdles — with a season-best 16.4 time — garnered all-conference honors.
Chadwick was third in the 300 meter hurdles, again, in personal-best time, at 49.78. In addition, she contributed legs to both of Bryant’s sprint relays which each finished fifth.
All-conference honors were also earned by Catherine Fletcher in the pole vault (second at 8-6), the 4×800 relay team of Brittany Hairston, Sara Coker, Sam Wirzfeld and Lennon Bates (second, 10:29) and senior Allison Lowery in the high jump (third, 5-0).
The top six from each event qualify to compete at the Class 7A State Championship held in Fayetteville on Thursday, May 15.
“We qualified 17 athletes in various events, so I feel like we will represent Bryant High School well at the state championship,” Westbrook asserted.
Morgan Seelinger jumping a personal-best 33-7 to finish fourth in the triple jump for the Lady Hornets. shley Petz came through with a season-best sprint in the 200 meter dash finishing sixth with a time of 27.6. nother season-best performance came from the 4 x 400 meter relay consisting of Mikayla Speake, Chadwick, Coker, and Petz who ran 4:16.5 to finish fourth.
The Lady Hornets picked up a cluster of points in the 3200 meter run. Bates’ 12:53 was good for third with Katherine Thompson sixth in 13:25 and Lola Fleming eighth in 14:06.
Hairston was third in the 1600 (5:41) with Darland eighth (6:05) while Kayla Randolph (7th, 2:36.8) and Coker (8th, 2:37.1) adding points in the 800.
Petz contributed a fifth-place performance in the long jump (16-1) and joined Kelsey Caddy, Chadwick, and Tiffany Ward in the 4×100, to earn another fifth-place finish (53.1).
Kayla Davidson was sixth in the shot (31-10) and the discus (99-6). Jennifer Snow added an eighth-place finish in the discus (85-9). Morgan Crider’s 17.4 clocking the the 100 hurdles was good for sixth.
