Sprinters, hurdlers lead Hornets to team title at Lake Hamilton meet
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PEARCY — Led by the 4×400-meter relay team of Josh Robinson, Malik Dockery, Diante Woodson and Landon Abernathy who turned in the best time in the state to date, the Bryant Hornets amassed 154.5 points to capture the team title at the Lake Hamilton Invitational track meet on Friday.
Lake Hamilton was second with 106.5 points in the 11-team event. Vilonia (93), Cabot (91) and Sylvan Hills (58) rounded out the top five.
The 4×400 quartet ran a 3:25.01 to beat out Lake Hamilton, which turned in a 3:29.01. It was one of three first-place finishes for the Hornets who were second in seven events, some just barely off the winning pace.
Abernathy and Raney Singleton finished 1-2 in the 300 hurdles. Abernathy turned in a 39.26 with Singleton posting a 41.99. In the 110 hurdles, Abernathy was second, Jacob Loomis third and Singleton fourth behind Anthony Duncan of Sylvan Hills who ran a 15.08. Abernathy’s time was 15.28 and qualified him for the State meet with Loomis finishing in 16.66 and Singleton at 16.89.
Brandon Murray had the other top finish, winning the long jump with a leap of 20’0”. Deon Youngblood of Sylvan Hills was second at 19’11.25”. Murray was third in the triple jump at 41’2” and fifth in the high jump, clearing 5’8”.
Randy Thomas was second in the 100 and the 200 with personal best times in each. His time in the 100 was 11.17 just .03 behind winner JaQuan Dunaway of Heber Springs. McKenzie Martindale was fourth for the Hornets in 11.38 with Andre White tying for fifth in 11.48. In the 200, Thomas ran a 22.83 finishing on the heels of Conley Hillegas of Cabot at 22.78. White was fourth in 23.27.
It was almost a dead heat in the 4×100 relay. Martindale, Thomas, White and Woodson finished in 43.16 with Cabot winning in 43.14.
Chris Barrientos took second in the 3200-meter run. His time was 9:47.77. Dylan Douglas of Maumelle won in 9:42.78.
In the 400, Malik Dockery turned in a personal record with a 51.04, placing second just behind Lake Hamilton’s Knowledge Hood at 50.45. Woodson was fourth in 51.90 and Glenn Norris turned in a 52.75 to place sixth.
Madre Dixon contributed a third and the fourth in the throwing events. His discus toss of 132’3” placed third while his shot put of 45’8.5” was good for fourth. Michael Chatman added sixth-place points with a 43’10”.
John Carder ran a 4:32.26 to place fourth in the 1600. Christian McIntosh was eighth in 4:39.84 and also took eighth in the 800 with a time of 2:05.95.
The team of J’Lun Herron, Logan Kretsch, Chris Morgan and Hunter Ulmer combined on an 8:54.77 clocking to finish fourth in the 4×800 relay.
“Our sprinters and hurdlers led the way for us and had an outstanding meet,” said Hornets coach Steve Oury. “It’s great to see them continue to improve and get lots of personal records.
“We Still have some work to do to become more consistent in all phases,” he added. “we are going to work very hard over the next week to prepare for the 7A-Central Conference meet.”
Bryant will host that meet on Thursday, April 27.
Earlier in the week, the Hornets sent a contingent to the Wampus Cat Relays in Conway.
“We ran a lot of our younger athletes in Conway and there were several personal records set,” Oury noted. “We were wanting to make sure that everyone on the team competed in a meet this week, and I was pleased with our effort.”
Scoring for the Hornets was led by the 4×800 team of Jake Dreher, Erik Gonzalez, Demondre Johnson and Alberto Rodarte who ran a 9:16.95 to finish sixth.
The 4×100 team placed second in 45.81. Seventh-place finishes were also turned in by Malek Holmes in the high jump (5’4”), Gonzalez in the 1600 (5:01.24) and Reggie Clemons in the 200 (24.23). In addition, the 4×400 team of Jacob Forst, Dylan Jenkins, Parker Ray and J.C. Stickels took second in a time of 3;49.22.
Braylon Butler scored in the 300 hurdles. His 44.34 was good for eighth.
