Winfrey leads Hornets to top 10 finish at Indoor State meet
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FAYETTEVILLE — Dillion Winfrey earned top four finishes in two events to lead the Bryant Hornets to an eighth-place finish at the 5A-7A State Indoor Track Championships on Saturday at the Tyson Indoor Track Center at the University of Arkansas. Winfrey placed third in the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.16 to earn All-State honors, then placed fourth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.74.
Bentonville won the team competition with a total of 80 points, followed by Fayetteville (71), Russellville (47.5), Conway (35.5), LR Parkview (34), Vilonia (32), Rogers (28.5), and Bryant (21). A total of 26 teams scored in the meet, with several other teams not earning any points.
Caleb Thomas earned a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.17. Winfrey and Thomas competed in the same heat, placing first and second respectively.
Also scoring for the Hornets were Derrick Dogan in the long jump (fifth place with a jump of 21′ 2″), and the 1600-meter relay team of Charles Henson, Lance Smith, Dogan, and Winfrey (8th in 3:39.01).
“Coming in to the meet I was optimistic that if things went well we could place in the top 10, so I’m certainly happy with an eighth-place finish,” said Hornets coach Steve Oury. “Dillion Winfrey had perhaps his best meet yet. He ran with great confidence in both the 60 and the 200. I though Caleb Thomas did a great job coming back from injury. Derrick Dogan came through with a huge personal record in the long jump. It was great to see him break through like that.
“I was also very proud of how some of our other athletes competed,” he added. “Two freshmen narrowly missed scoring points for us. Brenden Young earned a ninth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 9.16, while Mark Winn placed 10th in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:06.49, which is only five hundredths of a second off of the junior high school record.
“Junior Spencer Sullivan had a wonderful race in the 60-meter hurdles, cutting almost a second off of his performance in the ATCA Invitation three weeks ago,” Oury continued. “Also, Tyler Purtle had a very good day, leading the 3200-meter relay team to a ninth-place finish and then earning a new personal record of 4:49 in the 1600-meter run to place 13th. In the shot put, Karon Dismuke showed a lot of improvement over the last meet, so it will be fun to see how he progresses in the outdoor season.
“Our coaches have done a great job,” the coach said. “Brad Stroud continues to work wonders with our jumpers, and new ninth-grade coach John Orr is doing a great job with our throwers. Also, Keith Dale has been helping out our hurdlers and pole vaulters and they have all been showing great improvement.”
The Hornets will be in action next at a practice meet in Conway on March 5.
